On the way back
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Purple, Gold, and Blue is BACK! after an off week. We'll have Adrian Garcia of Fox Sports in Espanol and ESPN 710, and talk some Lakers and Blue. Click on the show widget at the side of the page, or go to www.nowlive.com. 11 am!
Despite enjoying what has been by all accounts a whiz bang season, there have been a few valleys between the many peaks, and a lot of them have come over the last couple weeks. Injuries, tough losses, a dip in the standings (not hard to do in the Western Conference). But things are definitely looking up, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It starts- hopefully- tonight against the Blazers at Staples (7:30, FSN), when Pau Gasol will, barring any negative reaction from Tuesday's practice, suit up for the first time since badly turning his ankle in New Orleans. How long Gasol will play is an open question, but just getting on the floor is a major step. Andrew Bynum was off his space age treadmill and running on the court Tuesday, and will make next week's trip to Sacramento and Portland, a sign that he is, as they say, "getting there." Phil Jackson acknowledged the difficulties that can come with integrating players back into the lineup in a short period of time- there's Gasol, Bynum, Mihm, and hopefully down the road, Trevor Ariza- but also believes returning players can provide energy to a group that could use a boost.
With or without the big Spaniard, the Blazers always give the Lakers problems. Tonight, though, the Lakers will at least have the benefit of not having to face Brandon Roy, who is still out with a groin injury.
Perhaps you already noticed... but guarding Kobe Bryant is really freakin' hard. Cool excerpt: "One Western Conference advance scout compared Bryant favorably to a mathematician. At its core, basketball is a game of geometry and if opponents take bad paths to guard Bryant, they've already failed, because he quickly reads defenses and angles, capable of making split-second decisions that usually work in his favor."
If Grizzlies coach Mark Iavaroni loses his job, it won't be because of Gasol.
Maybe Ron Artest has a future in Sacramento?
Are the Jazz being unfairly ignored in the W.C.?
Donnie Walsh is coming to New York. Can he rescue the Knicks? The beat guys out there are happy to have him. Isiah Thomas? Maybe not, since he's not expected to keep his job in the long run.
Korey
Regarding the "Big Men" Hornets post.
Posted by: Charles | April 02, 2008 at 12:23 PM
You forgot
#9. Blocking the view of some poor sap sitting right behind him at games.
Fire32
Is the High-Chair (Throne), a subtle way of reminding us he is the KING?
or is he compensating for something?
Posted by: DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE | April 02, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Weatherman's observations on the Lakers Town Meeting last night:
1) The Lakers locker room is tiny, and not really that pimped out compared to pics I've seen of the Dallas locker room. I also feel like the visitor's locker room must be a utility closet if the home-teams room is that small.
2) Kobe keeps a over-sized, over-weight practice ball in his locker. Bynum uses spray-on right guard, Jordan uses medicated gold bond powder.
3) Mitch K. has a messed up pinky on his right hand. I had visions all night of Kobe's pinky looking the same way after this season's injury. Like a mutant digit sprawling off the side of the hand.
3) Billy Mac from FSN is a dweeb and spent an hour and 10 minutes lobbing softball questions at Mitch that have been answered a million times already in the press while continually calling it "the inside scoop". Definitely a letdown, and no-one asked about the training staff at all (I didn't get there in time to get a question submitted).
4) Little kid Laker fans are adorable.
5) Laker girls are very nice, but not really that hot in person. Those skirts sure are short though.
Highlight of the night: Having a picture taken next to the three-peat championship trophies!! Woot!
Posted by: J.W. Weatherman | April 02, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Droll Man
"I don't feed off you pathetic bloggers"
So, leave. You do not have to stick around any longer than you have already to prove you're a troll of the worst sort. Why don't you and your alter egos just dissappear as you promised you would.
Posted by: toad | April 02, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Pau Gasol is a warrior. He saw how bad we've been chugging a long...and he wants to right the ship.
All props to the Pau-Wow. Coz you know he ain't exactly healed. But like Kobe, he's toughing it out.
Three cheers for the warrior mentality!
