The Good News: Kobe Bryant is the Youngest Player in NBA History to Score 18,000 points

If Kwame EVER had 11pts 16boards and 6blocks everyone would praise him. Its like the expectations are lower for Kwame then for Bynum, and Kwame is more experienced. I hope that Drew maintains a high amont of minutes when Kwame comes back.

It's like a baseball player hitters who reached the 500 hits, he topped also strike outs. I wonder how many turnovers did Kobe commit to reach 18,000 points? Undoubtedly, Kobe is a great player but tonight was a bad night for him.

I just hope they put all their frustrations controlled at bay and play well against SA. We were swept by Bobcats, why don't we sweep the Spurs? Is that possible?

Ak, was Kobe really complaining about the refs? Didn't we get almost twice as many calls as they did?

I'm surprised Phil was picking on Bynum in particular, I thought the problem started at the perimeter. Way too much penetration.

Disappointing.

pitiful.

this team finds new ways to disappoint.

oh yeah, congrats kob.

Michael A,

I didn't hear Kobe complain about the refs after the game, if that's what you're asking.

As for Bynum, another writer and I were talking after the game and we couldn't quite figure out what Phil was referring to, either. Neither of us recalled a ton of blatant lapses and he did get six blocks and bothered a few other shots. But then again, Phil's looking for stuff I wouldn't see. And like I wrote in the post, he noted how the lack of recognition was a team thing, even while singling out Andrew.

AK

I think it time to admit our players are too slow to pay defense. If Charlotte & New Orleans can do this to us imagine what Pheonix will do. We really need to go to a regular starting lineup with Farmer, Bryant, Odum, Turiaf & Brown. This lineup will at least make our team defense better. We are already seeing one of the better passing team with the triangle, but quicker younger teams are killing us.(Point guards salvate at the sight of Smush) Think about this we are beating a slow San Antonio team, a Dallas team that just about matches up with us, and a jazz team whom we play straight up against. The triangle works on offense because it doesn't need talented players in its system. But to be a good defensive team you need footspeed or a great defensive team mindset (Detroit, SanAntonio, Houston, even Utah somtimes, but they also have talent. We Have 4 talented players, Bryant, Odum, Turiaf & Bynum (but he is to young for the defensive side). As , we all know most of the players on the Lakers would not be in the NBA if it wasn't for the Lakers. I want this team to make the playoffs but Kupchack has to make some changes to this roster, we aren't going to be able to outscore many teams and other coaching staffs and players have figured this team out. (TAPES) Smush, WALTON, Cookie, Bynum (young), Radamonic, Farmer(young) aren't going to cut it on defense. And if our offense isn't working bigtime blowouts. So NO this IS NOT an ELITE Team. Defense wins in the playoffs, it's been proven over and over agin. I have been a Laker fan since Magic days and will always be, but it is time to be realistic about this team.

I thought Charlotte's defensive pressure this game was solid. They forced a lot of turnovers and Omeka Okafor had an impressive game on both ends causing us a lot of trouble by being a strong physical presence.

Still, we were only a few turnovers away from winning in regulation. Our shots just weren't really falling either--that's just how it goes some days. We really need to step up our game so we can win these types of games when a weaker team puts forth what is probably the best effort they're capable of.

Frustrating game to watch. Especially when I made a special trip to watch it at a bar like 30 minutes away.

How can you guys blame this game on Kobe. What kinda fans are you. The team played down to the level of their competition. One key problem were having is identifying a BIG TIME AKA RICK FOX AND SCOTTIE PIPPEN type of defensive stopper. Evans was signed to be that and was the reason we let D. George go. But Evans has given us the opposite great offensive and not enough lockdown defense. We can score thats not a problem.

AND YES TONI YOUR RIGHT. our biggest weakness is our pick and roll defense. Smush plays it horrible every single time and it really isnt just him all the time. BUT HE REACHES AND CHEATS WAY 2 much. and when he does that he gets our bigs in foul trouble and it breaks the defense down way to much. Smush has quick hands and lately had been playing better but he has to be more honest on the defense end. And we really need to pull Kobe off of the other teams best player. Until maybe the 4th quarter, he is exerting so much energy it is rediculious. Mo Evans is great but honestly we brought him in for his Defense and he has to start locking people down so we can move him on the #1 option on the other team, he has the potential to do that. And I still believe no one wants to play us in the playoffs especially the Suns, like last year they dont match well with us and Turiaf gives Amare problems because he bang bodies with him. And last year Sasha played Nash pretty well and now we have Mo Evans and Farmer to help out on him.

