That was an absolutely flawless performance. Unlike some other games against lesser opponents, the Lakers didn't relax after jumping out to an early lead -- they kept some semblance of defensive pressure going into the otherwise garbage-time third and fourth quarters.

Well done!

Yea..it was a good game. I wudnt call it flawless though (lol..66%..im just funnin') but ill take a 30pt win while keeping the oponent under 99pts anyday of the week..(including that day the government will create in a few years to make up for raised taxes by having us work an extra day) We got Indiana next..and I bet a bucket of chitlin's and a pan of Lumpia (yum!) that we will harbor a 20pt lead at some time between the 5/16 and 15/32 mark going into the half! Hahaha..

Damn! The price of milk went up from 3.99 to 4.50 a gallon in just a couple of days. That's crazy. No cereal for me!

GO LAKERS!

Now if you'll excuse me I have to design my blog pages.

mike

Anyone see this link? I always like to hear comments from the other team.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080105_Lakers_win_a_laugher_over_Sixers.html

When was the last time an L.A site posted "A laugher over Lakers"? That Philly media is harsh!

Im telling you, if these guys can stay healthy, we are getting out of the first round:

1) Kobe
2) Bynum
3) Odom
4) Fisher
5) Kwame Brown
6) Farmar

actually, except for some occasional bone-headedness, i thought Kwame did an ok job overall against Phillyl, he even caught a few hot passes under the basket and turned them into points or nice passes for points. he's a good backup. 9mil is too much, but how much is Dalembert making?

there's no need to hate on this year's team. they are playing hard for the most part and seem to be learning the important lessons. i know we're not quite elite yet, but pray for continued improvement and overall team health and we're the team no one wants to play in the playoffs, come playoff time.

We need to stop being so harsh on Kwame Brown. Sure he's not worth 9 mil, but it's not his fault he got that money.

Kwame has a place on this team, and I hope he's on the Lakers next year.

Sure Bynum is a better scorer and shot blocker.

Kwame Brown brings a different look. I'm happy he's different than Bynum..Kwame brings another big body and that will help the second unit dominate the game with his defensive toughness.

He's not worth 9 mil, but you know what? He's not the worse big man in the league and it's nice to have another defensive big man with his size and speed.

I still think this was a good gamble by Kupchak...Kwame just needs to stay healthy and I think he will because he will get less minutes with the emergence of Bynum.

Having a healthy Kwame on the floor gives the Lakers a nice advantage believe it or not.

Bynum is still a better offensive player and rebounder because of his freakish arms, but Brown can push people out of the way and send messages. I like that too.

You have to realize that Kwame Brown is not going to be a good scorer or rebounder. He is what he is and he gives some toughness that not a lot of teams have. Dallas to name one.

Kwame Brown is not the key, but he is part of the championship puzzle. The Lakers and Mitch have not done as bad a job as everyone thought.

zen,

Kwame is worth 4-5 mil at most.

I like Kwame and I agree with Zen, there is a place on this team.

It would be great if we could steer the blog away from the subject of Kwame Brown because, for whatever reason, he is either touted as the second coming of Bill Russell or the worst Laker ever.

Neither is true.

Let's just try to diminish the hate for a little while, okay?

GO LAKERS!

it's always amazing how some people on this blog will express their hate for a laker because he feels he is not a very good player...then propose an absolutely idiotic trade scenario for a player that is a major piece on another team.

as if wishing that the front office of that team would be at least half as stupid as they are.

p ang,

Did you see him take down that Phoenix player two years ago in the playoffs and do a "stare down". That's what I want from Kwame Brown. Kwame Brown can hurt someone. I don't want him too, but he can send messages that no other Laker has the ability to do.

When it comes to his injuries, he ain't tough..But I dont care about that! I want him to stay healthy, play good post defense, and send messages to guards in the lane. I think he's capable of doing that.

Xodus,

D'Antoni knows Kwame doesn't suck. He's not going to show his "respect" during a playoff series especially when he's the starting center. Kwame has his uses. He's not a focal point starting center. He needs to be used for his abilities and not based on his draft selection (not his fault) and money (again not his fault).

He is simply a big body who can defend and has quickness.. Only Shaq had those qualities as a starting center because Shaq could score and had good hands. Not to mention a better shot blocker too...

