Power Rankings: Without Bynum, Lakers could see flashback to dark days

Updated Jan. 15

For the next two months, life in Lakerland is going to look awfully similar to how it has been over the past few years. There will be brilliant nights from Kobe Bryant. There will be nights where he's criticized for trying to do too much. There will be thrilling wins. There will be unexplainable losses.

It could be a long, cold winter for Kobe and the Lakers. (AP)

As strange as it sounds, the absence of 20-year-old Andrew Bynum, the center Bryant so badly wanted to discard at this time last year, affects L.A. that much. Deemed out roughly eight weeks with a dislocated left kneecap and bone bruise, Bynum will be forced to sit and watch as his Lakers struggle without his imposing presence inside.

Already, the Lakers have had to suffer through the final possession of victories over Memphis and Seattle, two of the less difficult teams in the Western Conference. Opponents have had free reign in the middle thus far, with L.A.'s remaining big men unable to provide any resistance at the basket. In recent losses, Pau Gasol and Nick Collison looked like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.

"The process of us monitoring the season for eight weeks without him," said coach Phil Jackson, "as big an influence as he's been, is going to be difficult."

There's an understatement. Jackson can always be counted on to correctly assess situations and use the right vocabulary to capture the essence of what's happening with his team. In this instance, the term monitoring is a good one. Massaging, managing and manipulating would also work.

Bryant needed 44 shots to score a season-high 48 points in order to help L.A. survive in Seattle against a team that managed 121 points despite failing to reach 100 since Dec. 29. The Lakers were lucky that Jeff Green and Kevin Durant are still too raw to correctly take advantage of opponents, because if those two weren't rookies, that game goes down as a loss.

Green was abused defensively, unable to limit Bryant the way he might be able to a few years from now given his length and athleticism. Durant was game in trying to match Bryant's heroics, but still lacks the know-how late in games that only experience can teach to realistically compete in that type of showdown.

In fairness to Bryant, he goes down as a hero for helping the Lakers survive, but had he scored 46 instead of 48 on those 44 shots, the media ultimately jumps all over him for not involving teammates more. All of a sudden, Jackson might be talking to him about being too "thirsty."

The soap opera is ready to start back up after a few weeks of tranquility. We don't need Hollywood's writers to come off their strike. This script writes itself. Bynum's legend and Bryant's scoring average will grow as the Lakers struggle to survive with Kwame Brown and Ronny Turiaf trying to cover the middle. Meanwhile, the team's record will suffer.

Hopefully, Bynum can pick up where he left off, because there are no guarantees that two months of inactivity won't curb his momentum and result in another season sacrificed to a first-round exit. Lakers fans need to enjoy being considered one of the elite teams in the league while they still can, because that might be coming to an end.

