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My Eyes! My Eyes!

Did anybody else's feed of the game suddenly get so bright, it's like they're watching the game through a 1950 "nuclear fallout" special effect? Or is it just my TV... Except I have two, and they're both like that.

Of course, maybe the screen just had a violent reaction to Joel Przybilla's free throw form.

Enjoy the game.

AK

Comments

is anyone even guarding juan dixon...6-6 for 16 points

KILLER cross over by Smush!

thanks for opening up the shop, k bros!

we want cook! we want cook! we want the softiest big man in the west! (he shootin' them Js)

seriously, what is up with phil jackson's crackhead lineups? why does he keep a hot hand in the cooler? i'm not understanding some of his substitutions.

Well, I've been looking around today....has anyone heard news on Turiaff? I thought HIS deadline was today. Let me know.

BTW, which Portland team are we playing? We are making them look like contenders!!

wow ..20 points for dixon in the first half...their back court has kept pace with ours..and to add to our miseries...odom picked up 3 fouls....this is gonna be a tough one

Where the hell is the defense AT!? MY goodness

we got Cleveland tomorrow, goldenstate, and then Miami

Come on Lakers get your ACT TOGETHER!

This team is the 2nd worst team in the NBA! DOn't allow them to shoot over 50 percent MYGOODNESS

if the lakers lose this game, I will go irate and Be the incredible Hulk!!!!!!

TAke OUT THE EASY TEAMS AND COMPETE WITH THE HARD TEAMS!

AHHHHHH!

It's halftime. Kobe has 23. 8-15 from the field and I think two of them were forced 3's to beat the clock so that shouldn't really count. Good job so far. Let's go out and play some D and we'll be fine. If it's a close game towards the end of the 3rd, then Kobe might go for 50. If not, look for Kobe to get only 35-40 and get a very early rest.

I can't believe I'm going to be disappointed if Kobe only scores 35.

Who Still thinks Lakers going to win this game by the way?

If the Lakers continue to abandon their defense. this is going to be a very fun game without stops.

Points, Points, and more Points!

Lakers will pull this game off, don't forget we have the 8th Wonder of the World who owns the 4th quarters.

No they won't Lakers lost. Look at the defense they're playing. It's pathetic They deserve to lose. What a disgusting game. I don't feel like watching this nonsense anymore.
What a disappointing lost. Losing to the most pathetic team.

"Disgusting"

Drive it in Kobe!!! Drive it in!!!

Live by the 3, die by the 3!

CAN KOBE BRYANT STOP SHoOTING 3 POINTERS AND
JUST DRIVE IT IN AND DUNK OVER PEOPLE

BE PATIENT KOBE BE PATIENT!

SASHA I HATE YOU YOU ONLY MAKE THREES WHEN THE TEAM IS WINNING BUT WHEN THEY ARE DOWN YOU NEVER MAKE ANYTHING YOU SCARED PUPPY

The game isn't over but is anyone else tired of Kobe jacking up 3s? I'm glad he scored 45 in 4 consecutive games, but that's not how this team is going to win. That successful road trip and the few games after was a result of the whole team playing well. Since Miami Kobe is going his idiot mode where he shoots every time, takes like 10 3s takes 40 shots. What happens when Kobe gets hurt, or has an off night? Of course we lose, because we're not learning to play as a team.
Also wouldn't this team look a lot better with Granger, Butler, Atkins and maybe Earl Watskins instead of Bynum, Brown and McKie. Does anyone care that Mitch Kupchek is a disaster as GM. For Shaq the Lakers essentially less than two years after the fact got Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown and Laron Profit. Brilliant.

pathetic

an absolutely pathetic showing ... 20 points for ruben patterson!?!!?!? OFF THE BENCH!?!?