AND BY THE WAY....SHAME ON ALL OF YOU BANGWAGON FANS. EVERY TEAM LOSES GAMES, EVEN SOME QUESTIONABLE GAMES, BUT YOU NEVER TALK BAD OR TURN ON YOUR TEAM, WE HAVE TO SUPPORT THEM THROUGH THE GOOD AND THE BAD.

Thank you Toni... finally someone speaks the truth about Smush AND Walton!

Good Morning Bloggers!

When I got up this morning, I immediately went to my computer to check the score. I had reason to believe that I drank too much lastnight, passed out on the floor and begin to suddenly have a dream about the Lakers losing to the Bobcats at the Staples Center. .

But reality was faced this morning and the score held to be true. By the way, congratulations to Kobe for reaching the 18,000 point mark the fastest. But I agree with everyone else that Kobe had a terrible game. Maybe the worst he had this season. However, this is a Charlotte Bobcat team and have a hard time believing that Kobe's bad game was the excuse to this losing effort. Basically, we can beat this team without Kobe but lastnight, the team as a whole looked disinterested.

Lamar Odom started off slow but begin getting into the game a little later. I guess, I'll give him a pass since it was his first game back.

I personally think AB had a nice game. Remember he's still a kid and his ability to be out their in this league blocking shots and changing his opponents shot is great. So even though his game wasn't at his greatest overall, I feel more that his teamates let him down and not the other way around. Also, a side note, Andrew gonna break some records in his career as well, mark my words.

Lastnight, I asked AK or BK on the reasoning why Radmanovich didn't play. I still haven't got an answer and thats fine but it leads me to think that maybe the Lakers and Mitch Kupchak are trading the guy sometime soon. I didn't see a match up problem and I'm sure once Luke got hurt, we was going to see the Radman on the court. But the crickets continued to chirp in his head I guess.

But speaking of trades, I mentioned this lastnight in a more upsetting matter however I still feel that if this Laker team wants to contend this year, they need to make a change. I know that and I think we all can agree with it. I can understand having a bad game against a bad team but when you have this consistently happening, it pretty much leads to two things which were mentioned earlier.

The Lakers are bored with the triangle when using it against poor teams and the fact that teams having figured out the Lakers, period! Now, I may get jumped on for saying this, but maybe...just maybe Phil is mentally not in this anymore. I have observed some bad coaching lately in Phil and maybe he's hanging it up sooner than we all think. But heck, I'm a fan and I could be very wrong. But it also leads me to think that the Lakers maybe need a new style of play other than the triangle. Maybe the triangle is outdated in today's NBA or opposing teams have figured it out. Again, feel free to debate this however, keep the insults to a minimum, I had a very bad night last night!

Good day Laker Fans!

MAN DWADE GOT LIT UP FOR 52 by Jamal Crawford. Now lets see if the media pumps this up or try to ignore it to save Wade some face lol

Kobe 9 turnovers, wow! Maybe hes not as valuable as Steve Nash. Most of those turnovers are the result of bad decisions by Kobe, which Nash rarely makes. Personally, I would rather see Kobe shoot more than try to get open shots for the likes of Smush sucks (thats for you Zakee) , Sasha I get all my points in garbage time or luke.

I posted this yesterday AK still waiting for an answer

AK/BK I know there is a definate opinion on here that the lakers need to improve their defense, which I agree with if that means stopping penetration and reducing offensive rebounds, but my question is can you ask Phil what the lakers are doing to WORK on these things?

And I dont want to hear experience, how are specific THINGS in practice

Ron - I understand your frustration and share it but I don't think this is a matter of the triangle being outdated. Remember that 8 of our players are in only their first or second season with the Lakers... they're doing a pretty good job of assimilating the system this quickly but they have a long ways to go with it.

I think the real issue here is the same one that's plagued the Lakers for a number of years now - they just can't seem to play with a consistent sense of urgency. They have a hard time keeping their focus and drive. Some of it may actually have to do with the city itself. L.A. is such a huge, laid back city. Tons of stuff to do, lots of distractions. I just never get the sense that the players are really hungry. Don't get me wrong, I love my team but sometimes they play like spoiled kids with a sense of entitlement. Lets hope they can get charged up for tomorrow - they often have a problem getting motivated for Sunday afternoon games. Probably cuts into brunch or tennis.

dave m

Luke Walton is not the problem. He can be replaced by multiple people.

