Raining on the parade

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(JANUARY 28, 2008) TODAY IS: RAINY DAYS & MONDAYS GET ME DOWN
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The Force is out of balance and the roof is caving in - Faith
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Boston, Detroit and San Antonio are 5-5 on their last 10. We're 6-4, are now 6th in the
West and have lost to good teams so that's not that bad. Keep your heads up!
Go Lakers!!! Posted by: Ando | January 28, 2008 at 06:00 AM
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ROLL CALL:
(1) FAITH, (2) BOB, MIKE T. TALIQ, EDWIN GUECO, KEIFO, WOLF, CLEON,
VI LakerFan, Comptons_Finest, VMAN, TIM-4-SHOW, LakerTom,, Rick Friedman
tha_SHOW, hmmm, Smooth D, JCool, WOW, SBPIMP, LAKER TOM, THE D
utzworld THE BANNER HOLDER, EXHELODRVR, JANAYA, Generic_One
EastCoastJessie, Mamba24Fan4Life, FanofMamba, WhiteMamba24 HmrrHed,
BlackMamba24, FKILLAH, LakerTruth, Kiwi, Peace, David Whang, ELLE, RDLEE
AdamKiley, LakersryDeordie, ANGRYLAKER, The Cat, TSIRY, Darkhangelsk
TheLakeShow, WesJoeNixon, BAYWOOD, SBPIMP, CaliKing, Thirty2, DaxMDD
CBUCK, GDChild, ZEN, DION, Centralk, FATTY, Greek Dude, Staples24, Guy
TWOODY, JJ, Ajax, MITCHELL, CHARLES, BZAR, PJ_DOUBTER, Occupant-Cell-186
NEVER, LakaLover, Bynumite, LakerDogerDieHardInUpStateNY, Chucky.L.Ohnio,
Sead94, LeftField, JOREMA, Korey, Xtro, MCGarnagle, Gugy, Laker4Life, Gino
BLKTHGHT06, WONDAHBAB, FearlessWhackJob, JANDRO, LAKERFAZE,
PhxLkrFAN, Pince Akrasian, TexasLaker, EagleBoy, JR., KOBES T., KobeRocks
Purple & Gold, TSPHERE, t_Sensei, Tully Moxness, Zakee, David Peterson,
AfroJoe, CYRUS(Ventrilquist), Swettual, Andrew Z, LAL Fan, Brandon C., DC
Kinglakernidas, HUBBIT, BronxLakerFan, RespectMyAuthorith, Hariyahu, LakerLass
Laker_Sth, KobeFromManilas, Ray Ray, HOBBITMAGE, BONEZ, SarcoCop,
Bobby, MIGUELINHO, MAN, HYP117, TUKLAW, CDUB0512, AMAZING HAPPENS
MrBarneyDangles, BENJAMIN, MJCMAN32, PFUNK36, SOCALIFE, DICE8UP
Michael J, Michael H, Michael A., ALEXINH017, VIOLATER, KIKOS_DAD, Marty
LAKERGURL, LEELO, CriticalBeatDown, BLAZE1BX, SIMONE, Paul Lee,
WEAVE MAN, Jon Kavulic, Tajluck, NEMIA_FALETOGO, Caesar, BerkleyLaker,
StrangerintheNight, WhatsthesoundofKwameClapping?, idiot, You Ever Notice?
CRAIG, B4Hoops, RYAN, JR, Dascilla, tellitlikeitis, Nik Kannan, Sean P.
HollywoodJack, Rico Tico, NestrossBistro, LAKERAHOLIC, SocalSpider,AA LOS
LAKOBER, SLO GAL, Linda Pineda, TaosHum, ChiTownLaker, RealityCheckTime,
CORNER J., WiZo, MagicShaq, HugoBoss, RealityBites, LakerLarry, Jay Jay
LakerLifer, Tripgame3, SIXONEZERO, Houstion Laker, Todd Battles, LakerDawg,
JoninJAPAN(INCANADA), LT Laker Fan, Mainor, East Nyboer, Long Live Chick,
JEFF, Andy B. SwanWorld, Purple&Gold_4EVA, Benny Blanca, HAL9000
Tim in Sydney, LakerBake, JMan, AnyOneMouse, 10milliondollarZen, SHIVA, Troy,
Mfeige, RDANEEL, PHIL JACKSON, , Marc Gasol, Sun Yue, Ronny Turiaf,
V. RADMANOVIC, Jordan Farmar, LUKE WALTON, ANDREW BYNUM, COBY KARL,
Trevor Ariza, Chris MihmJarvis Critterton, LarryFulcher, Sasha Vujacic, TEX WINTER

AND NOW YOUR STARTING LINEUP FOR THE 14 TIME WORLD CHAMPION LA LAKERS

At center number 54 Kwame “fist of fury Brown
At forward number 4 LUKE WALTON
At forward number 7 LAMAR ODOM
At guard number 2 DEREK FISHER
At guard number 24 KOOOBEEEEE BRYYYANTTTTTT

ALL TOGETHER NOW:
WE ARE THE FREAKIN LA LAKERS THE WINNERS OF 14 NBA TITLES
THE TEAM WITH THE BEST WINNING PERCENTAGE IN NBA HISTORY
THE HOME OF WILT, KAREEM, GEORGE MIKAN, SHAQ, MAGIC, KOBE, SILK
ELGIN BAYLOR, THE LOGO(JERRY WEST), PAT RILEY, JAMES WORTHY,
COACHED BY THE 9 TIME TITLE WINNER PHIL (9RINGS) JACKSON
AND NO ONE WILL EVER DIVIDE OR CONQUER US

How dare you mention LeBron in the same paragraph as Kobe!! Stop being such a hater!!

EXHELODRVR,
Stop it Ex! you are going to have a heart attack. We all Know Kobe plays best
when he is doubted, therefore this is going to be a very interesting
road trip in which I predict the entire team bonds as never before. And yes
that includes Kwame.

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*WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER BANDWAGON *
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(01) LOOOKING FOR AN OWNER
(02) MAMBA24- Riding Shotgun

Time for a reality check!

I really wish the crackheads on the blog would not post when they are tweeking.

One claims that Kobe is now on the downside of his career after the Cav game. He claims he only settles for jump shots? Did you watch any of the game? He went to the rack all day! That is why he was teed up. He took quite a beating in there. Now, you can't get EVERY call, but don't tell Kobe that.

If he was tired at the end of the game, it was because he was busting his butt ALL game long. IF this is what his 'career downside looks like, well alot of players would trade their prime for it.

Now go back and find your pipe and leave Kobe alone.

Watching the Lakers for the past 4 years now, i'ts obvious to me that Phil is totally fascinated with certian players.........no matter what.
if mbenga can come in on a 10 day contract and already look alot better defensively and in general than kwame..............well, i guess it really is Fascination.

It's a pitty that your now forced to play a slow luke 30 minutes per game, because he's a weak link at the small forward position just about every night.

The triangle offense.....has always been boring and in-effective at best.....when kobe isn't in the game to bail the system out or attract double teams..........where are the high pick and rolls, where are the screens that every top team uses to create space for their best players........Tony parker, Lebron, Wade......on and on...............to attack the basket and draw fouls or create open shots.

To me even with Bynum........the lakers have a more serious issue that they just extended for 2 more years............A COACHING ISSUE

Why is Derek Fisher immune from criticism? All I read on these blogs is how terrible Lamar or Walton or Phil Jackson is. Derek Fisher was 3 for 11!! He is as inconsistent as shooter as Lamar or Walton. I love DFish as person and think he GREATLY improves our team but sometimes he is to blame as well.

Watching the Lakers for the past 4 years now, i'ts obvious to me that Phil is totally fascinated with certian players.........no matter what.
if mbenga can come in on a 10 day contract and already look alot better defensively and in general than kwame..............well, i guess it really is Fascination.

It's a pitty that your now forced to play a slow luke 30 minutes per game, because he's a weak link at the small forward position just about every night.

The triangle offense.....has always been boring and in-effective at best.....when kobe isn't in the game to bail the system out or attract double teams..........where are the high pick and rolls, where are the screens that every top team uses to create space for their best players........Tony parker, Lebron, Wade......on and on...............to attack the basket and draw fouls or create open shots.

