It ain't feeling "1980-88" just quite yet

Boys against men - so very far to go - Kobe didn't score 50, so we lost. Hate to say it, but get used to
it.

Right before Lamar came back, I predicted he would slow down the Lakers. I dont like to toot my own horn but whats happened?

Now there's a healthy dose of reality.

One question: how can the Lakers spend the same amount of money on a roster and be so overmatched?

There's a few salary slots that will be reviewed as the press goes back to trade scenarios and extensions.

Ok, clearly we're not on par with the Celts....but did anyone really think we were? Right now, the Celts look to be a 60+ win season, easy. The Lakers need some things to happen if they're going to win 50+, i.e. stay healthy, continue to develop the young players, and do something about LO.

Bynum had his first truly bad game of the year last night. Let's see how he responds. Good players come back with a renewed sense of determination, bad ones let it get them down. Let's not forget, the kid's 20, so he's going to have some bad games....fewer than last year, but still some.

LO, brother, where are ya'? Dude is supposed to be our second best player, but the last two games he's played like our 12th man. I'm not sure what's going on, but he just looks lost out there. His fear of taking an outside shot was obvious in the 2nd half last night, and it hurt us when we were attempting to make a mini-run (cut it to 9 at one point). If you're not going to take the shots, don't stand around the 3-point line!!

I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but my patience is running thin. How much longer until we just accept what might be obvious to objective viewers? LO and Kobe just don't work together.

Trade Walton and Kwame for Artest... then sign draftee Marc Gasol.

LO wins the Smush Parker player of the week for the Lakers!

Open letter to Lamar Odom

Lamar,
You promised yourself and your fans that this would be your breakout All-Star season. You even shaved a star on the side of your head to remind yourself and us of that commitment.

Your coach has generously allowed that you are just trying to find your way in the new offense. It's nice that you are getting that kind of support, but the reality is, it's time to look in the mirror. The reality is, you are not living up to your promise to yourself, the team, and the fans.

This is your 9th NBA season. You're earning an unbelievable $12 million a year. You have no excuses.

After Wednesday night's loss, you had the temerity to say that the coach should have taken you out of the game. Would a true warrior like Kobe ever say that? Dude, that was the lamest thing you could have said.

After Friday night's loss, Mychal Thompson commented that mentally, you never seemed in the game. His fellow radio commentator, Spiro Dides, agreed. How can you be missing in action in a big game like that?

Your team is now 7-4. If the Lamar Odom who promised a breakout All-Star season had shown up on the court for the last two games, the team would be 9-2. Sure, it's a team game, but you're supposed to be the number two scorer. You're supposed to be a leader.

All summer on this blog, a furious debate raged on whether you should be traded. Many of us, myself included, rallied around you and said you deserved to stay a Laker. Was I wrong? Are you truly lacking "the right stuff?"

It's not too late to prove your value to the team. The rest of the season can still be a statement. But any more games like Wednesday or Friday and you will be making a different kind of statement. Lamar, I'm calling you out. Hopefully, behind closed doors, your coach and your team mates are also calling you out. Step up now. Otherwise, give back the money and call it a career. It's "either," "or." Period.

Sincerely,
Rick Friedman

Yeah, why not C-Webb? He can help.

1 Farmar/Fisher
2 Kobe/Critt
3 Vlad/Odom'Luke
4 Webber/Ariza/Mihm
5 Bynum/Turiaf/Kwame

Lakers need energy in defense as well as scorers. Change the mix of the 1st and 2nd stringers and let them compete for positions. Use the Starter concept as the highest form of recognition and the DNP as the lowest rating reserve for underachievers.

Question, does Mitch has the personality to recruit medium stars like Webber? All he has done get the best player on the draft or the Ariza trade but he couldn't ask medium stars to join the Lakers.

Don't renew the Coach and GM? We need a philosophical change in recruiting and coaching. Bring in the aging Showtime players, they too are qualified to run the Lakers.

Boston looks like they've got a triple trophy year workin'...

Well, I'm goin' golfing. My friends in Boston are going to rake leaves.

Jason F -

I agree with the above. To be honest, I don't even want L.O. out around the 3-point line. He's best when he's cutting to the basket, breaking down opposing players. I'm not sure what the solution is here. He's been a remarkably consistent player over the years as far as his actual averages go, but he's never been that consistent on a game-to-game basis. Now, even his overall averages are down. It seems like he has been given every opportunity to succeed here - Jackson tried using him as a point forward and that never really worked, supposedly because he hadn't yet mastered the triangle. He was put back at the 4 spot and he was playing great until he got injured. This year he's at the 3 because it'll supposedly keep him healthier, and he says it's his natural position anyway. Yet, he looks lost and uninvolved out there. He's always been a starter and I think that pulling him from a starter's role would really undermine his confidence. He's playing around 34 minutes a game right now and it would be hard to cut his minutes down too much more if he's still going to start. Yet at the same time, we have some depth at that position. We have Luke and now Trevor. We also have Vlad who was brought in to play that spot. He's really only playing the 4 because we have a need at that position.

So the question is, to you and other bloogers, what should happen at the 3 spot? Don't get me wrong, like you, I like Odom. I think most people like the guy. But he has been given the benefit of the doubt time after time. It's starting to wear thin.

Also, I'm a bit worried about our center spot. Andrew's having a nice year so far but nobody thinks he's a heavy minutes guy yet. Brown's out and Mihm just doesn't seem to be fully back yet. Does anyone think we should bring in a veteran post player like Dale Davis?

Dave M

If I was PJ
I'll put LO on the second team.............Start Vlad........an make him the team second option behind KOBE.........An before you dummies open your mouth.........be (REAL).........besides KOBE who has a better offense skills on the lakers..........If PJ take the chains off an let him go to work we'll be a much better team.
LO would be good on the second team........at power forward........with arzia......an put luke at the end of the bench.......ARE JUST TRADE LO-WALTON FOR ANYBODY.........

Caron Butler's triple double didn't make this go down any easier.

Course, his team lost too.

Well we've settled back into 7th place in the West again. New Orleans has replaced Houston as one of the Big Six, but other than that - same old same old. Get ready for another first round and out against the Suns.

As Ben Franklin said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

Ya we improved slightly in the offseason (mostly due to Derek falling into our laps) but so did most of he Big Six. And I wouldn't count out Houston getting it together, making a surge, and sending us down to 8th.

Its way past too late to get KG, but JO is still on the block and Artest and Marion might still be gettable for the right package. Oh wait I forgot - per Ben Franklin's quote - Buss Boy and Kupcake are insane. So stay the course. And enjoy those four losses to Phoenix in late April.

Dang, I miss the real Laker management - the ones who'd go get Wilt or Kareem or Shaq or whoever it took to win.

I guess Trevor Ariza is our next Shaq/Kareem. According to Jim. HA!

Kwame is better on dee, because he has better footwork and consintration but the hands thing i can't beleive because it doesn't seem to keep him from rebounding. He doesn't really need to be a focal point on offense anyway if he is playing PF, just get points on putbacks is find. But problem is that when the lakers use him as a post and give him the ball to pass back out, he can't keep fumbling it or he is a liability.

Back to the Bucks game in the 4th quarter it would of help if they wouldn't have had Mihm in game so long he was playing pretty bad i don't know if this was because of stiffness in his ankle, but he wasn't moving to well.

THE ZEN boy needs to get on refs more and maybe Bynum doesn't get T and he did deserve it and i am sure Jabbar let him know it.

And somebody needs to call timeouts more, because they were trying to put bynum, and players back in game but they waited about 1 min. and five points and basically the game.

Lamar Odom; someone called him mr. 50/50 i don't know if he is that now, but one of the highest paid, non producing players in the nba. You know the funny thing is this guy is probably thinking that he is solid.

Phil Jackson; what is he doing but sitting in his high-chair, maybe he is looking for his bib, it surely is not coaching maybe he taking to many meds.

trade LO for Ron Ron,
we are immediately better on both ends of the floor.
This is THE trade we need to make.

Kwame, Lamar, and Farmar or Critt or Sacha (their choice) for JO and Shawnee Williams. Both Kwame and Williams are off the books next year too, if cap space is wanted.

