Staples 24,

Don't forget the Spurs will also have the greatest playoff performer of all time: Bob Horry.

We need to get healthy fast.

Hello everyone. I am a HUGE Laker Fan. I just discovered this blog about 6 months ago and needless to say I am completely hooked.
I look forward everyday (especially after a game.. win or lose but especially win) to reading the brothers take. I also especially enjoy reading all the comments all you blogers write. I am no expert on “blogging” but I got to hand it to you guys, you are all a bunch of smart and positive folk. I basically just come into the site to read all the comments but today I am compelled to express how thankful I am as a Laker fan to be able to have a site like this. You guys are pumping me up like nobody’s business. I almost feel like even the radio is sound tracking the anticipation for tonight’s game…. Anyways, I want to thank you all for making my day and Goooooooooooo Lakers!!!

ex,

The single biggest fundamental weakness I see in NBA players is in rebounding. Nine out of ten NBA players do not know how to block out an opposing rebounder or even try to do it. They all just stand there and think that the board will go to whoever jumps best. Then they seem surprised when an opposing player just steps in next to them and gets the rebound they thought was going to be theirs. Weak minds that make weak plays.

In addition, nine of out of ten NBA rebounders do not know what to do when somebody blocks them out. You would think with all of the Sports Center attention paid to spin moves that somebody would suggest that a rebounder try a spin move to get around an opponent who tries to block them out. Lock ‘em in a room with a couple of DVDs of Moses Malone or Dennis Rodman or A.C. Green. Guys with motors that never stop.

The best rebounder for position and tenacity on the Lakers right now is Kobe Bryant. He may not be the biggest or strongest or tallest, but he definitely is the smartest. When Kobe is going for the boards, he is always moving, stepping in, stepping back, spinning, never giving the opposing rebounder a chance to block him out. That is what he did to Bass on that rebound off Lamar’s missed free throw. Shades of great KB boards of past.

Other Lakers that do excellent jobs rebounding are Lamar and Luke. Lamar is the ultimate warrior under the boards, fighting and scratching for position, and using his great length and reach to grab boards. Luke has been also doing a great job on the boards lately because he really knows how to screen out defenders as well as how to reposition himself when blocked out. Not surprising considering his high basketball IQ.

Bar none, however, the best rebounder on the team is Andrew Bynum. No other player on the team has his unique combination of height, length, hops, and just great hands. Unlike the rest of the team, Drew grabs his boards well above the rim most of the time. His reach is so great that he actually appears to gobble rebounds out of the sky. Before his career is done, Drew will win multiple rebounding titles.

At any rate, with Drew and Lamar and Pau et al, the Lakers can be the most dominant rebounding team in the league. And that is half the battle to winning NBA games.

Tom

Staples 24,

>>>Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom has not
>>>advance to 2nd round to say they are playoff battle
>>>tested.

Lamar Odom HAS advanced to the second round.

Luke Walton has advanced to the FINALS, and played
significant minutes there.

And Pau Gasol, while he hasn't advanced to the second
round with a mediocre Grizzlies team, has won the gold
medal in the world championships in 2006 with a good
Spanish team. In that tournament, Pau was chosen as
the MVP. Some other guys who played in that tournament
included Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzski, Carmelo Anthony,
Dwyane Wade, Manu Ginobili, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Elton Brand, and of course, LeBronze James,
who reinforced that nickname in those games by leading
the U.S. to the bronze medal.

And Radmanovic has also advanced to the second round,
as a member of the Clippers.

So the Lakers are a bit more battle-tested than you give
them credit for.

But I do support your idea that the Lakers should add
a player for depth. If it was me, I'd look to add a front
court player. Maybe someone from the D-League who
could play a few minutes here and there at center or
forward and who could be playoff roster ready if it turned
out that one of the Lakers injured players won't be back
at all.