The week's Power Rankings:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Lakers · Trends	1
	Big Thumbs Up: Kobe Bryant. Selfish? Many nights, his assist figure was as impressive as point total. ... Big Thumbs Down: Derek Fisher. Yeah, he had a few golden moments in Finals. But over course of the season, often left alone as teams flocked to Bryant, lefty shot just 42.4 percent.
	2	Magic · Trends	7
	Big Thumbs Up: Dwight Howard. It's shocking that the Magic could be 59-game winner and playoff finalist, given the big guy's supporting cast. ... Big Thumbs Down: Rashard Lewis. One of league's most overrated players rocked Cavs with big shots, but came up small again vs. Lakers.
	3	Cavaliers · Trends	2
	Big Thumbs Up: LeBron James. For as often as he maneuvers through traffic, he sure doesn't turn over ball much. ... Big Thumbs Down: Ben Wallace. Outplayed by guy named Gortat with season on line.
	4	Nuggets · Trends	5
	Big Thumbs Up: Chauncey Billups. Ex-Piston did the impossible: He gave stability to the wildly inconsistent Nuggets. ... Big Thumbs Down: Allen Iverson. Difference between Nuggets, Pistons: Denver dealt A.I. for Billups; Detroit sent him to bench for nothing.
	5	Rockets · Trends	6
	Big Thumbs Up: Ron Artest. Rockets took risk on perennial trouble-maker; it paid off big-time. ... Big Thumbs Down: Tracy McGrady. Given team's ability to win without him, he ought to sit out more often.
	6	Celtics · Trends	3
	Big Thumbs Up: Kevin Garnett. Take him away and this club's barely better than the Bulls. ... Big Thumbs Down: Glen Davis. He's no Garnett; well, duh. But wildly inconsistent galoot is no Leon Powe, either.
	7	Mavericks · Trends	8
	Big Thumbs Up: Dirk Nowitzki. Fifth man on one of most impressive All-NBA teams of all time. ... Big Thumbs Down: Jerry Stackhouse. Blame foot for useless season, but there's no excuse for disappointing career.
	8	Trail Blazers · Trends	4
	Big Thumbs Up: Brandon Roy. West's version of LeBron; does a variety of good things on almost nightly basis. ... Big Thumbs Down: Greg Oden. Excels in one area: Getting into foul trouble.
	9	Spurs · Trends	10
	Big Thumbs Up: Tony Parker. Tim Duncan remains face of franchise, but Parker now embodies it. ... Big Thumbs Down: Manu Ginobili. King of flop hurt so often, team now must consider trading him.
	10	Hawks · Trends	9
	Big Thumbs Up: Josh Smith. Imagine if the Hawks had allowed him to get away to Grizzlies in offseason. ... Big Thumbs Down: Mike Bibby. Out-assisted by Joe Johnson; has become point guard known for shooting 3s.
	11	Jazz · Trends	11
	Big Thumbs Up: Deron Williams. Has become elite-level scorer without sacrificing shooting percentage. ... Big Thumbs Down: Carlos Boozer. If he's lost in the offseason, club will simply plug in Paul Millsap.
	12	Heat · Trends	13
	Big Thumbs Up: Dwyane Wade. Guy shoots 49.1 percent; that's amazing. ... Big Thumbs Down: Shawn Marion. If Magic's Lewis isn't most overrated former Western star, then ex-Suns standout -- who was shipped to Toronto -- is.
	13	Bulls · Trends	14
	Big Thumbs Up: Derrick Rose. What a year for VP John Paxson; drafts Rose, then steals John Salmons and Brad Miller in key deal before vacating his GM role. ... Big Thumbs Down: Kirk Hinrich. Now we see why Rose was coveted in first place.
	14	76ers · Trends	16
	Big Thumbs Up: Andre Iguodala. Call him Mr. Clutch; no one not named LeBron consistently hit bigger shots this season. ... Big Thumbs Down: Elton Brand. Brought in to be difference-maker; turns out club did just fine without him.
	15	Hornets · Trends	12
	Big Thumbs Up: Chris Paul. Draft loaded with point guards, but none likely to be next Paul. ... Big Thumbs Down: Mo Peterson. Couldn't hit 40 percent even with double-team magnet feeding him open jumpers.
	16	Suns · Trends	15
	Big Thumbs Up: Amare Stoudemire. Went from guy most likely to get traded to most indispensible piece within matter of weeks. ... Big Thumbs Down: Shaquille O'Neal. Suns were better when he wasn't slowing them down.
	17	Pistons · Trends	17
	Big Thumbs Up: Tayshaun Prince. Became club's best player, which doesn't say much for the club. ... Big Thumbs Down: Rasheed Wallace. Technicals down this season; so was just about every other stat.
	18	Pacers · Trends	18
	Big Thumbs Up: Danny Granger. Improved so much, league gave him trophy as reward. ... Big Thumbs Down: T.J. Ford. Turns out Jarrett Jack is the better point guard.
	19	Nets · Trends	19
	Big Thumbs Up: Devin Harris. Club still missed Jason Kidd, but not as much as anticipated. ... Big Thumbs Down: Yi Jianlian. Team gave up Richard Jefferson to get him? Awful move.
	20	Grizzlies · Trends	20
	Big Thumbs Up: O.J. Mayo. Franchise has poster boy for its future. ... Big Thumbs Down: Hakim Warrick. As team's talent level increased, truth came out: He's no more than serviceable backup.
	21	Bobcats · Trends	21
	Big Thumbs Up: Gerald Wallace. Bobcats' goal in draft: Find someone better. ... Big Thumbs Down: Adam Morrison. Exhausting No. 3 pick on Morrison -- who was traded to the Lakers -- set back franchise at least two years.
	22	Raptors · Trends	22
	Big Thumbs Up: Chris Bosh. Special mention to Andrea Bargnani, who finally emerged as legitimate NBA force. ... Big Thumbs Down: Jermaine O'Neal. Stock dipped so low, club could get only underachiever Shawn Marion in return.
	23	Warriors · Trends	26
	Big Thumbs Up: Stephen Jackson. Team gave him in-season contract extension; wise move. ... Big Thumbs Down: Monta Ellis. Scooter crash cost him $3 million, cost team respectability.
	24	Bucks · Trends	25
	Big Thumbs Up: Charlie Villanueva. Was so impressive, now rates among plums of this summer's free-agent crop. ... Big Thumbs Down: Joe Alexander. Great year for rookies, but not for this one.
	25	Clippers · Trends	29
	Big Thumbs Up: Blake Griffin. Soon to join Eric Gordon as two pieces this perennial embarrassment can build around. ... Big Thumbs Down: Baron Davis. Move south crushed Warriors, didn't help Clippers.
	26	Timberwolves · Trends	23
	Big Thumbs Up: Al Jefferson. Best thing about his injury: Gives team an opportunity to draft big-time sidekick. ... Big Thumbs Down: Mike Miller. Better suited to being role player on good team, rather than must-produce guy on bad club.
	27	Wizards · Trends	24
	Big Thumbs Up: Antawn Jamison. Give this guy a medal; no one has tried harder on bad teams. ... Big Thumbs Down: Gilbert Arenas. Fifteen games past two seasons; time to give back some money?
	28	Knicks · Trends	27
	Big Thumbs Up: David Lee. Will be interesting to see how much restricted free agent commands this offseason. ... Big Thumbs Down: Stephon Marbury. Lot to choose from here with Knicks; Eddy Curry is a solid second choice.
	29	Thunder · Trends	28
	Big Thumbs Up: Kevin Durant. Warning to D-Wade: This guy's coming after your scoring title next season. ... Big Thumbs Down: P.J. Carlesimo. Made Scott Brooks look good by comparison.
	30	Kings · Trends	30
	Big Thumbs Up: Kevin Martin. No April fool: Poured in 50 points on April 1, then took rest of season off. ... Big Thumbs Down: Spencer Hawes. Once highly regarded, now no better than undistinguished teammate Jason Thompson.