1) How will the Lakers combat injuries and aging?
Andrew Bynum is out for the first month of the season; Kobe Bryant isn't 100 percent healthy (and quite frankly not very close to it); and Derek Fisher, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Theo Ratliff are all attempting to stay afloat the "wrong side of 30" wave. Still, during the offseason general manager Mitch Kupchak assembled a much deeper and dangerous bench, which will help the Lakers combat injuries and aging. Unlike last year's rather inexperienced and unproven reserves, this season's second unit features players who have the ability to sustain leads (something the 2009-10 bench failed to do more often than not), therefore enabling the starters to spend some quality time on the pine. Ultimately this will provide for fewer injuries and fresher legs, both of which many teams can't claim come April, May and June. Expect to see a lot of meaningless fourth quarters once the team is fully healthy.
2) Do the Lakers have a weakness?
Top to bottom -- and especially one through six -- there is not a team that is neither deeper nor more experienced than the defending champs. The Boston Celtics come close, but age -- coupled with a much more competitive Eastern Conference -- isn't on their side. That is not to say the Lakers don't have a weakness, because they do: themselves. How much intensity and urgency will they play with during the regular season? Will they employ a killer instinct early enough in games so their key players don't have to play more minutes than need be? And to what extent will they try to lock up home-court advantage throughout the playoffs? Sure the Lakers don't want to put too m...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