17 for a dude named blake? pathetic

Give up this many points and O-rebounds to these clowns and you deserve to lose. Lakers need to learn that they are not good enough to take ANYONE lightly. They are better, but without working hard on the defensive end, they will lose to the worst team in the NBA (like tonight). How many times tonight did the interior guys just stand around flatfooted on the defensive boards?

what a pathetic loss tonight!

At least HE got 41.

Hi everybody,

This Kobe Bryant's cousin again. I just got off the phone with him. He apologizes for playing such poor defense in the beginning of the game against Dixon, Blake, and Jack. He sagged off and let them have open looks. He apologizes for letting those 3 players build their confidence in their shot.

He admitted he was thinking about the 45 pt. game streak. He will try not to yell "Hey, Hey, Hey" everytime down the court asking for the ball. He will try not to throw a tantrum in the huddle if his teammates don't pass him the ball.

But he is happy that his 40 pt. game streak is alive and well at 5 games. He thinks he will be able to score 40+ pts for 20 straight games. It will break his previous record of 9 straight games with 40 or more points in a game.

He is also happy that he will get to play on national tv tomorrow night against the Cavs. He will show everybody that he can score 60 pts tomorrow night. He will show everybody that he is a better team player than Lebron. But the Lakers might lose. But who cares.

Kobe's #1 cousin,

Colby Brian

DEFENSE WAS HORRIBLE...Kobe is starting to take too many 3's, he has to realize when he's not shooting well at the 3 to take it to the hole. I guess that's the bad with the good.

Play by Play on Yahoo is the closest i got to seeing todays game in Australia.
Man am i disappointed. What a wasted opportunity.
5 players score 10+ and still cant beat these guys!

From my observations the D sucked (POR 52.4%)
Sasha played WAY too much (I forgot why people been praising him - he stinks)
Why did Kwame only play 19 mins? Is he OK
Kobe shot too many 3's. He should have been dunkin on the "Kobe Stopper"

What did I tell you Laker fans.

I told you before this portland game that the Lakers will lose. ONce again, Kobe Bryant sucks. Can someone tell him to stop ball hogging. damn ball hogger. Why is it so complicated to get that through his head. PASS THE BALL PleaSE. Kobe is an arrogant basketball player. Kobe Bryant is also a stupid basketball. And you all know it. Don't deny it. If you watched the Portland game. 5 mins left and kobe starts launching three pointers from 30 feet. Kobe Bryant did not played defense at all. THat was the reason why L.A. lost. Someone sink it to his head. He's not JOrdan. Someone please, Jordan shot Over 535 Percent field goal. Kobe 441%. He is NOT JOrdan. Laker fans Laker fans I bet you are crying right now the Lakers played with no defense. and you people still think their good? look at their defense it's pathetic. and kobe couldn't guard Dixon. He couldn't guard Ruben Patterson. All he did was foul them. Kobe Kobe Kobe when will you learn that there is no I in team. The lakers will get no where if they don't contain the other team but more contain, Kobe Bryant from shooting.

Lakers lost was due to Kobe's Stupidity, Lacking of Defense and ball hogging ways.

Dear Kobe,

The Diesel is in the house! After beating the Warriors, I decided to log on and see what is happening. Kobe, I hate you. You think you are so good. Kobe, I'm glad that your team lost tonight. Why? because Kobe, once again you take half of your team's Field Goals Attempts. Kobe, When will you learn, that I hate you and that you can't do everything yourself? Shaq-fu!

,Shaquille O'Neal

Well... just goes to show you what statistics can do for you... Kobe went for over the golden 41%... and they ended up with an L.


Ok I strongly believe that this lost will

result in the First lost for the Next Lakers Future
4-game Losing Streak.
Lakers, sigh, a game they should have annhilated the opposing team but it was the opposite story with the jailblazers.

Lakers Next 3 game forecast:

Cleveland = Lost

Following:
Golden State Warriors =Lost

Following:
Miami = Lost

Look at the standings and look at the Lakers a week from now:

18-20 L-4

COCK A ROACHESSSS, WHERE ARE YOUUUU?

