Archive for November, 2010

If there is one area of alarming concern in the early stages of this season for the Los Angeles Lakers it is their defense or lack thereof. Sunday night’s 121-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns has exposed the Lake Show like Pee Wee Herman in an adult cinema. The defensive intensity that willed them to victory in Game 7 against the Celtics has disappeared in the first month of the NBA season. Gone like Sasha Vujacic’s playing time with only occasional moments of inspired play, this team must recommit to playing D.   Stu Lantz called it in the first quarter [...]

Just call him the Milestone Man. It’s crazy to think that we’re working on 15 years of Kobe Bryant balling in a Laker uniform. What’s even crazier is that we’re at that point where with every touch Kobe is just a touch away from history. Last night in Denver, Mamba moved into the NBA record book by becoming the youngest player to ever hit the 26k mark in points scored. At 32 years and 80 days, Bryant is the 8th fastest to drop 26,000 accomplishing the feat in 1,030 career games. Brian Kamenetzky of Land O’Lakers breaks down Kobe’s latest accomplishment while [...]

There is more to Shannon Brown than dunking. He let us all know that at the dunk contest last year. Come to think of it, doesn’t it feel like he tanked on purpose at All-Star weekend? As if he’s ashamed of his ability to get off the floor in Vince Cater time and throw it down with Dominique Wilkins attitude. To be sure, Shannon’s game has expanded during his time in a Laker uniform. How much PT Sasha Vujacic gets these days is a testament to that. Shannon’s D, his shot and composure are traits that could have him in [...]

To quote D-Wade, “Sorry to everyone who thought we were going to go 82-0”. There is a reason why Phil Jackson chose today to announce he doesn’t think his team has a chance to best his Bulls and their record 72 wins this season. Though PJ picking Miami to accomplish the feat doesn’t seem very probable after tonight either. It is clear the Lakers still have work to do if they want to win even 62 and get a sniff of homecourt in the postseason. After stubbing their toes yet still lucking into a win against Minnesota, the writing was on [...]

Derek Fisher didn’t mince words after the Lakers repeatedly hit the snooze during their weak win over the Wolves the other night. No disrespect to Minnesota. Kurt Rambis had his crew ready to play that night. But when a team that’s been getting beat worse than Brock Lesnar by Cain Velasquez turns it over 25 times and still has a chance to win then it’s clear that there was no urgency to play like champs. Tonight the curtain goes up on the Lake Show’s first appearance in Denver. Hopefully Fisher’s words are still ringing in the Lakers’ ears. Despite all [...]

Already an icon of the NBA, Jerry West will soon have an iconic representation of his likeness outside of Staples Center. News broke today that the Lakers will honor West by unveiling his statue during the NBA All-Star weekend ceremonies in February. West will join Magic Johnson, Chick Hearn, Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya as members of the Staples Statue Club. (I’m still trying to wrap my head around the De La Hoya statue…someone please explain this one to me.) As Kobe Bryant has already said, “It’s about time.” One could argue that West has been the most [...]

Let me be the first to get a bite of this crow. Yeah, I buried Kurt Rambis and his T-Wolves before the opening tip. Credit where credit is due, Rambis had his men ready play while Phil Jackson and his squad were lucky to win. The Lakers won this game on championship mettle alone. The Timberwolves and their 25 turnovers gifted this ugly 99-94 victory to Los Angeles. Once again the Lake Show is sorely missing Andrew Bynum. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until guys like Kevin Love stop dropping 23 and pulling down 24 against [...]

Forbes.com reports that Lamar Odom has filed suit against the Internal Revenue Service for slapping him with an $87,000 bill over $180,000 in tax deductions. In question are $12,000 worth of fines paid by LO and another $178,000 in “sports fitness fees”. Yeah, you read right. Odom is writing off his league and team sanctioned fines in addition to his yoga instructor. Ok, so specifically we don’t know what exactly Odom deems to be “fitness” related but I’m guessing there is some sort of specialty instructor or diet guru involved in this somehow. What is also unclear is what Lamar [...]

I hate to do this to Kurt Rambis. With the rest of the NBA piling on the Minnesota Timberwolves faster than a drunken and half naked Megan Fox at a frat house, it doesn’t feel right that this should be coming from the best team in the league. Playing the bully role has never been Lake Show style. We’ll leave that to Kevin Garnett and his tasteless trash talk. But given the history between Rambis and the Laker organization it is hard to ignore this elephant in the room. When Rambis abandoned ship for the chance to take the helm [...]

This was a champion’s response. On Friday night the Lakers looked lucky to win during a strange victory over the Toronto Raptors. Come Sunday night, the Lakers were all business making quick work of the Portland Trailblazers in a never in doubt 121-96 W. The dominating defense that seemingly had disappeared between now and Game 7 of the NBA Finals reappeared Sunday.  Ron Artest set the tone by smothering Brandon Roy, holding the Blazers leading scorer to just 8 points on 1 of 6 shooting. Not to be forgotten, rebounding is a big part of the defensive puzzle and the [...]