To me even with Bynum........the lakers have a more serious issue that they just extended for 2 more years............A COACHING ISSUE

rdlee,

Absolutely. The team put themselves in the position where a desperation three was needed just to tie. They all share in that. Kobe deserves criticism, too, for some of his decisions and for the technical.

Reality check time,
"If he was tired at the end of the game, it was because he was busting his butt ALL game long. IF this is what his 'career downside looks like, well alot of players would trade their prime for it. Now go back and find your pipe and leave Kobe alone."

Now come on we all know Reality and Crack don't go together. LOL!
KUDOS! Damn good pos

RDLEE,
"love DFish as person and think he GREATLY improves our team but sometimes he is to blame as well."
This sir is very true.

'THE BEST"

LeBron's younger and bigger and yesterday he was better. Kobe was great when he had his legs under him but carrying a team can wear on your legs.

The "best" player is opinion, unless you're talking about Tiger.
Basketball doesn't have a clear "best" right now. There are a few to choose from.

It does seem that Kobe's lost some of his arrogant edge, which makes him a better teammate, but maybe is that spark that propelled him in games like yesterday's.

At the end of the day, they don't give out rings and hang banners for being labeled "the best". Rings and banners are where "the best" discussion starts.

I have thought that re-signing Kwame to a much cheaper contract this summer would be a reasonable move (I think Bynum's injury eliminates the chance of trading the Brown contract this season). But I don't think I want him on the roster anymore, even as a $3M, 12-15 minutes/game player.

Laker Nation – This is a critical time for the fellas –

1. As I posted a couple of weeks back, these games are critical for Kobe if he has any chance to win MVP – those chances took a big hit yesterday in the national media. If the Lakers continue to struggle and wait for AB to bail them out in 6 weeks, Kobe is not winning the MVP this year or perhaps ever.

2. Unfortunately, my prediction of 10-18 when AB went out may become a reality - The Lakers interior defense has been a submarine with screen doors without AB – this is where the major leaks have occurred.

3. They need to man up on the long roadie – they can’t dig themselves a hole too deep even AB can’t see over.

4. Just to stoke the fire – how does AB and bron bron sound in 2011?

Later ...

The critical issue in this game was metering out effort.

Kobe was much more efficient for most of the game and worked to get his frontcourt mates into the scoring consistently. He then went into 96% D mode from the middle of the third on. When he went aggressive to the rack and when he tried his fadeaway, his legs were no longer under him.

LeBron was in volume mode most of the game - his forays to the rack generally worked, his J looked off most of the day. Not many other Cavs were into the flow, but several had good bursts (Hughes, Z, Devin Brown). LeBron frankly freewheeled and played opportunist for a large part of the third. But, in the fourth, he had enough in the tank to both get to 99% D and go hard to the basket.

I really don't think you can fault Kobe. If just one other Laker either played lockdown D in the third or went on a personal offensive hot streak of any length, Kobe would have won this battle and maintained the philosophical high ground (i.e. efficient brilliance, team ball).

Only suggestion? Maybe could stack a few timeouts around the quarter break to get his go-to guy a breather.

Kobe has trouble with long, strong, defenders the likes of which MJ never had to face. IN a couple years, LeBron will have a 6'11 leapin', dribblin', shootin' madman of a defender on his butt as the laws of evolution take effect.

Settle in to the dead of winter, set your DVR, lower your blood pressure and wait for Spring. It will get better.

VMAN,
"Settle in to the dead of winter, set your DVR, lower your blood pressure and wait for Spring. It will get better."

YOU PROMISE VMAM? In the meantime I'll settle in with a brew or 2
to help lower that blood pressure.

ExHelo,

I concur on Kwame

I used to think he would come around at some point, but I think he is just to mentally fragile.

What happened to the Kobe who passed the ball vs Denver and 1st half vs SA??? He came out the 2nd half gunning and hasn't stopped. And unless Lamar posts down and gets back in the 20s the result will be the same as last year.

Hey rdlee I agree with you. He deserves some blame has well. But I think he gets a free pass because he is a major upgrade from smush. I really don't see point guard as the problem. While yesterday's loss really really hurts because it is a game they should have won.

Kwame fans and Mitch Kupcake. I am going to try to explain this as best I can. For those of you that praise kwame for how good a defense he plays they way he body ups on people and can defend the pick and roll etc etc. I will buy that for a dollar. Seriously if you say that is true then it is true. But you have got to kidding me if you don't trade this guy. Here is your best opportunity to bring a better player in here preferably a someone that can score. He has a cap friendly contract because it ends after this year. Should you panic and bring in anyboy no. But no free big agent is coming here soon because the lakers are over the cap. So you have to get creative and bring someone in via a trade using him. If you let the season end and then sign him for less money what good does that do. He is never going to be any better than he is right now. You have got to kidding me if you can't go out and find another player that can do the good things that you claim he can do. He does not do that much well. I am a big laker fan but I don't care if bynum and ariza was healthy we are not going to win a championship this year. if you have bynum and ariza and another person that can score then you have something. Odom and all the others besides kobe are hopeful scorers you don't know what your going to get from them. You give them the ball and you hope they can score. You give kobe the ball you pretty much know he can make something happen. Bynum is just now developing into that type of player with a ways to go. To me mitch. You should be able to go out and find another player that can do whatever you think kwame can do for less moneny (maybe not this season but by next season). But you should be able to package his contract and someelse's contract together and get somebody that will help make you into a championship contender next year. It is a wrap for this season. Please get something done and stop signing marginal players. I like Walton. But why in the world would you give him a six year deal. Wow you have got to be kidding me. Chris Mihm. Please try to get out of his contract he will always be hurt. Vlade has done nothin since he has been here and we have him for 5 more years. I am not saying this just because we started losing. I still felt even with Bynum and ariza healthy these players (mihm, walton, elade and the other people I forgot to name) are marginal at best and they lakers were not a championship. You have to try to build a roster that can sustain certain injuries. I know it is not easy but trading kwame has got to be a no brainer.

For all the fans who is bored with triangle, they can go and watch FUN SUNS. You can not be bored with triangle unless you have no clue what are talking about, IF it's properly executed. Unfortunately, we have 3 starters, who does not perform, and yes I'm including Fish. He is shooting one game 25 points, another one 6. I would prefer, 12-15 delivered each game. LO was playing like half of the game, 13 points 1st half, 1 after that. Luke, I even don't know where to start, of course if he is playing hurt, I can understand, but even if you hurt, it's not like you hurt in the head? Supposedly with "high IQ", what a dumb decision making at the end of the game. And yes I did mentioned 3 starters, because Kwame forced into this role and never was a starter under normal circumstances. Another thing about Luke, Kwame and to certain extend Lamar, each of them like regressing, playing each year worse than previous. It was mention Kwame was shooting like 70% free throws when he came to this league. Sounds like a pipe dream.

With Andrew out we better pray and have a lot of patience, witch is, I had to admit running thin.

We play 12-13 on road
6 back to backs
and only 3 at home for February
5 days off for allstar game (a GPS collar for Vladimir mandatory)

5-8 on road and 3-0 at home?
8-8 is looking pretty good to me right now, unless we have more injuries, then it gets worse.

Record at the end of Feb. could be 35-23 and good enough for 8th place.

Why is everyone starting to panic? We ALL knew, that with Bynum going down, the Lakers were going to struggle. Add Ariza to that list and it looks even worse.

And those people clling for PJ's head, RELAX. Just before Bynum went down, many experts said that he should be coach of the year and that this was his best coaching job ever.

There are 3/4 Lakers playing well right now:
Kobe, Turiaf, Fisher and Farmer.

Walton is playing the worst basketball of his career.
LO is way to inconsistent to be the number 2 guy.
Kwame, is well Kwame. I have never heard of more excuses for one player as I have for this guy.
Sasha is a half way decent role player and should be a situational player.
Mbenga is a stop gap player and can't expect too much from him.
Vlad is a a waste of space.

We are going to struggle. This is basically the same team as last year and with the injuries, the players that were contributing to Laker victories aren't playing so what can you expect?