OOH! I saw one scamper across the floor!

Live by the KOBE, Die by the KOBE.

I'm down.

Terrible game! But we win some, we lose some. If San Antonio lost to the Hornets and the Heat to the Raptors, why not us? This should serve as a wake up call and hopefully we'll be able to bounce back and get ready for tomorrows game.

GO LAKERS!!!

HULK SMASH!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'M BECOMING THE INCREDIBLE HULK!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH! MUST DESTROY!!!! MUST ANNHILATE!!!!
HULK ANGRY AT THE LAKERS HULK ANGRY AT KOBE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! HULK SMASH HULK SMASH!

HULK SMASH TV!

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to say: blame it on the rain. It's like when the Lakers went down 0-2 against the Spurs in '04 . . . It's been raining hella hard over here in Portland. I guess it just didn't bode well for Kobe and Co.

It's not the end of the world, though. Terrible game for L.A., and a good game for a Blazer squad that got booed out of the Rose Garden in the last game. Our coach was out of his wits - he must have cursed out every Blazer in sight these last couple of days. We also had one more day of rest than the Lakers - WITHOUT having to fly out here after a tough game (and a win!) against Indiana.

So it comes down to this: a Laker off-night happened to co-incide with a desperate home team trying to hold on to its remaining 5 fans. I guess that's a good lesson to learn when you're visiting a team that's down after a long history of making the playoffs. For the Blazers, it's a reason to cheer in what has been (and will be) a very sad season overall. For the Lakers, it's a tough loss but nothing that can't be fixed.

If this helps Kobe and the Gang play smarter and go on to beat the Cavs and Heat, then it's not bad at all. Think of it this way: If you knew ahead of time that the Lakers would lose to either the Blazers on January 11th, or to Miami on the 16th, which would you want them to win more? They need to forget this loss and take care of the Fattie and the Wannabe on Monday.

Time for some after-Christmas revenge, no? Kobe will be fired up as usual, Lamar will be itchin' to tear a glove, and maybe Cookie can lay on some nice jumpers once again. A word of advice for Lamar: if you're gonna flail blindly at the wind, make sure your fingers don't hit your own top scorer in the eye.

Hi everybody,

This is Colby Brian's cousin. I just got off the phone with him. Most of our family doesn't talk to him anymore because of his lack of communication skills. He apologizes for being a presumptious moron, and for pretending he knows what goes on in other people's heads, especially that of our cousin Kobe Bryant.

Colby has a miserable life, and he likes to draw comparisons to the mean people who won't pick him to play pickup basketball and Kobe Bryant. Because we never pass him the ball, he developed a complex, I guess. But even his dad, my uncle, wouldn't pass Colby the ball.

Again, he apologizes for putting words and thought into other people's mouth and minds, and he promise to try better next time. Despite his mental and emotional struggles, we still love him.

Colby's #1 cousin,

Coby Bryan

What was that about? Mediocre to inadequate NBA fodder shoot lights out just against the Lakers? We used to defend, what the f(*&(*^????? Not good. IT IS sink or swim now. We've wasted 2 against Utah and now Portland, we have to suck it up tomorrow and find a way to win, forget the subplots, we need wins to stack up. The rest will take care of itself.

Now that we lost to Portland, the gate has opened for Laker/Kobe haters. But in the end, we (the Lakers and fans)will prevail.

In an earlier comment, I accused Lamar of hitting Kobe in the eye in the 4th. But according to the AP story which came out a couple minutes later, it says Ruben was responsible.

The foul was called on Ruben, but I thought the replay showed Lamar inadvertently hitting Kobe from behind. I saw Ruben make body contact, but also what looked like Lamar's hand wrapping around Kobe's face. Can someone please clear this up?

My apologies to Lamar if I have made a mistake.

I don't care if Kobe stacks up 45+ points or 40's 50's

it doesn't matter I want wins STATS DON'T MEAN SHYT!

