http://www.ocregister.com/sports/kobe-bryant-phil-1885302-jackson-los

Excerpt from the Ding:
Now Bryant is being asked to set teammates up before the triangle is really set up, too. Jackson wants the Lakers to look for more early offense on each possession. He said he wants Bryant "not to come out of the backcourt with a thought in mind of how it's going to happen down at the other end of the court."

In other words....NO MORE "F-ING" KOBE BALL.

This is the first time since the Kobe Era that kobe is being called out not be a "F-ing" ballhog...lets see if our fearless (pun intended to Fearless wackjob) "franchise guy" can handle it? No more, kobe jacking up 25-30 shot a game, no more dribbling 7-10 times in each possession, no more glaring at teammates when they shot the ball more than kobe...yada yada yada.

let see if we get the kobe of Game 1-6 of the 2006 playoffs or the Game-7 kobe in the second half when kobe would "prove his point" of not being a playmaker for "them other guys".

either way, it won't matter cuz we have enough young talent to still win 45 games WITH OR WITHOUT KOBIATCH.

The beginning of the end of Kobe Era is nearing....

Kobe Loyalist yuk it up know cuz you're not going to be able to say stupid statements like "give the ball to kobe" or "kobe deserves better teammates". Kobe made his bed and now he has to live with it.

i'm happy to see our young guys finally stepping up and not being afraid of Bad A-hole Kobe.

Kobe's done.

Gunner24(KL's Chiwawha)

For your information, I played basketball at Junior School and University of Bradford. I might not be good enough to play in the NBA but I know about the game.

All I am saying is, I completely bored with stupid hatred of Kobe, like you have some lusting passion to get his attention or the blogg attention because your life is so empty and sad. The way you go on, you sound like some jilted lover!!! Give it a rest. Your post are just so predictably boring we all know, KL ghost writes for you or checks for your work before you post them.

KL is the 'Rottweiler' of this board while you are just a 'Chiwawa' !! LOL

Aaarrrhhhh!!

Angry_Laker

Gunner2,

>>WITH 6 TURNOVERS. FOUR OF THEM IN THE FIRST QUARTER THAT LED
>>TO THE WARRIORS 41 POINTS. I THINK KOBE IS YESTERDAY NEWS. DID
>> YOU SEE HOW THE OPPOSITE SHOOTING GUARD ON THE WARRIORS
>>HAD 27 POINTS. WASN'T KOBE WORKING ON DEFENSE THIS SUMMER?

Spoken like someone who read a box score, didn't watch the game, and knows
absolutely nothing about basketball.

First of all, this is a pre-season game. Kobe is assured of his minutes, so he's
out there trying to get in sync with the team --- he has nothing to prove. He's
guaranteed to start when it counts. In the first quarter, he didn't take a single
shot. He was doing what the mighty KL demanded and passing the ball to his
teammates. Unfortunately, Mihm and Fisher were laying bricks in the first
quarter and they both stunk it up on defense as well.

At the other end of the floor, Azubuike is out there desperately trying to impress.
Last season, he was the third or fourth string SG and got almost no PT. They
traded away Jason Richardson, so the starting SG spot is open. So of course
Azubuike is out there working his ass off. How many minutes he gets at the
start of the season (and possibly a starting spot) is on the line.

>>>CRITTER IS THE REAL DEAL. I LOOKS LIKE LAKERS MIGHT HAVE
>>> FOUND NOT ONLY THEIR FUTURE, BUT THEIR REAL LEADER!

Critter's offense was excellent. I think he could be a scoring machine off the
bench. In fact, I'd almost take Maurice Evans' minutes and give them to
Critter at the start of the season if he plays like that for the whole pre-season.
But Critter wasn't all roses.

There's something that those of you just looking at the boxscore didn't see.
Critter's defense basically lost the game. Yes, he was scoring almost at will
on Troy Hudson, but Hudson was also scoring at will on Critter, including the
game-winner.

It was when Farmar was playing point that the team made their big comeback.
He drove and dished to Rad for a couple of threes. He drove and dished to Bynum
a couple of times for what should have been dunks - Bynum didn't convert, but
he did get fouled. And a couple of times, Farmar took it to the hole and got
fouled and made the free throws.

