The Kids are alright

Watching the Lakers make an impressive 4th quarter comeback and win at home against the Mavs last night, I was thinking about how far this Laker team has come.  While much credit will probably go to Kobe and the Kobeesque surge that brought the team withing striking distance last night, as well as Phil Jackson and his heralded motivational skills - the reality is that the Lakers are 23-11 (better than any team in the Eastern conference) because they've become an incredibly deep team.  They can contend without their two starting big men (and second best player) just as they did ealier in the season without the Black Mamba himself, because they can roll out half dozen bodies from the bench with confidence.  All these guys drafted in the late first and second round have become solid contributers able to hit jump shots, make the extra pass and play able defense.   Last night's fourth quarter comeback lineup featured the indefatigable Ronny Turiaf and a red Hot Vujacic.  Really.  An inspired Luke Walton - also on the floor - is averaging 4 boards and 5 assists per game this year and shooting an insane 50% from long distance.  They have gotten solid contributions from they're only lottery pick of the decade - Andrew Bynum - who looks ever more likely to develop into a star, and their a 19 year old rookie point guard - Jordan Farmar.    Granted, the Lakers were able to revive Kwame's career and have managed to keep Odom interested, and both undoutedly contributed to making them the 5th best team in the NBA so far this season, but their scouts have done an outstanding job for several years running and all those young players are paying dividends in a big way.