Fair, clears the salary test, and makes everybody happy.

Mitch cup-cake had a great chance to deal Lamar odom to the Indiana pacers back in the 05 season for Ron artest,Donnie welch the pacers GM wanted Odom for artest,cup-cake nixed the deal because he was afraid of the volatility of artist and he thought he had a gem in Odom, Odom was going to blossom into that A player hahaha hehehehhehe Mr.cup-cake has not a clue or understanding if that trade was made we be in a different situation,unfornuately Sacramento will never trade with us they hate the lakers like most other teams.Get mad at the incompetent Mitch cupcake.

Mitch cup-cake had a great chance to deal Lamar odom to the Indiana pacers back in the 05 season for Ron artest,Donnie welch the pacers GM wanted Odom for artest,cup-cake nixed the deal because he was afraid of the volatility of artist and he thought he had a gem in Odom, Odom was going to blossom into that A player hahaha hehehehhehe Mr.cup-cake has not a clue or understanding if that trade was made we be in a different situation,unfornuately Sacramento will never trade with us they hate the lakers like most other teams.Get mad at the incompetent Mitch cupcake.

Dave M.,

To tell you the truth, I honestly don't know. For now I'm still willing to give LO some more shots to "adjust" to his "new role". But I'm skeptical that anything will change. For whatever reason, he just doesn't seem to have that internal drive that motivates him to show up every night. Some nights he's awesome, others he's forgetable.

I think we're ok at the center spot. Bynum has only had one bad game, so let's not jump off his bandwagon so quickly. Other than last night, he's been a double-double almost automatically. (And last night he picked up most of his fouls covering for other players' lapses--at leat once for Vlad, at least once for Kobe, and at least once for Farmar).

I still expect this team to be significantly better than last year. We're better at just about every positon and we're 7-4 in the face of a pretty tough opening schedule, some injuries, and a shake-up in our rotations (due to trade).

Let's let things settle back down a little, and see how it goes.

Mitch cup-cake had a great chance to deal Lamar odom to the Indiana pacers back in the 05 season for Ron artest,Donnie welch the pacers GM wanted Odom for artest,cup-cake nixed the deal because he was afraid of the volatility of artist and he thought he had a gem in Odom, Odom was going to blossom into that A player hahaha hehehehhehe Mr.cup-cake has not a clue or understanding if that trade was made we be in a different situation,unfornuately Sacramento will never trade with us they hate the lakers like most other teams.Get mad at the incompetent Mitch cupcake.

AK/BK

PLS. TELL THIS TO MITCH KUPHACK. NOW, ITS TIME TO TRADE LAMAR ODOM, KWAME BROWN AND VUJACIC for JERMAINE O'NEAL AND IKE DIOGU. ACCORDING TO ESPN TRADE MACHINE, THIS TRADE WORKS.

I still believe Lamar will figure it out. And if you want to trade LO for Artest you were not paying attention. Our issue with Boston was inside.

If Lamar can not adjust to the new scheme maybe we look at Gasol at Memphis who from all reports is having trouble fitting into their new scheme as well. Gasol at PF would really help Andrew and Kwame on the inside. While I think Lamar would flourish in the Grizzlies wide open style of play.

That said, I still give Lamar some time simply because a handfull of games doesnt make him a bad player. He has never played a stretch of games this poorly before so I feel like he will come around.

MH

It's a very long season...it gets longer with injuries it seems.

I say it was an anomaly. We were overmatched because we were nowhere near full strength. For one, there were stretches when Kobe was covering KG, Kobe? I love Kobe defensively but not against KG. And for another, Chris Mihm is phooey, LO is still not in game shape, and Kwame well, he didn't travel with the team at all.

There are adjustments to be made, for one defensive rotation is key, but I don't think this one game should erase the optimism of the early season. It's a marathon, not a sprint, have faith.

You never know, maybe help is coming (more games like this and it will lol).

LO is STINKIN UP the place

THE CELTICS ARE BACK
THE LAKERS ARE CRAP
DEAL WITH THAT

I BET the Kings take LO for Ron Ron. As much as I love LO, I'd have to think about that one.

I am really happy with the start of the season; the Lakers have been a pleasant surprise this year. They have managed to put the Kobe trade drama behind them and focus on playing basketball, by the way I think he is staying with the Lakers the book I bet with WWW.Wagerweb.com NBA Lines has the odds oh him leaving at 20/1 so about a 4% chance of him leaving, hope they are right and he sticks around long enough for other players to evolve and have a shot at a championship

I am really happy with the start of the season; the Lakers have been a pleasant surprise this year. They have managed to put the Kobe trade drama behind them and focus on playing basketball, by the way I think he is staying with the Lakers the book I bet with www.wagerweb.com has the odds on him leaving at 20/1 so about a 4% chance of him leaving, hope they are right and he sticks around long enough for other players to evolve and have a shot at a championship

Think the Pacers will take LO for JO straight up? Maybe LO w/ Critt? I think Farmar is the long range solution. Who would you rather have as a Laker.....JO or Ron Ron?? I think both could be had for LO.

Brian Cook wrote this:

"He said, 'Got good news and bad news.' I said, 'Well, just give me the bad news.' He said, 'You've been traded. Which is good news.' Phil said that the way it was working out, I wasn't going to see that much time in the [Lakers'] rotation. He wasn't saying I wasn't good enough . . . but the politics of it and other stuff."

My response: Politics? In the Lakers?? No! I don't believe it!
I had been curious about getting Vlad when we had Cook.

re: Bynum. Hmmm ..... Mike T - 1, Bynum - 0.

In the last two matches, and for that matter, since last year, Kobe has taken an approach, where he does not do much in the offense in the first two quarters, and starts heating up in the third quarter.

In some of the matches this year, because of the bench play and improved post/transition defense, we have been doing well in those two quarters and that carries over to the final two quarters. Coupled with Kobe's scoring in the last two quarters, we have been able to pull out double-digit-margin wins. (Loss at home to Hornets and loss away at Bucks are exceptions to this rule, but we all know that if our "scottie" had shown up in those matches, we would have won them too)

However, in all of the losses, Kobe still takes the same approach. Going into the 3rd and 4th quarter, our players are not confident, and they do not do well in either offense or defense. There is always an inconsistent second or third scorer in the team, and that seems to be anybody's bet on any day.

Kobe gets into that Agent Zero mood of shooting threes moment you see the basket, and its not getting us any valuable lessons out of the losses.

Wins continue to be of the same model, and losses continue to be of the same model. Since there are no lessons learnt, we have remained to be a 50-50 team.

Why doesn't our team approach the game like Cleveland/Miami? They always get their stars going at the start of the game. Lebron/Wade always start strong, and then start to help their lesser-talented teammates. Agreed, this approach would not have worked in the past year or the year before.

But with the form the bench players and some of the starters have shown this year, this approach might well work for the Lakers. And it does not even need to be the norm.

May be Kobe can stay dormant for half of the first quarter. If things do not go well, start taking over. See if he can provide the mini spark, we have now started expecting from the bench. He is our best player, and its better to trust on him to provide us the spark. Maybe the bench can then distance ourselves from the other team. If not atleast, Kobe is hot getting to the third and fourth quarters. May be he can just bail us out (The "81" is a clear example of this approach. But on that day, nothing worked. I doubt that will happen this year. May be we need a 40, but it will get us a win)

May be with this approach also, we wont learn anything out of the loss, but a win is a win. Its a confidence booster. May be it will help the team to rebound the next day.

Just a thought. Could well be wrong, but worthwhile to get the blog's input.

Thanks,
Jai

Here is what PJ said about his rookie quoted by Press Telegram::

"I tell kids when they come into the team that rookies are lower than plankton, and they have to understand that," Jackson said. "There's an entitlement about this game. There's a learning process. We've talked about that.
"We want (Crittenton) to be a learner right now. He's talented. We're trying to encourage him to learn in practice and develop his game and keep his head up even though it's discouraging for him."