KOBE KOBE KOBE, AS AMAZING AS YOU ARE, Can you explain to us diehard lakers fans why did you decide to launch so many threes when you could have just taken it to the rim when there was 4-5 minutes left. I don't understand Kobe.

AS LAKER FANS, WE WANT WINS, WE WANT WINS, WE WANT WINS!

WE DON'T CARE ABOUT STATS !
WE NEED WINS! TO PROVE TO THE REST OF THE LEAGUE THAT WE ARE BACK IN COMPETING FORM FOR THAT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE!

"Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this weblog until the author has approved them."

AK AND BK, I LOVE the way you guys follow that guideline up there =| I can't believe you guys allow "Official Number 1 Kobe Hater" and "Shaq" to post their comments =|

I speak for everyone in this blog;
One word to describe tonight's game.

"Pathetic"

Marco,

As BK and I have said before many times, the only things we screen for are obscenities, sexually explicit material and libelous statements. Otherwise, everything goes, even if it's something 99% of you will find idiotic. Occasionally, pro-Laker comments get submitted that (purple and gold rooting aside) you know, deep down, are otherwise pretty inane. We put those up, too. Fair is fair.

Just ignore them.

AK

I speak for everyone in this blog;
One word to describe Kobe Bryant tonight.

"Stupid"

I speak for everyone in this blog;
One word to describe us tonight.

"Irate"

Why did we go into the season with Smush Parker and Sasha as our point guards? Why does Kobe never pass the ball to Lamar Odom? Why is Kobe on pace to shoot more than anyone in the history of the NBA, topping Wilt Chamberlin, when Kobe is shooting less than 45%? Is Rudy T coaching the team again? Was Kobe kidnapped by Chucky Atkins? Why did Mitch draft Andrew Bynum over Danny Granger, and why is he refusing to offer Bynum in a deal for Artest?


The team has overachieved to this point, Kobe has at points played out of his mind, which is good enough for....ding ding ding, 18-17. PASS THE BALL KOBE. Kobe hasn't learned a thing, except that shooting a lot nets you a lot of points. Really only when you take it the whole.

Fellow Laker Faithful! We lost a gimmee tonight and the truth is there are no gimmee's! Thank God for Kobe keeping it close, these guys are just nowhere without him.

The Blog action tonight is indeed needing a new dimension like if your blog gets flagged by 3 you are gone! works on a few other sites,...whatever. The big OCHO was cold when it counted and a few others were not able to find the hole in a place where he team was absolutely desperate to win one. Another lesson in -Never forget the little guy! You know old Ruben wants to have a big game everytime Kobe comes to town and man he did!

I am amazed at Phils lack of control or at least the suggestion of taking the ball to the hole as KB8 lost his legs. It was bound to happen I just hope we can come out of this next few games with some team esteem. Kobe is going to either grow up and be a better player or end up alienating a lot of other teamates that would do better if he served them up some dishes after driving in and having an entire team collapse on him defensively. The guy who needs to talk to this kid every other night is Magic and whatever happened to these guys calling up Jordan and asking for some advice- OH NO not with these egos.

Some of these bloggers are just silly, The Lakers will get better and we will suffer for a few years but for now have your fun I guess- Jordan shot 50% and sucked at 3's so come on get a grip its about winning. Phil isn't chastizing Kobe and no one else really can deliver on this team so whatta ya expect. Kobe and the Lakers will win a championship again before the Heat- thats what I think. Shaq is almost done, overweight again always another injury and can't even jump...Kobe is just getting to his prime, and Jerry Buss is clearing cap room. You do the math, if you can.

Another vintage performance from Kwame 4 ppg and 4 reb in 19 minutes.
Meanwhile Caron Butler had 14ppg and 3 reb in 24 minutes.
Kupchak is an idiot !

