Extra! Extra! (3.16)

I expected the loss last night and the only thing really that surprised me was how badly it was. However, that's not totally bad either.

Those that thought that Lamar and Luke arriving back on the court providing the full starting lineup for this team for the first time in months, would immediately begin a win streak were crazy. Things don't happen that way. Look at what happened in Miami when Shaq came back. The first few games Shaq looked terrible and the team continued to have problems. BUT look at them now. Once Shaq had a couple games to get himself back into game shape, they started playing well. The Lakers aren't an exception to the rule.

I do hold to my original belief from earlier when the injuries first started. This team is going to be great by playoff time. EVERYONE that is criticizing them now is going to be singing a different tune then. Just like Barkley last season was riding them hard all the way until they won Game 2 of the first round, the same will happen this year. Now, I am happy that Denver is winning because I want them to also get a first round upset, so I want them to start gelling as a team. Their schedule is much more difficult than the Lakers with a 5-game road trip starting soon. The Lakers are heading home. I predict that the Lakers will be snug again in the 6th seed in about a week. Then they will start to make their adjustments for the playoffs.

They are really in an interesting position in that everyone is starting to believe that they are worthless as a team. Phil Jackson has always been a strong proponent of seizing advantages. The element of surprise as well as the fight of an underdog are two things he can really work with. The Lakers have both working for them right now.

In conclusion, the Lakers will make the playoffs, ending up most likely in the 7th or 8th seed in the West. They will upset their first round opponent. That is when the blinds will be opened and teams will begin to realize that they really are a better team than the losses would showforth. They will have a grueling second round matchup at which time Kobe will eveal that he is still the best player in the game.

What I'm dissappointed with most right now is PJ's 7th straight loss. Now Red Auerbach is the only coach to never lose 7 straight games. Well, Phil will win his 10th championship before it's all said and done.

The Lakers looked better with Walton back, but you can tell both him and Odom were out of sync or I should say out of gas by the 3rd quarter.

It seems the secret formula for beating the Lakers, is to find someone on the team who you don't expect to score well and give him the ball a lot to get a career high.

The Laker coaching staff must put too much emphasis on stopping the stars and nobody else. As far as I'm concerned everyone on the Lakers should be studying all their opponents.

Smush was a little better at stopping the drives last night. He actually tried to stay in front of AI. He picked up a lot of fouls, but it was nice to see.

The Lakers always look sluggish on the road. They shouldn't have been this sluggish after 3 days off.

Obviously the Lakers don't care about winning games right now. They will probably turn it on the final 10-12 games of the season.

the last remaining great player on this laker squad, kobe bryant, is a jerry west player.

what other great or even good player is a result of mitch kupchak.

this isn't kupchak hating, it's just pointing out a real fact.

we have a marginal gm, thus we have marginal talent.

dr. buss REALLY NEEDS to assess the situation and decide whether or not mitch kupchak is the right person for the job.

nice guy, yes.

great assistant to jerry west, i would say yes.

general manager of the los angeles lakers, ummm no.

once again, not hating on mitch. i just believe he is not good enough for the job.

and if dr. buss thinks that kupchak is good enough, the current situation will soon become the norm.

i mean it was dr. buss who ALMOST made the kidd deal happen near the midnight hour by offering more cash & draft picks.

so if dr. buss is essentially the real gm, why does he need mitch kupchak?

kupchak is simply in over his head a.k.a out of his league.

JJ

I know you're right, it's just very frustrating to watch!

Why can't we be a team like the suns or the mavs?

They come to play ball every night!

I'm tired of "just making noise" in the playoffs.

JJ,

the ultimate optimist who begins his post with a gem "I expected the loss last night..."

then two paragraphs later writes "This team is going to be great by playoff time."

he then elaborates, "Their (Nuggets) schedule is much more difficult than the Lakers with a 5-game road trip starting soon. The Lakers are heading home. I predict that the Lakers will be snug again in the 6th seed in about a week. Then they will start to make their adjustments for the playoffs."

and finishes brilliantly with "the Lakers will make the playoffs, ending up most likely in the 7th or 8th seed in the West. They will upset their first round opponent. That is when the blinds will be opened and teams will begin to realize that they really are a better team than the losses would showforth. They will have a grueling second round matchup at which time Kobe will eveal that he is still the best player in the game."
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and santa claus loves cookies & milk. and the easter bunny will be here in a couple of weeks too.