Yeah, you can afford to run a nursery school for rookies if you have excess talents in Walton, Mihm, Kwame Vujacic who can score relentlessly and have Odom as a good NO. 2, if you're short of players and you have good nice players who showed some potentials in shooting and have a decent D, why not play them? They have to learn by playing. They will make mistakes but at least recover from it. While Mihm and Walton, they commit T/O at the end of score box they have a total of 4 pts combined paid at total of $ 8M; same with Odom paid at $13.5M half of the year on injury and the other half a little good games against T'wolves and completely disappear on road games. Kwame half of the year injury all he can do is defend Duncan and Yao, no offense and lacked of fundamentals. So a total $30M for four players.

Question: If you have $30M on your hand, how can you spend it efficiently on players who can do the job? It's al aboutl "value analysis" and establishing "sense of priorities" and if management can't recognize those shortcomings, who will? You say it is an experiment, how many years are these experiments on these players; 3-4 years and still extend it to 5th year, Dr. Jerry Buss where are your sense of priorities in paying for talents? You are looking market for Kobe, wrong! Open your eyes on current realities.

I say tap the potentials of rookies in Critt and Karl, play Trevor on D and use "common sense" basketball rather running a nursery school for rookies, another nursery school for triangle with a dismal result of producing a bunch of graduate students who are basketball retarded like: Mihm, Kwame, Walton and Odom - A TOTAL WASTE OF INVESTMENT!

A lot of negativity springing up, but it's only one game. If we're talking Lakers/Celts, let's not forget the Memorial Day Massacre, when the Lakers suffered one of their worst playoff defeats in history. One game does not a trend make, and that year, the Lakers went on to win four of the next five, beating those stinking leprechauns on their home court.

Delicious!

This one ain't over by any stretch, and we'll yet win 55 and play in the Western Conference Finals.

The Drive for 55 is Alive.

The Lakers will never be contenders unless they bring in a decent power forward who would get them at least 13 and 8 a game..forget about the point guard position because we have good ball handlers and good passers on the team.

thats the real problem...the POWER FORWARD position

I'm going to come to the defense of Lamar Odom here. Cleary, he is rusty and, outside of a couple a strong outings, he's not done a whole lot to make the team better this season. But let's not forget that not only is Lamar coming off shoulder surgery, but he didn't have the benefit of training camp. Realistically, Lamar is going through his training camp right now, getting back into game shape and learning the rhythm of his teammates.

As a team, I wouldn't begin to judge the Lakers too harshly or optimistcally until they've played at least 25 games.

Kid Licorice
www.criticide.com

Exhelo

"Trades that might be considered should be made looking toward next year"

Should the trades "consider" Kobe and Phil being around?

All Lakers fans out there need to face the reality now.

Lakers would not go anywhere if they still keep Lamar. The Lakers will always be a number 7 or 8 spot in the west and could not get pass second round of the playoffs, once again if they still have Lamar on their roster.

The bad news is he still has at least two years in the contract with Lakers and the worse news is no team in the league wants to get him and Laker front office cannot gamble to sell Lamar for bargain price.

So, all Laker fans need be patient for another two years or probably more. It's going to be more than two years if Kobe leaves the team the year after this season.

Trade Lamar for someone who can give you a steady 12 points, 5 rebounds a game.

Get someone with lower averages than Lamar, but less volatility, and that would help the Lakers out a lot. We don't need great games once every five games from the second option, we just need good games four out of every five.

Good point, Laker Lover. If I'm not mistaken, the Lakers were doing just fine without Lamar "I must smoke dope" Odommy.

silverlaker - yeah i'd do that swap too but the numbers don't work. odom makes almost double what ron-ron makes - 13.5 mil to 7.8 mil. sac isn't using abdur-rahim much - if they threw him in (at 5.8 mil) then the numbers would match perfectly but sac isn't going to make that trade.

Damn good letter Rick!!!

I sincerely hope he reads that!!

By the way: The Lakers allowed 114, 110, and 107 points during this 3-game road trip. That's a total of 331-points for 3-games. What does that average out to for the trip?

You guessed it!

110.3 points per contest.

More to come on the Big Body Theory. I want it to play out some more.

mike

The following Lakers are useless for NBA Championship contention.

1. Kwame "pay me for being big and black" Brown. Kwame is not an NBA level basketball plaer. Some bloggers try to show off by trying to come up with clever rationalizations as to why he's worth a damn. But only fools lead fools. Bottom line, Kwame sucks, and everyone knows it. He can't shoot, he can't rebound, he can't make assists, he rarely blocks shots, he's horrible on recovery defense, and he's always hurt. A complete waste of money, time, and space.
2. Lamar "yes I smoke dope" Odom. This man is too brittle, mentally and physically, to be worth a damn. Lamar can't make shots consistently, his defense is only average, he's too stupid to make quality decisions, like not closing down on a penetrating guard and leaving a 3 point shooter wide open with 3 seconds left in a game. Lamar even looks mentally challenged. And whenever he does something dumb, he smiles. Wow.
3. Chrissy "feel sorry for me, I was hurt for a long time" Mihm is even worse than Kwame Brown. Here we have a 7ft turkey who can't shoot, defend, rebound, or make assists. I've never seen him smile, which he should, since he's getting paid alot of money for doing nothing.
4. Luke "Golden Boy" Walton. Here we have epitome of the Lakers problems- mediocricy passing for brililance. Next to the 2 position, the 3 should be where most of your points are coming from. I can't remember the last time Golden Boy scored more than 20 points in a game. In fact, I don't think he ever has. But, he sure can pass that ball!!!

Now, we have Jerry "Hugh Hefner is my hero" Buss and Mitch "I'll get the vaseline, Jimmy" Kupchak who are trying to blame Kobe for their own incompetence. Please, Kobe. Find peace in the fact that you have a fine wife, millions of dollars, 3 championship rings, and the knowledge that Shaq got divorced before you.

Bynum has to stay in the game by limiting fouls. With Kwame out Lakers can't afford to have Mihm play much. Mihm's +/- is was -19 against the celts and -14 against the Bucks. Mihm is a terrible post defender and no post threat on offense. Opponents make runs when Mihm is playing. +/- is shown in the NBA.com box score.

LO should quit taking 3's!

No C-Webb.

Kwame will be back soon. Lakers will beat NJ.

First time, long time fellas. I think the problem with LO is, this year Phil wants him to be like Shawn Marion. Why don't we trade him to Phx for the Matrix instead?

Mitch Kupchak is so generous and doesn't have a vision, how can you trade Cook and Evans for Ariza ? He should trade Cook only or Cook with Sasha. Evans can drive to the basket, Sasha doesn't. After this trade, Lakers players seem to lost their mind to win the ball game. Last season, i saw Ariza can guard Kobe, the important is how Phil will motivate him to play in the next level. Phil failed to motivate Kobe and Larmar, so i don't expect anything yet. It's sad , if this season, Lakers won't win number four seed in the west, it will be another dissapointed season.

1) Why no Ariza? It was obvious our defense was getting killed, why not throw him out there for a few minutes?

2) I was pretty excited to see Sasha actually make a real live basket in non-garbage time.

3) Odom needs to move without the ball better and make himself an active part of the offense.

4) Kobe. needs. to learn. Period. After that mini-run that cut the lead to 9 late in the 4th, I said to myself "Kobe's gonna come down and jack up a 3 right away, miss it and they're gonna go down and score." Which is exactly what happened. He does this ALL THE TIME (I've been bottling this in for years btw). So instead of working the ball to get a good shot and cut the lead to 7 or 6, he misses and they go down and score and push it back to 11. Game over.

Granted I'd prefer him to be the one to take that shot, but it's still something a high school kid does. That plus his indecisive "jump in the air and then turn it over on some loopy up and under pass" he's perfected so well.

5) Bynum was rattled, you could see it. Those first couple of minutes where he got some good looks but they just didnt fall really got to him. He got in foul trouble and he's no longer an inside presence.

6) Defense, defense, defense. The defense played in panic mode most of the game. They don't cut down passing lanes or put hands in guy's faces. Makes a difference, especially when they rush to overcompensate getting beat on pick and rolls. The defense just beat itself.