What's that I hear? Ronny T. sat with Kupchak and Jim Buss at the Portland game? Ronny T. is so loyal to the Purple and Gold that he'll take lower pay to sign with 'em?

Sounds good to me. Help us out Ronny, we're going to need some o' that famous energy. Lay the whole heart scare to the side, say goodbye to them Yakima Sun Kings, and suit up as quick as you can.

I see almost everyone seems to think Ronny Turiaf will be a good pick up. Why ? Hes playing well in some minor league but thats different from playing in the NBA. He is a SECOND round draft pick yes ? How much impact can he have ?

Dont get me wrong. Id like for him to be part of the P&G. For reasons other than his play. Wanna hear your reasons ?

Well I am glad to hear the news that Kupchak and Jim Buss were there to at tleat court the young Turiaf! They need this kid and any new energy they can get, now they just have to convince Phil to play him!
Kobe lines up for how many 3's? the team goes four of 21 three-point attempts, Bryant only three of 13. But the guy has the balls to say "Play defense," said Bryant, who made 13 of 29 shots but just 3 of 13 from three-point range. "Don't stink it up on the defensive end or you will not win." which is true and Phil goes on about "When you have guards like Dixon and Blake basically having career nights, that really sets you on edge as a team," Jackson said. "That's not the thrust of their scoring. We didn't come out with the intent to play defense tonight."
Both those guys just plain shot the lights out!
AND THAT IS THE NBA or any other professional league! You have to respect every team, every night. The Lakers seem to lull themselves into a slow-motion offense because they aren't getting the ball and then of course they are asleep on Defense because they lack motivation to play the game.
Earth to Phil and Kobe, the whole team wants to win the game. No One wants to be on a team that doesn't find a place for them to score in the offense. This traingle needs to infuse some simple pick and rolls to make sure guys like Odom get some touches and also roll him down low to the hoop- where he needs to be! The triangle keeps sending these guys outside posting up for three's and no one is even trying to take anyone one on one other than Kobe. Now if a little one on one was even happening then the kick out three would be a better percentage shot, because more times than not the penetrating force would get fouled and be given 2 free throws! One stat that everyone did pretty well on last night! Drive the Ball and it opens up everything, especially when the 3 isn't going down. Just tired of seeing pathetic ball out of these guys, they can play so much better. Hope we see it against LeBron and the Cavs!

RS:

You ask for non-sentimental reasons to support Turiaf, and I fully understand. Unfortunately, I have never seen him play. I am sure others on here (who may have seen his games in the summer) will have more to say about the substantive meat-and-potato reasons to sign him.

Here are my 2 cents, though. A guy who went from Martinique to Paris to Gonzaga to the NBA draft, and then bounced back from open-heart surgery much sooner than expected, is a guy who quite possibly brings the kind of will-to-win attitude most of us love about No. 8.

The guy has a "Never Lose Faith" across his back - and he got that BEFORE ever finding out about the enlarged aortic root on his heart.

Never Lose Faith - does that sound like something Laker fans need to hear right now? Well - how about not only hearing it - but seeing it in action.

He would need to start slow on the playing time, but I am sure he would add to the positive mood on the team. With injuries aplenty, any big guy coming in would bring some help. And a guy who's truly gone the distance?

For less than 400k, Turiaf would play harder and faster than some of the millionaires on the squad who don't seem to quite grasp how important this team is to so many people. Take Kwame Brown, for example. I wish him the best of luck and think he's got potential. But most nights, he just doesn't get it. When he gets the ball, he's afraid to mess up. He doesn't think of what POSITIVES he can contribute to help the team. He's thinking of the most conservative thing he can do so that he's not the laughinstock of the pundits next morning.

Stats are good, but as Gene Hackman says in every movie he's been in, you also gotta have heart. Miles and miles of heart. Right? I think that's what Ronny T. would bring. He strikes me as a guy who would fight for every rebound and look to make a few buckets for all the right reasons.

