Let's go Kwame!

Could we really get Ben Wallace for Kwame & VRad?

That would be nice.

Just a little suggestion to other bloggers. Given that we're on a new thread here, how about NOT making it another pity party. Let's support the guys we have - they'll be out there tonight, trying to get the win.

I'm not sure either if Ben Wallace is the solution. I will say this, he can D-up, catch the ball, and finish better than Kwame. But the $28.5 after this season? I would try and find a better-younger player to take.

I really hope people don't abusively boo Kwame tonight. It would make me embarassed to be a devout Laker fan.

GO LAKERS!

dave m,

I agree.

GO LAKERS!

ok. i guess wallace has no hands. what about dj mbenga? when's webber deciding?

hands kwame! hands kwame!

kwame is goiing to school camby.

happy mlk day.

Mike C.,

ugh...I agree; please no trading for Ben Wallace. Might as well trade for J. O'Neal while you're at it.

Can't believe another of the young guys was hurt landing on another teammate's foot again. Come back soon, Trevor.

I read Kwame's working on his post game with Kareem. Hopefully his work will pay off. Let's all support him and the rest of our boys tonight.

In Kwame we trust.

Go Lakers!

Happydaze

Jon K.

"I'd estimate that probably 40% of bloggers would have taken that Lamar + Bynum for Jermaine O'Neal last summer which we all know now (and I knew then) would have been catastrophic."

Actually Jon, there was a landslide amount of bloggers that wanted Kupchak to stand put regarding the Indian Trade. I may have read 2-3 bloggers who may have been for it.

"I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with the number of bloggers who's contribution to this blog primarily comes in the form of complaints against the Lakers organization (including players), suggestions or demands of trades for the sake of making a trade--nothing else, and statements of self-importance ("I'm a fan and the Lakers OWE ME!")"

That's the nature of the beast when a blog is public. Unless there is some private membership, then maybe more sophisticated people may blog. However, bad apples are everywhere.

Have a good one and happy MLK day everybody. (I am stuck here at work)

"Given that we're on a new thread here, how about NOT making it another pity party."

Who blogging on this thread making it a pity party? People are just responding to the topics at hand.

TrueLakerFan,

It was fishers foot that ariza landed on.

Posted by: Charles | January 21, 2008 at 10:35 AM

Sorry ti disagree but the Times reported it was Odom's foot Ariza's foot landed on.

You know what on a Monday where you do not have enough resources, well the remaining players have to gut it out. I remember UCLA won the Championship in 1995 (Idon't know if that is the correct year under Coach Harrick) they won the game with 8 players. Who are the available players who could play?

Fish/Farmar
Kobe/Critt
Lamar/Karl or Kobe
Ronnie/Luke
Kwame/Lamar or Ronnie

The weakest point here on the veterans Kwame and Luke while on the rookies Critt and Karl. Kobe, Fish, Turiaf and Farmar has to re-double their efforts to take over the slack production taken out by Ariza and Bynum. We will consume all time outs, will run an efficient game conserving energy and fouls, then gut it out on the 4th quarter by appplying the running game and surprising the Nuggets.

This will be a psychological game because it will be Karl , the younger vs. Karl, the elder, let us see who will give way.

This is the moment that Kobe has been waiting for, you can't blame him if he takes advantage of the slack, if he sees Luke, LO and Kwame are not performing at their best then give him the green light to shoot at will. It is better to lose a game by trying rather than just give in to the enemy.

A little of history in the Middle Ages that can be applied by a rag tag forces of the Lakers.......

In the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Duke William II gathered his forces to claim the throne of England which was given to another Duke by the previous dying King. Based on blood lineage, William is the true heir because he was a cousin of King Edward. William gathered ragtag forces of French and mercenary soldiers and trained them to battle. He formed an archers brigade as his long ranged weapons, developed a loyal infantry composed of mercenaries, few knights and local followers of William. They have no match with the English forces under the current King who are seasoned army with lance and axes and a sizable one. So the battle begins, the archers prevented the English from attacking against the well-entrenched forces of William but because of sheer number the shield arrows could not reached their range, in order to have contact there was no alternative for the small army has to get out of the trenches and meet the huge force. As they were getting out, the English sensed that they are ready to meet them face to face so they also advanced on the hill. When the small forces of William saw a multitude with armour clad shield, with axes and lances on the run, about to annihilate them, the small number feared their death and retreated. This was the moment when Duke of William got out of his horse and prevented the retreat from a safe distance while the ARchers aimed their arrows at the attacking masses within their range. It was a big TRAP, a great number got injured by flying arrows and right and left flank, the Williams knights infantry rounded the injured Englishmen, it was too late for them to retreat because there are just too big an army behind their back running forward. Even the English king, Harold got lost in the melee of confusion and was hit on the eye. The injured English were severely handicaped with arrow lanced in their body and fighting against an horsed infantry and foot soldiers who were solid and efficiently utilized, eventually they met their defeat and death in the Battle of Hastings. William was declared the true KIng and known in the history as William, the Conqueror.

