SHAQ'S DEBUT

Observations from last night's epic Lakers-Suns, a 130-124 Laker victory:

1. Shaq is still pretty damn good. The Lakers are still scared of him, they started the game double teaming every time he touched the ball--and as soon as they stopped doing it, he scored pretty much at will. He was also a force on the defensive end, the Lakers had trouble converting inside when he was in there. Fortunately they shot the ball well from the outside, and scored easily during the long stretches Shaq was on the sideline huffing and puffing.

Another big advantage to having Shaq is what it does for Amare Stoudemire. Instead of playing against much bigger 5s, he's now free to wreak havoc on physically overmatched 4s, as evidenced by the way he tore apart Lamar Odom last night for 37 & 15. I think this is pretty much what the trade was all about. Instead of having to bang with the Andrew Bynums and Erick Dampiers and Tyson Chandlers, Amare is now matched up against the Lamar Odoms/Pau Gasols and Dirk Nowitzkis and David Wests. That's an ugly matchup for everyone but San Antonio (although Amare has had good success against even Tim Duncan).

I guess I'm starting to come around on the trade--sorta. I still think you're trading your future for a one-time shot (not just getting rid of Marion, but also committing yourself to being capped out for the next 2 years after this one with little roster flexibility), and I still think you're gambling very heavily on Shaq's health. But I do think Phoenix could end up being better this year for having made the deal. Shaq causes a lot more problems than Shawn Marion does--you have to double team Shaq, you don't have to double Marion. That's huge. That opens things up for everyone. And as long as Shaq plays with the energy and effort on the defensive end that he showed last night, he's still a real intimidator out there. Marion's a very good defender, but the combination of Shaq being a lane-clogging shotblocker and Amare getting to go back to his natural position could make the Suns better off defensively too.

2. However, (a) the Lakers won at Phoenix, (b) they scored 130 and shot .565 from the floor, (c) they did it without their starting center, one of the few guys in the league who can match up size-wise with Shaq, and (d) the only reason it was even close was Phoenix's 46-33 rebounding edge with 16 offensive boards--fortunately the Lakers have one of the 3 best rebounders in the game healing quickly and chomping at the bit to get back out there.

But then a lot of the Lakers' offensive brilliance had to do with Kobe playing some of his best basketball of the season. Sometimes you're going to play LA and you're just going to get Kobe'ed--and you're probably not going to win those games. Kobe went for 41 on 16-25 shooting against generally excellent defense by Raja Bell, Grant Hill and DJ Strawberry (BTW, I'd get that kid on the floor more if I were Phoenix, he looks like a player to me.) Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and take your L. I wouldn't freak out about this if I were Phoenix, it's just one game, the first game of the Shaq era, there's plenty of time before the playoffs start to tighten things up and figure out how to get the most value out of Shaq.

As for the Lakers, well, I think it's time to start freaking out a little. In the good way. The entire season still hinges on Kobe's pinkie...but if it can just hold up, I think the Lakers have as good a shot as anyone in the league. They're still not a good rebounding or defensive team, but those will be the easiest places for Bynum to work his way back in. And the Lakers are just so goddamn good on offense right now--Kobe setting the table, Gasol getting scraps down low and sticking those midrange "jumpers" (I'm not sure his feet actually leave the floor), Odom slashing to the bucket, Fisher/Farmar/Vujacic/Radmanovic knocking down open jumpers and making teams pay for doubling Kobe & Gasol....it's all working right now. There's a long, long, long ways to go, the Western Conference playoffs will be trench warfare, but I'm feeling pretty good about the team's chances here on February 21.

Let's hope that isn't a classic jinx move, I can just see opening the paper tomorrow and reading that Kobe needs to have his pinkie amputated or he'll die. Look, basketball gods, I didn't say we'd steamroll everyone on the way to an easy NBA championship, I said I'm "feeling pretty good about the team's chances", so just chillax up there and leave Kobe alone.