Remember, the team chooses a 12 player roster the day
after the last day of the season and that's it. No 15 man
roster with 3 sitting out for the playoffs. So if Ariza and
Bynum get back to health, then whoever they pick up
now won't be around for the playoffs (presumably Mihm,
the new guy, and either Mbenga or Karl would be left
off the playoff roster).

Zen-

To answer your questions:

-I have no idea why there aren't easier navigation links on either blog (any of them, actually) but there should be. That's a design thing, and like the colors, not our department.

-I'd love to say we're traveling specifically because we're so freakin' awesome, they have to let us go. But while I'm reasonably sure they're happy with our work- nobody's fired us yet- it has more to do with the great buzz surrounding the team right now. They're a big deal again, and in this town, when the Lakers are a big deal, it's a BIG DEAL. Note caps for emphasis!

As for the change in posts, that has more to do with decisions AK and I made, along with some input from our overlords. Basically, we thought it would help sustain the energy of the site to try and provide more fresh material as we come across it, rather than holding it and putting more things in a single post. We're trying to better take advantage of the web's ability to support long form and short form stuff. I kind of like the change. It's not huge, but I think it's good. And we're hoping to start doing new things going forward as well that we hope everyone will like.

But I think they'd have asked us to travel either way.

LT- Thanks for the note.

BK

Nobody should forget Robert Horry's towel throwing in Phoenix either..pretty classic.

Charles,

DrewPauKobe was referencing the following scene:

http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=a9b
_uamymSQNR=1

MJ is the greatest players ever hands down... Kobe in order to be mentioned in the same catagory has to

-win the next 3 titles, as well as Finals MVP (excellent chance for this happening, )
-Become the MVP for the next 3 years
-Collect at least 2 DPY awards

And than we can start comparing the two or comparing Kobe to the GPE, until than lets put this F--n thing away and consentrate on how we can match up with the SA Spurs and their veteran battle tested ball club, since I see this team being the only team that stands in our way of glory.......

darock,

can you tinyurl.com that link please. it doesnt show up even if i post the whole text amount...

thanks

BK,

Thanks for your response..However, I don't think they would be sending you guys if the blog was not making them money. The page views are important to them..They are not going to pay for all those road trips unless they were making money..In fact, I bet you make them more money than any sports columnist for the L.A times. You have one of the best jobs in the world! I wish I could do it! I would be dangerous because I actually understand the technical aspects! I can make a page with the sports links easily.

I knew it wasn't my imagination you guys were posting more threads!!

The Lakers have always been the biggest sports team in town..Nothing has really changed..I guess you have a few more bandwagoners..But pretty much, the Lakers have always been the hottest ticket in town...

Rose,

How sweet of you. That's a refreshing post and WELCOME!

Regards,

The Kobe towel incident reminded me of when I was a security guard for the Dallas Mavericks in 1981, I was sitting behind the visiting team (NY Knicks) bench. The ball boy was collecting the towels under the chairs. I saw one he missed and picked it up and threw it to him, only it missed and hit Ray Williams in the face. I had to look away I was laughing so hard. Williams wasn't laughing though.
Accidents happen!

Stomp Stomp Clap! Stomp Stomp Clap!

Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise
Playin’ in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo’ face
You big disgrace
Kickin’ your can all over the place

We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you

Buddy you’re a young man hard man
Shoutin’ in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on yo’ face
You big disgrace
Wavin’ your banner all over the place

We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you

Buddy you’re an old man poor man
Pleadin’ with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day

You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Somebody better put you back in your place

We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you

Interesting observations on the LBJ vs Kobe comments. Obviously both are great players and having great years. I think everybody has their opinion and it's great that we can argue about it. How boring it would be if Kobe was the only great player and everybody agrees that he should get the MVP.

I have to admit that at the beginning of year I was mad as hell the Kobe wanted to be traded. Truthfully the only player I would have even considered trading him for was Lebron or a team with some big time players with multiple 1st round lottery picks Thanks to Laker Mgmt. that they did not panic and now we are set for the next 6 years.

I agree that Kobe is the MVP, how many guys could tear apart the NBA with a torn ligament in his shooting hand. Remember this is not his left hand, but his SHOOTING HAND.