If Farmar, Fisher, Karl and Kobe will be used as the archers while LO, Ronnie, Crittenton, Luke and Kwame as the sacrificial infantry, of course Kobe will be the duke, the lone target of the Nuggets used as a decoy throughout the evening, then the Lakers have a chance to win tonight.

Sorry for the long post to narrate the path to victory. Sometimes, history repeats itself in another form or scenery.

Jon,

What do you expect from this blog? High minded analysis from a littany of average people? Sometimes a forum like this is good for people who merely want to voice their frustrations with either the team, the front office, or perhaps just the situation. As much as I hate that certain people get to have an opinon here, they still should have it. If you don't like the tone, or the content, or whatever else it is that you don't like about a post or a poster, then ignore it. It's as easy as that. If you want to censor the content of a blog, then go start one of your own. Everyone that comes here deserves a voice, whether we all agree with it or not.

LkrFan

Charles Barkley?

Ever notice how Charles is so fat that his head looks like a pumpkin on halloween? Ever notice that Charles is so dumb that when he speaks he uses the "interesting" as if it's a "big" word? Watch how many times he uses it as if trying to be intellectual? LOL!

But here's what to really look for. Watch Charles closely and you'll see that the guy talks so slow that if you notice the guy is trying to hide or stop the fact that he's almost slurring.

The guy is so out of shape that his speech is slurred. The guy, if you look closely, it seems is on the verge of a heart attack.

Watch this guy closely. I'm telling you, his speech is almost slurred. And then he compounds that slurred speech with a what's "interesting" to me is this or that. But watch how he has to slow down just to get the word "interesting" out of his mouth.

How stupid is this guy? Either this guy is outright stupid or he's on the verge of a heart attack.

You think I'm joking? Watch Charles Barkley very very closely when he speaks. Watch how he labors just to speak. A guy in that condition shouldn't be talking crazy about anyone. A guy in that condition should be praying and making sure that his prayers are heard with kind behavior.

Watch Charles Barkley!

mike

PhxLkrFan,

I simply desire improved quality. I desire that with nearly everything in my life and, whenever possible, I make choices and engage in actions as a means of fulfilling that desire. While not always being successful, it is still a part of fundamentally striving in life.

I think this blog can be improved (not perfected, improved) and perhaps there's something we can do as contributors that can help assist those improvements.

Personally I think the blog and the bloggers who post are best assisted by thinking out their posts before posting. That's usually the case with writing in general.

Do you think it is more helpful for a blogger (intellectually or emotionally) to post something like "KWAME SUCKS! KWAME SUCKS KWAME SUCKS!" or something like "I don't see Kwame ever improving. We need to find a way of getting rid of him."?

I mean, a blog is a community. Just like in real life communities totally selfish behavior that doesn't contribute to the community isn't well-tolerated, nor should it be.

I think self-policing and mentoring as a general policy of the blog is something that is helpful.

GO LAKERS!

TIME TO HOLD DOWN THE FORT:

It's officially Kobe time. The season isn't lost, the world isn't coming to an end, and the fast start isn't a thing of the past. I'm not suggesting Kobe take 40+ shots every night, I'm talking Kobe Time, version 2008. Time for him to demand intensity and focus out of his guys, to cheer on the dudes lacing them up every night, to include everyone in moving the ball, chasing down every rebound and loose ball, and doing whatever it takes to win. Lamar brought it versus the Suns like he hasn't all year, Kwame's reaction to the boos was exactly what I wanted to hear, and I know Ronny and Farmar will keep up the high level.