When they replaced Farmar with Crittendon for the last few minutes, Critter
played very well on offense, but kept getting beat to the hole on defense,
resulting in several layups or fouls for Golden State. Farmar's defense, by
contrast, was much more solid. At the start of the 4th, the Lakers were 17
points down. When Farmar was in, they pulled even and took a lead.
When Critter replaced him, they played even with GS to the end.

Farmar's outside shooting still wasn't very good. He went 0 for 3 on 3-pointers.
But there are some guards in the league who do very well without much of
an outside game.

Radmanovic was on fire. If he plays like this all season, it's a HUGE improvement
for the Lakers. The thing you don't really get from looking at his stat line is that
he played pretty well on defense as well. Better than I remember him playing
from last year. And way way better than Brian Cook has ever played d.

Chris Mihm looked extremely rusty. He looked like someone who hasn't played
an NBA game in over a year. Oh wait. He hasn't. I think he'll be ok by mid
season, but until then he's going to be a liability when he's on the floor.

Derek Fisher looked kinda old and slow. I credit him and Mihm for the lopsided
first quarter. Baron Davis was either getting open shots or driving and dishing
at will on Fisher. I like what he brings to the clubhouse, but I'm even more
inclined to believe that by mid-season, either Farmar or Crittendon will be
starting.

Turiaf did okay, and his rebound stat doesn't show the couple of times that he
tipped the rebound to one of his teammates. He had one monster block in the
4th quarter.

Bynum was a rebounding machine. You could tell he was really focusing on
that. There were several plays where he got the ball right under the basket
and blew a layup. On a couple of them, he was fouled hard, so I can see missing
those, but he also missed a couple of short shots that I felt he should have made.
If you gave a young Shaq the same shots Bynum had, he would have had 15
or 16 points instead of 9. But overall, he was very good and played much
better than Mihm.

Maurice Evans played like crap at both ends of the floor. Maybe he didn't play
much this summer, but he was playing matador defense at one end and
throwing up bricks or charging at the other end.

Sasha played pretty well. His defense was steady (much better than Evans),
and he wasn't just settling for the three every time - he drove to the hoop several
times and either got fouled or made a layup. And that opened up his outside
shooting a bit so he made a 3 as well.

I hope all you "dump Sasha and hire Coby Karl" people were watching. I'm
sure Coby will play better at some point in the preseason. If he doesn't, then
that non-guaranteed contract will become a non-contract very quickly.

I take it all with a grain of salt, since it's just one preseason game. But if most
of their play is consistent with what it was last night, then here's my revised
starting lineup for the start of the season (assuming everyone is healthy
enough to play):

C - Bynum, Brown, Mihm
PF - Radmanovic, Turiaf, Cook
SF - Odom, Walton, Evans
SG - Bryant, Vujacic, Critter
PG - Fisher, Farmar, Critter

Or you could switch Rad with Turiaf and Mihm with Kwame, and you'd have
the all-white-boys second string ( I can just imagine the stream of obscenities
coming from Mike T's mouth at this moment :-).

The way Golden State schooled and punished the Lakers first string unit, it's clear they are a much better team than our beloved Lakers.

The Lakers will have a tough time this season making the playoffs with such a strong western conference.

"Kobe didn't look happy at all and i think this will carry the whole season."

Thats your leader Kobe, the "best player on the planet"

Mike T is going to have a field day with this

"Bryant scored all 17 of his points in the third quarter and sat out the fourth, the Lakers trailing at the time of his exit, 91-74. He finished with five assists and six turnovers.

"That wasn't pretty," Jackson said. "We were trying to get him to manage the game, not try and control it."

Translation- the coaches told Kobe to run the offense, not stop shooting.

Question- I though Dfish was brought in the run the offense?

The starting lineup for the Laker should be

Critt
Kobe
Radman
LO
Kwame/Bynum

I would only start Bynum because he seems to do better coming of the bench. The only reason I bring Fish and Luke off teh bench is because it give us a better bench. I believe both Fish and Luke would thrive in that role.
I think it would be hard for the othet players to come off the bench, because they are young. That is just my thought.

This goes back several months when I started a debate about winners. At the time I said Shaq, in his last season here, was NOT a winner.

Of course KL crucified me. My point was, it wasn't about wins and losses, but attitude. We KNOW Kobe has it. We KNOW Javaris has it. And we KNOW FIsh has it.

