The Lakers have not had much time for rookies Javaris Crittenton and Coby Karl to play yet but they like both players for the future. Crittenton has played in 10 games so far this season and he is averaging 5.6 minutes, 2.1 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He is shooting 50% from the floor which is pretty solid. He will battle Jordan Farmar in the near future for the starting point guard job. Coby Karl has only played in 2 games this season and he is averaging 2.0 minutes, 1.0 point, 0.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Karl is a smart player along the lines of a Luke Walton.

Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza have both been great so far in December. Lamar Odom has played in 4 games this season for the Lakers and he has averaged 38.0 minutes, 14.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 assist per game. Odom has shot 50% this month which is outstanding. Trevor Ariza has fit right in on the Lakers in his 3 games this month. Ariza has averaged 22.0 minutes, 9.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game this month. He also has shot a scorching 77.8% so far this month.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in 2nd place in the Pacific Division with a 12-8 record which has them 3 games behind the Suns. The Lakers are doing it with offense as they are averaging 107.2 points per game. As long as Kobe Bryant keeps getting help on offense the Lakers are going to be dangerous.

Chris Mihm better started playing better soon or he will be sitting at the end of the bench. If Andrew Bynum keeps playing like he is right now the Lakers will have to give him more minutes and when Kwame Brown returns there won’t be any minutes left for Mihm unless he picks up his play soon. In his first 15 games this season Mihm has averaged 11.5 minutes, 3.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. The most puzzling thing about Mihm this season is that he’s only shooting 33.9% from the floor which is pathetic for a man his size.