This team needs to maintain their composure through the end of February. Their strong play thus far has them six losses ahead of the eighth seed and right now it's about maintaining a spot in the playoffs and getting healthy. I think this Laker squad when 100% can compete with anyone in the West, so whether they are an 8th seed or 1 seed it doesn't matter to me.

What matters to me is that they remember what got them off to this fast start so far and that's hustle on both ends of the floor, sticking together and moving the ball.

There's no way in hell I'm ready to say "this is exactly like last year". This is a completely different team and I'm ready to start a new win streak.

Kamenetzky Brothers,

Whenever possible, please post those wonderful audio clips of interviews. These recordings are by far the best way for us Lakers fans to understand the players and the organization as a whole. Hearing the interviewees speak their responses allows us as listeners to judge a comments nature based on its tone and timing. Along with that we can understand the context of specific comments within an entire interview.

I frequently read news articles that either mischaracterize a players comments or flat out misquote them. It's much better to come across an audio or video clip where you can take a players comments at face value.

For example, in this thread the linked OC Register and Daily News articles contradict each other regarding whether or not Odom is looking forward to taking on a greater workload.

From the OC Register article:
"I'm not looking forward to it, to tell you the truth," said Odom, who had previously played more than 42 minutes just once this season. "(But) I'm ready for it. I'm in shape now."

From the Daily News article:
"I'm just going to have to try to pull the stat sheet up," he said of scoring and rebounding more while playing additional minutes. "I'm looking forward to it, to tell you the truth. I'm in shape now. This is the time to do it. I don't know how many games we've got before the All-Star break, but we need to finish up strong."

I personally think that the Daily News article is the correct one, for several reasons that I won't get into.

Just when I was about to say that Kevin Ding over at the OC Register usually does better work, I noticed that this article is written by Curtis Zupke. I'm not familiar with your writing Curtis but your definitely making a bad first impression. It seems that the quote is changed in order to fit with the picture that is being painted in the beginning of the article. It's more likely that the misquote happened first and the article was written around it (I don't necessarily suspect intentional misinformation). Either way, sloppy reporting.

Of course the Daily News article could be wrong, in which case my apoligoes to Curtis Zupke. I wish I had an audio clip to clear up this confusion.

Did anyone else notice this contradiction between the two articles? Andrew, Brian, can you clear things up? Does anyone else find these audio clips to be helpful? I would love to see them posted as frequently as possible and if you feel the same way, please don't hesitate to speak up.

Charles, Jon K and others,

Thank you for considering me a good resource but you're not the only one, Charles who rants, we all do. As I said before it is part of passion and this blog is our outlet for those frustrations. Perhaps, what Jon K was telling, let us try to temper our passion in the most constructive way. Even him, he loses his cool when he calls names but as I mentioned too, he does not really mean it the way we read it. It was his everyday language in trying to be emphatic in a friendly strife.

While Phxlakerfan was also right, we all come from different environment, varied locations and backgrounds, how can you really discipline the blog as an entity within a classroom setting. The presence of AK/BK is the best thing ever happened and they're not that too restrictive in influencing their rules, they have their conflicting views as well and the recipients of curse in the blog. LOL! I think we should practice a modicum of ethics and human kindness before sending an angry post. We all have assumed names, faceless and no connection with one another exept the Lakers, it is our responsibility to give our best and if our best is not within the standards, let us learn from the blog rather imposing our own will. Other than that, this is the society we face everyday. There are the moneyed people, just enough group and the homeless and poor newcomers (don't take this one literally). We have to coexist in the blog, and if we can't, I wonder how we will you do it in the real world. Don't be too serious, treat it as part of our past time.

Let's win for MBenga!!!

Big Ben would bring championship Experience for starters plus a mental and physical toughness We sorely lack...Plus, he has more sure hands than the Kwamster!

Andrew Z

"There's no way in hell I'm ready to say "this is exactly like last year". This is a completely different team and I'm ready to start a new win streak."

Absolutely correct, sir. This is different in many ways, not the least of which is they've learned how to win and what it feels like. And they know help is on the way. No matter how dark it gets, there is a light near the end of the season.

Having said that, I don't know if we're paying more day to day attention than in years past, but I can't remember ever having to deal with so many years of consistent injuries. Magic and Scott in the finals against Detroit, and a few others, but for the most part, this has been other worldly injury wise.