After putting together a review of 2008 for each Lakers player, I’m now prepared to put together new year’s resolutions. What should each player look to do better in the coming year is the question at hand. I hope that I have the answers.

Trevor Ariza - Trevor is obviously the best slasher we have and his passing is becoming a lot more crisp as well. The part of his game that can really continue to use development is his shooting. He is making more threes than he has in his career, but his shooting % is still qutie low. His field goal % is 47.4%, which at first glance isn’t bad, but when you think about how many dunks he gets, is truly a lot worse. His free throw percentage is more accurate representation of his shooting at a poor 67.9%.

Kobe Bryant – Kobe is clearly the best player on the team and the best player in the world. He has been working hard to improve in different ways every year. His latest improvement has come in his leadership abilities. He is now in his 13th season playing for the Lakers and has many young guys playing with him. It is important that he continues to guide them in the right ways and lead them through the tough times when they come. When it comes to a part of his game that he needs to improve, I would have to point at his passing. He has significantly improved over the years but I feel that he should be averaging about 7 assists per game.

Andrew Bynum - Andrew has a lot of maturing to do. Management has rolled the dice on this kid with the thought that he will one day be a superstar. Bynum said before this season started that his goal was to make his first all star appearance. I’ve got new for you Andrew, to be an all star takes a lot of work. I myself am as young as he is and have learned my lessons that talking is much easier than actually getting it done. Bynum needs to grow up and put the time into practicing or else he’s going to become a very talented undeveloped NBA player.

Jordan Farmar - Jordan has done a great job. It’s very difficult to try and recommend something that a player can do when he already goes to the coaching staff on his own and asks all the questions. He has met with Phil Jackson and requested that he be told what he needs to do in order to play more minutes. Jordan had knee surgery just a week ago so I feel that the only thing to recommend for the upcoming year is good health and a speedy and full recovery. Farmar has amazing talent that I would love to see develop over the next couple years.

Derek Fisher – Fisher has always been a consistent player. You can always count on him to make his shots at the free throw line and you can always count on him to tell his teammates where to be at what times. Many people have taken Fisher for granted and are always complaining. He is a great player. The only thing that I would criticize and ask that he works on is finding the right times to take the jump shot. Fisher’s strategy for determining how good of a shooting game he will be having is by launching up a deep 20 or so foot jump shot early in the shot clock within the first few plays of the game. Is this really necessary? Hopefully Fisher realizes that he shoots better when the play develops and he’s left wide open for the dagger three pointer!

Pau Gasol - GET MAD PAU. Gasol has become a lot stronger this year and has finally realized that he’s going to have to body up and play hardcore ball in order to compete with some of the guys in the league. But perhaps its time to take it to the next level. I, just like many other fans, would like to see at least one ferocious dunk over someone such as Kevin Garnett. Just post up about 5 feet from the basket, back a guy in, take one step to the left, bunny hop once, and slam it down with two hands. Make the crowd go crazy over how ridiculously big the dunk was. PLEASE, just once!

DJ Mbenga - I wish there was some advice to give you, but all there really is to say is keep working hard in practice and the playing time will eventualy come. Give Bynum a run for his money and perhaps he’ll finally start working harder as well.

Chris Mihm - See above portion labeled “DJ Mbenga” + stop fouling so much when you’re in the game!

Lamar Odom - I naturally have my issues with Lamar because I feel like his abilties are endless, his talent is riduclous, but his basketball IQ is sad and pathetic. I’ve never seen a guy make so many bad decisions in a single game. Full court passes that go too long. Full court passes that get picked off. Random three pointers that cling off the rim. Gorgeous drives to the basket down the right side of the paint and then a left handed lay up that gets blocked. So all I say is this, play smarter. Make better decisions on the court and stop trying to play flashy, just learn to play to win. Rack up the assists and the rebounds. LAMAR, YOU SHOULD BE AVERAGING A TRIPLE-DOUBLE!!

Josh Powell - Powell has done a great job in his time playing for the Lakers. It has been a pleasure having him take the spot of Ronny Turiaf. The shot is looking great and the intensity is definitely there. Keep your head up and stay focused on the long term goal. There is a lot of potential for this team and Powell has the chance to be a part of something really special as the coach’s confidence in playing him will continue to increase. Rebounding intensity, passing inside out, and consistent free throw shooting are great places to start.

Vladimir Radmanovic - DEFENSE. What else is there to say. Continue working on the defensive end and more playing time will come. Also, Luke Walton’s advantage is his good decision making on the court. It seems like Radman never truly got a grasp of the triangle offense. The nice part is the fact that his shooting is looking damn good this season and I’d like to see him continue to bury the three as often as possible. Vlad needs to continue to improve his passing abilities as well as overall focus on the court.

Sasha Vujacic - The Machine has really evolved into a great player over the years and the salary that he recently collected is just the first line of evidence. Now that Jordan Farmar is out of the picture for about two months, Vujacic has a chance to take over and make something really big of himself. Sasha came to the Lakers as a point guard and has slowly become more of a two guard and small forward. I’d like to see Sasha show off his passing abiliites as he will be given plenty of playing time at the point guard position. Continue dropping the jump shot when it’s there, but passing will truly prove to make Sasha a star.

Luke Walton - Walton has recently taken over the starting small forward spot on this team and has played great. His passing is beautiful as always and rebounding is solid. I would like to see Luke continue working on his jump shot. He was shooting great two years ago and has slowly seen a decline in his shooting percentage. Perhaps some more time in the practice facility taking jump shots is all it’s going to take.

Sun Yue – See above labeled portion “DJ Mbenga” – second sentence.