Archive for December, 2011

Derek Fisher has been there by Kobe Bryant’s side for most of his career. The two men entered the league the same year and aside from Fisher’s stops in Oakland and Salt Lake City the two have been teammates for most of their pro days. Point being, whenever D-Fish shares an opinion on KB24 the world usually stops and listens. Few people know Bryant as well as Fish which is why his thoughts on Kobe’s wrist injury are particularly interesting if not obvious in some ways. Fisher thinks Kobe will play on Sunday despite his injury. He spelled that out [...]

You can never learn too much of an NBA team during the preseason. You know even less after a lockout shortened preseason. None the less, we only had a two game sample to learn as much as possible about the Los Angeles Lakers in the infancy of the Mike Brown era. Two losses to the Clippers revealed either everything or nothing at all of what the season holds for pro basketball in Los Angeles. Some patterns did emerge and some things look blatantly obvious for the upcoming regular season. One bet you can take to the bank is that no [...]

As if the Lakers didn’t need anymore obstacles thrown in their path to begin this hectic NBA season along comes news of Kobe Bryant dealing with a wrist injury. According to ESPN KB24 is sitting out tonight’s game against the Clippers and could be out for 3 to 4 weeks due to a torn ligament in his right wrist. Bryant sustained the injury in the first preseason swing versus the Clipps two days ago yet endured the pain to play on. An MRI today revealed the damage sustained to Bryant’s wrist. As of now no surgery is necessary but could be [...]

The collateral damage caused by the NBA lockout is already being felt throughout the league. Coaches are struggling with getting their teams prepared to play in a shortened preseason. Conditioning concerns are not limited to players that took it a little too easy during the extended offseason. Just ask Derek Fisher about that. Due to Fisher’s heavy involvement in the lockout negotiations his ability to remain in game shape was severely hindered. As a result Mike Brown held D-Fish out of the Lakers’ first preseason game. Unless Fisher tells Brown otherwise he’s likely to see his first and only action [...]

The Los Angeles Lakers are desperate for an upgrade at the point. How desperate are they? Well, until he agreed to terms with the Knicks Baron Davis was viewed as an improvement for the Lake Show. That is how dire the situation is. No disrespect to Steve Blake but he’s not the answer. If he is, I’d hope the question wasn’t “who will hold the fate of the Lakers’ season in his hands?” Last night Darius Morris got a chance to put his game on display thanks to Derek Fisher’s coach-mandated absence from the game. Forget trying to make the [...]

It might have been nothing more than a meaningless preseason but last night’s loss to the Clippers revealed much about the Lakers. It is painfully obvious that Kobe Bryant will again have to carry this team on his back. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are, without a doubt, the key to competing for a title. Still it is the burden of Bryant to get this team into position to compete. Last night looked a lot like the Lakers prior to Gasol’s arrival. It was the Kobe show instead of the Lake Show. We were barely three minutes into the preseason [...]

It might have been a meaningless preseason game forced into the schedule no thanks to the NBA lockout. No matter, the early returns on the Battle of Los Angeles are that the hoops monopoly in L.A. is over. This one was all Clippers as Chris Paul looked all too comfortable leading his new teammates to a convincing 114-95 win. On the other hand, the newer Lakers and older Lakers in new roles looked a little lost. Truth be told, the Lake Show hit some high notes in the first half but flamed out in third quarter as that is when [...]

Mike Brown needs to make his mark but he also must pay respect to the Lakers that have been there and done that. Such is the task of a coach trying to make his way in refocusing a former championship caliber team. One of Brown’s tasks is to figure out the best way to utilize a largely ineffective yet still valuable Derek Fisher. Thus far Coach Brown has remained steadfast in his belief of Fisher remaining a starter. Thus far that has yet to be seen and could remain that way until the regular season opens in one week on [...]

While we await Mitch Kupchak’s next blockbuster move (he’d better be working on one) the Lakers slowly are adding to their roster. Yesterday Troy Murphy became the newest Laker as the former Notre Dame big man inked a one-year contract with the Lake Show. Murphy is a vet known for his rebounding and nice mid range touch. Once upon a time Murphy averaged a double-double but has bounced around the league recently. With the recent signings of both Murphy and Josh McRoberts it is obvious that GM Mitch is trying to address depth on the low post in the wake [...]

If you stopped by LSL during the hiring process of Mike Brown then you know I was no fan of the move. Forget about the task of replacing Phil Jackson. I’m not even going to get into how Jim Buss mishandled the whole situation. My issues related to the obvious shortcomings Brown had in dealing with LeDiva in Cleveland and his hands-off approach. However it seemed that each and every person in Los Angeles that has come into contact with Coach Brown comes away being won over. When Kobe Bryant finally broke his long silence on his new coach the [...]