How come no one is talking about why Vlad, Sasha or even Farmar weren't in the game at the end for the 3 point try or at least to keep the defenders honest on Kobe? Luke and Odom have been booty from outside for a while now and even before the game Phil Jackson made a comment about being glad to have Vlad back since he couldnt remember the last time Luke or Odom hit an outside shot. Then he has a chance to put him in and he doesnt. I'm really questioning a lot of the rotations this year. I think Vlad should start over Luke, he's much better when he starts and gets 25 minutes, he was playing really well in camp and in the beginning of the season and as soon as he went to the bench he got lost, I think with Bynum out we need a little more firepower to open the game and he keeps defenders honest on Kobe even if he doesnt hit the shot, they have to respect that he'll shoot it. Plus I dont think he could be any worse on defense than Luke has looked lately.

I got home yesterday to catch the 4th quarter of the game the cavs were looking good,I didn't know that we were up by nine points.
Why Luke did not take that open shoot when Kobe passed it to him it may have went in,and tied the game? they need to stop depending
on Kobe so much.

AK/BK:

Can we buyout Mihm's contract? Or get some type of compensation for him? What are our options???
With all of his injuries, even though I think he is a decent servicable big and a very likeable guy b/c he works hard, isn't it time to do something? Even when he returns, how effective can he really be?

I think the NBA should put in a "feel bad for ya" clause. It is for teams that are improving and suffer devastating reoccuring injuries to contributing players? I know this is outlandish but with my hopes on Kwame and Mbenga to protect the rim and help keep us above .500 while Drew recovers are fading fast!!!

All,

I did say that I would be happy at .500 over the next 8 weeks, didn't I? Let me change that. I would be ABSOLUTELY ECSTATIC if we can manage .500 in 'Drew's absence.

Sucks we lost a game where we shot better than the other team, and Kobe played within the offense, and Kobe got his team mates involved, and Kobe only shot 21 times, and Kobe got a double-double, and Kobe shot around 50%, and LO showed up, and Luke actually hit a couple of buckets, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Doesn't it?

Sucks to lose to LBJ, again!

Doesn't it?

Would REALLY suck if not only do we NOT get CWeb, but someone else in our conference DOES!

Wouldn't it?

Mamba, new bandwagon: Sucks to be without Socks. This bandwagon has no engine, so I'll be the first one out back, pushing.

Who's with me?

I think it has a flat tire, too.

--FearlessWhackJob

AK and BK,

Is there a practice or shoot-around today? The opinions of the bloggers are pretty united about a few points.

1. PJ needs to manage Kobe's minutes better
2. PJ isn't able to get consistent play from Kwame, Lamar, Walton, and D-Fish. How will he change this?
3. His choice of who to have on the floor at the end of the game, especially the last :09 in Sunday's loss to the Cavs, is loudly questioned on this blogosphere.

I think the faithful here would welcome a response from PJ and others if you have an opportunity to bring up these points.

The team just can't roll over and play dead until Bynum comes back. PJ and the players have to tell us in concrete terms what they will do to avoid an absolutely disastrous road trip. A win over the pitiful Knicks doesn't even look like a sure-shot at this point. 9-Rings gets big bucks to solve these issues. What are the answers?

Faith,

"The Force is out of balance and the roof is caving in"

Your quote is now the best quote ever on this blog!

Hands down!

--FearlessWhackJob

My top ten list of "People who hate Kobe and love LeBron":

1. David Stern
1a. The NBA itself
2. TJ Simers
3. Bill Walton
4. Peter Vescey
5. Bill Plashcke
6. Every single ref in the NBA
7. ESPN
8. Tim Legler
9. Charles Barkley
10. Doug Collins

HEY!

I wanna say something else. Stop trying to lay blame for this game. We got outplayed! We are shorthanded, and we were there at the end. Heck, people, Kobe is a league leader in T's again this season, isn't he? That has always been a part of his game. Fish is streaky because he's streaky. That has always been a part of his game. LO showed up the way he does when he shows up. Everyone was true to form, we just lost that's all.

Calm the F down!

We know, and I mean, WE KNOW just how good we are. This season isn't the same smoke and mirrors that last season was.

OK, so we lost the exact same type of game last year on the exact same play from Luke we he would shoot the rock with the game on the line. But, everything else was either true to form, or actually better than the similar situation last year.

Who do we fear in the playoff? In the West? No one. Period. Let's just get in and do some damage. People, we are STACKED this season. Some of our big guns are down, now. We are out our #2 scorer and #2 defender. What would you expect? We don't play in the Least you know.

We knew this was going to sting a little. Lets just take our lumps and grow from this. Plus, let all these other teams cheer at our expense. We will soon be pounding them into submission come playoff time.

Mark my words!

--FearlessWhackJob

MJCMAN32,

BARKley counts as two people: Himself and his MOUTH.

--FearlessWhackJob

Lebron shut down Kobe?

According to ESPN, that's what he did. That's the thing that gets me reporters.

Honestly, AK/BK if you guys ever do that then you are part of the problem!

It's one thing to say Lebron played tough D on Kobe. I could give you that.

But to say, that on the final possession LEBRON forced Kobe to pass is ridiculous.

A DOUBLE TEAM FORCED KOBE TO PASS.

Unfortunately, the Lakers are dumb enough not to double LeBron of the S&R which led to an easy layup in the 4th quarter. If there was no screen and roll and that play, Kobe woulda canned a 3ptr in LeBron's face. Or at least we all know that was a very likely scenario. IF Lebron stops Kobe that way in a 1-on-1 FASHION that's fine, BUT DON'T MISREPRESENT what happens on the court.

That bugs me. It bugs a lot of fans.

AK/BK be warned!

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SUCKS TO BE WITHOUT SOCKS BANDWAGON *
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(01) FEARLESS WHACK JOB - volunteers to push till engine fixed
(02) MAMBA24 - Will steer while Fearless pushes

Everyone please just relax, I know it looks bad but this is what is going to take the Lakers to the next level. Hard times, tell you who you really are and the fact that, even without 2 key players, were competitve until the end; says a whole lot about this squad. So please continue to send positive energy to my beloved Lakers. Besides how else are we going to KICK THE SUNS ASS IN THE 1ST ROUND? At the rate we were going we would not get our chance for REVENGE, and as we all know this sweet, sweet dish is best served ice frio!!! From the womb to the tomb I Live PURPLE and Gold.

Fearless

Great job ralying the troops!!! I agree with you. When we are healthy, NOBODY will want to play us in a 7 game series!

Great post and I agree. I think that we are one move away from being legit championship contenders! And i will not mention any name s here, Emawk Nworb.

If not for the injuries, PJ would be coaching the allstar game this year.

TRADE LUKE. NOW.

If his lone asset is IQ and he does such dumb plays we need to get rid...now!

HE LOST THE GAME FOR US TWICE. THROING THE BALL TO KOBE IN TWO BAD SITAUTIONS WHERE HE HAD OPEN LOOKS!

KWAME+LUKE+DRAFT= PAU GASOL.

THIS IS A NO BRAINER PEOPLE.

Good to see the Front Office following last year's successful game plan. Get a bunch of injuries, make no moves to get some more scoring and lose 75% of the games. Then, grab the #8 seed and a quick exit from the Playoffs. Glad Luke Walton is locked up for 6 years, though, he and Odom are really bringing a lot to the table.

FearlessWhackJob

Who do we fear in the playoff? In the West? No one.

i fear the lakers themselves if you ask me
phil with his wacky rotations,and the three stooges as starters will kill our hopes for a run deep into the playoffs
you say calm down our BIG is down, but whos to say he comes back 100% if he even comes back this season

Rick F

Just a reply for your second question - how in the world you can get Kwame, Lamar, Walton, and D-Fish to play consistent if they never known to be consistent in the first place? LO and Luke regress every year, Kwame, well just being himself and Fish looks like is not going to provide us 20+ points on the day to day basis. Also we should not forget, with Bynum out it'll be less open looks for everyone mentioned above. They don't need to double team Kwame, heck he is going brick itor drop it anyway.