From the Press Enterprise:
But to Fisher, Bryant’s rant was never solely about bringing in top talent. To Fisher, Bryant’s rant had a deeper meaning.

“I never thought it was, ‘I’ve got to get Kevin Garnett, or I’ve got to get Jason Kidd, or I’ve got to get Jermaine O’Neal,’” Fisher said. “I just felt he said and still is saying, ‘I need some winners. I want some winners.’”

I guess we're not allowed to take the opinion of someone in the know. KL is a much better and more accurate judge of what's really going on than anyone else, including Phil Jackson.

For me, last year's disappointment was that we had too many non-winners on the team. Now, we got rid of Smush (huge loser) but we still have Kwame (loser) and Cook (loser). I wrote to Dr. Buss the night we were eliminated and asked if he could please get rid of these guys...

I'm just glad we've got Critt, KB, and D Fish. I know Lamar will give it his all, so I'm glad he's on board too. I think the winners out number the losers right now, so we're looking better.

Woo-hoo! I can finally come back to the blog and talk about basketball games; I had to disappear for a while when every blog was about trade scenarios and soap opera stuff. Now that we're back to games, I'm back for good!

I only saw the 2nd half, but one moment stood out, big time. During the 4th quarter, I was talking on the phone with a friend of mine, so I muted the TV but was still watching the game out of the corner of my ere. There was one play where Kobe drove the lane, juked the defender and posted up a beautiful layup, and I commented to my friend, "God, I always forget how great Kobe is". Then, I realized that it was Javaris Crittenton; I was impressed by the limited games I saw him play for G-Tech, and the things I saw in him back then were still there. He plays with a type of intensity that the superstars have; I'm not saying he's going to be one, but if his physical skills can match his mental ones, I think we found our starting point guard for years to come.

AK/BK,

The mothership is not humming, they are sleeping. Did you outsource the Lakers Blog to the 3rd World? lol!

Why don't you appoint KL and MT to handle the business so that the Lakers Blog will hit the AP news as the bloggers rebellion against the hosts? LMAO!

Just don't play Brian Cook and we are already a better team defensively.

First, let me begin with stating that all we have is around 7 days of practices and 1 pre-season game worth of information to go on thus far…..so everybody calm down!

Now, let me state that I would like to present a friendly (or maybe not so friendly) reminder to all those that were yelling and screaming all summer at Mitch, Jim, Jerry, Kobe, Phil and even others on here to remember the challenge I gave earlier this summer. As I stated then, I challenge each o you to be here WHEN the Lakers have a much better season and playoff than you are sure they won’t have. Although it is EXTREMELY early, I simply just want to keep that challenge in your mind so that you won’t try to lie your way out of it at the end of the season and act as if you were always in support of this roster and management. All I am asking for is for people to be honest and have integrity.

That being said, I would like to offer a synopsis of the progress the team is making.

First, I was encouraged to read that Phil Jackson is strongly considering starting Ronny Turiaf at power forward. I have bee advocating that for some time now and upon seeing his performance this summer, I think he is ready to assume the position full time. I also believe that Andrew Bynum is ready to officially assume the role of starting center. Last season he got it by default and after a few months of solid basketball, it clearly became too much too soon. A year later, and I believe that he is finally ready to fill that role full time. That leaves 3 positions left to be filled, one of which obviously belongs to Kobe Bryant. The other 2 positions are not as open for debate as some on here are trying to make them. Whether some like it or not, neither Crittenton or Farmar are ready for full time starters minutes this season. Don’t look for it on opening day…..don’t look for it at mid-season. The ONLY way, you will see either of them start a single game this year is if Fisher gets hurt and can’t play. Furthermore, they will both most likely have an impact on the season, but not as starters. Don’t expect any different with the small forward position either. I know seeing Radmanovic come in and hit 5 of 7 shots in one game instantly gets everyone all excited about him and start putting him in as a starter, but don’t look for it. The ONLY way he will start is if Odom, Walton or Turiaf are injured and he is put in to fill that void. Otherwise, Radmanovic will be a reserve. That is really where he should be for this team.

Second, I have chosen to not deal with last night’s game with any detail simply because it was the first exhibition game. I could state how some looked promising and others looked like more of the same from last season, but it is too early to really cast any judgments. In fact, if I were going to talk about a team in exhibition, I would talk about the Celtics…..who looked pretty good in spots last night. However, as for the Lakers, I need to see a few more exhibition games with some more of the key players in the lineup before making too many analyses.

