Extra! Extra! (11.22)

Hope Turiaf gets well and comes back soon. We need all the help we can get. Speaking of help, there is a poll where you can vote on who the Lakers should bring in to upgrade the offense. The choices are MJ, Sprewell, Kevin Garnett, and OH,Yeah.....Dennis Rodman. Go vote at lakers.topbuzz.com and come back here to discuss the Lakers options. The blog writers here should do an article just on this subject. We need to do something. But What?

Never saw Turiaf play, but in his eyes he has more competitivity than Kwame and Lamar toghether.

Even Sasha has best attitude.

Forget about Horace and Scottie..but we still have Kobe.

Andrew and Brian,

Since nobody has given an accurate analysis on the Lakers' problem, allow me. Laker fans don't seem to know how to properly evaluate cause-and-effect. Case in point: blaming Kobe for his shot count. The reason the rest of the team is not effective is NOT because Kobe shoots a lot, but rather Kobe shoots a lot because his teammates are not effective. Watch the games, and in the first half, Kobe mostly shoots during the last portion of the shot clock. And by the second half, his takeover instinct (that everybody hates) is the best (and only) chance they've got. Why? Because nobody else is aggressive enough to shoot when open or to create.

The ball goes around like a hot potato until Kobe gets it, and what other choice does he have? Pass it to Smush with 5 seconds on the clock? Smush is shooting 34% the last five games. Is everybody watching the same games? Kobe is your only weapon, and you want him to pass to guys who won't shoot or who take awkward shots? How many PF's (who live near the paint) shoot 40% (hello Kwame). Lamar shot the ball a whopping 4 times Sunday. And you blame Kobe? Please. Since 2000, Devean hasn't shot better than 41%, and is currently at 40. Somebody please explain why this is Kobe's fault. Laker fans you are so funny to me.

Isn't it obvious that the problem is that the Lakers' ability to judge talent is seriously lacking? In the last five years, the Lakers only pick up these one-dimensional players which then gives you a team full of liabilities. Look around the league.... even at some of the bench players around the league. They aren't stars, but they CAN shoot, are aggressive about it, CAN defend, are creative around the basket.... i can go on.

Why isn't it obvious in this town that the Lakers' judgement of talent is THE PROBLEM? And Jerry Buss' loyalty to Mitch Kupchak despite the performance of his picks in the past 5 years is evident (and suspect)? And because people need somebody to blame, Kobe is all you have, because somehow you believe Mitch that these players will BECOME good players. We pretty much need 5 "most improved players" in order to just make the playoffs. I thought you picked players based on what they COULD DO, not what you HOPE they can later LEARN how to do. This isn't college!!! These are professionals, and we have a team full of projects (and Bynum is more poised than all of them). I'm sure they're great people, but when you have a team where nobody 3 through 12 (or 2 - 12 depending on the state of the Odom Watch) would be attractive to other teams in a trade (except for contracts), how much more obvious can the problem be? Seriously. And we blame Kobe for shooting too much? Laughable.

The GM position seems to be the most impactful yet most protected position in the league. Can anyone name one move Mr. Kupchak (who I'm sure is a great guy) has made in the last five years that has paid off or at least been marginally impressive? Here's a cheat sheet... http://www.hoopshype.com/general_managers/mitch_kupchak.htm

Andrew and Brian, please help me restore order and logic to the Laker world!

Well said Will.

I`m Down with you Will, I`m starting to have second tought about Phil as well; Can someone "EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT IS THE ROLE OF NBA COACH" because I just can take it any more, beside Kobe I don`t see anyone that want to win on this Lakers team, this a NBA team and we are talking about NBA players, Please anybody Hello?

You hit it right on the $$ Will. We need to get a new GM and maybe even a new owner that is willing to spend some $$. I personally think Buss Ran West out of here because he did not want to spend the $$ to get the right players in here. It looks like Buss wants to bargain shop for players, he is always looking for the poor man's version of a superstar instead of the Star himself. Other than Kobe who is is paying with talent???

Andew and Brian you guys are right on point.
How can the Lakers expect to compete with anybody when they don't have much talent. And that basically comes down to Mitch and Jerry. They're the one's making all the personal decisions. The Lakers do not have one agressive player on their team who can create his own shot, except for #8. I really believe Smush can, but he seems to intimidated. Maybe he feels like he'll be in the dog house if he tries some creative stuff and it dosen't work out, (because that can happen). But I think that they deffinately need some more talent on this team. Someone who can create something for himself and others. One thing that I've noticed is that when Kobe is in transition he'll pull up, and just before he releases his shot, you can usually see 1 or 2 Lakers open. And you know this by the 3 deffenders hanging all over him. I don't know if he dosen't want to pass it, or maybe he's passed out in the past and the shot wasn't hit, or maybe he's passed out and the shot wasn't taken but it seems that in that position the other Lakers need to recieve that pass. Maybe I'm wrong. Laker fans let me know about that one, please. Basically other than Kobe, Lamar and Smush seem to be the only other Lakers capable of creating for themselves. Let them have a chance, I want to see 1 game where they're given the opportunity, without criticism and let's see what happens.
Laker fans let me know what you think.
Am I off base with this theory.

Fire GM Kupupchuck! On that above mentioned site where there is a poll on which player the Lakers should bring in, there is also an article about firing Kupcake. Go read it a lakers.topbuzz.com, but lets all come back here and make an issue of this on this blog. It would make a good feature article for the writers on this site. Lets go!

I thought the September 29th signing of Neil Yanke was very impressive.

Big Chill, I agree with ya. The posters here are having creative thoughts than Mitch cupcake. lakers GM post is not Kupchack's cup of tea. He should be fired immediately.

If KG leaves minnesota, I would rather want him to join Lakers or somewhere in the eastern conference. In KG goes to clips, then this Laker dynasty is definitely a train wreck and will be like Hawks forever. We still have time.. FIRE KUPCHACK...AND GET A REAL GM

Point well taken Will, However, it's been made ad-nauseum since this blog started.
Yeah-Yeah Kobe takes all the shots because everyone else is deferring to him or not taking open shots themselves
Yeah-Yeah M. Cupcake seriously lacks in the GM dept.
We know all that. But, what's the remedy? For some reason Buss hasn't shipped out the Cupcake and for some other reason guys think they can continue to always use Kobe as an outlet when they get into trouble with the pill.
What's the remedy? Not sure and Team playing together time.

Do not waste your time,the only solution is to fire Cupcake!!!.