Lamar was playing OK when he was not asked to be 2nd option. Hell, with Drew providing huge post presence he was just fine, but now we're looking more and more like a team playing last year after ALL Star. With one small thing, we know when Drew return, we'll be much better.

This loss hurt big tome. Not only because it's a 3rd straight loss, but it came at the hands of LeBron, who was just better than Kobe in the 4th. I really do not have the energy to go into it today. Kobe should not have sat at all in the 4th. It hurts to lose a 9 pt. lead, in a game the Lakers needed for multiple reasons. The only solace I can find is that the last time th Lakers lost 3 in a row, they went on an 18-4 run. What happens now? Except for the PHX game (which they almost made it a game in the 4th), and the 3rd quarters of the SA & DAL games, they have played fairly well. So is there cause for concern? Yes and no. They are competing, but they need to close out games, and they can't afford to lose quarters by 13+ points.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but THANK GOD CHRIS MIHM WILL BE BACK SOON!

Also, have we moved our third quarter breakdown to the second quarter now?

Urgh.

I really dislike losing to anyone from the Eastern Conference.

GO LAKERS!

Dion...

"The triangle offense.....has always been boring and in-effective at best....."

Ya...9 rings is pretty ineffective. 9 Rings are also pretty boring.

janaya

I can't think of anyone who would want Walton but, I want your opinion on these moves.

I am on the don't panic side yet. But I believe these deals are fair for both parties.

Memphis want cap space and a taker for B-Cardinals contract.
Chicago wants to get rid of Wallace's contract.

http://tinyurl.com/2473pa

When healthy our line ups would look like this:
Starters: Bynum, Gasol, Ariza, Kobe, Fish
Bench: Turiaf, Wallace, Sefalosha, Sasha, Farmar.
3rd String JC, Benga, Carl, Cardinal, Vlad

Currently: Gasol, Turiaf, Walton (ugh! just coz Selfalosha might not pickup the offense just yet),Kobe, Fish
Bench: Benga, Wallace, Sefalosha, Sasha, Farmar.
3rd String Bynum (injured), Ariza (injured) JC, Carl, Vlad

I admit, I maybe out of flux due to the 3 game loosing streak.

Have good day bloggers.

Repost:

PLEASE exclude vlad from all previous team scenarios

I can't think of anyone who would want Walton but, I want your opinion on these moves.

I am on the don't panic side yet. But I believe these deals are fair for both parties.

Memphis want cap space and a taker for B-Cardinals contract.
Chicago wants to get rid of Wallace's contract.

http://tinyurl.com/2473pa

When healthy our line ups would look like this:
Starters: Bynum, Gasol, Ariza, Kobe, Fish
Bench: Turiaf, Wallace, Sefalosha, Sasha, Farmar.
3rd String JC, Benga, Carl, Cardinal

Currently: Gasol, Turiaf, Walton (ugh! just coz Selfalosha might not pickup the offense just yet),Kobe, Fish
Bench: Benga, Wallace, Sefalosha, Sasha, Farmar.
3rd String Bynum (injured), Ariza (injured) JC, Carl

I admit, I maybe out of flux due to the 3 game loosing streak.

Have good day bloggers.

Ex

You would let Kwame expire? What then?

Top Ten Post NBA jobs for Kwame Brown

#10 Calve model
#9 Pastry chef
#8 UPS delivery man
#7 Zombie hunter
#6 All State pitchman
#5 Breakfast cereal maker: Kwame Kwitters
#4 Motivational Speaker: "9 Million Expiring Ways to Wealth"
#3 Kwame Kreme Doughnut Franchise
#2 Me and Mike T Big Man Camps
#1 Author "Just Don't Gimme the Damn Ball"

I HAVE A GOOD NEWS FOR ALL YOU LAKERS FANS.
MITCH IS MAKING A TRADE HAVE A FAITH THAT IT WILL BE GOOD ONE.
I CAN'T SAY MORE THAN THAT.

LAKERS WILL WIN

I would prefer to see Lakers make a deal with another team to try to pick up charlie villanueva or someone of that calibur for the PF spot. Maybe we could get him for mihm and sasha since both contracts expire after this year, although I believe mihm has a player option its still cheaper than keeping CV. Plus it still leaves Kwame's contract to deal or keep for future cap relief.

Kidd would be nice but I think that we would have to give up farmar in the deal. I would hate tp see him go. To be honest I'd raher see the lakers give up critt befor farmar.But for a player like kidd you make that deal. I would hope that the nets wouldn't even want a guard back in return with Marcus Williams (unless its karl or sasha...lol). In a perfect world the lakers could get kidd for kwame and radmonovic or luke but thorn would never make that deal unless he was desperate plus dallas could put together a much better deal than that. I don't think the nets would want odoms contract ( i could be wrong). So if the lakers get kidd they are going to lose somone that we all would hate to see go. One things for there no way bynum would be in the equastion now.

did Kobe really say this? It's an amazing quote and totally dispells the notion that he wants to lead the league in scoring and doesn't want anybody else on his team to score. Kobe is basically PLEADING for somebody to step up and be that second scorer. In the time since Shaq has been gone, Kobe hasn't said something this powerful about ANYBODY he has played with and it is a powerful endorsement of what Bynum has accomplished this year.

"on Sunday Kobe Bryant went so far as to call Bynum "the player I prayed for" -- in the long term."

LAL_Fan,

>>>how in the world you can get Kwame, Lamar, Walton, and D-Fish to play consistent if they never known to be consistent in the first place?

Actually, any ONE of those four having a huge game on any given night would get us over the hump. They don't all have to do it on the same night. Can't lower the bar any more than that!

VMAN,
"Top Ten Post NBA jobs for Kwame Brown"

How about catcher for the Dodgers.

Jon K,
"THANK GOD CHRIS MIHM WILL BE BACK SOON!"

JON, JON, JON! Get a grip on your self. Has it come to this. Things
aren't that desperate are they? LOL!

Yeah Mitch is making a blockbuster trade. Kwame Brown for Smush Parker.
Man that will strike the fear of God into the hearts of the other Western
foes.

"love DFish as person and think he GREATLY improves our team but sometimes he is to blame as well"

You see Rdlee if you mixed yourself with smelly dead fish eventually you smell a dead fish too. If you mixed a good apple with rotten apples, a matter of days becomes rollen as well. This is the law of nature and we can't change it.

For Kobe and Fish become effective surround them with players who can shoot and willing to put their lives on the floor. From now on, I will be critical on the 3 stooges as long as they don't change they will always be known as the lame, the fluke and the odum* I have seen enough year in and year out, it doesn't improve, I can only rely to hope up to certain limit. We need to change players on the floor. Also, there is too much apathy on Kobe in this blog as if you forget your own b'ball common sense. If Kobe is not with the Lakers in '07-'08, we don't have iota of chance at all, we will be worst than the Heat. Praise Bynum to your hearts content if you want to, but to blame Kobe for every loss is just a stretch. Be consistent and also be fair to your hatred.

Everyone here would take .500 ball while Bynum and Ariza are out.
In a heartbeat!

Vman,

LOL Vman that post was classic!

A few points to make today.

1) Everyone seems to have forgotten than Kobe messed up his ankle (twice) in the Dallas game. Kobe was not the same player yesterday. He barely had any lift, and Lebron had it easy. It was amazing Kobe was even playing..

2) The announcers failed to understand Kobe was hurt. It made me sick that they said Lebron played "such great defense". Please. It was so obvious Kobe could barely drive, jump, or play defense himself.

3) Why did Phil Take Kobe out of the game in crunch time? The announcers said it was Phil sending a message. Yea, that's it. Actually, Kobe was hurting the team only because he was injured. Phil wanted to rest him a little bit and try and let the other players develop a rhythym..Kobe was hurting the team because he couldn't get any lift on his shot...Nobody else on the Lakers could penetrate and score.

The test of a good coaching staff is not only in times of prosperity but also during depression stages. If they can manage good players, they should also manage the bad players, that's the job of the coach. If a player is bad and consistently play bad, why rely on long minutes? Experiments are good but when the difference in the standings in the West 2-3 games to put you out of contention, then Lakers has to be careful with their experiments.