so in the middle of march, you are expecting losses. yet come late april/may you expect them to upset either the suns, mavs or spurs?

you are entitled to your beliefs, however they seem more like contradictions.

you are also depending on the nuggets schedule, when it is the LAKERS who are in the middle of a 7 game losing streak. losing 13 of their last 16.

if the lakers keep losing, it doesn't matter who the nuggets play - the lakers will play themselves out of the playoffs.

face facts jj: the mavs, suns & spurs are much better teams than the lakers. all 3 have better point guards. better big men. better shooters. better defenders. better rebounders. better passers. flat out better teams.

yeah we have kobe. but guess what? as the past 3 seasons have shown, having just kobe AIN'T ENOUGH.

quit fooling yourself into thinking this laker team has plenty of qualilty, let alone enough quality to beat the western conference elite.

sorry if my post was overcritical, i guess i just want to "open the blinds" for you.

and i know, i am a hater, wannabe laker fan.

you're undying/unwavering faith in this squad makes you the better laker fan.

my realistic views, in my opinion, make me a REAL laker fan. i accept them for what they are, i know what they are. yet i also also accept them for what they are not, i certainly know what they are not...a contender.

IT'S OVER. FINITO. KAPUT. SE ACABO.

They will WIN today against the Blazers. It's about time after 7 losses, it's like shooting 7 consecutive free throws that were all missed. For sure the 8th one will go in, even Shaq dummy will make it, so the Lakers dummies will win this time.

Let's talk of trading at the end of the season not while they're still playing.

Just one request from Phil: Don't play Smush, he brings negative vibrations to this team. He maybe be good to your standards but not at this time. Believe on this karma, he's the scourge the brings your team down, Zen Master.

Check me tonight if my forecast is wrong. (One caveat to my forecast, if PJ plays Smush as a starting PG, the guarantee is OFF, they could lose again.)

This Smush is really a punishment to all Laker fans during Lenten Season, for that matter throughout the season. lol

Luigi,
Pat Riley couldn't win either we he had mediocore talent. Does that mean he is a fraud too?

zen,

okay then it's all the players' fault.

it's the coaches' fault.

it's the injuries.

kupchak has made nothing but solid moves.

by the way, jim buss made the bynum pick, not kupchak. so who really knows who picked farmar & turiaf...

and i have called out dr. buss and the entire buss family for hiring and employing a subpar gm.

the lakers are still cash strapped because they settled on a horrible deal for shaq that included brian grant.

whether that was kupchak's call or dr. buss, it doesn't matter.

RESPONSIBILITY comes with the territory when you are gm. kupchak is paid to make these big decisions. and if you are gm, the blame will always be placed on you. comes with the gig.

and i wouldn't call pau gasol nothing. watch out for hakim warrick and rudy gay as well. oh yeah shane battier too, one of 3 duke players in the last 15 years who has panned out (the others being elton brand, grant hill). you wouldn't like to have mike miller on this team? i think we could use him.

zen, i truly feel you underestimate the gm ability of jerry west.

we only have one of west's player left with kobe. and many on this blog and around the nba believe kobe is the best player in the league.

once again, i'll take my chances with jerry west.

Paul Lee,

To the best of my knowledge, the news on Mihm is the same as it's been for a while. He's shooting to be available come the postseason. The Lakers would love to have him, but aren't counting on it.

AK

I know the team should not give up, but it sounds ridiculous when they say 'when we are in the playoffs. '

Do they really think they are going to make the playoffs?

I really doubt they'll make the playoffs. And it has nothing to do with the kind of talent they have.

I truly believe when healthy this team is real good and we should not judge them on the last couple of month, but at the beginning when everyone was healthy.

Kobe, Lamar and Luke truly know how to run the offense, with them it flows really nice. Kobe had 9 dimes and luke 6.

Luke's stat line was great and Lamar's was OK too, the team only needs to build that chemistry back, but I'm not sure if they'll build it soon enough.

A team just needs 3 main guys to run the show and the team has that with Kobe, Lamar and Luke, to that mix you throw in Kwame that plays very well with those 3 and the team can go far in the playoffs, not this year, but next year, if they are healthy.

The first half of last night's game was great, the team that we know, but in the second half Lamar and Luke ran out of gas and the team went down, more so in Denver's altitude, but we saw a little light in this team.

