Lakers still team to beat

(This is the last of a series leading to the opening of the National Basketball Association season tomorrow. The NBA, through The STAR, will give away prizes to five lucky winners who answer the question correctly at the end of each story. Send in your entries to The STAR, NBA Sweepstakes, 14th and Railroad Streets, Port Area, Metro Manila. Write your name, address, telephone number and answer. Mark the question number–today is No. 8–on your entries. Deadline to submit all entries is Nov. 5. Winners will be annouced on Nov. 7. Prizes are 10 replica jerseys–two each of Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Vince Carter–15 T-shirts and 15 caps.)

Four in a row. That’s what the Los Angeles Lakers are aiming for in the National Basketball Association (NBA) this season. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant are looking four-ward to a four- peat. They’ve got five fingers in each hand but only three show those bling-blings that come with winning the Larry O’Brien trophy. Before they’re done playing, there could be rings in their noses because their 10 fingers will be up to capacity.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson picked up a pair of hattricks when Michael Jordan was the chief Bull in Chicago. He’s done it once at L.A. to push his collection of NBA titles to nine. To capture a 10th championship this season would mean four straight titles for the Lakers, something that hasn’t been done since the Boston Celtics dynasty of old.

But if there’s any team that can do it, L.A. is the consensus pick.

Jackson, the cerebral Zen master whose ambition is probably to own the Lakers franchise (he left his wife June for boss Jerry Buss’ daughter Jeanne, the club’s executive vice president), is a genius at work. In the playoffs, he has piloted his teams to 40 wins in 43 series or in terms of games, 156 of 210–a 74.3 percent clip. Jackson has already tied Red Auerbach for most NBA titles and is shooting for the lead this year.

Street and Smith’s predicted the Lakers to repeat over the New Jersey Nets in the Finals. Its choices for division champions are the Nets in the Atlantic, Detroit in the Central, San Antonio in the Midwest, and the Lakers in the Pacific.

"What do you give a team that has everything?" wrote Street and Smith’s. "You give O’Neal healthy feet and a manageable weight and you don’t need much else. As long as Bryant packs his own food on trips to Sacramento, newcomers like Tracy Murray and Kareem Rush contribute as expected and the remaining support cast stays on a high level, there is little to recommend any other team besides the Lakers as NBA champions."

Athlon Sports also chose the Lakers over the Nets in the Finals. Picks for division leaders are New Jersey, New Orleans in the Central, Dallas in the Midwest, and Sacramento in the Pacific. The Nets will beat the Hornets in the Eastern Finals while the Lakers will jinx the Kings for the Western ticket.

"Los Angeles should get ready for another early summer parade because the Lakers are still head and shoulders above the rest of the league as long as O’Neal and Bryant stay healthy," said Athlon. "Under Jackson, the Lakers take special pride in their defense and that will not change this season. Veterans such as Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Brian Shaw and even O’Neal may have lost a step but they know what it takes to win a championship."

Lindy’s resident expert Roland Lazenby tapped the Lakers to beat the Nets in the Finals, too. His division picks are the Nets, Hornets, Mavericks, and Lakers. Lazenby boldly predicted another MVP season for O’Neal. Utah’s Jerry Sloan was his choice as Coach of the Year with Tracy McGrady the Defensive Player of the Year, Phoenix’ Amare Stoudamire as Rookie of the Year, and the Nets’ Rodney Rogers as the Sixth Man awardee.

"Yes, I guess you’ll get by one more time," wrote Lazenby. Shaquille and Kobe will pose for more of those celebration photographs, sporting the requisite ineffable joy together. And the rednecks, in utter despair, will gag themselves with those cowbells. And this time in the NBA Finals, you’ll find a heftier, smarter, stronger, bigger version of the Nets. This time, they’ll have Deke and Rodney and another year of experience. Which means they’ll get what? Maybe one win? It’ll probably go on like this until Jackson or Shaq gets tired or bored."