Like the SA and M'vericks games, i don't mind if we lost but we should be there fighting back like that one in M'vericks. You can't jus t surrender.

The Cavaliers game is unforgivable. This is a home court advantage. Staples is leaking to our advantage, we have more time to pace the lead. Vlad was reinstated but three were on DNP including a C for a 10 day contract. At the end of 4th no Verajao, no Ilgaukas and still we cannot win because Kobe, Turiaf are against 8 players, this is absolutely treasonous. No amount of joy can bring this team in times of depression. OK Drew and Ariza will be back in 8 weeks but if the Lakers are out of the plays in the 10th or 11th position similar to what happened to the Hornets last year, then it's too late. As I said before, they should spread out their losses and work their way out through effective crisis management. The hip coach is already old, he should just retire for good......

Those last two posts with name blanks were mine, I forgot to put my personal info. Thanks

the excuses the last few games have been pathetic. Lamar still needs to learn the offense??? Are you kidding me??? 3 years later the dude still doesn't know where to go on offense? This is how Phil and the Lakers are trying to hide the fact that the dude shrinks under pressure? He sure knows how to stand around the 3 point line and disappear, he's figured out how to do that pretty well, yet he can't figure out how to move towards the ball? C'mon, the guy can't take the pressure. He may think he wants to take the shots before the game starts but his body is telling him he doesn't want to take a shot unless the shot clock is under 3 seconds in which case everybody will understand that he HAD to take the shot and therefore there is no pressure as to whether he took a bad shot or if he misses, etc. Ridiculous...

Kobe really is playing one on five, it's not even a joke, the guy really is playing one on five! LOL! NOBODY wants to shoot in that starting lineup. Fisher will take it if he's open but let's face it, the dude is a quasi/starter-role player at best. He's brought stability and we thank him for it but... he's not a guy you can depend on to put up good offensive numbers night after night. Walton and Kwame? Ahahahahaaa! Walton's last 5 games have been PATHETIC! and hey, uh... when's his next ankle injury? Oh, I forgot to set my watch... don't worry, Luke Walton will injure his ankle somewhere in the next 20 games, you can set your watch to it. And Kwame... we need Lamar to take speed to get going but we need Kwame to take Quaaludes so he can slow down to more "human" levels when he has the ball. The ball even gets near the dude and he's moving at the speed of light. Can't we send the dude to a yoga class or have him practice deep breathing for an hour a day???

It's panic time, we really may not make the playoffs if "somebody" doesn't step up and soon!

I have a comment for all the Kobe haters. I think most of them got banned, but were people who kept calling Wade better than Kobe.. Well, Wade now has an old Shaq which is better than no Shaq at all and he is doing worse than Kobe ever did. It goes to show that maybe Kobe isn't so bad after all.

Vman-

2 "Me and Mike T Big Man Camps"

Ha, Ha! That is freakin' hilariious. I would pay just to go and watch that!

Mamba24,

I think we should all pray that Mihm comes back ASAP. I for one am tired of playing 3 on 5 on offense. And it often times feels like it's one on five when the starters are in and LO is doing his disappearing act and Fish's shot isn't falling.

Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf and Sasha Vujacic haven't gotten enough props on this board. They bring life to the Lakers after Kwame, LO and Luke bring about a slow, agonizing death.

Sorry to be so dramatic. LOL

Have faith.

We'll figure it out.

Although I think the Kobe for MVP train is much less important than the Lakers for the Championship train, I will say that Kobe has failed to come through in some key nationally televised games this season. Lebron continues to get the better of Kobe. I thought Kobe was going to shoot a much needed high percentage yesterday, but then he was brick city in the second half while LBJ was money. Sure Kobe could out score LBJ anytime he wants, but he's not getting it done in the 4th in these big games. I also point to the second half of the Spurs game. We all know Kobe is clutch, but for some reason this season his second half shooting % is the worst of his career.

As a Kobe fan I would much rather see him win another title, but it will be sad if he goes is whole career w/out an MVP, and that is looking more and more likely each game he is brick city in the second half.

I mean, to let your team lose a 9 point lead with 7 minutes left in the 4th on national television against LBJ is NOT GOOD AT ALL. Kobe was like 1-6 or 1-7 in fourth, and that isn't very clutch.

There otta be a law.

Jobs (things) Kwame should never do.

Wide receiver NFL team
Play basketball for NBA team
Deliver babies.
Diffuse bombs for Bomb Squad.
Work in a crystal store
Work in a cake bakery
Shoot off missiles in Nuclear War
Enter dunk contest for NBA Allstar Game
Enter a greased pig catching contest
Juggle steak knives for Circus

Stranger in the Night,

Every seems to have forgotten that Kobe hurt his ankle in the previous..Most NBA players would be out a couple weeks. Kobe didn't have the lift or quickness he usually has at both ends of the floor. Also in the previous Cleveland game, he had a groin injury.

*-------------------------------------------------------------------*
GIVE JORDAN FARMER, RONNY TURIAF and
SASHA VUJACIC THEIR PROPS BANDWAGON *
*--------------------------------------------------------------------*
(01) XODUS - owner and driver
(02) MAMBA24 - Props hander out clerk

AN1,

Very nicely played sir.

I can just picture Kwame trying to diffuse a bomb but he can't remember if he's suppossed to cut red or yellow...then he stands up and claps his hands together real hard and tries real hard to remember but he just can't cause he is too dumb....poor fella.

my personal fav is "deliver babies"--that creates a wonderful image.

Forgot about that zen....you may have a good point there.

Robert Baker,

>>>What happened to the Kobe who passed the ball vs Denver and 1st
>>>half vs SA???

Don't be a hater.

Kobe had 2 more assists than LeBron and took 10 less shots than LeBron.

LeBron played the ball hog much more, and that's one of the reasons WHY
his team won. If Kobe took 5 more shots instead of passing to Fish, then
the Lakers win. If Kobe took 11 more shots to keep up with LeBron, then
the Lakers win big.

It's funny - when Kobe takes a ton of shots and leads his team to a win,
he's a ball-hog. When LeBron takes a ton of shots and leads his team to
a win, he's a hero.

The "best" player is opinion, unless you're talking about Tiger.
Basketball doesn't have a clear "best" right now. There are a few to choose from.

Posted by: Vman | January 28, 2008 at 08:31 AM

According to Skip Dickless, oops I mean Bayless, Tom Brady is more dominant in his sport than Tiger. This was an ESPN poll question. Of course like most things America strongly disagreed, but what does Skip care. Also interestingly enough, Skip, Donovan McNabb, and the host, whoever the hell he was, all said they would choose Kobe over LeBron, even after last night. So who knows maybe Skip is not so stupid after all.

By the way TIGER is 10 times more dominant that Tom Brady!!!!

King James is simply better than Kobe. Plain and simple.

VMan, I've gotta give you props, that top ten was fantastic.

Them teams are lucky we be handicapped right now.

Rick Friedman,

"AK and BK, Is there a practice or shoot-around today? The opinions of the bloggers are pretty united about a few points.

1. PJ needs to manage Kobe's minutes better
2. PJ isn't able to get consistent play from Kwame, Lamar, Walton, and D-Fish. How will he change this?
3. His choice of who to have on the floor at the end of the game, especially the last :09 in Sunday's loss to the Cavs, is loudly questioned on this blogosphere. I think the faithful here would welcome a response from PJ and others if you have an opportunity to bring up these points."

Neither of us can make practice today, but we'll try to ask Phil about those items tomorrow at the game. In the meantime, though, I have a few thoughts.

On Kobe's minutes, Phil actually had been managing them pretty conscientiously before the injuries started coming. At full strength, I believe Kobe had been playing his fewest since his his second season. But with so many people either out (Bynum, Ariza, Mihm), just coming back from injury (Vlad, Sasha), or playing through injury (Turiaf, Kwame, Walton) it's very difficult for Phil to keep Kobe's minutes that low and still win games. I would actually go so far as to say it could be impossible. But it's a goal (all things being equal), for sure.