7) A LOT of standing around on offense which is very reminiscent of the past few years. The triangle's dependent upon movement, and if it weren't for some buckets from Vlad, Fish, and Farmar then it would have been a lot uglier.

After seeing this beginning of the season, after defending Odom, I'm on th trade Odom bandwagon. Seriously for Shawn Marion, the Lakers should have thrown in somebody just to make that happen. The problem I have with Odom is his mentality. Seems like a loser's mentality. Im not saying that he has a cancerous attitude, but his body language says he has no confidence. He had plenty of open shots and he passed them up. When he did shoot the open shot he hesitated and bricked it badly.

The Lakers are only as good as Kobe, and only have the potential that Odom can provide. If Odom plays not even at an All-Star level, but borderline at least, than the Lakers are a truly competitve team.

Just like Kobe was raving about the way that the Celtics were built (and you couldnt help but notice the between-the-lines comment there) the Lakers are built around Kobe and Odom.

The Lakers have their sniper is Vlad, their spark in Farmar, veteran leadership in Fisher, rebounding in Turiaf and Bynum, passing in Walton. But Odom needs to be another finisher. Maybe he doesnt want to post people up...but at least take it to the basket and draw a foul or make a kickout!

Suddenly that Marion for Odom trade looks even better. At least Marion would have the cockiness to go for it.

Vman,

Everyone needs to forget about Caron Butler. Sure he had 39 points earlier, but he did it because their best player was out injured. If Kobe was out, Lamar would have big games too. Lamar brings more for us than Caron Butler believe it or not. The lakers at the time needed a big body in the middle so I still think it was still an ok trade. Having 3 guys who can score is useless without having someone in the middle to stop things defensively. All you have to do is look at Washington to see that.

Jay Jay writes.
' As Ben Franklin said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" '
Ben Franklin did not say this. It was Albert Einstein.

Trading LO for Artest would make is overall better, not just on Defense. At least Artest will do something like draw fouls or play physical on offense by banging bodies. He has energy.

Thats the noticble difference between the first and second teams. The second team has that energy that Farmar brings all by himself. Vlad has energy because when hes in the game he is ready to start shooting. When Bynum is on the bench he plays differently too. The first unit has no energy whatsoever.

If I'm Kupchek I propose the Kings with a trade of Odom for Artest/Sharif. Artest is on the hook for two more years, just like Kobe, and Sharif has one more year after. If the Lakers are rebuilding in two years then having Sharif wont be a big issue anyways.

Than I would reunite the bench mob.

1st team
PG Fisher
SG Kobe
SF Artest
PF Turiaf
C Mihm

2nd unit
PG Farmar
SG Ariza
SF Walton
PF Radmanvic
C Bynum

I would use Sasha to plug in the bench for when they need some burn. As far as Abdur-Rahim, I would use him to plug in for the starters when Turiaf or Mihm got into foul trouble. When Kwame came back healthy he could play for Mihm and Mihm would regain his old role. But with Artest in the lineup, that lowers the exposure of Mihm on D.

over and over.......i watch laker games, and the lakers are OUTCOACHED. whether t's defesive schemes, where it's in-game adjustments, whether it's the right substitutions, where it's the right starting lineup.......how long can allow the Coach to go totally blameless.........

I don't know where people are getting this impression that Bynum is gonna be great yet.........I don't see that at all. The reason why he will struggle against better interior defenders is because he doesn't have an offensive game. He doesn't have post moves, so unless your giving him the ball right at the rim or on a alley hoop.......he's just big.

Lamar .........well, i recall so many people thinking it's someone els's fault that he's not an All star.......sorry he's not an all star because he's toooo inconsistent and he's limited. He and Kwame are getting the last years of there overpaid contracts. He'll never be a consitent 3 point threat at this point in his career, he'll never be a consistent jump shooter at this point in his career so teams will always sag off him if he's not catching the ball in the post and that doesn't help if he's the one lobbing the ball in the post. he'll never be a great defesive player at this point in his career........these are realities. however he does average nice rebounds for his size and small forward position............so what do you pay for that these days......about 6 mill per year.......he and Kwame will find out how Selfish the nba owners have become to overpaid players whos bloated contracts have expired. ...........Ask Juwan howard, ask Grant hill, ask Steve francis, soon you can ask Marbury...........and Kwame

I'm bored with the talk when players have a bad game.......He hasn't mastered the Triangle offense yet......that's funny. When did the triangle win championships.......i don't remember. I do remember two of the best players playing in Chicago Pip and jordan......i do remember Shaq and Kobe.......I don't remember any Triangle winning championships when two great players weren't on the same team......SORRY that's reality. If Phil and the triangle stalls the developement of good rookies or helpful players that may come in on a mid season trade.........Scrap both.

I am not surprised Lakers' fans are getting a bit uneasy with the performance of some of the players. What surprises me though is the belated
recognition that the team is not that good. Kobe Bryant and the coaching staff
deserve an A+ for what they have done to carry this team to be seen as a professional NBA team and NOT a university team playing in the PAC-10 conference. Without the aforementioned people, this Lakers team would be for all intent and purpose a lottery team.The coaching staff would do well to play all twelve players who will dress up and rotate periodically to activate the 13th and 14th players. As it is they are not going to go anywhere. You must as well give the other players some experience and hope that we will find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If the second leading scorer will score 4 points in a a game, then you have a lot to gain to play more people.
All twelve who would dres up, I will suggest.

The next point I want to bring up is the fans advocating to trade some players.
You trade a player to make the team better is now a cliche. I hope that the advocates do not see the other teams as a farm system for the Lakers. You will find something that goes like this, "Lets us trade Kwame." Who would you trade for? Before you mention any player, do this to check you mental faculties. Put yourself in the shoe of the other manager making the trade. Ask youself if it is good for your team. In most cases the manager from the other team would conclude that the trade is just not right.

This is the problem the Lakers' front office is encountering. Whatever they get in return will not be good to improve the team. The immediate solution is to play more of the other players on the team and see what they can do. You never know. The one thing you and I know is that there has to be a change. And this needs careful thinking. That is why Dr Buss is paying people to do.
They might be challenged by the task.

Let us wait and see.

Again, propose the trade , but to complete it put youself in the other shoe.
Garbage in garbage out. GIGO

1) Why no Ariza? It was obvious our defense was getting killed, why not throw him out there for a few minutes?

2) I was pretty excited to see Sasha actually make a real live basket in non-garbage time.

3) Odom needs to move without the ball better and make himself an active part of the offense.

4) Kobe. needs. to learn. Period. After that mini-run that cut the lead to 9 late in the 4th, I said to myself "Kobe's gonna come down and jack up a 3 right away, miss it and they're gonna go down and score." Which is exactly what happened. He does this ALL THE TIME (I've been bottling this in for years btw). So instead of working the ball to get a good shot and cut the lead to 7 or 6, he misses and they go down and score and push it back to 11. Game over.

Granted I'd prefer him to be the one to take that shot, but it's still something a high school kid does. That plus his indecisive "jump in the air and then turn it over on some loopy up and under pass" he's perfected so well.

5) Bynum was rattled, you could see it. Those first couple of minutes where he got some good looks but they just didnt fall really got to him. He got in foul trouble and he's no longer an inside presence.

6) Defense, defense, defense. The defense played in panic mode most of the game. They don't cut down passing lanes or put hands in guy's faces. Makes a difference, especially when they rush to overcompensate getting beat on pick and rolls. The defense just beat itself.

7) A LOT of standing around on offense which is very reminiscent of the past few years. The triangle's dependent upon movement, and if it weren't for some buckets from Vlad, Fish, and Farmar then it would have been a lot uglier.

Jay Jay writes.
' As Ben Franklin said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" '
Ben Franklin did not say this. It was Albert Einstein.

funny, I even remember blogrs saying even trading lo for jo was too much or it was a lateral move. Some also said LO was a better all around player, i even rmember some saying he was just as good or a better post player than Jo. Of course the favorite was how injury prone Jo was. Well compared to most of this laker team I dunno. Well I should say duh because that's how the whole front office looks. Jim=Dumb/ Jerry+drunk/ and Mitch=lost(duh). Again no apologies to the front office ever!!!!!!! We were winning early now are 7-5, we will still here people blame kobe blame injuries, say it's early in the season give it more time, not blame LO or kwame for that matter and the list goes on!!