I agree with you Edwin, Smush is a bad seed in this team, his attitude is getting worse and worse, you would think that a superstar would have that kind of attitude not a player like smush.

He's sending ALL these bad vibes to this team and it's hurting them a lot, I wish that Phil would just start Shammond, maybe it's better to put someone like shammond that doesn't have a bad vibe like Smush has.

I would never wish for someone to lose their job, but Smush is a free agent next year and the Lakers just need to not sign him, I'm sure another team will sign him. He's not worth all the trouble he causes.

None of the refs like him, his attitude towards the coach is disrespecful and he's not supportive of his teammates, so he needs to go.

I agree about underestimating the greatness of Jerry West as a GM. He's doing a heckuva job down in Memphis.

NOTE: This in no way invalidates my love of Mr. West for his many years of service as Laker GM.

the show,

What I'm saying is that every GM makes mistakes. Jerry West hasn't done anything either. I think Jerry did much better in the 90's because he didn't have a salary cap to deal with. Again, it's a different era now. Different rules.

When you pick in the late 20s all the time, it's a guessing game for any GM on who is going to pan out.

Jerry West has had better picks than Mitch and has done NOTHING. I'm not saying Jerry West is a bad GM. I'm saying that your not giving Mitch enough time or enough credit on anything.

Everyone is fustrated with the Lakers this year, but in the beginning of the year, everyone was praising kupchak. I happen to think the Lakers fit this team in so well, that if one piece goes missing, the whole machine falls apart. That means when the whole team is together, they complement each other very well. We have had injuries. It sucks, but that is just the way it is.

Your not going to find one GM in the NBA that is cash strapped and is doing a better job than Mitch. The Lakers make the playoffs and therefore get low end draft picks every year. What do you expect?

I think the real issue here is the Lakers need to just rest and miss the playoffs and get that high draft pick. Oden once had 18 blocks in a game! Are you kidding me? I'll take him or Durant.. Boston is losing on purpose to get him. All the Lakers have to do is miss the playoffs, and they have a good chance to get a good player in this DEEP draft.

JJ

Your so right on with your post. This team just needs time to play as a whole unit. Phils not panicking because he knows what this group is capable of as a whole unit. We just need everyone healthy by playoff time. Phils staff has a looonnnggg history of having thier teams ready by the playoffs and We still have 17 games to go. I think everyones forgetting the way we played during the first half. We were 11 games over .500 and didnt even have the whole team healthy. Remember Lamars Knee Then it was Kwames ankle, then Lukes ankle, then dumbass Rads injury, Then Lamars again Now Cookies Ankle? Give me a break Please! I think were still in a great position considering all the injurys. Now its time to get Healthy and back to playing at a high level before round 1. And Phils staff is very capable of getting that done. I have to say the only Player that has me worried is Smush Parker. I hope they can get him focused by the playoffs. He right now is our weakest link. His attitude has to change or were 1 and out. It really all falls on his shoulders. He can make us an elite team or he can sink us in the first round. His attitude which I think affects his play just has to change.
P.S. Thank God this Blog wasnt around in the 90's There would have been a lot of jumpers during those years...

Two things: First, no one ever seems to bring up that there is not a consistent second scorer on this team, someone you can count on for 20 + points a game. lamar is averaging 16 +, but is incredibly inconsistent as a scorer. Nice all-around game, but does not score consistently enough to help this team out (Perhaps, Caron Butler could've been that guy?). Second, to the best of my recollection, there has not been a team that "limps" into the playoffs that has done anything significant in the playoffs in recent memory. The final 20 games (not 10-12) are usually a good measuring stick as to what to expect from a team in the playoffs.

One last thing, I absolutely believe that Andrew Bynum is expendable. Everybody always points to his age and his upside, but take a look at bigs in this league that are in his age range, like Dwight Howard that are already realizing their potential. He is not agressive and does not have the killer instinct you want from a big. I say trade him now when people are still disillusioned that he could be a star. I'm not saying that he won't be a decent player. What I'm saying is the Lakers are overvaluing him.

We already have one big on our roster that didn't live up to his potential. We don't need another.

