The youngsters have grown up

Yô! The Lakers are currently on a 4-game road trip in the East. They sweeped their season series with Chicago two days ago 103-91 and will face LeBron James (seriously the others don't matter) tonight.
The Bulls were shooting a better percentage - led by a stellar Luol Deng - and did a pretty good job guarding Bryant (rejected twice! haha!) and Bynum (thrice!!!!!).

Still, how did they lose?

Well, they forgot this Sasha guy - aka The Machine aka The Face - could make long range jumpers! He's got a team high 19 off the bench. In terms of PER (Player Efficiency Rating) Vujacic is the 3rd "best" Laker. Can you believe that??
Moreover, the Lakers DOMINATED down low (17 off reb). Odom grabbed NINE boards in the 1st qt alone, and Ben Wallace was out-rebounded by... Farmar.
They were consistently pushing the ball inside, looking for high percentage shots, drawing fouls... And it paid! 23-28 from the charity stripes to a laughable 12-17 for Chicago.
Last but not least, great execution. 29 ast despite poor shooting, 6 players in double figures and only 11 turnovers.

"As eye-popping as Kobe's numbers are," said Scott Skiles "the reason they have the record they do is because all the other guys are playing well. They were second in the league in bench points, that means other guys are doing well. They have been able to get contributions from a lot of people."
more quotes

Not only "the other guys are playing well", they're doing it on a regular basis. Something Lakers fans (and Kobe) have been longing for years!! Bynum is becoming the best true center in the league not named Dwight or Ming! Farmar's averaging 9 ppg in only 20 min. Sasha's numbers are up as well. Ariza's making up for Walton and Radman's lack of athleticism and defensive skills... And it'll only get better and better.

We've passed the 1st quarter of the season and the Lakers are 15-9 - that's 3 games behind San Antonio, baby - despite having one of the toughest schedules! They're third in Hollinger's power rankings just behind the C's and Detroit. If everyone stays healthy, believe me, this team have a shot to the Finals.

Why not? Even Hollinger's Payoffs odds say so!

Now, let's end this in the words of The Machine:
"WE CAN WIN ANYBODY!" :D