Laker Stars Finally Realizing Mitch Kupchak’s Vision

Even as the owners of the Los Angeles Lakers continue to look like a bunch of bumbling idiots after the first few months of the NBA season, the team's GM, Mitch Kupchak, is finally seeing his vision come together.

Everybody knows the woes Los Angeles went through to get to this point.

The Lakers found themselves at a low point after losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks on their most recent road trip. Their record had plummeted to 9-14 and things looked dismal. 

A few wins against the struggling Washington Wizards, Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Bobcats was certainly nice, but by no means did the team look like it had turned things around.

They were barely able to squeak by Charlotte, winning 101-100 after a rousing comeback, and the team was still two games below .500 in the middle of December.



Then came the return of Steve Nash.

Pau Gasol had already come back from his short stint resting with sore knees in the game against Charlotte, and he was looking fresher. Nash's return, however, was the piece that put them over the top.

In the few games since Nash's return, Los Angeles has gone from averaging 20 assists per game to 21.4, which is a pretty huge leap to make over the course of four games after struggling to do much in terms of ball movement in the first 26 games.

Even as the team remains hobbled (Dwight Howard's back, Pau Gasol's knees and Nash's leg), the Lakers are starting to look better with each successive game, looking more like we thought they would back when the team was put together over the summer.

The strategy the team used in its recent game against the Portland Trail Blazers is basically the exact game plan it should follow every single night in order for things to play out as perfectly as possible.



Kobe Bryant led the team, scoring 27 points on 50 percent shooting, doing a lot...

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