Pivot Points: The Lakers Will Animate Your Fears, So Pick Your Poison

"Adagio" and "allegro" are two French words that are used to describe rhythm and tempo, and for 29 other NBA teams, they may be the words that sound a death bell on their seasons. One is a quickening of tempo, and the other means to slow it down, and for the Los Angeles Lakers, they represent the double-edge sword that other teams will be forced to defend this year. The addition of Ron Artest gives Laker coach Phil Jackson the versatility to play two distinct styles, which is something that was missing from the Lakers' arsenal last year. They were much better suited to an up-tempo game in 2009, and when the pace slowed down, the ball usually ended up stuck in Kobe Bryant's hands. That's not a bad thing, but on some occasions, Kobe was forced to hoist up bad shots because of an expiring shot clock, or worse, he pressed and created opportunities for his opponents. Teams began to figure out that the way to compete with the Lakers was to force them into a half-court game and keep the ball out ... (link)