andrew bynum

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 [...]

The city of Los Angeles has made an official All-Star takeover. Today the starting five was announced for each conference. Let’s just say the Western Conference has a true West Coast flavor. Of the five starters for the West four play in the City of Angels. Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum are signifying the purple and gold while Chris Paul and Blake Griffin rep that other team in Los Angeles. For Kobe this will be his 14th trip to the All-Star game. For Bynum this marks his first and also sees one of his goals accomplished for the season. Drew [...]

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. [...]

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 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 [...]

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 [...]

The standings reflect exactly what the 2011-12 Los Angeles Lakers truly are. Currently they’re on the outside looking in for the Western Conference playoffs. You can argue that it is early in the season but we’re nearly a third of the way through. You can throw out hypothetical scenarios but no title contender should have a road record worst than the dead last New Orleans Hornets. You can debate whether or not a blockbuster trade would turn things around but the reality is the current Lakers are destined for the NBA Lottery. When the Clippers landed Chris Paul they not [...]

While Mike Brown continues to toy with his rotation in hopes of finding the right combo to put more points on the board, he might be better served taking a page out of the Triangle when it comes to coaching Pau Gasol. For whatever reason Brown sees Gasol as your prototypical Euro big who would prefer to shoot twenty footers than catch the ball with one foot in the paint. In all his desire to make Andrew Bynum the focal point of the offense in the low post Brown has left Gasol out on the perimeter. While Pau has never [...]