Over the course of the regular season I found the best way to learn about another team was to talk to someone who follows it regularly. Brilliant idea huh? But seriously as bloggers we have a tendency to focus so heavily on our teams that we simply can't offer the same level of analysis about other teams. So I jumped at the chance to exchange questions with Brian from SportsHubLA. You may recall SportsHubLA from the Roland Lazenby post I linked to last week. Meanwhile, did you know Lamar Odom has been playing out of his mind and the importance of Derek Fisher's relationship with Kobe Bryant? Learn more from Brian's answers below and check out what I said about the Celtics as well.

Green Bandwagon: Who was the most improved Laker this season?

SportsHubLA: Well, it depends on how you define improved, and from what point in the year.  Initially, the answer was Andrew Bynum, hands down.  His improvement was the reason, after a moderately slow start, the Lakers were so good over the first half of the season.  In December, he averaged 13.9/9.1, with 3.3 blocks a night, numbers which rose to 17.3/12.2 before his injury in January.  He gave the Lakers a real inside presence, and penalized teams for overplaying Kobe, who became very fond of lofting the ball up near the hoop and letting the kid go get it.  Once Bynum got hurt and the Lakers stole Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies, you can argue that Lamar Odom became their most improved player.  Unburdened from having to be a consistent scorer behind Kobe, Odom became (ironically) a consistent scorer.  He attacked the basket offensively and on the glass.  In short, he's been awesome since Gasol arrived.  If you want to look big picture at the supporting cast over the entire year, I'd go with Sasha Vujacic.  He's always been an amazing 11:30 shooter (you can watch after practice as he drills three pointer after three pointer) but borderline useless at 7:30.  This season, he's become a very reliable offensive weapon, has improved his defense, and now regularly is part of the fourth quarter lineup Phil Jackson often uses to close games.

Green Bandwagon: Who is the most underrated Laker?

SportsHubLA: It's not like he's flown entirely under the radar, but between the emergence of Bynum, the Gasol trade, Odom's increased productivity, and Ronny Turiaf Dance Cam, the contribution of Derek Fisher's return has been soft shoed a little.  He's averaged almost 12 points a night playing under 28 minutes, shot over 40 percent from three point range, and (this will be a shock to you, I'm sure) constituted a monumental improvement over Smush Parker.  But beyond that, so much of what Kobe's been able to accomplish as a leader is linked to Fish's presence in the locker room.  Bryant's personality is so strong that he needs a balance, someone who can say things to his teammates, and to him, that otherwise might not be said.  I think As Kobe has learned to "give," Fish has taught his teammates to "take."  During training camp, he told me that with Bryant, it can be difficult to protect your space as a basketball player, so dominant is his skill and temperament.  Not everyone on the team knew how to do that.  Fisher did, and between that and Kobe meeting them halfway, what you get is a really high quality team game.

Green Bandwagon: Charles Barkley famously said this was Kobe Bryant's best team during the Lakers/Jazz series before backtracking a bit. Where does this squad rank in comparison with LA's teams from 2000-2004?

SportsHubLA: I always struggle to compare teams from different eras, even recent ones.  I think the combination of Bryant and an in-his-prime Shaq is probably better top shelf talent than what the Lakers have now- how could it not be?- but at the same time, this squad has more balance, and probably moves the ball better.  They still have an inside presence, albeit a decidedly different style, that allows them to operate from the paint to the perimeter, and amazing versatility.  They can play and win in a lot of different ways.  It's hard to say they're better than a team that won three straight titles and made another Finals, seeing as this is only the first trip for this group.  But the potential, especially if Bynum comes back healthy next season, to have a run that's as good as the Threepeat teams, and are less likely to blow up under the weight of personalities and ego. Fair to say it's an exciting time to be a Lakers fan.

Green Bandwagon: Great stuff. Look for more from SportsHubLA as the Finals approach. And I'm a huge fan of labeling someone an "amazing 11:30 shooter". It reminds me of Lenny Dykstra calling Pete Incaviglia the "best five-o’clock hitter in baseball history" in that epic New Yorker article.

Dave McMenamin runs the rookie rankings over on NBA.com. He is also the blogger responsible for transforming Gilbert Arenas’ wildly entertaining stories into the blog we know and love. And if that’s not enough for you McMenamin dropped the following Will Ferrell reference in a chat with David Thorpe:

”that a Ricky Bobby reference? I'll do you one better in the Ferrell category -- 'A Big Horn, eh? That's why I come out here. Naaaaature. Goulet.'" - Dave McMenamin

That’s roughly a thousand times cooler than referencing Semi Pro or Blades of Glory. Add it all up and I was fired up to ask McMenamin a few questions about his 76ers, the Celtics, Arenas (I could not resist) and Will Ferrell.

Green Bandwagon: As a fan of the 76ers what were your expectations when the season began?

Dave McMenamin: I expected the same thing every Philadelphia pro sports fan is conditioned to expect -- failure. Our core was Andre Iguodala (who turned down a boatload of money and I figured would just coast through the season looking out for his own stats before signing with another team in the summer), Andre Miller (who was just good enough to lead Philly to 35 wins and have them miss out on a top five lotto pick), Kyle Korver (who was only capable of doing three things on the basketball court 1. Catching 2. Shooting 3. Brushing his hair out of his eyes), Samuel Dalembert (who was only considered less of a bust than Eddie Griffin as a pro coming out of Seton Hall because he still had a pulse) and Willie Green (who caused fans around the league to ask, "Your starting shooting guard is who?"). But in a complete opposite of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, we ship Korver to free up playing time for Thaddeus Young, hold on to Miller instead of accepting 50 cents on the dollar trade offers for him, oust Billy King from power, bring in a home-grown hoop head in Ed Stefanski who gets the boys to run and all the while Iguodala matures into a legit No. 1 option (or at least a 1.5 when he had been destined to be a No. 3 guy) and Sammy D becomes an active beast in the paint not seen in Philly since Theo Ratliff back in 2000.

Green Bandwagon: I’d like to add a fourth skill to Korver’s repertoire.

Green Bandwagon:  Two more Philly questions. Is Andre Iguodala a franchise player? Do you secretly hate people who claim to be fans of the NBA but don't know who Louis Williams is?

Dave McMenamin: You know, I've had my doubts about Iguodala from Day 1, and not just because he shares his nickname, "Iggy," with one of the lamest cartoon strips in American history.  He came into the league with no discernable offensive game other than running fast and jumping high. His game has improved dramatically and I almost have to back off of my, "He'll never average 20 points in a season during his career" claim already after he put up 19.9 this year. If the Sixers continue to play this style of up-and-down ball over the next five years predicated on ball-hawking defense and creating fastbreak after fastbreak, then my answer is a resounding "yes." A.I. is a franchise guy. As for part two, no, I'm not a basketball elitist. I hate people who look down at somebody when they haven't heard of some indie band like Wilco, so if you're a basketball fan and you don't know about Lou Williams yet, that's OK.

Green Bandwagon: I like that line of thinking for the Louis Williams/Wilco phenomenon. It’s never fun to be around people who, to steal an expression from my grandmother, "put on airs" based upon somewhat obscure knowledge.* At the same time, without being haughty, one does feel part of a special club by recognizing and enjoying Louis Williams’ game.

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