Oh well you think your in heaven,but your living in hell, oh time alone o time will tell!!!!!!!!!

COME ON PHIL - DO NOT SIGN THAT EXTENSION. KOBE IS GONNA BOLT, SO YOU BETTER RETIRE OR FOLLOW HIM TO CHICAGO AFTER THIS SEASON!!

NEW TRADE PROPOSAL:

Send Andrew Bynum back home to New Jersey!

New Jersey gets:

Andrew Bynum

Los Angeles Lakers get:

Nenad Krstic

The defense doesn't get better with Krstic as a Center. But as a Power Foward he brings plenty of offense. Plus we can bring Turiaf off the bench,

mike

Trivia time - who is the only player in history to record a single triple? Actually, pretty easy when you think about it.

Roger

Mike T,

I think you are a very smart blogger. i think you are right that this team needs Kwame's defense, even if he does suck. I think you are a celebrity. I like that you are very consistent with Kwame and Phil, unlike lamar Odom. But the trade you proposed has to be one of the dumbest thing you have ever said in your life. I really hope you were joking about trading bynum for Kristic just to make Kwame look good. Im praying you were playing.

You are a celebrity, and Im one of your fans, but don't disrespect the laker nation and Bynum like that.

I still love ya

Michael Teniente, my kabayan. Are you dreamin? We already have Vujacic, of which Mike D'Antoni can't even pronounce his name. And then, adding Nenad Krstic? hehehehe

Vman,
"Should the trades "consider" Kobe and Phil being around? "

Good question. I think Kobe's presence is more significant than Phil's. I would hope that he and the front office have come to an understanding one way or the other as far as his future with the team, so that they can plan around that.

"thats the real problem...the POWER FORWARD position"

Might as well say it straight, Kwame is the real prpblem.

Lakers already have a great starting five but not the current starting five.

What the Lakers need are back up players and it is obvious that move had already begun.

Bynum
Turiaf
Vlad
Bryant
Farmar

Blank
Blank
Ariza
Blank
Crittenton

On their way OUT waiting to be dealt: aka LOOSERS!

Mihm
Kwame
Odom
Walton
Sasha

Make the back up as starters and you find new back ups.. GET RID of MIHM,KWAME,ODOM, WALTON and SASHA.

The next signing will be a Center/Power Forward, a positon that can rotate at both position. A good example is Anderson Varegao, a big body, active in dfense, rebounding, blocking shots, tons of energy and can run the floor very well. Kwame could be this guy if he can learn how to catch a ball?

If you notice Ariza can rotate at both SF and SG position and also has all the qualities mentioned above.

Back up for 8 man rotation:

BLANK C/PF
Ariza SF/'SG
Crittenton PG

The rest of the bench should be had for less than 1 MIL, Karl, Gasol, SunYue!

What is a good trade for Odom and Mihm? Odom is the trade bait while Mihm is to open a 13th man slot? Which team needs frontline that can score inside, just like Magic need Cook's outside shooting.

What is a good trade for Walton and Sasha? Which Nba team needs a Walton's passing ability and Sasha's ball handling skills and outside shooting. I'm sure Cavs would be interested with Sasha?

Maybe since Smush is not working out in Miami, they can be interested in Sasha? Shag needs a ponit guard that can hit 3's.

Both point guards at Denver went down in injury. They are currently doing it without a PG, Sasha could be what they lost in Steve Blake last year.

One thing is for sure after the Cook Evans trade, Lakers are moving in the right direction. And it's FUNNY how the blog talk about so many trade rumors but the one's the Lakers pull are never heard, yet we all agree is a great move. So it seems the Lakers are looking on their assets on how to improve other teams, then make an offer and find a piece they can use. Therefor we don't make trade proposals from what we want, but rather proposals that other teams need to make them better that we do not need in our roster, it should start from there.

does Chicago need scoring from inside? any other teams need scoring from inside for 2.5 MIL in Mihm, who can we package with Mihm?

Which NBA team does Lamar Odom fit into, a contending team that needs him?

I don't think any teams wants Kwame. Not beacuse he is injured but because the team's fans will look at it as a failure/mistake if they do, as Kwame has an NBA labelled No.1 bust.

I think Odom and Sasha has value to other teams. Mihm's value should be low but at 2.5 MIL Chicago could be interested. Chicago is a win now. Noah is not an offensvie type of player like Mihm. Wallace and Mihm could be a balance combo. Ben Wallace is undersized C and Mihm size and offense. Can you add Odom? Noah and Gordon maybe! Then sign and trade Varegao for Gordon. Cavs would love to have their hands on Gordon?

So we gave up Mihm and Odom for Noah and Varegao. Varegao can help right away while Noah earnes his minutes. Bulls are in a turmoil and making this trade will end the Kobe rumors for them while they get what they need in their frontline? Deng can move to SG and Odom at SF, that plus Mihm gives them size, a veteran frontline (not youth in Noah and Thomas) that can match their talented core in the perimeter.

"Kwame will find out how Selfish the nba owners have become to overpaid players whos bloated contracts have expired."

I'm speechless.

"PLS. TELL THIS TO MITCH KUPHACK. NOW, ITS TIME TO TRADE LAMAR ODOM, KWAME BROWN AND VUJACIC for JERMAINE O'NEAL AND IKE DIOGU. ACCORDING TO ESPN TRADE MACHINE, THIS TRADE WORKS.

Posted by: Botsoy | November 24, 2007 at 10:33 AM "

according to common sense, it doesnt. Why would the pacers do that. they would want to rebuild. Not get stuck with lamars huge contract for a few years.

"A complete waste of money, time, and space."

The kwame word can now have an offcial meaning. Somebody needs to put in the Wikepedia dictionary. An excellent defintion! I can read this over and over again, but then again somebody needs it more than I do?

Mike T,
Try your "theory" when we are at home.

wow,

"But the trade you proposed has to be one of the dumbest thing you have ever said in your life. I really hope you were joking about trading bynum for Kristic just to make Kwame look good."

I don't need to try to make Kwame look good. Kwame's defense speaks for itself. I'm going to write more about it later in the month or mid December.

But with Kwame's defense he can stablize the middle for us. Nenad Krstic is a scoring Power Foward who is a 7-footer. The beauty of getting a guy like Nenad Krstic is that he can actually shoot! And at 7-feet we can make up for his lack of defense with his effective offensive play. It balances out in the end.

With Nenad Krstic and Ronny Turiaf at the 4 spot...I think that would stablize the position pretty good. I still think we need a stable back-up center. A big body is what I perfer.

Chris Mihm is a finesse player at best. He can score and knows the offense well. But when it comes to defense....OUCH! His offense isn't good enough to make up for his defensive shortcomings.

Bynum in New Jersey? Why wouldn't Bynum want to go home? Sure we can add to the deal by trying to get Sean Williams, too.

How about this:

Andrew Bynum
Chris Mihm

for

Nenad Krstic
Sean Williams

Of course it would have to be after Dec. 15th.

The Nets get the best of us in the Bynum for Nenad Krstic part of the deal. But it evens out a little with the Mihm for Williams part of the deal.

Bynum's upside is so huge that the Nets would be stupid to let that deal pass by. Bynum should be coming into his own in about a year and a half. Isn't that about the same time New Jersey gets a new building in New Jersey? By that time Kidd will be too old and they won't be a threat to the Lakers.

mike

"We already have Vujacic."

Vujacic isn't a 7-footer like Nenad Krstic. Plus Nenad Krstic is a natural Power Foward.

mike

Plus against Boston Nenad Krstic would guard Perkins. Kwame would guard Garnett. That means Nenad Krstic, on the offensive end, would bring Perkins out of the lane to guard him on the perimeter. That's the whole trick! Making Boston's big men come away from the basket to make them less effective on the defensive end.

mike

Mike T just wants a response. Don't you get it?

Believe it or not but Bynum is improving on defense.