I am tired of saying Smush sucks!!!!!
I hope dude turns out to be like Chicago quarterback. Grossman really sucks, but somehow his team finds a way to win.
Smush Parker is a Huge Problem for the Lakers.
Smush Parker hurts or team by just being in the starting lineup. He only plays hard in spurts. He takes to many breaks doing the course of the game which allows the other teams point guard to basically run around doing whatever he wants. We need someone in the starting lineup that wears a point guard down so by the end of the game conditioning takes effect. The problem is that Smush doesn't give us the in the face defense that D- Fish use to give the LAKERS. He wasn't the best defender, but he sure did wear the other teams point guard down by the end of the game so that his conditioning becomes a factor at the end of the games. All Phil Jackson Point guards have been known for the same things. Tough nose to nose defense that just makes you tired.

You don't have to stop people all the time. Smush is not good enough to stop anybody in the league, we all know that. His job should be to make the other teams point guard tired. If he can do thatg then we have a chance at winning the championship. If Smush can't do that and it comes down to the end of the game and Nash still has all his energy and AI and PARKER still have all their energy, the LAKERS are going to have a short playoff run.

Smush Parker is critical to this championship run. If he can't tire the other teams guard the outcome won't be good. We don't need Smush to score any points for us. We have enough scorer's. We need Smush to run around like he is crazy. Both on offense and defense. Never stop running. If he just doesthat for the time that he is in the game, the LAKERS will be a better team.

Kobe's turnovers came from Smush's spacing. Smush goes for steals to hide the fact that he can't stay in front of his man for a long period of time. Steals only work sometime. Disipline defense pays off at the end of the game.

nate,

"If Kwame EVER had 11pts 16boards and 6blocks everyone would praise him."

That's not true. Kwame got 11pts, 15boards, and 5blocks in the 1st Bobcats game. After the game PJ got on him. That was the game Kwame mentioned how terrible the pick and roll defense was and he wasn't going to take the blame. LOL!

Anyway, PJ pointed the finger at Kwame for that game. Why? Because despite the numbers...we lost! And before anyone says that Kwame had 3 overtimes to do it. Just remember Kwame already had those numbers by mid-way through the 4th quarter. That's not a good thing.

mike

The Times has Bynum at 7 blocks. 7 blocks, 16 rebounds? That's amazing!

Wes

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THIS LAST LAKERS DEFEAT

* Kobe is the best individual player in the NBA, and has been for the past 3 years. But last night's game, besides the apparent racial bias by certain MVP voters, is exactly why he won't win the useless MVP award this year. I've said it before about Kobe, he'll make the big shot, but he'll make many mistakes to put you in the position to where he'll need to make the big shot.

* Kobe Bryant has a serious problem with turning the ball over, he's had it for 2 years now, and that shouldn't happen in a properly conducted triangle offense.

* Luke Walton's injury, although tragic for this nice guy and hard worker, won't affect the Lakers at all. I do wish him a speedy and complete recovery, as he's a part of our Laker family.

* Luke is high energy, high effort player who wants to do well and serves a purpose for the Lakers. However, he is erroneously considered a player with basketball intelligence, although those who consider this fail to qualify it with examples.

* Mo Evans has had two poor games in a row. This may be VladRad's coming out time.

* Smush Parker continues to prove my contention that he's the Laker's Best Defensive Player. Lamar and Bynum are close behind.

* I'd like to see Kobe have more of an impact on the game than just scoring

* How anyone can consider Steve Nash for his 3rd straight MVP award is puzzling and troubling. He's a moderate scorer, a poor defender, an inept rebounder, and he only gets assists because he has highly talented shooters around him.

* That said, the Phoenix Suns will win the NBA Championship in 5 games.

* Will we Laker fans ever see our team win more than 6 games in a row?

FROM FAITH:

Painful, painful, painful.

I still say it's not the worst game of the year...we played really great D...at stretches, but there's something to be said with coming out with energy. They came out with energy, first off the gate, and then off the overtime...we didn't so they won. But I'll take this, because at least this game showed me that our D is coming back...that and this is the last game of the season against the Bobcats.

All props to them, they went to the hole hard, challenged for any and every rebound...lineup wise, I'd have kept Turiaf, our better rebounder in overtime over Bynum. But at least for a day, we didn't lose a game because of our sucky defense, but because our offense came out flat late.