Posted by: Faith | April 02, 2008 at 12:32 PM
PHIL JACKSON Is OVERRATED BANDWAGON
01 Fire32 (unbiased driver)
02 Troll Man (riding shotgun???, where's my shotgun!!!)
03 Evil Cartman (I love you guys, except PJ)
04 Sister Mary Elephant (disappointed teacher)
05 Mr. Opposite (not this time)
06 Notes on a Scorecard (Acct. Mgr.)
07 Jman449 (new bandwagon name author)
08 YOU EVER NOTICE (always)
09 DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE (Never blind to the obvious)
Posted by: Troll Man | April 02, 2008 at 12:35 PM
We are 5-4 without our big men but 2 of those loses are to MEMPHIS & CHARLOTTE at home!!!! That should kill Kobe's MVP first place votes. Chris Paul is more deserving. He is the Magic Johnson of the Hornets.
Posted by: lfan | April 02, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Methinks a Troll hunt will be of value in the near future.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | April 02, 2008 at 12:37 PM
from DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE:
1. not coaching any fundamentals of defense
2. refusing to call time-outs
3. inability to adjust during games
4. refusal to use his bench when shorthanded
5. indiffernce to putting shooters in at the end of games
6. using the same out-of-bounds play over and over
7. lying about the status of injured players
8. THAT DOG SHOW
Troll Man,
put me on the Phil Jackson is Overated bandwagon
Posted by: DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE
I disagree thusly;
1. Which fundamentals is he not teaching? The Lakers play great defense at times so you can't say they don't know how, hence can't blame the coach for not teaching.
2. Phil does call timeouts, not necessarily when YOU think he should or when YOU are getting rattled, but he does.
3. WHAT??? Ok, now you're showing your ignorance when it comes to basketball. Phil is admittedly one of the best at in-game adjustements.
4. When you're short-handed, your bench is shorter which means you can't use it as much...
5. Not sure what you mean by that specifically... but if you mean that all five guys should be shooters, I disagree, I mean only one of them is gonna shoot right? So why do you need five or even four or even three?
6. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
7. Lying's a strong word... but even if that is true, I don't see how that costs us games.
8. Ok I'll give you that one
Posted by: machiavelly | April 02, 2008 at 12:42 PM
AK/BK,
Great show today!!!! Except for that annoying BLUE part.............LOL
Posted by: pslakerfan | April 02, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Korey,
Actually, we agree on Mbenga. Guys like Mbenga and Newble who've not been playing can only step up their game by getting on the floor.
There were games where inserting Mbenga for two or three minutes to break the opposition's flow would have been helpful. He's a role player like everyone else on the bench.
My gripe with Phil is that he's locked into the same substitution patterns and doesn't use the bench creatively. He himself has admitted that he's most effective in practice and in the locker room. Other coaches do a better job of calling time outs and swapping players in and out to stop opposition runs.
I'm actually a big fan of PJ's. But the guy isn't perfect and sometimes his weaknesses are exposed.
Posted by: Rick Friedman | April 02, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Regarding all of the issues with coaching, trainers, etc..
I think fans look at the season as 82 sprints, and the coaches and trainers look at it as one marathon....
I know it is a cheesy analogy, but I think it rings true...
And besides "I like cheese" mmmmmmmmm......
Posted by: pslakerfan | April 02, 2008 at 12:50 PM
i think the lakers really need pau gasol back in the line-up becuase they've been having truoble on the court without him. the injuries they've faced and the set-backs they've had with the unfortunate losses against teams that aren't that good dampered my spirit but i have no doubt that once we get our injured players back we [lakers] will be unstoppable.
Posted by: roxana | April 02, 2008 at 12:53 PM
pslakerfan
Cheesy, yes, but quite appropriate.
Posted by: toad | April 02, 2008 at 01:19 PM
Good to see half the hot air squad is in today...Please keep up the hot air its cold outside...
GO LAKERS
Posted by: Thirty2 | April 02, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Currently coaching in the NBA:
Championships as a Head Coach
Mike Woodson 0
Doc Rivers 0
Sam Vincent 0
Jim Boylan 0
Mike Brown 0
George Karl 0
Flip Saunders 0
Don Nelson 0
Rick Adelman 0
Jim O'Brien 0
Mike Dunleavy Sr. 0
Phil Jackson 9
Marc Iavaroni 0
Pat Riley 6
Larry Krystkowiak 0
Randy Wittman 0
Lawrence Frank 0
Byron Scott 0
Isiah Thomas 0
Stan Van Gundy 0
Maurice Cheeks 0
Mike D'Antoni 0
Reggie Theus 0
Gregg Popovich 4
P. J. Carlesimo 0
Sam Mitchell 0
Jerry Sloan 0
Eddie Jordan 0
Phil Jackson is a better NBA Coach than You.