In a way, the Lakers were trying to patch up the loss of Shaq with two guys instead of one - Bynum/Brown. Basically if you think about it, Bynum and Brown together would probably make a Shaq! Except this time, we have better free throw shooting and Bynum is way more skilled in the post.

Also, I read some of the posts from Mike T on the previous threads!!

He is naming the Spurs and Celtics as the teams the Lakers can't beat with Bynum.

Mike...Mike....Mike...

Your talking about Kevin Garnett!
Your talking about TIm Duncan!

Two hall of fame big men!

EVERYONE in the league has trouble with those guys!

You can't really expect a 20 year old (no matter how BIG his base is) to dominate these guys!

There is also one other flaw in your "fools gold" season: It's a long season.

Do you really think he's not working on his base during the season? I bet he is.

Your talking 6 months from now (if they meet in the finals). You can improve your base a lot in that time frame.

zen,

Kwame is capable of anything he wants to do. Guy has too much inate athletic ability. Sending messages though is not one of them. Purposely knocking down a single player in his entire 6/7 year nba career as PF/C? In posttions which are suppose to be the where tough big and strong (and mean) players live?

Again, I agree with you on all your points. If we want toughness though my money's on Turiaf and Ariza.

Curious - in your first sentence - are you using "notwithstanding" to mean its opposite? "Easy access..notwithstanding" means "despite easy access". If you actually mean that confirming numbers are easy to access, you needn't go out on a limb, right?

j. d. hastings,

I'm no mathematician either but it doesn't take Gauss to figure out that 3 teams could each have a 50%+ chance of making one of 2 playoff spots.

However, I would like to know how the odds of each team winning the Pacific don't add up to 100%...?

JeffGrotke
I agree on your assessment on Kwame , the only thing I got against his is the prize tag. Its kind of high. If we can resign him after this season there is sure plenty of use defending Duncan , Dirk and Amare (at least trying to , he is too quick for Kwame).
Who knows what king of treatment will Adrew get in the playoffs.
He might get whistled for a few quick fouls and it will put us in the Mihm disaster.

David-

Good point. It's not a very well constructed sentence, looking at it now. I was using it in the "in spite of" context, meaning that in spite of having no easy access to confiirming numbers, it's a safe bet that most teams that shoot 66% win. But the opening phrase isn't entirely clear.

I'll forward this one on to the English professors, perhaps.

BK

zen-

I agree. I've written a few times that it's important to understand what Kwame provides the team. You can make a very solid case that Bynum should get more minutes at this point (they're a much more dynamic team with him on the floor) but to say Kwame has no value isn't accurate. It's important not to get so wrapped up in the things he doesn't do well (there are many, and they can be frustrating) that what he does do well gets lost. He can have a positive impact defensively in a very different way than Bynum. Less by blocking shots and rebounding, more by muscling guys around.

Kwame will never be a guy worthy of number one pick status. Nor will he be a guy who seems like a value at nine mil. But that's beside the point. It's easy to get caught up in black and white, all or nothing debates over players, but that's not how it works on the court. Instead of always focusing on what he isn't or what he doesn't do well, sometimes it's constructive to find his value. He's a role player, and in certain situations can be pretty handy to have around. (That said, I wouldn't bring him back next season unless a) he was willing to take a substantial pay cut, and b) he was willing in every way shape and form to be a backup.) If people sit around and wait for him to be a star, or someone who seems "worth the money," they'll always be disappointed. But it's not his fault he got paid, it's management's.

The good news is between Bynum and Brown, the Lakers are strong and diverse up the middle, which is a very, very good thing. It's not one or the other, it's one with the other.

BK

Xodus-

I didn't realize that was the context of the debate- I can't think of a big that fits in worse with what the Suns do offensively than Kwame. Nash would break his nose with a pass by the second half of their first game together. Can't see that trade happening. An interesting one, floated I believe by Hoopsworld's Eric Pincus, would be for Kurt Thomas. Financially, it's a wash, but the theory is the Sonics would do Thomas a solid by moving him at the deadline, since he's been a good soldier this year. I'd make that deal in a heartbeat, especially since Thomas is solid defensively and can slide into the PF spot.

BK

Can you believe that the Celtics beat the Pistons 92-85?

That's amazing! For the Pistons to allow only 92 points and still lose? That must of been an intense game. I didn't see it.

