Lakers playing well

The Lakers are starting to look pretty good to me and you have to keep in mind that Gasol has been out and more recently Bynum. It is expected that at least one of them to return by Thursday. I was not too pleased with Artest's play very early on. However, he has picked it up tremendously, shooting a lot better, playing some nice D, and doing a good job overall. I like how well he is passing, and I think he could average his highest assist total this year. Some articles were stating that Ron stops the offense, holds the ball, takes bad shots on his previous team. I can say that I have witnessed this in previous teams he has been with (various reasons - bad team, only star, etc), but with the Lakers he has not done this. He seems to have matured and he is really a good player. If he continues to play solid and pick his play up, he will be everything the Lakers could want and more. Ariza's departure will not be missed. By the way, Kobe has been killing it in these games. I've already read a couple things talking about Kobe is possibly playing some of his best ball of his career this year. I think that's definitely not of the question and quite possible. He finally had an off-season where he rested, so his body is probably at a better point. We'll see how he continues to roll, but he is currently leading the league in scoring and is using the post more than I have seen him in years past.