As for now let me state that my recommendations for the lineup are as such……this is subject to change by opening day……

Starters
PG: Derek Fisher
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Lamar Odom
PF: Ronny Turiaf
C: Andrew Bynum

Second Unit
PG: Jordan Farmar
SG: Maurice Evans
SF: Luke Walton
PF: Vladimir Radmanovic
C: Kwame Brown

Final Two
G: Javaris Crittenton
F/C: Chris Mihm

Inactive List
G: Sasha Vujacic
G: Coby Karl
F/C: Brian Cook

I will go into further details as to minutes and rotations later before the season begins.

WHY O WHY did the FO resign COOK he is useless!!!

Finally more entertaing type of basket ball from the Lakers. Phil Jackson is now pushing for these lakers to RUN, find an early offense in the first seven seconds. It seems like Critter is more fit to run these early offense rather than Kobe. Kobe can fascilitate the traingle if the early offense does not materialize, but early offense Critter has the quickness to push the ball and KOBE is one hell of a finisher to be setting up a semi fastbreak. Either way it will be exciting again to watch the Lakers run the court. With these in mind (Phil jackson's game plan of early offense), it is obvious Walton won't be starting. Therefore, the question is Turiaf, Odom and Vlad among the three that will start at both forward position. Again, I prefer Turiaf and Vlad to start and let Odom be the starter from the bench. Also if we are looking to push the ball, it seems like D-Fish is not the man at the point?

This is not just one game! There is more to it than just one pre season game. This one game showed what Javaris and Radman can do and the coaching staff should think twice on how to use them. It also showed Bynum has improved in rebounding collecting12 boards in 19 minutes, and to do it coming off the bench is HUGE.

"Garnett obliquely mentioned "dealing with personnel with a different front office" and "different coaches" and suggested the questions about the Lakers' front office (which found no complement this summer for Kobe Bryant) mirror the questions about the Timberwolves' front office he'd just departed (which had found no complement for Kevin Garnett).

Garnett to KL/Gunner, Taosham, Lakerlover, YOU are all LIARS for blaming Kobe why I chose the Celtics. The FRONT OFFICE is your problem!

Trade Bynum or Trade Kobe?

This one's easy. Trade Bynum. Does he have size? Yes! Good hands? Yes! Does he have the right mind-set? NO!

Bynum is missing the intangibles necessary to be a dominant center: Game. One early slam dunk, then the usual missed opportunities. He is playing not to foul and not playing to win. He'll take the ball if you get it to him, but he doesn't demand the ball. Bynum is passive when a dominant center is aggressive.

Bynum lacks all of the qualities that can not be taught.

His body is more mature. His skills are improving. But he will not be a perennial all-star. He is not the center around whom championships are made.

Move him out now, before the rest of the league figures this all out.

"A few observations:

Rad Man - looked good.
Sasha - must be in a contract year.
J Crit looks OK, but still a rookie."

Let me correct this!

RADMAN looked very very good last night!
Sasha improved a lot from last year!
J Crit looked like a Rookie of the Year last night! HUGE IMPACT in the game!

sonnybel;

why the heck should we care about what's happening in cowtown?

Angry_Laker,
“KL is the 'Rottweiler' of this board while you (Gunner) are just a 'Chiwawa' !! ”
hahahahaah the post of the week!!! (Yo quiero Taco Bell!!! Chimichangas!!) hahaha
GO LAKERS!

Watup Faith Watup Edwin. miss yall. Is EB out???? No way!

The Jarvis FACTOR-

I read alot about this ROOKIE. "can shoot" "Knows how to play point" "Has the size and the power an NBA point needs." watched alotta video on youtube and Itube and wetube and all those web-sites too. BUT watching him yesterday, what the ZENMASTER had to say about him was most accurate:
the KID "VALUES THE BALL"

Baby Bynum-

The only difference I saw from last year that might be alittle bit of an imporvement is that he is alot BIGGER or THICKER I might say. Other than that, SAME O'l lousy, out of control Andy some of us including Jimie the Crackhead and other crack heads become to fall in love with. Goodness please make me WRONG but I think we are in deep shister with this dude.

the SNIPERS-

Wawawia. If Sasha and Vlad are gonna shoot the ball like that and Sasha is gonna pentrate like he did last night, who's gonna DOUBLE Kobe?