What does the word kabayan mean?

mike

The era of odom, kwame and mihm is closing on fast. two of their colleagues have been shipped already.

Radmanovic, Ariza and Walton tells you ODOM is as good as gone! This is the explanation for his poor performance the last two games. The man is lost, just like any person getting close to getting fired. Odom knows it's coming!

WOW! Smush gone before the summer starts, Cook gone barely the season has started, Odom on his way out, Kwame and Sasha expiring contract.

Smush, Cook, Odom, Kwame and Sasha all gone by next year. Is there a new GM in town or what? This is a clean-up make no mistake!

Mihm, Kwame, Cook, Odom, Smush!
The replacements, Bynum, Turiaf, Vlad, Ariza, Farmar!

WHAT COMES IN MUST GO OUT? Is Crittenton going to replace Kobe in two years?

zen,

What do you understand about giving up 110-points per contest means?

That's on the Center. The Center stablizes the defense. 110-points per contest doesn't lie.

The Kid doesn't have his NBA legs yet. I think he is going to come into his own when his legs mature. But that is 1 maybe 2 years away.

With Kobe Bryant...we don't have that time.

mike

Ok, I just saw last nights game:

Lamar, it's time for him to go. We all know the pattern pretty well by now, he's going to have a big game against NJ on Sunday and then maybe against Seattle and then when we really need him against Denver, Utah and Orlando he's going to disappear...

Radmanovic has stepped up and shown he can handle the SF slot we brought him in for. Trade Odom for a solid PF, or Kwame, or both? Whatever, that's obviously the hole now. Turiaf is a cool guy, he's also not the answer at PF.

Bynum got whistled out of the game. What else is there to say? He needs to look at the tape and move the way the referees want him to move. Straight up means straight up, not 85 degrees, they want the full 90 degrees so give it to them.

Luke Walton looks lost out there.

Can't blame Kobe for being frustrated. His #2, Odom, decided to take the last few games off. Four points? What the hell is that? Bynum is an emerging #2 scoring option but you can't be surprised when he has a bad game, the question is, will he learn from it? I think he will. Radmanovic and Farmar are stepping up in the scoring dept. but you can't get FOUR POINTS??? from Odom in 30+ minutes. Turiaf isn't there to provide scoring...

Cook! We miss Cook! That's it! Nah... we need a REAL PF to give us 10 and 10. What's Horace Grant up to?

on another note, why doesn't LA use goats to chew up potential burn areas like they do up in San Francisco? We risk hundreds of millions in structural losses from fires and we won't pay a few bucks to have goats rotate around to different areas to chew up most of the burnable materials? Every year we go through this, every year... just say YES! to GOATS!

Dave M,
let's take Abdur- Rahim too if thats what it takes,
LO is a very special player but finesse is not what we need right now.
We need a reliable, rock solid second scorer and nasty defender who can hang with Ginobili, Dirk , T-Mac etc. and can bring energy to the game.
I love LO, he is a super talented guy, but his energy and focus are sketchy
plus there never was any real chemistry between him and the Mamba on the floor. I am sure nobody on this blog can deny that.
Kobe loves Ron Ron and Artest no matter how loonie he is, he can bring it every night.

However, I have a feeling that the Queens are not going to oblige . .

And with regard to JO, PLEASE NO!
High risk , low reward investment,

No Lakers game tonight. So i just watch ex laker players Cook and Evans vs Smush and Shaq right now in Nba league pass.

Mike T is a comedian, he thinks the lakers will trade Bynum 2 the nets for a guy coming off a knee reconstruction and a rookie. Sure they will do that trade, oh wait a minute they didnt trade Bynum for Kiddd but certainly they will Bynum for those two lol.

Hey Mike Kwame is a bum and a bust look at what Dwight Howard Lebron are doing its called what a number 1 pick is supposed 2 do and not get 5 pts and 5 rebounds a game

Mike T,

In layman's terms I think it means "my brother," or my fellow american lol.

Our defense will only go as far as Kwame Brown healthy. We need him healthy. Otherwise we're stuck to outscoring the opponent, and in some games that's just not possible.

I'm really concerned about our 3 spot. The 3 is the most athletic position on a basketball team. The small forward must be able to pose a scoring threat on the perimeter, as well as have a decent post game. You must be big enough to contend with inside rebounding against muscle positions (4 and 5), but you still be nimble enough to handle the ball effectively.

If you look at the vast majority of quality NBA teams, the 3 is a tremendously vital position. The Suns, Dallas, San Antonio, Detroit, Orlando, even mid level teams like the Clippers have solid and contributing 3 players.

Now, lets look at our beloved Lakers. Who do WE have at the 3? A dysfunctional basket case in Lamar Odom and a slow, unatheletic guy whose claim to fame is making an occasional good pass in Luke Walton. Our 3 spots have no consistent scoring ability, no effective post presence (since Lamar is too timid to be there and Luke will only pass the ball), no competent defense (Lamar makes stupid mistakes and Luke's D is non-existent), no true rebound ability, nothing. There's NOTHING at our 3 position that we can rely on.

My solution: Move Kobe to the 3. Kobe has the size and grit to perform well at that position. He can score outside and in the key, and his tenacity will aid in his rebounding against bigger players.

Let Bynum handle the inside presence, and let Kwame or Roni handle the 4. Why? We will have defensive clogging ability and we should stand a good chance at controlling the rebounding, particularly with Kobe helping out with that chore.

For our 1 spot, lets have Farmar starting and for our 2, lets either have Lamar. Why? Why not? Lamar would rather be on the perimeter any way, and he does have some decent ball handling skills. The triangle doesn't require him to move about much at the 2, and he will have a decidedly size advantage on the 2's for every other team. Let his do that until Crit gets into playing condition.

Our line up will as follows

1st team:
pg- Farmar (quickness, runs the offense)
sg- Lamar (slashing, size advantage)
sf- Kobe (scoring advantage in that he can work in and out of the key, lack of size can be compensated by our 4 and5)
pf- Kwame or Roni (defensive clogging ability with Kwame, but thats it. Competent defense, rebounding, and scoring with the brittle Roni)
c- Bynum/Mihm (inside presence)

Fish Guy,

I'll take that bet. How much?

Sonnybelfast

Open letter to mike teniente

I believe in your big body theory i n fact the lakers only get as far as kwame brown,i understand some bloggers don't want to see that.but mike t. has hit it on the head

kabayan their is no such word in the English language

"It's only one game." But kinda shows Bynum is not yet ready for primetime.

We're obviously a better team with Kwame and Drew rotating at center. So let's stop the hating on Kwame. You may think Kwame sucks, you may see Kwame suck, but we're still a more solid team with him around.

Botsoy,

You got it wrong, Mike T. is a Mexican-American not a Filipino.

"Kabayan" means countryman.

Jermaine O'neal has been shut down by the Pacers. He will get dealt. they cannot aford to have him get another injury before they can deal him. I now believe Lamar is on his way out.

Mike T.......As much as i dont like the part about giving up Bynum ....I really like Williams..I know he had his troubles in college but the guy can rebound and blocks very well........And has Fire deep down inside to prove everyone wrong

Kristic on the other hand ....Its not easy to come back from a torn ACL...
Before he got hurt besides that bad playoff run against the heat he was playing well......

What I love about the trade proposals involving Odom is they are all totally on the money...just as long as Odom is playing poorly.

The vast majority of NBA players could get better stats and have a greater impact than Odom with his current playing time.

mike t - how about we don't trade bynum away and we just use minimum money pro-rated to bring in dale davis for our 15th slot. he's an experienced post player with tons of playoff experience. a guy like d. davis won't worry about what kind of minutes he's going to get but he'll be there if we need him.

dave m

Guys I'm uterly sick, pissed off and Jealus beyond belief. Boston Sucked for years and they put this team together in one off seaon. This should be the Lakers returning to glorywith garnett, not Boston. They found some real suckers to bring in KG andf RA for they the players they had.

I go back when it was Magic and Bird and those rivalaries are still in my blood. The other noght i could not watch. I knew we were out matched and stood no chance. Our bench does not have the offensive power it did begfore the trade. It's going to be interesting to see how things shape up form here on. Kobe has to be frustrated watching how good Boston is. There going to be good now for 6+ years. Not a bad trade. Win now !!!!! What a concept.