The Sporting News polled five experts on their forecast. Four chose the Lakers to repeat and one, Tricia Garner, had the audacity to pick the Sacramento Kings over Milwaukee in the Finals. Curiously, none of the five saw the Nets returning to the Last Dance. Two picked New Orleans to fly the Eastern flag in the Finals. The other choices were Detroit, Miami, and Milwaukee.

The Sporting News itself was guarded in gazing at the crystal ball. "It goes without saying that if O’Neal and Bryant stay healthy, the Lakers can do it and if they don’t, it will be all but impossible," said Kevin Modesti. "As the Sacramento playoff series demonstrated, the Lakers need their supporting players to step up or having two superstars no longer will be a championship guarantee."

As for the coming NBA season, Lazenby said he can’t wait for the first tipoff. His focus will be to track Jackson’s bid to win a 10th title and surpass Auerbach’s record. No team has won more than three in a row since Boston captured eight straight from 1959 to 1966. So if the Lakers win a fourth consecutive title, they’ll be up in the clouds.

Lazenby noted that aside from the Lakers’ chase, other reasons why this season will be great are: the games will be on ESPN, ABC and Turner, Jerry West raring to go as top honcho in Memphis, a healthy Grant Hill, David Robinson’s farewell tour, the Lakers versus the Kings, a revived Eastern Conference, and Magic Johnson joining the TV panel for the post-game show.

The season will introduce the use of the instant replay to assist referees in deciding if a shot came within time in any quarter or overtime. Referees may also check on the replay to determine if a foul was made within time, if a player took a shot within or without three-point range, and if a player stepped out of bounds. The replay will not be the basis of making a foul call.

What makes the campaign more interesting is the league’s changing face. A lot of players moved house and a bunch of rookies will tilt the balance of power for sure.

The Lakers picked up Tracy Murray and Kareem Rush. Michael Jordan fortfied the Washington Wizards by signing up Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hughes, and Bryon Russell. Karl Malone and John Stockton try one last time to deliver a title for Utah with Matt Harpring, Calbert Cheaney and Mark Jackson. Allen Iverson hopes to lead Philadelphia back to the Finals with new teammates Keith Van Horn, Todd MacCullough, Mark Bryant, Monty Williams, Brian Skinner, Olden Polynice, and Greg Buckner.

Tim Duncan welcomes Kevin Willis, Speedy Claxton, Duane Causwell, Manu Ginobili, Steve Kerr, Mikki Moore, Mengke Bateer, and Eric Barkley to San Antonio. Detroit’s new recruits include Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, and Don Reid. Denver inked Marcus Camby and Rodney White. Boston added Vin Baker and Shammond Williams. Seattle took in Kenny Anderson. Cleveland brought in Darius Miles and Nick Anderson. The Los Angeles Clippers regrouped with Andre Miller, Bryant Stith, Wang Zhizhi, Marko Jaric and Cherokee Parks. Orlando took a chance on Shawn Kemp and Jacque Vaughn. Milwaukee logged on to Toni Kukoc while Atlanta to Glenn Robinson. Sacramento got bigger with Keon Clark and the Nets beefed up with Rodney Rogers, Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Childs. Minnesota got Troy Hudson and Kendall Gill as Travis Best went to Miami. Popeye Jones and Walt Williams transferred to Dallas.

Among the rookies expected to contribute are Houston’s 7-5 Yao Ming, Chicago’s Jay Williams, Golden State’s Mike Dunleavy, Cleveland’s Dajuan Wagner, the Suns’ Amare Stoudamire, Miami’s Caron Butler, Washington’s Jared Jeffries and Juan Dixon and the Lakers’ Kareem Rush.

Hold on to your seats. The NBA season looks like a wild ride to the Finals.

NBA SWEEPSTAKES QUESTION No. 8: How many NBA titles has Phil Jackson won overall?