As for others stepping up in Bynum's absence, I talked a bit with Fish after the game. I'll try to get the actual copy up whenever possible, but in a nutshell, he said the problem is basically how little margin for error they have without Bynum. They had such an advantage with Andrew in creating an inside-outside game. Now they have to figure out how to best compensate with players less equipped (Kwame, Turiaf), post up options (LO, Walton at times), all of which takes a while to perfect, especially without the main ingredient making it possible (Bynum). In the meantime, they've become too outside shooting oriented, which doesn't play to their strengths.

With the group on the floor during the final possession, I agree it was odd that Sasha wasn't out there. I disagree with some people that it should have been all shooters and Kobe (you need to be able to secure a rebound, and they could have also gone for a quick two), but I would have taken either Walton or Ronny off the floor (probably Walton) and replaced him with Sasha. I said at the time that it was curious on Phil's part that he didn't, and I still think so.

That being said, that final play (and it's personnell) didn't cost the Lakers that game. The entire fourth quarter did.

AK

TaosHum,

Thanks for the quote of Bryant.

If true it sums up what I had believed for a long time...

Kobe certainly respects ability & talent, but ABOVE THIS, he really respects players who put in the effort. We haven't heard of anyone else besides Bynum showing up to lift weights on game days on the road...

Caron Butler was our other workhorse but we traded him & you will recall in his radio rants, he began them by discusing how this trade went down and how disappointed he was. Now we have Bynum who also appears to be a workhorse, and Kobe couldn't be more thankful.

But... what does this say about some of our high paid X-Box players?

my BOLD two cents:

kwame brown simply isn't good enough. and the sky is blue...and water is wet...and the sun is hot...

so much for mike t.

lamar odom is nowhere near a number two option.

nobody else on the laker roster wanted that last second shot yesterday except for kobe...luke looked pretty pathetic on that play.

andrew bynum is not only the future of this franchise, HE IS THE PRESENT.

andrew bynum is the franchise. i just hope his knees don't become an issue.

i love kobe's game, but his game alone simply isn't enough with the talent on this roster sans bynum.

bynum not only makes the lakers a winning team, he makes them a much more exciting team to watch.

as i have written many times before, lamar odom AND kwame brown remain expendable...as a matter of fact, expendable should be their middle names.

during the shaq/kobe dynasty, our role players were good enough to weather the storm when shaq dealt with his toe and abdominal injuries.

this roster is AND WILL ALWAYS BE one injury away from being mediocre.

simply the truth.

AK,

I was watching the game on DVR with a slight delay of a few seconds. At the 20 sec mark with us inbounding the ball behind by three, I hit pause and told my wife what my "ideal" line-up would be:
Kobe, Fish, Farmar, Sasha, Turiaf

I then unpaused it to see who would be playing the next play... I said "I don't believe this, you've got only two guys who can get it done... maybe Walton"... well, Turiaf got the rebound and Kobe shanked the steal.

Then, with 6 sec to go I'm thinking "now they have to put that line-up in, there's not enough time for horseplay"... I was absolutely floored when I saw the line up PJ had in... floored. How do you put LO in there? I can understand Walton, but seriously, he needed Sasha & Farmar in there... those two guys can hit, LO only hits 20% & Walton needs a lot of time to get it off.

Again, we can't compare Lebron vs. Kobe per se. This is not a one-and-one game. It is a team game. Kobe will have a problem to beat Lebron because he has nobody to pass to, his teammates bubbled up and they pass the ball back to him, there is too much reliance on him. He can't take all the punishments at all times, do the rebound, do the running, do the shooting, do the guarding on Lebron for long minutes. That's poor time management or game management. Definitely, Kobe will never win an MVP. Forget that ambition, just go within the 8th berth by the time Bynum and Ariza are ready, that's the minimum objective. I hope also Kobe and Fish are not worn out by end of the season.

Just a thought,

I would be perfectly content with LeBron winning the MVP and the Lakers
winning the championship. I think Kobe would be content with that as
well.

Lfan,

No, Lebron is not better than Kobe. At least...not yet....

Kobe is not one to make excuses, but he was still hurt yesterday from the Dallas game. They guy was pacing himself out there. He was not the same Kobe thats for sure.

Thanks all for the top 10 nod.

pslakerlover

Tom Brady??? Rocking chair QB. LeBron? Another great NBA player.

TIger Woods... most dominant player of any game ever, including football, chess and Monopoly.

AN1,

>>>Jobs (things) Kwame should never do.

Nice! Very nice.

I believe the jury is still out whether PJ actually improved the Lakers team. It is pretty apparent the biggest difference between this year and last year is Andrew Bynum. Fisher and Farmar are marginally improvement and their improvement has nothing to do with PJ. Who get the credit for Bynum? I'll say, besides himself, it is Kareem. So, let's give the credit to where dues, Kareem - the Coach of the Year!
I say let Kareem train all the Lakers bigs, including Ronny and Mbenga. Let Kareem decides who stay and who goes. If the bigs do not get a passing grade from Kareem, get rid of them!

Last year, after mounting consecutive losses, PJ asked Kobe to bait him out and shot our way to the promised land. He did. I just hope Kobe can do it again and give us a seed in the playoff.

Brutal! Larry Hughes comes out and says what everybody else has been saying. Main difference? Larry Hughes was ON THE COURT so there's no doubt that he knows what he is talking about:

***
"Then, after James made two free throws with nine seconds left, the Cavaliers double-teamed Bryant on the Lakers' final possession. Bryant passed to an open Walton, who turned down the shot in favor of a return pass.

"That's really what you want," Hughes said. "You don't want to allow Kobe to get a clean look from the start of the play. You make those guys make a couple of passes, which we did, and not let them get a clean look.

"Nobody wanted to shoot it."

The game was lost at the free throw line - plain and simple. All of the missed ones by the Lakers, and the four bonus free throws tthat Cleveland got (three lane violations and one technical - that I remember). Also, Luke, demonstrated why he shouldn't be getting many minutes. That play was typical of him. Toss the ball to someone else as time expires - that way someone else gets the turnover. This is high basketball IQ? Maybe he should be a coach, but not a player.

Roger

again, right to the point:

***
At game's end, Bryant acknowledged the Lakers aren't the same team without Bynum, who was averaging 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks when he was hurt. The Lakers expect Bynum to be sidelined for at least six more weeks.

"Right now, we're in the period where we're still trying to figure out how we're going to adapt," Bryant said. "He's developed into the player I prayed about having on my team. He just helps out a lot with consistent numbers. Before he got hurt, he was consistently getting 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds).

"That's what we need. That's what I need. And now he's out of the lineup, so we've got to figure out a way to kind of balance that out a little bit."

Judging by the steady diet of double teams Bryant has faced since Bynum's injury, opponents have figured out that in order to stop the Lakers you merely have to concentrate on stopping their superstar guard.

PJ doubter,

How many losses to we incur before we Kobe go 2005-2006 on us?

My guess is he'd wait a lot less than Wade has.

One more game... we drop one more and he'll average 40 for the month of Feb.

AK,

First, many thanks for taking time for such a thorough response to my inquiry.

1. In earlier posts, I acknowledged the need to play Kobe more minutes because of the injuries. It was easier to manage Kobe's minutes when everyone was healthy. Now we can see it is even more important, as Kobe must exert himself more on offense and defense per minute played.

2. I'm glad you talked to Fish, and I look forward to his full explanation. Sounds like PJ has to blow-up his starters vs bench mob rotation, as the bench mob seemed more able to make things happen without Bynum before he got hurt.

3. I believe, at the 8 minute mark of the 4th, when Kwame entered the game, the Lakers were ahead, so it is not accurate to say they blew the game in the entire 4th. It's impossible to know whether Kobe could have offset the Cav's 5 points while he was on the bench for 82 seconds. The entry into the game of Kwame, the choice of Lamar to come into the game to replace Kwame, and the choice of players on the floor for the final shot were Phil's three critical mistakes. How he explains these three decisions, should you have a chance to ask him on Tuesday, should be very interesting.