People, people, This is the LA freakin lakers wer're talking about. Winner of more titles than any team but Boston. This Is Phil Freakin Jackson we're talking about. Winner of more rings than any coach and tied with one. Do you honestly believe Phil does not know what he's doing. The regular season is like the preseason for Phil. It's his time to get his players in shape, check out their psyche and psyche the other teams. Wins or losses mean nothing. It's getting to the playoff is all that counts. These rash of injuries we're seeing, yeah some of them are real but some are psyche if you know what I mean. Everything that has happened so far is just a prelude to the playoff. Lamar has had a good rest. Luke has had a good rest. Kwame has had a good rest and lookee here, it's almost playoff time and what team in the playoffs players will have the freshest legs? The David Stern against Kobe thing FAGETABOUTIT. Every champioship fight has to have a hero and a villian. Well in the NBA everybody wants to be the hero, so in this championship KOBE will now play the villian part. Wow what great TV Darth Kobe against the NBA. The Lakers are primed, the Lakers are batlle hardened and most importan t the Lakers are rested. Look Out. I smell Championship. Anybody else for the David Whang Bandwagon! GO LAKERS!

We're playing way below the talent on the rooster and the coaching staff. We saw that at the start of the season. What is the problem? It could be that they're not confortable in the triagle; it could be that they're not confortable with their roles; or it could be that this is not their year. All I can say is that the team as a unit, even with injuries (we shouldn't have lost to most teams we lost to), is playing below its potential.

There are teams like the Suns who have players that have less skills than the players we have on our rooster. It's mindboggling if you look at the true talents of these guys and match it up with what they are actually doing. I'll give few examples. Please correct me if I'm wrong, Shasha is potentially a pure shooter (but he is not doint that); Lamar is potentially a guy that could average 18, 12, 6 (but he is not doing it right now); Kobe potentially could average 32, 10, 5 (but he is not doing that); Cook, the best catch and shoot player in the NBA is not playing to his potential. Smush with his size and athleticism is not making it happen. Kobe, Lamar, and Brown could potentially be defensive threats because of their quickness, strength, long wing-span, etc.

This is the tricky part, and I usually don't do this, but if the Lakers lose tonight, or lose huge tonight, it's gonna be hard to carol this team again to its potential. This game, in front of a home crowd, after a seven game losing skid, should be the difference-maker. Let's hope it be a difference for good things to come. Go Lakers

yeah luigi..ummm..wtf do you know about coaching? yeah, the problem must be the zenmaster...if i have to read one more idiotic post about how the problem is phil i'm gonna have a freaking aneurysm...short memories here folks, do you remember how phil devised the game plan in the playoffs last year that nearly took down the suns...the lakers had absolutely NO business being in that series last year except for phil's brilliance..suck it up and take the good with the bad..its what being a laker fan's always been about

With Odom and Walton there, the team at least moved the ball.

I don't like Smush's attitude that when things don't go right that he quits on defense and suck on offense.

And there are some trolls here kissing Shaq's butts and bashing Kobe. Pathetic!

nyla,

Since we don't have the cap room to get an impact guy in free agency, and we don't have the tradeable assets to deal for an impact player, getting a lottery pick helps us up our overall talent level, even if we don't get a guy who will make a big difference right away.

This team is a lot closer to a perenial lottery team than they are to perennial contender.

I dont mean we have to trade Kobe, I am his big fan . He is proven. His work ethic is second to none.
To all the fans screaning to Kobe to put the CAPE ON , I say TAKE THE BLINDERS OFF !!!!!
We are going to ride this guy to death !!!!!!
Find a damned cap space !!!!
How come Dallas has Dirk, Terry, Stack, Howard , Phoenix with Amare, Nash, Marion, Barbosa, Diaw and both teams are looking to improve their rosters next year ?????
Who are we managed by ?
Bush administration ?

Ace,
"We're playing way below the talent on the roster"

Actually, no. The Lakers have been overachieving all year, until the injuries got to a point where they couldn't be overcome. The record at the beginning of the year was misleading due to unexpectedly poor play from much of the rest of the West, combined with the home-heavy schedule the Lakers faced.

exhelodrvr,

Do you think that our record reflects the talents that we have on the roster?

Anyboday have ESPN insider? Would you be nice enough to post the series they are doing on best post players and face up players?

zen,

I was wondering about that too, Kwame stinks period, he needs to go, hes a major part of the problem.

Last night when Iverson was penetrating and dishing for easy layups over and over again even Luke got disgusted with Kwame, you could see it in his face.