Archive for January, 2011

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of greatness calling and Pau Gasol is hitting the ‘ignore’ button on his smartphone. He began the year as an MVP candidate but lately Gasol is MIA. We’ve heard all the excuses. Kobe doesn’t share the rock. Pau needs more touches. The offense should work from the inside out. Enough! Sure, there are times when Gasol is frozen out of the offense as the Lakers inexplicably launch long range shots. But if you’re the second option on the two-time defending champs’ roster then you have a right to demand the ball. Pull Bryant [...]

Coach Nick shows you how the Celtics were able to win going away in Los Angeles this afternoon – Kobe isolations rack up all time scoring stats, but leave them short in the win department against true quality teams, like the Celtics.

This wasn’t a reality check. It was just another reminder. A reminder of just how impossible a task it is for these Lakers to three-peat. With everything to play for against the rival Celtics, only Kobe Bryant clocked in. In fact, Mamba was the first man in the arena this morning. His teammates never showed up though. Specifically, the bigs took Sunday afternoon off. In a game reminiscent of that ugly showing in the 2008 Finals, the Lakers cowered to the Celtics’ might. For good measure Kevin Garnett got bloody in the first quarter as if he was putting on [...]

These days it takes a twenty point deficit or a team above .500 to get the Lakers interested in basketball. Well, every Laker except Kobe Bryant at least. In a loss you could have seen coming from a mile away, the Lake Show rolled over and cowered to the rival Kings. Typical of this team they were more focused on the task that awaited them Sunday instead of the one that was right in front of them on Friday. Sacramento beat the Lakers at their own game by owning the paint. Grumpy rookie DeMarcus Cousins was a beast in the [...]

For the 13th straight year, Kobe Bryant is an NBA All-Star. In addition, Bryant received more votes than any other player. Mamba’s 13th successive trip puts him one behind former Lakers Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone for the most in league history. KB24 will play his 13th All-Star game for the second time in his city of residence as the festivities return to Staples this year. That infamous number 13 was also the pick in which Bryant was first drafted into the NBA. Of course he was quickly traded from Charlotte to L.A. and the rest is hoops [...]

Not that it comes as any surprise but Dr. Buss is sitting on a Purple and Gold mine. Yesterday Forbes released its annual franchise rankings for the NBA listing the Lakers as the second most valuable behind only the New York Knicks. This is really a two horse race when you look at the numbers. Forbes values the Knicks at $655-million with the Lakers just off the mark at $643-million. After these two there is a steep drop off with the Bulls third valued at $511-million. Other notable valuations are the differences between the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers. [...]

Whatever the Lakers caught in Denver they brought back to Los Angeles and let loose on Utah. This one was in the freezer and the Jell-O was jiggling before the light went out in the fridge. A season high in team field goal percentage and assists spelled certain doom for the Jazz as a focused effort on both offense and defense (take that Jerry West) led to a 120-91 victory. Nothing could go wrong for the Lake Show. Another balanced scoring attack proved again just how unbeatable this team is. More importantly, when they’re this efficient there is no hope [...]

Much has been made of the level of competition which the Lake Show has faced thus far this season. With the schedule ramping up, the number of teams above .500 will only increase starting tonight against Utah. But you can’t blame the schedule makers alone. After all, how did they know the Pacific Division would be as bad as it is? As it stands right now, the Lakers are the only team above .500 in the Pacific. Holding an 11 game lead over the second place Suns about sums it up. That and the fact that 4 of the 7 [...]

It wasn’t that long ago that depth at the frontline was a situation of dire straights for the Lake Show. Soon the opposite will be true as on Sunday Theo Ratliff nearly participated in a full practice for the first time since his knee surgery. While Ratliff’s return won’t signify much more than a new body in the rotation and a demotion to the D-League for Derrick Caracter, the veteran center does provide another defensive presence. Between Bynum, Gasol, Odom and Ratliff, the Lakers will have the length needed to compete with the bigger teams in the West. Looking much [...]

Beating the Denver Nuggets these days isn’t much to brag about. The franchise that has been referred to the “Lakers of the Rockies” is more like the “Zombies of the Rockies”. These Nuggets are the walking dead, a team whose locker room has been infected with a plague brought in by Carmelo Anthony. But for the Lake Show, they’ll take quality road wins any way they can get them. Last night they got a win by finally finding a healthy balance. Aside from Derek Fisher, who still must be waiting until June to shine, the rest of the starters were [...]