That's like a gunfighter going into a shootout with 3 bullets instead of 6. Absolutely amazing!!!

Zen,

"I bet you make them more money than any sports columnist for the L.A times."

Maybe, maybe not.

The times does a poor job of advertising this blog. Guys like Plaschke, Simers, Heisler.. they get HEADLINES and headlines get views.

What works here is that we come back over and over and over and we stay here ALL DAY LONG. We have to be generating some serious impressions and click throughs for the advertisers. I'm sure they have a way of calculating how many people visit these blog pages...

If the LA Times would put a link at the bottom of each article, and the link went to this blog instead of a "comments" section at the end of the articles, the viewership, participation... would be ten times what it is now.

And the Times would only make more and more money.
The K-Bros may not have the "inside" sources that Heisler or some of the other writers have, but they frequent the games and practice facility enough and interact with all the key players and coaches that for sure, they could figure out a way to wiggle into the good graces of some of those guys.

There's no way you could tell me no...

Now that they're traveling, even one at a time, it only moves them closer to being Laker Omniscent, and THE source for all things Laker related. Not even Breshnan could keep up with the K-Bros.

See if you can get "testes" to come on Blue and Gold tomorrow.... or better yet, see if a Laker will call in...

Go Lakers!

Did the trolls in Sac ever bring bells to the game before Phil said they were a Cowtown? Just curious....

Tim-4-Show
Ya no kidding... I actually almost forgot that SAC still had a team! However, during the LAL vs SAC playoff games we did have in the past, they sure were exciting!
I went to the recent home game vs ATL and M. Bibby was booed so much I almost felt bad for him.

Fire32,

You reminded me... we have TWO big games tonight.

We have our Lakers against Sonny's SacTown...

AND,
A simulation of the presidential election... you look down, close your eyes, pinch your nose, and mark the ballot...
That's what it's like for me to watch Portland vs. Phoenix.

I'll always have a soft spot for Shaq.
Roy is a classy guy and so is McMillan.

The rest of them... yuk.
What I like though, I actually cheer for the Lakers of the East, Miami. They've got Riles and they got that new charismatic guy, Matrix... I always liked him.

Why did Phoenix trade their second best player (behind Stat)? Now there's no one there that I really like (except the soft spot for Shaq)

Double Agent 2257,

This text is for you:
Command HQ is saying get a L tonight. You know what to do. You've been doing a better job lately, don't make us send Jason Bourne to clean up your mistakes.

This message will self destruct.

Tim-4-Show

Thanks for the Link! And wishful thinking about being the understudy.

I wish I had 100 million dollars, Jessica Alba serving me Nuttella-Banana Crepes in lingerie while watching Flight of the Conchords-Entourage-Curb your Enthusiasm-Dexter-Weeds and Californiacation reruns all day .... Lol

Can you make that happen BK?

Lakers Legacy, Charles & JustanotherMambaFan,
Thank you!
Go Go Lakers Go Go Go Lakers!

Hey guys,
NBA.com have a poll on who you think is MVP. Kobe is leading so you guys should go and vote for your MVP.
Sorry if this has been posted already!

Mamba from the east coast

Tim-4-Show,

It's ok, root for us.
member they stopped your W streak.

Lakers Legacy,

um? he'll make them when they count.

zen-

I'm pretty sure we're closer to the bottom of the pay scale than the top (haha), but thanks for the consideration!

rdlee-

Honestly, I can't break down the rule with total accuracy, but the short answer is yes. In talking to a couple people who are really good on this stuff, it seems like most of the reporting on the rule actually hasn't been accurate. But as far as I know, all of those guys released before March 1 can play in the playoffs.

BK

Mamba24,

It seems there are a lot of us here that not included in your roll call.. But it doesn't matter for me as long as you always with us here.

And Jon, stay with us dude.. But if you really need to sort out something then go and make it done fast as we can't afford not having you here in the Blog...