There's rust for sure...but had this been games ago, we'd be nowhere near close, this would have been one of those 24 point games...but because we had defense to back us up...we stayed close.

Offense comes and goes...as you can see, but defense keeps you in the game.

Posted by: Faith

Laker Alert: Patience required

The triangle collapsed. Lo facilitated and Kobe, who had been doing pretty well at the job, drove into triple teams. The "all Kobe" crunch time was like a bad flashback.

The highlight of the game was the old school, "let 'em play" refs and some good ol' D by Charlotte. Charlotte won the paint and the game.

Bandwagons? A disgusted frustrated fan is every bit a fan as one that keeps rooting to the end of a 20 point loss. The players are frustrated, fans can take their lead from them.

The Lakers can and will play better but last night was a Laker alert: this dream requires patience, patience substantial enough to maybe last till next year if your idea of success is a ring.

How strange. I thought I had DVR’ed the Laker game. Instead I saw this broadcast of the Keystone Cops playing basketball.

Now I’ve seen everything!

The Lakers have obviously hit the wall. The last two games, the other teams worked harder, looked faster and seemed like they wanted it more.
If they beat the Spurs on Sunday then we'll know something is wrong with this team, and they are cruising against lesser opponents.

I guess if you just consider the playoffs it's good they can compete against the best.
Still, it is very frustrating. We all have very high hopes for this team the way they have played up to this point. It only goes to prove they still have a ways to go.
Despite that, I still think these guys have a huge upside for the future. Right now it just comes down to deciding they will make the effort to play defense EVERY game.

Jackson is going to earn his money now.

One positive about luke going down, is that now vlad gets starting minutes. Just like how when Odom went down before him and kwame. Injuries are opening the door for our bench production, which is going to be key when we get to the playoffs.

About the game - I'm not really worried. It's a little annoying we lose to lower ranked teams, but rankings don't really mean anything. It's not like the bobcats have a roster of garbage. They worked hard and beat us. That's all there is to it. Just like when we beat higher ranked teams, we work hard and beat them.

I always sense a very corrupt sense of entitlement when reading blogger comments. Just because our team is the lakers, we don't deserve this or that. We have the talent, the coach and the wildcard in Kobe. If we execute, play defense, and work hard we will win. When we don't, we lose and there is no shame in losing to the bobcats of the league.

Mo Evans was 4-for-13 for 11 points. That's disgusting, given how badly his shots seemed to miss.

This loss was very disappointing, and in general losses like this separate the Lakers from the elite teams in the NBA.

With that said, given this team's youth, they'll continue to improve as long as good personnel decisions are made to complement the talent already here.

As long as this Lakers team goes to the playoffs and wins a playoff series or two, I will consider this year a success... you have to take baby steps...

Ok, ok, ok...why has nobody answered the question in regards to Radmanovich not playing last night. The question was: Why was Radmanovich on the bench during the whole game. Even after Luke was hurt, Radmanovich didn't play.

Now, I read somehing in this blog in regards to how Radmanovich is going to take the place of Walton or something of that nature. But, that doesn't add up to me because still he didn't play lastnight.

Ok, I'm repeating myself!

So here is two questions and AK/BK, please feel free to answer this as well.

1. Why didn't Radmanovich play last night?
2. Do you think Radmanovich is on the trading block?

Ron,

It could have been a matchup thing, but I'm guessing Vlad didn't play last night because he's been terrible most of the season on both ends of the floor. There's a point where enough may become enough. And with LO now back, it seems less necessary to put him out there. Plus, at this point, I imagine he's behind Evans, Cook and Turiaf when it comes to the 3 or 4 spots. Even with Walton out, it wouldn't suprise me if he keeps getting DNP-CD's (and especially once Walton and Kwame are back). But even if he plays, I doubt it'll be a lot, unless he seriously picks things up.

Is Vlad on the trading block? If by "trading block," you mean "The Lakers would trade him if they got a decent offer," I have to think they'd consider it. While it's perhaps too early to start thinking about "cutting losses," Radmanovic's really looked bad since arriving. But given that he's got 4 more years left on a contract, has a bad shooting hand (robbing him off his most marketable skill) and is in the middle of a career worst season, I can't imagine the Mitch's cell is ringing off the hook with offers. So unless it's part of a package, I doubt Vlade's going anywhere.

AK

Ron, to answer your question about Vlad, he probably pissed off the coaching staff in some way. Either Vlad or Mo should be the starting SF anyway. That's Phil.