Any of us who contribute here would readily concede that Phil has nine rings and that we don't. I think that's what's so frustrating. To many of us, the outcome of those decisions was predictable at the very moment they were revealed. Waiting for the lens of a Monday-morning quarterback wasn't necessary.

in some sick way I almost dont want this present team to contend for a championship, i just dont want PHIL, LAMAR, KWAME, AND LUKE to have the satisfaction of saying there champions, they dont deserve it

a championship would only cover up and prolong the bad coaching , and weak game from these three, hell mitch might even want them to play the rest of their carreer with the lakers

Not a trade person, but NJ papers are talking trade again with Lakers in the lead for getting Kidd.

How would the Lakers get Kidd and not gut the team in the middle of the season?

I really don't see how this can happen..

LO, Luke, and Farmar? for Kidd
LO, Kwame, Farmar? for Kidd and Magloire

Starters = Kidd, Kobe, Luke, Ronny, AB
Bench Mob = Fisher, Sasha, Ariza, Vladimir, Mihm/Magloire

That would leave us weak at the 4. We would have to sign a FA like Weber if he doesn't sign with GS. haha Way too complicated for me.

I think the papers are wrong on this one. Moving Kidds salary will be hard for NJ. Unless someone here has an idea.

LAGIUNERRO
"in some sick way I almost dont want this present team to contend for a championship, i just dont want PHIL, LAMAR, KWAME, AND LUKE to have the satisfaction of saying there champions, they dont deserve it"

Now that is a sick comment. lol

Anyone look at the +/- on the boxscore of the Cleveland game? Interesting stuff...KB24 is not to blam...I am totally biased because I think he is the best..but I just looked at it after watching the whole game and was shocked to see him +8 and LBJ -3 when everyone made it seem like LBJ outplayed him(which I even thought when watching)...If seedings are the same at the top in the west I would love to see the Lakers fall to 8 and play the hornets...anyone else on that topic agree?

This season has come down to a 20 year old kid. Simple as that.

VMAN,

you are definitely on a roll today, but this was my favorite:

"At the end of the day, they don't give out rings and hang banners for being labeled "the best". Rings and banners are where "the best" discussion starts. "

As your statement seems to imply, there is this circular thing about what is considered "best". Fans want their team to trade to obtain the "best" players, but often the fans' only idea of "best" players are players who have established a long track record of impressive statistics. Unfortunately, by the time a player compiles these statistics (Jermaine O'Neal, Jason Kidd, Shaq), their shelf-life is often nearly finished and they really aren't such a great trade acquisition.

Just in the last few months Andrew has developed enough of a track record to stop the pleas for trading him for Kidd.

So there is a "best" that needs to be applied to right now, and to what a specific team needs most right now. This type of "best" goes along with with multiple other "bests", one of which, as you said, is more appropriately discussed after the highest awards have been obtained (championships).

Kupchak has gained a lot of credibility this season because Bynum has shown that he was a brilliant acquisition, but let's not let Mitch off the hook just yet. He's not getting his money's worth for guys like Kwame and Vlad.

The injury with Bynum and how the horse and buggy are turning back into a pumpkin at the all star break is typical of these Lakers. Folks need to realize that this is no small thing. Dallas, San Antonio and Detriot are all equipped to handle injuries in the regular season, whereas the Lakers are 1 or 2 busted ankles away from the lottery.

They still have a way to go.

LAGIUNERRO,

" i just dont want PHIL, LAMAR, KWAME, AND LUKE to have the satisfaction of saying there champions, they dont deserve it.
a championship would only cover up and prolong the bad coaching"

I don't know why you wouldn't want this team to win a championship this season. Why not? I understand that the 3 players you mentioned are inept but why add PJ to the mix? He brought us 3 championships and is the current coach for the next 2 years. Granted PJ's coaching is highly unorthodox and I too get frustrated, but PJ not deserving a ring?

Were you still unhappy with PJ before Drew & Ariza were active?

AN1,

I'd like to have J-Kidd but there's no way I'm giving up Farmar.

One thing that has to be mentioned....Kobe is doing alot better than Shaq did at having an upstart youngster grab alot of the headlines. The kind of things he is saying now seem conciliatory. What I see from Kobe is his recognition of a like minded individual in Bynum. Someone who doesn't rest, faces criticism with a passion to work harder, and someone uniquely gifted. Shaq never recognized the type of person Kobe is nor the gifts that he possessed. Shaq wanted to make it seem that greatness was easy, when it is not.

I gotta commend Kobe for that. Its definitely tough to swallow your pride to say that sort of thing, but it provides a small window in what make him tick. His heart is beginning to be in the right place.

LeBron will become better than Kobe very soon. He's coming into his best years (25-27), and Kobe's on his way into his twilight. Furthermore, Lebron is so built that he can dominant a game with brute force like Kobe never could.

I compare LeBron with Shaq more than any other player. The reason is because he has a combination of size, strength and speed that make him unstoppable at forward -- which is exactly how Shaq was described, except Shaq was a center.

"He developed into the player that I prayed about having on my team for years," Kobe on Bynum:

WOW! Can we put any more pressure on this 20 year old kid? I hope AB is up for being then savior --

Please don't play Luke in crunch time! before the non-attempt at the end, he had the ball at the free throw line on a turnover WIDE OPEN and passed it to Kobe under the basket for a contested layup that Kobe wasn't able to make. Luke should have shot that ball!!

Xodus,

I second that. Farmar has shown the dedication and determination that we all want. He's also the only other person besides Kobe right now that can create his own shot consistently. Finally, he's our most reliable 3 point shooter, and when we have all of our cylinders firing, that translates to a lot of points off open looks... he keeps the defense honest.

I love Kidd... but no Farmar and no Critter and that's final.

Xodus,

With Kidd and Farmar the question comes back again, who can get you to the top level in the NBA? Obviously Kidd, but at what price?

That would leave us two aging point guards and a hopeful in Critt. (NJ would want Farmar I think)

I wouldn't miss Kwame too much, but LO for me, would be hard to replace this late in the season.

Actually, I was for no trade with the healthy Lakers. Just a FA signing maybe. I felt this team could compete with any team, but would probally be eliminated this year by an experienced playoff team like the Spurs.

Lakers lack experience. Kidd would help. But I feel a Kwame trade for another big who has experience would help more this year. Seattle's Thompson?

Kidd, I feel, is a reporters dream. Too many pieces to move for the Lakers. (unless we are building for next year, not this one)

AN1,

Actually I don't really want J-Kidd at all. He's still a very good player but he's not a very good shooter and he needs the ball in his hands which we don't need when running the triangle.

Kidd is shooting a horrendous 36% from the field and is averaging nearly 4 TOs a game.

Were you still unhappy with PJ before Drew & Ariza were active?

Charles

phil is a good motivater not X's and O's, and stubborn like an OX
bynum took it uppon himself to get better over the summer, but was still stuck on the bench behind kwame
not until kwame got hurt was he inserted to the starting line up, turns out bynum's a sleepin giant, a future all star
we'll never know but IF kwame would of got healthy lets say 3 week earlier than he did, we all know phil would of reinserted him right back in the starting line up, but like I said we'l never know
about Ariza well till this day phil still says waltons better at D than Ariza

phils NO time out let them work it out habbit is garbage
no subsitutions until 3 minute mark in quaters even though some players need to get yanked
PHIL'S a good coach but wayyyyyyyy too stuborn and gets wy too much credit
kobe , and bynum just cover up his coaching weaknesess
and losing magnifys them

#4

"Shaq never recognized the type of person Kobe is nor the gifts that he possessed."

Shaq was lazy. I don't diasgree.

But he did refer to Kobe on several press conferences that Kobe was the best player of the league. He also came up to Kobe on camera after Shaq fouled playing Sacramento during the playoffs and sadi "I love you Kobe." All comments during the playoff runs of that 3 year span.

Tim-4-Show,

Agreed. I'm not sure Kidd is what this team needs. What would really put us over the top would be a power forward in the mold of David West. Heck, I'd even take Brandon Bass who's played well for Dallas this season. I'm loving Turiaf more and more though because he brings the type of intensity and drive to win that Kobe, Bynum, Farmar and Fish bring to the table. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm tired of LO's inconsistency and laid back approach.

Only 6 weeks until Bynum comes back! Please God, let him come back earlier.

HeWhoHoops,

"Dallas, San Antonio and Detriot are all equipped to handle injuries in the regular season, whereas the Lakers are 1 or 2 busted ankles away from the lottery."