Ciao,
CrazFan

You people are so fickle. We win a few and the blog has us in the finals already. Bynum has a good week and he's dwarfing kareems laker status. Kobe. Kobe looks happy, he must want to stay, he frowned tonight, he definitely wants out.

Now Odom plays poorly (I agree he stunk it up this week) and its trade lamar as quick as possible. If the lakers were this fickle we'd have traded bynum and odom for JO and Kobe for tyrus thomas and kirk hinrich. We'd have cut farmar b/c crit's summer league play was SO Outstanding, he was the next chris paul.

Chill out. Odom will come around. Just like farmar and Bynum got significantly better with a little experience, and just like the aforementioned two are not yet kareem and kidd. Give it time. One road trip does not a season make.
If Odom can't get it together by the all-star break then you all can trade talk him all you want. But for now---IN NOVEMBER--lets give our guys a chance. All of our guys, especially those who WANT to be here, and HAVE SHOWN HEART. No excuses here for his poor play, I just say give it time.

Steady LA, steady. Stay the course--I have a feeling its going to come together this year. How far?? Who knows. But give it time.

Mike T.

Bynum for Kristic are you crazy?! We could probably get a guy like Pau Gasol or Jermaine O'Neal for Bynum if we threw in other pieces. We'd be the laughing stock of the league if we gave up Bynum for a soft above average center with a gimpy knee.

Mike T,

I would agree with you if you said trad bynum for Gasol, for brand, for Bosh, for Boozer, for JO, for Randolph, for Aldrige, for garnett, for Jamison, for butler but certainly not Kristic. The man just had a surgery and he sucks big time right now.

You cant be serious about Kristic, thats like trading Clinton for either Bush. EWWWWW

Laker Fans the lost to Boston was a disapointment in deed,but don't panic behind it and start tradeing players yet. The season is still young, and the Celtics did what they were suppose to do @ home. It's up to the lakers to take care of business when the celtics come to L.A. this laker team has good potential to cause an upset this season.

From Lakers Insider:

Farmar on the Rise
By Sameer Mahmood
Jordan Farmar is starting to make a name for himself in the NBA with his basketball I.Q. He is establishing a reputation as someone who is capable of making the right plays on the basketball court. Mastering the triangle offense, Farmar is improving in his ability to put his teammates in positions to succeed consistently on the court.
After a successful rookie season in which Farmar played well enough to earn an invitation to the Rookie vs. Sophomore All-Star Game, the young point guard hopes to build on that success going into this season.
With a season of experience under his belt although still only 20 years old, Farmar is looking to become a solid contributor for the Lakers for years to come. This season the second year guard from UCLA has embraced the role of coming off the bench. "I like the role a lot. I just want to bring energy and try to bring a spark into every game," said Farmar.
With the return of Derek Fisher to Los Angeles, expect a steady development in Farmar's abilities under the veteran's watch. Fisher, now in his 12th season, is a proven leader and winner. Last season in Utah, Fisher took second year point guard Deron Williams under his wing, and the youngster from Illinois flourished into one of the league's elite guards. Farmar is hoping for similar results now that Fisher is his mentor. "Just having Derek here every day, seeing how he goes about his business and watching him picking up on the little things is big for me," said Farmar.
Farmar, who doesn't turn 21 until the end of the month, joins the likes of Andrew Bynum and Javaris Crittenton as the youngest players on the team. Both Bynum and Farmar played on the second unit for much of last season and came to form a special bond. The two have learned to play well with one another, understanding each other's game. Their chemistry is starting to pay dividends on the court as both players have looked sharp early in the season. The possibility of the two one day becoming the corner stone of the franchise and playing for years to come is a source of great excitement for Farmar. "I really relish that, I am looking forward to it. We have a lot of fun playing together."
If Farmar looks like he is right at home playing in Los Angeles, it's because he is. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Farmar polished his basketball skills white attending Taft High School before moving onto UCLA. Growing up a Lakers fan, Farmar is very familiar with the Lakers tradition and is proud to wear the purple and gold. "It is something you always dream of. Being from Los Angeles I grew up all around that and soaked it all in and my life up to now has kind of been like that."
Given his success on and off the court, the Lakers are a perfect fit for Farmar. "I'm living life in my home town. It's the best city in the world to me. I really can't complain."

"funny, I even remember blogrs saying even trading lo for jo was too much or it was a lateral move. "

It wasn't Lamar for JO - it was Lamar AND Bynum for JO. Big difference. Subtract Lamar and Bynum from this team, add JO - and the team still isn't a contender. Plus the future isn't as bright.

The only trade that would have made the Lakers a serious contender was Garnett - and all reports had the Lakers offering everybody but Kobe for Kevin. The other trades would have left the Lakers as pretenders still in the West - and weaker going forward.

After the beating the lakers got from the Celtics- Kobe said "this is quite a team Danny Ainge put together here" He should have said "this is quite a team Kevin Mchale put together here"

dave m,

Yes, that would work. I'm just not too high on what Mihm can do for us. I like Bynum coming off the bench with the 2nd unit after the 1st unit establishes a defensive rhythm to the game.

mike

Faith,

;-)

I wonder what your voice sounds like....uuuuummm?

mike

Obviously the Lakers are still getting their act together for this season. I have no idea how it will all play out. But one thing is already clear. Laker fans posting on this blog are being blown one way and then the other emotionally depending on whether the team won or lost the last 2 games. We win a few games and wow we're on our way to the top! Then we lose a couple and shit we're a bunch of bums. Both extremes are ridiculous. The truth is in the middle. We're a good team but not an elite team. We've got both talent and problems. Maybe the front office will make a trade that will help us, but maybe they won't. It's too early to know anything, really. We have to just let Phil continue experimenting with different lineups and rotations, let Lamar and Mihm get back up to speed, let the team gel, and see what Kupchak does. We'll have a good idea in a couple of months. Any strong opinions now are just emotionally driven foolishness. That's not to say that a lot of the comments being posted don't have merit. Just that they're overstated.

That said, I still give Lamar some time simply because a handfull of games doesnt make him a bad player. He has never played a stretch of games this poorly before so I feel like he will come around.
MH

Mh your right a handful of games doesnt make him a bad player. What makes him (as well as Kwame btw) bad players is that they've been in the league for 9 and 7 years respectively and they have not evolved nuch. They are the secod and third highest players on the team and neither has mastered anything well. How long justice how long???? How long are we going to hear about potential with these 2(basketball retarded) thanks Edwin, players??
If u look at Kobe in his early years or T-mac heck even Bynum now you can see steady progress. These guys haven't grown any and there what 29 and 25 and they still have some untapped potential?? There weak mentally and physically, a blind man can see this!! Don't get me wrong they are both players in the nba and there will be teams that can use there services in the right situations. However like somone pointed out when those contracts expire they won't be overpaid anymore.

If I was either of these guys agents I would quit.I can see someone negotiating something for the likes of KB24, Lebron etc, you could even make a case for young guys like Bynum etc. But how and what do you say for clients like Odom and Kwame how the hell do you negotiate a competitive salary for these guys????...........

Oh wait..... when its jerry, jimbo, and kupcake you can always pull one over, or you colud go through Phil and have him call up his old bud MJ for advice!!!!!!!!!!(LOL) give me a break They need A fire sale all knuckle heads must go!!!!!!!

