The Lakers looked out of whack last night.  They looked like a team that just had to show up to win and they were dead wrong.  It didn’t help that the Lakers shot a pathetic 12 of 31 (38.7%) from the free throw line as a team last night!  Pau Gasol (23 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocked shots) and Kobe Bryant (22 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal) led the way for the Lakers last night.  Dwight Howard fouled out in 38 minutes in his Lakers’ debut.  He finished up with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot.  Howard shot only 3 of 14 from the free throw line last night.  Steve Nash played 34 minutes in his Lakers’ debut and he had 7 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 blocked shot.  The Lakers are now 0-1 on the year.

The Lakers are loaded for bear roster wise.  Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Paul Gasol give the Lakers four potential Hall of Famers in their starting lineup!  The Lakers have one potential thing that could hold them back and it is head coach Mike Brown.  As long as Brown stays out of the way, I like the over.  He has some good regular seasons with the Cavaliers with a lot less talent, so I will take the over.

The Lakers have waived 23-year old shooting guard Andrew Goudelock.  Goudelock played in 40 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Lakers last year and he averaged 10.5 minutes, 4.4 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  His best asset was his long range shooting as he hit 37.3% of his shots from three point range last year.  The Lakers won’t miss Goudelock at all moving forward.

42-year old head coach Mike Brown must have a Golden Horseshoe up his butt.  He got to coach LeBron James in Cleveland (where he couldn’t win a big game) and then got fired.  So he gets hired by the Lakers and once again can’t win a big game with Andrew Bynum, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol on the roster.  He “led” that team to a 41-25 (62.1%) record during the regular season and 5-7 (41.7%) in the playoffs.  He now has a 313-163 (65.8%) record during the regular season and he is 47-36 (56.6%) in his first six years as an NBA head coach.  If Brown doesn’t at least get to the NBA Finals in 2012-13 with Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Paul Gasol and Dwight Howard in the starting lineup…..he should be fired at the end of the season!

26-year old Dwight Howard is going to be the next great center in Lakers’ history as long as his back holds out.  Howard played in 54 games (all starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 38.3 minutes, 20.6 points, 14.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 621 games (620 starts) in his first eight years in the NBA and he is averaging 36.2 minutes, 18.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.2 blocked shots per game.  25-year old Jordan Hill will likely be the top backup at center for the Lakers.  Hill played in 39 games (8 starts) for the Rockets and Lakers last year in which he averaged 14.1 minutes, 5.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Hill has now played in 158 games (19 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 14.6 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  23-year old Robert Sacre came to the Lakers in the second round of last June’s NBA Draft.  He played in 136 games in college and he averaged 21.7 minutes, 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  He played his college ball at Gonzaga.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CENTERS IN 2012-13:  A+

32-year old Pau Gasol is still a Laker and they are going to be glad they kept him.  Gasol played in 65 games (all starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 37.4 minutes, 17.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  Gasol has now played in 796 games (790 starts) in his first 11 years in the NBA and he is averaging 36.0 minutes, 18.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game.  24-year old Earl Clark is going to be one of Gasol’s backups in 2012-13.  Clark played in 45 games (1 start) for the Magic last year and he averaged 12.4 minutes, 2.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Clark has now played in 138 games (1 start) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 10.2 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Jordan Hill and Antawn Jamison are also going to get minutes at power forward for the Lakers in 2012-13.  Hill will also play some at center, while Jamison will also likely play some small forward for the Lakers in 2012-13.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2012-13:  A

The Lakers have signed 25-year old shooting guard Chris Douglas-Roberts.  Douglas-Roberts last played in the NBA back in 2010-11 with the Milwaukee Bucks.  He has played in 155 games (53 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 20.6 minutes, 7.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  If he looks good in training camp, he is going to have a really good shot of winning a roster spot.

UPDATE:  (10/24/2012) – The Lakers have waived Chris Douglas-Roberts.