I knew by boy, Kwame Brown, needed more time to heal from his offseason surgeries. I thought the same thing. This is a perfect time for Kwame to heal up from those surgeries and his sprained knee.

mike

"unusually tall kids in a seriously luxurious, airborne classroom."

Unusually tall kids in a seriously luxurious, airborne classroom, where the teacher is making out with a former Playboy Bunny in the back.

Mike,

I don't think Kwame wants to come back. He's definitely not going to rush it. He has to stay healthy for his next contract, while he waits until his expiring contract is shipped out. Fortunately, for him, Anderson Varajeo is still a Cav and just got 17 mill over 2 years. That's pretty much him with less hair and passion.

Mike T,

As much as I disdain Kwame's offensive blunders and game(that's putting it mildly) I see where you're coming from as far as defense is concerned. Having him back healthy will give us three bigs to combat teams that rely solely on one big(Howard, Stoudemire, Duncan and Yao). He and Bynum provide a good one-two punch at the center spot and provide a nice change of pace for our Lakers. I've never liked Mihm's game even when he played for Texas, but I think he's useful in some situations and may get time at the 4 spot with Kwame's return. While I'll never be excited about Kwame's offensive game, we need him and everyone else healthy to make our TEAM deeper and stronger as the season goes on. Sounds like Turiaf got more touches than Andrew in practice today, damn guys at least pass it to Drew in practice!!! LOL! Have a good one Mike T.

Jazz at Spurs 6:30 on ESPN..

That's a lot great role players all on the same court. Tune in and see how it's done:-)

flu shots don't work.

raw garlic does.....

while Drew is really the guy at center, we do need the "big body" cakeboy back. keep healing Kwame.

i thought the trade for Trevor was going to be big, and so far, it looks like it will be. don't be fooled folks, if this team keeps learning from their mistakes and stays healthy and on the same page as the coaching staff, we're going to the finals...

HAB - Actually, it's 43-41 in the Jazz vs Spurs right now, the Jazz leading, and I see two stars (Boozer and Deron Williams) and their team versus two other stars (Parker and Ginobili) and their team.

MikeT,

I know you are getting excited about Kwame coming back but a little clue for you, the Lakers are going to take advantage of the expiring contract. Kwame is as good as gone and Laker Mgt doesn't care how big his calves are. Don't you think Laker Mgt knows by now the Big 3 of Kobe, Odom and Kwame experiment has failed after 3 plus years? Smush, Cook and Kwame in that order its in the cards, you can't see it? If you were Buss after all that has happened wouldn't you look at trading Odom and Kwame to get that final piece? I know I would. If Kwame is as good as you make him out to be I am sure there are lot of GM's out there just waiting for the chance to trade for Kwame. Thou I doubt that.

BD

Mike T

"With the Rock's cocked-eyed stare....OK!"

Good one Mike, LOL!!! "If you SMELLLLLLLLLLLLL..." the cake that Kwame's throwing...LOL

MAKING AND DEFENDING THE 3-POINT SHOT…

There was an interesting quote from Phil Jackson in Broderick Turner’s latest article for the Riverside Press Enterprise. In the article, Turner quotes the Lakers coach as follows:

“"I'm beginning to think that three-point shooting is the difference in ballgames in the NBA," Jackson said. "Teams that shoot well from the three-point line, they are having great success...We shot well from the three-point line and it made a difference."

We’ve seen how the 3-point shot has dramatically transformed the game of basketball. Today, two of the elite teams in the league have unique approaches to the 3-point shot. The Phoenix Suns run-and-gun offense is specifically designed to get wide open 3-point shots in transition. The result is a high powered offense that leads the league with the best 3-point shooting percentage. On the flip side, the world champion San Antonio Spurs defensive strategy is based on NOT allowing opponents to get wide open three point shots, fully acknowledging how much momentum hitting 3-pointers generates.