Mihm-

Got a taste of how many OFFESIVE ribie we can get having Chris at the CENTER POINT.

RONNY RONNY RONNY, OY OY OY:

This dude is becoming my favorite French player in the world. (Taking the honors away from Tier Henry) Jarvis and Ronny kinda JELLED out there last night. I mean who doesn't JELL with Ronny. The man is always JELLIN.

Jordan Farmar-

A great trade bait. Just a matter of is anybody going to bite.

The line up-

Starting- Fish, Kobe, Vlad, LO, Kwame(Just to keep Mihm fresh)
Back up- Jarvis, Mo Ev, Luke, Ronny, Chris(Just to keep him fresh)
Utility: Farmar, Sasha
For a rainy day: Andrew, Larry Turner
Trade: Freakin Brian Cook

yo wes!
you might wanna go & get that checked out brutha! =)
Fowl Out.

-Flagrant Fowl

ANGRY_CHIHUAHUA ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE NOT WORKING WITH HARI-YAHOO?

REGURGITATED STATS FROM THE ANGRY_CHIHUAHUA SO-CALLED ESPN MACHINE.

According to my calculations - YOU SEE ACCORDING TO HIS CALCULATIONS

1. off six turnovers the warriors hit 6 4 point plays (6 x 4 ) = 24 points
2. off six turnovers the warriors hit 6 3 pointers (6 x 3) = 18 points
3 . off six turnovers the warriors hit 6 2 pointers (6 x 2) = 12 points

KOBE A-HOLE MUST SMELL GOOD DON'T IT?

ONCE AGAIN, YOUR STATS DON'T CALCULATE UP TO WHY KOBIATCH MADE ALL THESE TURNOVERS AS A NON SHOOTING GUARD WHICH YOU BLAME LAST NIGHT WAS THE REASON.

GO BACK AND RETRACK YOUR STATS ONCE AGAIN AND TRY TO COME UP WITH ANOTHER SCENARIO. DEBATING ME IS A WASTE OF TIME. BUT I APPRECIATE YOUR CHIHUAHUA BITE. THOSE ANKLE BITERS CAN REGURGITATE ANGER TOO.

HOW'S THOSE BULLS TICKETS GOING?

The brutal November schedule could be a blessing. A sub 500 start might light the final fire under the FO.

The team has to start, or stop building for the future.

Now or then but both won't work'.

IT LOOKS LIKE YALL WERE WAITING FOR KOBE TO HAVE A BAD GAME TO START TALKING TRASH ABOUT HIM,YALL ARE SOME IGNORANT,IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATS OF THE OTHER ALL STAR PLAYERS , THEY ALL HAVE POOR STATS,IT'S THE PRESEASON MAN,WHO CARES!!! THE SPURS ARE GETTING ROOT, LEBRON JAMES 3PT IN A GAME??? YALL NEED TO CHILL

Long Time,
"At the other end of the floor, Azubuike is out there desperately trying to impress. Last season, he was the third or fourth string SG and got almost no PT. They traded away Jason Richardson, so the starting SG spot is open. So of course Azubuike is out there working his ass off. How many minutes he gets at the start of the season (and possibly a starting spot) is on the line. "

COME ON LONG TIME, YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!

YOU'RE GOING TO BLAME IT ON THIS GUY FIGHTING HARD FOR A ROSTER SPOT IS WHY HE EXPOSE KOBE LACK OF DEFENSE? IF THIS GUY WAS 3RD OR 4TH STRING LAST YEAR, THAT'S EVEN MORE EMBARRASSING FOR OUR SO-CALLED LEADER.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT YOU SAW SO-CALLED GREAT DEFENSE BY KOBE IN THE FIBA TOURNAMENT BECAUSE HE HAD GREAT PLAYERS AROUND HIM. NOW WITHOUT THAT UNIT, HE'S BEING EXPOSE THE SAME WAY HE WAS EXPOSE LAST YEAR WITH SMUSH.

I ALWAYS RESPECT YOUR OPINION, BUT THAT EXCUSE YOU MADE IS WAY OUT THERE. THAT'S THE TYPE OF EXCUSES I WOULD EXPECT FROM ANGRY_CHIHUAHUA OR HARI-YAHOO.