C'mon every team is - SA (Duncan and G) Boston (Garnet and Allen) Phx (Just Nash).

The money works for: Luke, Farmar and Brown for J-Kidd, but NJ will not likely do it. They can get a better package from Dallas. I'm in favor -- Farmar is good, but lakers have Crit.

AN1 and Xodus,

I don't think the Lakers make a Kidd deal, or any deal for that matter. Marc Stein made a good point on his chat today that the Lakers shouldn't make any deal they wouldn't have made if Bynum was healthy. In other words, don't panic. However, this team is as close to the #1 seed in the West as it is to the lottery, so some sense of urgency should be taken.

I continually shake my head at the play of LO and Kwame, and would be okay with moving either if a decent deal came up.

However, I just don't get the sense that Mitch Kupchak is in any hurry to make a deal. Even though I didn't think this was our year to win it all, it would be a HUGE step back if we missed the playoffs.

Xodus,

No, what we need is to get baby Bynum back. Also, we need Kobe to let up and to stop trying to seize the day in games like yesterday. We needed a team effort yesterday. We didn't need Kobe to try and take over because they were pretty dialed in to stopping him when was forcing those shots.

I think Bynum is quickly becoming the MVP of the team beause we can compete with the elite teams without Kobe, but without Bynum we will lose against the elite teams every time.

"Webber last week rejected the opportunity to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers after they lost Andrew Bynum to a knee injury in part, sources said, because L.A. wanted Webber to play out two 10-day contracts before it made a decision on keeping him" - ESPN

This is really a bad decision of Lakers F/O on Chris Webber. Why play him for two 10-day contracts, can you not assess his performace with one? Secondly, if Webber was with the team after bynum injury, I think we could have won 2 out of the three loses because there is a threat there in the post, Kobe has a guy who can catch and shoot when doubled team. Fisher on the outside and Webber on the inside, it's ok if the other two clowns are spectators. And if Kobe is with the bench mob, he has four to pass on tha ball Farmar, Sasha, Webber and Turiaf. See the dynamics out there of having Weber in the line up. If we are not playing the two rookies, we could tell Karl to cut him for a while and get him back later to have room for Webber and Mbenga then we are back in competion. Right now you put MBenga and Karl on DNP they become useless.

Well, Webber will join the Warriors instead.

hope they dont trade farmar in a kidd deal. farmar is fast becoming my favorite laker. hes gotta heart and a good work ethic. i seem him improving every year and being a our pg of the future. i just wish he would drive a little more, he seems way too comfortable outside the arc(maybe because hes shooting 40%) but i would like to see more mid range and more drives out of him. and he needs to turn the ball over less.

GO LAKERS

The Original Ken,

How do we know if we can compete with the elite teams without Kobe and with Bynum? That's just guess work.

Andrew Z,

I understand the frustration with L.O. but I don't think trading him is the option. He really does cause match up problems even though in games like yesterday he basically faded away. I think that his value, when you add him to Bynum goes up exponentially. When Kwame is in there, Kobe tries to do too much and L.O. is there standing on the outside. I just don't thing there is a better player to match up with Bynum that will porvide synergy that is as good.

Kwame can't catch the ball. I just don't know how he can even be out there anymore. If he could catch it at least he could have some value...

AK,

You said, "I disagree with some people that it should have been all shooters and Kobe". If you're referring to me, I want you to know that I was not advocating 5 shooters. I advocated 4-shooters and one big. The 4 shooters are Kobe, Farmar, Sasha and Fisher because they all have quick release and the chance of them hitting a 3's is high. I agreed with you that the big I trusted in this situation is Ronny because he is the only Lakers that I think has the smart and the mental toughness to put-back a miss. He could also get fouled on his way up and gave us 3-pts. The other bigs (Kwame, Odom and Mbenga), chances are that they miss the put-back or foul someone while trying to put-back!

>>>a championship would only cover up and prolong the bad coaching

That has got to be the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard.

If bad coaching wins championship, then Phil Jackson is the worst coach in
the history of the NBA.

PJ Doubter,

I wasn't referring to anybody specific. No worries.

But I would say they needed two rebounders. Both Farmar and Fish makes them pretty small for a situation where they might need that board. And I would have kept LO above Ronny or Luke, since he's the best rebounder they have right now.

Personally, I'd have brought in Sasha for either Ronny or Luke. Probably Luke, although I can see the argument for taking out Ronny, since Luke is actually a pretty decent rebounder (particularly on the offensive end) and you need to respect him from behind the arc more than Ronny. But one of the two should have been out for Sasha, in my opinion.

AK

Andrew Z,

I agree. I don't think we'll be making any deadline deals. I'd love to deal Kwame and LO but what can we get in return for two overpaid, underwhelming, underachievers?

I don't want Kidd at this point. We've got guys who are willing to pass, matter of fact, we've got too many "facilitators". Farmar is showing he can probably be our starting PG next year, he needs another offseason for conditioning, etc. but if he can't start for us next year, he'll be good for 30+ minutes off the bench so... we're not exactly hurting at PG anymore... an offseason should do wonders for Crittenton as well, he should be able to give us 15-20+ minutes next year at PG/SG so, that spot appears to be the least of our concerns.

Problem is, we've got too many "Tweeners", Odom, Walton, Radmanovic. None of them is really fast enough to play SF, not big enough to bang with the big PF's. Only Radmanovic is willing to put up shots on a consistent basis, though he's hot/cold. None of them has shown a willingness to drive the basket.

I still think the big boost would come from moving Odom for a real PF/banger or... trading for someone like a Varejao or a Joakim Noah, a young guy who's hungry, who may only be able to give us 20-25 minutes right now and split that spot with Turiaf. Then the SF slot would go to Ariza with Walton playing 20-25 minutes with the second team. So if you had Bynum/Kwame at C, then Noah/Turiaf or something similar, then Ariza/Walton, then Odom, Radmanovic and our first round and one of our second round picks could be used to make this happen as we don't need much more youth right now.

I also think the Ben Wallace trade should be seriously considered if remotely possible. Bring in a guy with heart and a 2-3 year timeline and Kobe would fall over in shock he would be so happy!

"Nets president Rod Thorn said nothing is close to happening, but he and special assistant Kiki Vandeweghe have been working the phones. The Mavericks, Lakers, Nuggets and Cavaliers have the most interest in Kidd, who wouldn't mind returning to the Western Conference"- NorthJersey.com

Laker is in contention on Jason Kidd but to include Farmar or J-Critt for Kidd is again a bad offer for 35 year old, $20M guy. No doubt about it Jason could help on 4th woes, but that is too much of a price to bite. Last year, it could have been a good deal but this year we have adequate PG's what we lack are courageous forwards and centers who know how to shoot the ball. WOW, I never expected I would say that, as a problem of a NBA player. This is like describing 5th graders learning how to play ball. LOL!

The Original Ken:
Everyone says that LO is a mismatch, but then again, he needs to SHOW UP in order to be a mismatch.

He has only shown time and time again that he is not a player that fits into our system as a "go to" guy. He loses focus too easily, he can't shoot, he can't dribble (count at least 1 offensive foul a game), and now he can't make layups.

There's a reason why the Clippers loved him and hated him. It's the same reason. They used to say that he needs the ball in his hands to be effective, but when he's the lead guy on the court, nothing happens.

PJ Doubter:
Sounds about right.

Kobe just can't win.

Shoots too much, shoots too little.

Win games shooting, won't last. Lose games passing, he sucks.

Well at least this fan is happy for the ride.

Charles:

Shaq also said that the Lakers couldn't win a championship with Kobe.

I would welcome anyone opinion. LO regressing every year since it was traded to LA. Why? Well, I think because he is one-dimensional player, he is driving only to one side and his jump shot is suspect, even uncontested one. He is coming form major surgery off-season and I think Phil and Lakers does not try to hide anything, it simply as this - there no trades as of now that Lakers will take involving Lamar. If they have anything offered it's like 30c on a $1. Remember he is getting like more $13M per year, and next season he'll be like $14.5M. Now ask yourself, who in the right