Lakers

One of the goals for the Lake Show on this Grammy road trip is to find an identity. Tonight’s 93-89 grinder in Denver might have proved the recipe for success. Step one is to get Andrew Bynum involved early and often. When Drew is getting touches in the paint early the offense opens up late. Clearly Mike Brown sent a message to this team that the offense starts from the inside-out. The Lakers controlled the tempo by getting Bynum going. Drew dropped 15 of his team-best 22 in the first half on his way to the 12th double-double of the [...]

Never mind the opponent. Forget about the circumstances. The facts are all that matters. This NBA schedule is brutal and hectic. That applies for every team this season. Still, there is no excuse whatsoever for the Lake Show to have posted just 2 wins in 9 road games this season. No matter the reason for their road woes the Lakers need to find a fix now. Playing this way outside of Staples will guarantee an early exit from the playoffs if this team even makes it into the NBA title tournament. With the Grammys set to take over Downtown L.A. [...]

Steve Blake has been given medical clearance to begin running on a treadmill. While not earth shattering news it is one step on the road to recovery. Currently rookie Andrew Goudelock is looking more and more comfortable in his expanded role since Blake’s rib injury back on January 10th. As it stands there is no definitive timetable for Blake’s return. Initially the Lakers thought this would be a three to four week process. If that still holds true Blake could be back in a matter of days. However that seems highly unlikely if he’s only now been given clearance to [...]

With the way the Charlotte Bobcats have owned the Los Angeles Lakers in recent years you never take these contests lightly. With the Cats sporting the worst record in the league and the Lake Show getting ready to hit the road for their longest trip of the year, this one had trap written all over it. Luckily for the Lakers it was opposite night at Staples. Normally the Lakers struggle on offense and can’t buy a bucket from deep. 12 of 26 from deep and a 106 point explosion were anything but the norm. But that’s what happened tonight. Normally [...]

Winning ugly is becoming the norm for the Lake Show. Winning on the road, however, is rare. So you’ll excuse me if I overlook the fact that the Lakers gave away an 18 point lead in the second half, were dominated on the boards and were completely outhustled by the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight. Any type of win on the road is a good win for the Lakers this year. Somehow the Lakers survived a hungry Wolves team that looked unlikely to lose once they got rolling in the third quarter. These are not your Kurt Rambis T-Wolves. This group has [...]

With the Lakers in Minnesota playing the second game of a back-to-back road swing there was one minor surprise as the game began. Mike Brown inserted Metta World Peace into the starting lineup for the first time this season. MWP replaces Matt Barnes at the small forward spot. Mike Trudell reported that Coach Brown didn’t give a specific reason for the change. One can assume that the move comes as a result of Metta’s inconsistent play off the bench and is, perhaps, an admission that the 6th man experiment is over. Having shown some of that old school Ron Artest [...]

With each game they play away from Staples Center the flaws that will prevent the Lakers from competing for an NBA title become crystal clear. Tonight’s 100-89 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks was just the latest entry into the Lakers’ book on looking lousy on the road. Without a stellar showing on defense the Lake Show has no chance to find victory. This is true no matter where they play. But when a team with depth, like Milwaukee, is on its game then there is no chance. Mike Brown’s offense just can’t produce enough to keep up with teams that [...]

Metta World Peace is the type that needs constant stimulation to keep his interests afloat. When he first came to Los Angeles you could see how seriously he took to his role of team enforcer. In his early Laker days the then Ron Artest was a defensive dynamo harassing opponents into careless mistakes. Eventually that energy disappeared into the vast void of the triangle offense as Laker fans saw little from Ron Ron until it mattered most in the playoffs. Perhaps it was championship hangover but Ron’s second year was a complete wash. He contributed little on offense, was largely [...]

Remember that scene in Bad Boys where Martin Lawrence whips Will Smith’s Porsche like Mario Andretti? After riding Lawrence’s character for driving like a tourist on Hollywood Boulevard for most of the flick, Smith screams with adulation “from now on that’s how you drive!” as Lawrence pilots the heroic duo to a climatic defeat of the villain. Well, there were no explosions inside Staples that normally accompany any Michael Bay film but there were some serious fireworks in the form of intensity. After seeing the Lake Show battle until the last second of the game, going toe-to-toe with the rival [...]

Look, I know you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. I’ve been told that a tiger can’t change its stripes. So why, after years of begging for it to happen, would Pau Gasol all of a sudden become a more demanding ball player? We’ve heard all the critiques of Gasol’s soft game. We’ve seen him dominate and we’ve seen him disappear. Well, I’m here to say that if Gasol doesn’t start going for his every night then this season will be another massive letdown for the Lakers. In recent days Pau has finally spoke up about his role in the [...]