While I am not ready to support our pumping up 3-point shots on offense like Phoenix, I definitely would like to see the Lakers adopt the Spurs philosophy of staying home on defense to prevent teams from getting wide open 3-point shots. One of the most frustrating aspects of the Lakers current defensive strategy in my mind is that we too often leave open 3-point shooters while trying to collapse and help on defense. This strategy leaves us open to losing games whenever the other team gets hot from the 3-point line such as in the Orlando game

One reason that San Antonio is able to stick with opponents’ 3-point shooters is the excellent interior help defense that Duncan and their center play. With Andrew starting to patrol the lane with better help defense, we definitely have the opportunity to copy the way that San Antonio’s perimeter defenders stay with their man rather than trying to double team a penetrating guard. That strategy is how the Spurs downed the Suns in the playoffs and how the Lakers have always seemed to play well against the Suns.

More pick-and-roll on offense. More staying with the 3-point shooters on defense.

Tom

Jackie Johnson...have a good weekend!

Be good!

mike

Party? What party? LOL!

Will there be chicken breasts at the party? If yes...well send me my invite.

mike

Lakertom

"One reason that San Antonio is able to stick with opponents’ 3-point shooters is the excellent interior help defense that Duncan and their center play. With Andrew starting to patrol the lane with better help defense, we definitely have the opportunity to copy the way that San Antonio’s perimeter defenders stay with their man rather than trying to double team a penetrating guard. That strategy is how the Spurs downed the Suns in the playoffs and how the Lakers have always seemed to play well against the Suns."

Yeah Andrew is getting better and really having a complete game. Kwame can not patrol the lane, can he? I remember the series with the Suns he was back pedalling everytime Steve Nash drive pass him. Nash gets a lay up on Kwame, afoul, or an assist. I do not think Kwame can protect the rim. A ll these Phil talk about kwame, is marketing startegy to raise some value to a NO NBA TEAM want Kwame. Phil has to pretend kwame is being missed in the middle to create an imagination that Kwame is a presence in the middle, even if he is not.

Smush, Coook, Kwame.... it's pretty clear what the Lakers are doing. Nuf said. Lakers are on the right track, It's great to see the huge improvements in the roster the Lakers managemnent is doing, impressive!

Although Kwame rarely scores, he can still be an offensive threat with his size. Just backing up opponents can leave them tired. I can also see opponents having a difficult time trying to box him out for a rebound. Let's face it, Kwame is our strongest player on the team. Bynum is not much of a physical player as Kwame and Mihm is practically a weakling.

pls add me to 55 win bandwagon

exhelodrvr

"Zombots" - what a powerful word! It really rolls off the tongue nicely. I'd love to see these creatures in some movie...

(Yeah, I know it's a late statement, but I had to plow through a couple of blogs first...)

K-Bros(or anyone else who knows): Do you know the status of Marc Gasol and Sun Yu? Do we keep their rights forever or do we have to sign them to a contract by a certain time?
I see that Marc Gasol is at 17+ppg and 7+rbg in the Euro league. I'd like to see what he could here. He's got to be better than Mihm.
Also, can we sign him in the middle of the season or is he locked in with his Euro contract?

Kupcake haters -- Mitch is proving you generally wrong. Its easy to criticize or say who to trade. Its more difficult to identify the player to trade for that will contribute more to the Lakers than the player traded. So far Mitch has done an outstanding job.

Yes Mitch has made mistakes. , signing Smush Parker was a wasted 2 years.

Trading Carron for Kwame? Good trade at the time. Good trade for the Lakers now. Lakers had nothing at center (Mihm) after the Shaq trade. Carron is statistically better, but Kwame gives Lakers what they need size, strength in the middle.

Lakers have 2nd youngest NBA roster with top tier 20 year old talent Bynum, Farmar, Critter.

They have shooters Vlade, Sasha and possibly Farmar and Dfish at times.

Inside: Kwame, Drew

Point: Fish, Farmar

and now a defensive menace in Ariza.

Along with the best player on the 3rd rock Kobe Bean Bryant .

Ariza should make a huge impact against golden state. He may be able to slow Baron Davis.

Not sure LO should be traded. He consistently rebounds and defends pretty well too. Offensively, Lakers don't need him as a second scoring option. He is the third option. Drew Bynum is the 2nd option. Lamar still hasn't learned how to consistently score from certain spots on the floor. He is a 10% 3 pt shooter who shoots 3's.