Can you believe that the Celtics held the Pistons to 85 points?

Garnett, Allen, and Pierce only scored 15, 9, and 19 points.

But Davis scored 20 points off the bench for the Celtics.

That's defense!

When the Lakers lost to the Celtics they only shot 354 from the field.

When Celtics beat the Rockets, in their last game, they held them to 422 from the field.

The Celtics just held the Pistons to 392 from the field.

In theory the Lakers have a better offense than both the Pistons and the Rockets. But in the 2 games the Lakers played the Celtics they scored only 92 and 91 points in those games.

In the first game the Lakers only shot 422 from the field and scored 92 points. Then last week the Lakers only shot 354 from the field and scored 91 points.

The Celtics are playing steady ball. While, in my opinion, the Lakers are playing the wrong philosophy of ball.

I say that because Kobe Bryant said the other day that what happened in the Boston game last week was just a bad day for the Lakers.

I don't think that's the case. I think the Celtics defense is the real deal.

It'll be interesting to see how the Spurs do in Feb. and March. That's when they usually their game together.

These are 3 serious defensive teams. The Spurs, Celtics, and the Pistons.

Serious defense!

mike

j.d. hastings and McGarnagle,

Although I don't put any weight in Hollinger's analysis' and projections and PER etc., statistically it makes sense. Since 8 teams can make the playoffs, collectively all the percentages should add up to 800%, which they do give or take .1%. If you look at it this way, then all 15 teams (in perfect parity) could have a more than 50% chance of making the playoffs. In perfect parity each one of the 15 teams would have a 53.3% chance of making the playoffs -- 800% / 15 = 53.3%.

And Mcgarnagle, did you notice Golden State has a .5% chance of winning the division adding up to 100%.

GO LAKERS! Beat the Pacers

Mike, I'll just as civily as possible put a call out to others on the blog to not let you off for your behavior last night. We don't want to hear from you. We don't care what you have to say, it's not enlightening, but more importantly you're just boorish.

No one here cares to hear from you anymore.

Yeah, I'm a Lakers fan. That's why I'm scouting the Celtics, Spurs, and the Pistons.

That's what real fans do. They do their homework. They look at the Lakers weaknesses verses the top 3 teams strengths.

That's only logical. You're attitude is as if though me posting what I just did is an offense to you.

Are you so shallow not to look at the enemy in face? That's just outright foolish. And then to get upset when a real fan does?

It doesn't make sense.

What I write just shows you what's coming and it seems to make you uncomfortable as if though your dreams are being interupted or something. As if your ideas of how the Lakers are doing or will do against those teams is something you don't want to look at because it shatters your interpretation of what you think is best for the Lakers.

mike

Hello Room......It has been a while since I've been on. Frankly, I lost interest in this blog back before the season started and have been spending a little time on the ESPN blog.

I do find it quite comical that after 2 months of basketball the same people are on here still pushing the same comments and thoughts. Crazy as it is, some people seem to be convinced that if they talk long enough, perhaps eventually their comments will become believable or come true.

I can't resist the urge to at least comment on the resident Kwame Brown Number 1 Fan.....Mike T.

My comment is simply this.......If having Bynum in as the starting center means that the Lakers will make it to the WCF or the NBA Finals only to be beaten by the Spurs or Celtics, I will happily take that outcome this season. Considering the fact that the Lakers were predicted to potentially be a lottery team in preseason, just the fact that they could possibly make it that far in the playoffs is a successful season this year. I do find it quite interesting that someone would criticize a player and strategy that they evidently consider good enough to at least advance to the conference finals if the not the championship.

It is interesting that with each passing month of the season, the number of "Elite" teams is dwindling. It is as if the further we get into the season, the cover is being lifted off of the teams that have been perceived to be the teams to beat. Utah, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston were considered to be Elite teams before the season began. Now people are saying that those teams are very vulnerable with Utah and Houston even being questionable as playoff teams. Phoenix has been exposed for being vulnerable to teams with active big men. By the way, New Orleans just beat the Suns. Funny thing is, Tyson Chandler has a limited offensive package yet, he is effective with getting dunks and put backs.....

Like I said early in this post, I will take the Lakers beating everybody but the Spurs, Celtics and Pistons this season. I can patiently wait to beat those other teams next season.