As for playing well in some minor league...well, what do you think the Blazers are? They're a minor league team getting paid NBA salaries cause they happened to be selected by a terrible GM by the name of John Nash. Believe me, this guy's worse than Cupcake. There are guys in the minor league who play better than some NBA players and vice versa. With Ronny T. on the court last night instead of the courtside seats, I think that L would have been a W.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. On Turiaf's days with the Sun Kings for everyone's reading pleasure:

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/brian_meehan/index.ssf?/base/exclude/113677712046990.xml&coll=7&thispage=1

Kobe did pass the ball last night. The Lakers were flat out not making their shots. Some were stupid shots. Lamar took a few 3's that were stupid. Lamar, you are not Steve Kerr. Stop trying to develop your outside shot in games.

The other thing is that even though Kobe had 41, he had to work hard for them and at the sametime Portland made Kobe work on defense.

McMillan has a scheme against the Lakers that seems to give them trouble and it all starts with someone else guarding Kobe and then using Patterson as a second man defender when he starts driving.

This defense scheme was used in the Seattle days when McMillan was there. He did it with Payton and Patterson guarding him when Patterson was in Seattle.

I just have this feeling that the scheme slowed down Kobe and therefore his teammates had trouble feeding off his energy. Just a few thoughts.

What a pathetic showing!
What I see is a bunch of girly men playing basketball. This team, is way too soft, they just got punked. The couldn’t stop anyone, at anytime. They play scared.

Kobe was exhausted, he had no legs but he wasn’t smart enough to recognize that he had to take it to the hole and bank it on the Blazers, and stop jackin' up 3's.

The rest of the team is embarrassing, sissies if you ask me, no will, no heart, no basketball smarts. If Smush saw he could abuse his man he should have took it to him and to the hole more.

Phil, why wont you use all your weapons on the bench, if you see the starters playing so horribly why not look to the bench, if you want some bench scoring then darn it put the players in. They are rookies and way hungrier than the starters (Kobe excluded).

Mitch man if you don’t do what you have to do to get the two Ron's in Los Angeles we aint going to make it. I know it’s a rebuilding phase but can you see how they are playing? If this is a rebuilding then rebuild bring in the two Ron's. The will change the dynamic and mentality of this team. Like my friend; the HULK on this blog. They need to be destroyers and killers on the court the Ron's will bring that to the table every game. For one Ronny T has something to prove to all of us, and Ron A see's the error of his ways and wants to flat out play so he will be back with a vengeance. Everyone says he will destroy chemistry, after last nights game you can see there isn’t any chemistry. Just my two cents!

Go Lakers!!!

Its funny to me how we have so many flakie people on this blog, one minute you say that Kobe is the second coming of Jordan,and then because of a bad game by the team not just Kobe you are ready to throw him under the Laker team bus. This whole blog is full of some B/S fans haters.( THERE SOME THAT TRUE TO THE GAME) If your going to be a fan than be a fan if you going to be a hater than be a hater. Dont go back and forth!!!! They had a off night but Kobe is going to step up to the challenge and shut LJ down tonight watch. When he does we are going to go back to this post and pull your names out haters. You know who you are so be ready. Win or lose I will always be a LAKER JUNKIE!!!

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Andrew and Brian Kamenetzky
Andrew and Brian Kamenetzky are contributing writers to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, and co-authored Fishing on the Edge, the autobiography of 2003 Bassmaster Classic champion Mike Iaconelli, bass fishing's bad boy. While both grew up in St. Louis without NBA basketball, Andrew became a die hard Lakers fanatic after moving to L.A. to attend USC. That he managed to find a job requiring him to obsess over his favorite team, the same activity that prompted him to waste time while working other jobs, is pretty incredible. As for Brian, his baptism into pro hoops fandom has been provided by the "All Lakers, All The Time" citizens of Los Angeles. Beats the hell out of covering the Bucks.
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