HAB,

Ginobli has a PER of 30.65. That's not a "solid role player", that's an MVP candidate.

Andy L,
"I'd love to see these creatures in some movie..."

Maybe we could get the K brothers to turn the blog into a movie about them!!

HAB,

Get over calling great players like Ginobili, Parker, Williams and Boozer role players. If you can't watch a great player at work and see that they're a stud than you either don't know basketball or you're over thinking.

Ginobili is the best player for one of the best team's in the world (Argentina National Team) and the second-best player on the best NBA team.

If it was a coach's system that makes players great than the Lakers, who are coached by one of the best coaches ever and the Heat, coached by Pat Riley, would be two of the best teams in the NBA. Instead the Lakers are in the middle of the pack in the West and Miami has the second worst record in the league.

It takes a combination of coaching and talent to win in this league. The Spurs have three of the top 20 players in the league and have one of the three best coaches AND have some of the best role players. It's no wonder why they're 17-3 and have to be the favorites to win their fifth NBA title.

Hobbitimage,

not sure if i agree that the Lakes are better in a meaningful way this year, at least in terms of their place in the conferene. On the floor, Bynum has showed improvement, obviously, but it's of the two to four points a game variety, and he still hasn't proved he can stay on the floor long enough for total impact (and remember, 2/3 of last season, Bynum was almost equally strong). Improvement at pg is there, along with better attititude at that position, so, yeah, they're a little better. ....That being said, most of these nine teams in the western conference that'll battle for 8 playoff spots have improved as well, and while it could be argued that the Lakers could wind up with a seed as high as #4, I still think over the long haul they're a tad worse than Denver, Houston and Dallas, and in the same realm as GS and New Orleans, which for me makes it very possible they miss the playoffs entirely. I'd still peg them in at 6, 7 or 8, but wouldn't be shocked if they were unlucky number 9.

Sunday nights at Staples Center have not been kind to the Lakers or late. This Sunday's visit by Golden State could be challenging as well.

With Walton, Mihm, Turiaf, and Kobe all fighting injuries of one kind or another, their athletic, fast breaking opponents will challenge the Lakers to play a full, solid 48 minutes. The Warriors have six players on the roster scoring in double figures, so Defense (as usual) will be an issue. We'll be fighting Andris Biedrins for rebounds whenever he's on the floor.

Sunday night's game will be another test of character for the Lakers. After a 2-0 road trip, will the Lakers let their guard down on their home court? Or will they pick up where they left off and bring their will to win? It's been such an up and down season, we just don't know.

We never know which Lamar will show up. Will he be aggressive? Can he play more smart than stupid? At least now Ariza has demonstrated he can play valuable minutes if the wrong Lamar shows up

What has been evident is that the team has rediscovered its chemistry, especially the Bench Mob. Hopefully, Phil will put in rotations that maximize how each unit performs.

The Staples crowd has not been reluctant to boo when the team performs below expectations. We'd all welcome a return to true Home Court Advantage on Sunday.

10mill,
"not sure if i agree that the Lakes are better in a meaningful way this year, at least in terms of their place in the conferene"

Absolutely - improvement is relative. No way the Lakers are a top 4 team in the West now, and as you noted, they could be fighting for a playoff spot in the spring. (Missing the playoffs would not be the worst thing that could happen to them, as long as it doesn't make Kobe leave.)

They could conceivably be playing at a top 4-5 level by the end of the season if they get reasonable intra-season improvement (relating to their current level of play) from the majority of Bynum, Farmar, Vlad, Ariza, Walton, Mihm, Turiaf. I think they are all capable of it. Kwame coming back reasonably healthy will also help, although I don't anticipate any improvement in his or Odom's play (or Kobe or Fisher, from the other end of the spectrum.)

Xodus,

Having a discussion (argument) with someone who thinks Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Manu Ginobli, and Tony Parker are slightly above average or role players is absolutely a waste of your time. Seriously, scrubbing a toilet or doing laundry is much better time spent than participating in that argument.

Role players, hmph.