Ps at least I haven't heard the illusionists on this blog calling for a trade of KB24 anymore or I sholud say in a while, but its evident who the real perps are on this team( U 2 Luke, the force is definately not with you!!!!!!!!)

akrasian
I know the deal was LO and Bynum for JO .what I said or meant was that people were saying giving up both was way too much. People went on to say that even Lo for JO was just a lateral move, and like I said they questioned who was actually the better player due to numbers and injury history whatever. My point is I don't think at this point or even b4 there should be a question of whom the better player is

btw that's the problem with some fans.. its like they have a fo infection or something. the team is to get better,but every laker is to good to offer in any trade. no laker except 1 Kobe bean Bryant is to good to offer in any trade. After that Shaq and Butler thing, the fo is intent on not giving up too much. that's why we are where we are. thats why other teams look like contenders and the lakers look like pretenders............. oh but I forgot with KB24 there's always a chance(LOL)
Luke and Kwame and Odom ,oh btw cook and evans......... to valuable to trade please....... U know what the lakers organization looks like to other teams.Remember that guy who got all the girls was popular and got everything he wanted when he was younger??? U know what happens?? He eventually gets old and lives in yester year.. oh i remember when blh blah blah. however the old school fool thinks he still has it going on, but you know what THE TIMES HAS PASSED HIM BY..........

sounda a lot like a gm coach or owner of a certain team to me, u guys pick 1!!!!!!!!!!!

I too believe in Mike T's 'big body' theory, and we all know we aren't going anywhere without consistent D.

Mike T still has not seen the light and realized that Kwame will NEVER be that guy! He can do it for a week or two here and there, but he'll never do it with any consistency that will REALLY make a difference. but he'll never be an impact player on a championship team.

Same goes for Lamar. All the tools, has shown heart (but not now!), and he'll never be an impact player on a championship team.

The rest? Don't get me started!

My2c

Historian - you are wrong. Look here and learn:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/benjaminfr109067.html

MT
when did you buy the LAKERS and WHAT TEAMS DID YOU COACH

FAITH,

You post that feel good story by Sameer Mahmood about Farmar ... are u the same person? are you his agent?

Trust me, though I am glad to see we finally have a quick point guard, don't try and tell us DIE-HARDS that Farmar, Criiteron, and Bynum will be our cornerstones in the future.

The Lakers are about mega stars, HELLO, Mikan, Baylor, West, Wilt, Magic, Kareem, Shaq, Kobe

We will not settle for second-flight players, the players mentioned in the article are role players, no matter how good they are or might become (see Worthy)

The Love-Fest for Bynum is ridiculous. When Greg Oden emerges next year you will understand, he is a year younger, doesn't need 2 years to grow into his body, or 3 years to learn what the game is really about. He is what you wish Bynum was.

Changing the subject, for all you idiots that like the Ariza deal, we got nothing (he aint no Pippen, please). So we let Cook go who was a soft 6'10" but he could be streaky with that shot. The biggest mistake was letting Evans go, he was a tough player who melded well with the second unit. Now you have to start all over again with Ariza. That will take what???, 2 years before he learns the intricasies of the triangle?

YOU EVER NOTICE
I sometimes wonder what it would be like to see KOBE in a different uniform,
all I know is, there are a lot of people who don't appreciate his hustle, pride, competiveness, skill......
his immaturity and stupidity that most of us forgive because the consequences of his actions have been immeasurable and constantly relived without redemption.....
Only a Tiltle will help our wayward son, So if it's not here.........
I will always remember
Damn, I miss those MacDonald commercials

"You people are so fickle."

If they had any actual power to influence or make Laker decisions, it would be a real cause for concern. They don't, so not to worry.

I love the Lamar Odom must go talk.
Many including myself said, Odom was not a #2 and not willing to be a #2.

So who can we get for him.

Phoenix will not give us Shawn Marion for a bum like Odom. Not going to happen. Marion is super productive and Odom is not.

JO for Odom is possible but not sure how excited either team is on that.

Artest for Odom has to be considered. As the rest of the team seems to function with or without Odom I think Artest if being good would flow into this defensive style team.

How about Antawn Jamison for Odom. He's not a big time defender but he is a better shooter and way more productive. He's not as big and does not rebound like Odom but he's no slouch on the boards like Mihm or Kwame.
I think Jamison should be STRONGLY considered too.

Today, I'd pull the trigger on all of them cause I was done with Odom back in May. Can't fool me no more.

It's just a matter of how many of the deals are possible and potentially on the table.

The way Jamison and Marion are playing those 2 are probably not possible which is a shame in the Jamison case since he has surpassed Odom in value.

Artest and JO are probably possible.
JO would help the defense against KG and Duncan.
Artest would help the defense too.

wow,
Kobe at the 3 would work fairly well, although he would get banged up on defense against the bigger ones. The problem would be replacing him at the 2. I don't think that Lamar is a good choice there; he is not a good enough outside shot. Neither is Aiza, from what I have read.

Rationalfan,

you wrote this: Obviously the Lakers are still getting their act together for this season. I have no idea how it will all play out. But one thing is already clear. Laker fans posting on this blog are being blown one way and then the other emotionally depending on whether the team won or lost the last 2 games. We win a few games and wow we're on our way to the top! Then we lose a couple and shit we're a bunch of bums. Both extremes are ridiculous. The truth is in the middle. We're a good team but not an elite team. We've got both talent and problems. Maybe the front office will make a trade that will help us, but maybe they won't. It's too early to know anything, really. We have to just let Phil continue experimenting with different lineups and rotations, let Lamar and Mihm get back up to speed, let the team gel, and see what Kupchak does. We'll have a good idea in a couple of months. Any strong opinions now are just emotionally driven foolishness. That's not to say that a lot of the comments being posted don't have merit. Just that they're overstated.

My response: When we signed Derek Fisher, I said 5th seed. I see
no reason to change that stance. The trade for Ariza is an
interesting one. We'll see what sort of dividends it pays. I wish they'd
have done it last year. Many bloggers focus on offense. I am a believer
in "Defense wins championships!" Mike T's comments about Bynum are
interesting and I wait to see how accurate he is. So far, he's on the $$.

We saw the Lakers play really well at the beginning of last year and then tank in a spectacular fashion. Having been burned before, I'm waiting until after the all-star break to re-calibrate my opinion.

Go Lakers!
Go Kobe!

Just some quick NEWS FLASH ITEMS for MIKE T. Boston was a growing pain, and the season stats still speak volumes. MIKE - I HOPE YOUR BIG BANG THEORY OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU CALL TAKES INTO ACCOUNTS ALL THE FACTS AND NOT JUST CHERRY PICKING BAD GAMES. HERE ARE THE FACTS:

PLAYER EFFICIENCY

Drew: 19.0 (40th in the NBA, better than Rasheed, Chandler, Gasol, Randolph, Aldridge, Bosh, Haywood, Gerald W., and many other notable big men)

Brown: 7.9 (198th in the NBA….LOL)

MINTUES
Drew: 24/game (and climbing)

Brown: 21/game (and declining)

POINTS

Drew: 11.5

Brown: 4.3 (LOL)

REBOUNDS

Drew: 10.0 (15th in NBA….WOW)

Brown: 5.0 (LOL)

FG%

Drew: 59% (3rd in the NBA….WOW)

Brown: 52%

FT%

Drew: 79% (WOW)

Brown: 20% (LOL…LOL…………..ROFLMFAO….that MUST be a misprint right??????)

ASSISTS

Drew: 1.2 (LOL)

Brown: 1.1 (LOL)

STEALS

Drew: .36 (LOL)

Brown: .86

BLOCKS

Drew: 1.5 (25th in NBA)

Brown: .86

TO
Drew: 1.3

Brown: 1.3 (I have no idea how this is right given how many passes Kwame fumbles, but I’ll take it)

DOUBLE/DOUBLE

Drew: 5

Brown: 0 (LOL)

FANTASY RATING

Drew: 16th in NBA

Brown: 110th in NBA (LOL)

WORK ETHIC

Drew: Worked out all summer like a machine

Brown: None—I cite Kwame’s declining basketball skills over the last 4 years as evidence that Kwame does nothing in the off-season to get better, only worse.

YOU SEE MIKE, those are what we in the real world call….F-A-C-T-S….those aren’t opinions. FACTS ARE FACTS.

The crazy notions you create each game to justify Kwame’s playing time are OPINIONS that you create to fit your situation.

FACT: The ONLY things Brown does that is better than Drew is steals and big man one on one defense, and the gap is closing QUICKLY. Because those are the only two things in the basketball world Brown can do worth a crap, and because he is such a LIABILITY otherwise, Kwame Brown will spend the rest of this season as Bynum’s BACKUP.

Cheers.