Posted by: "Pig" Miller | April 02, 2008 at 01:37 PM
Ok guys, it is time to call Phil Jackson’s stubbornness and dictator like behavior into question. Here are my observations:
1- Phil wants the players to figure out the rotation on their own. Heaven forbid that he should come down from his thrown and tell them where to stand on defense; noooo they are better off falling on each others' legs until they learn! he has lost so far gasol, Bynum, ariza and mihm in the same exact way; falling on your teammate leg. This is not acceptable from phil. he should get over himself and his outdated style of play.
2- He wants to make sure they can play well in Kobe’s absence. Fine put Kobe on the bench and let them try to figure it out. Noooo, he wants to keep Kobe on the court yet instruct him to sit near the post and do nothing waiting for the other 4 to figure it out on their own. First, it is too late in the season for that and second it is frustrating the life out of Kobe. As competitive as he is, Kobe finds himself choking trying to comply with his coach. Excuse me but this is bs. I was on hand when he got tossed out for the first time against Seattle last month. I was able to see the body language. Kobe is frustrated about Phil’s crazy game plan and it is killing him.
PHIL CASTRO, get over yourself and give Kobe some leeway or he is going to get into trouble before the playoffs and I don't mean more technicals. I mean risk of injury increases with frustration as we have already seen.
Posted by: che | April 02, 2008 at 02:25 PM
Rick,
"My gripe with Phil is that he's locked into the same substitution patterns and doesn't use the bench creatively."
I don't see how you can say that - Jackson has NEVER had consistent substitution patterns. In fact, that has been a criticism of him by some people over the years. That has been the case this year, as well. Look at how the PG time split between Farmar and Fisher has varied. The way PG has incorporated the "three guard" lineup with Sasha, as Sasha's game has improved. The way the Walton and Vlad minutes have changed from game to game.
For you to say that he doesn't use the lineups creatively is just plain WRONG.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | April 02, 2008 at 02:48 PM
Pig,
IMO, Phil is the greatest psychological coach of all time.
When it comes to X's and O's, he is very average.
Coaches that have had TWO all-time greats on the team in their absolute PRIMES:
Mike Woodson -N0
Doc Rivers - N0
Sam Vincent -N0
Jim Boylan -N0
Mike Brown -N0
George Karl -N0
Flip Saunders -N0
Don Nelson -N0
Rick Adelman -N0
Jim O'Brien -N0
Mike Dunleavy Sr. - N0 (Magic and Worthy were past their primes)
Phil Jackson -YES, YES
Marc Iavaroni -N0
Pat Riley -YES (in LA, not Miami)
Larry Krystkowiak -N0
Randy Wittman -N0
Lawrence Frank -N0
Byron Scott -N0
Isiah Thomas -N0
Stan Van Gundy -N0
Maurice Cheeks -N0
Mike D'Antoni -N0
Reggie Theus -N0
Gregg Popovich -NO (Robinson was past his prime)
P. J. Carlesimo -N0
Sam Mitchell -N0
Jerry Sloan -YES (Stockton and Malone)
Eddie Jordan -N0
Phil Jackson is a luckier NBA Coach than You.
peace
Posted by: LAKER TRUTH | April 02, 2008 at 02:54 PM
machiavelly,
I respond thusly to your response
1.. the key is "at times" and I would never call it "great" defense. They will be a better defensive team when the Bigs get back but that is only because they can cover up the fundamental defensive deficiency of keeping your man in front of you. When the Lakers let their man get by them, Bynum will be there, unfortunately the better teams will simply pass to the player that AB switched off of for a probable dunk, seen it too many times. And how many more players will have career days against this defense?
2.. PJ"s timeout strategy has been well covered on this blog, and the majority of the comments are negative. It is also not when I get rattled but when the team get rattled. I believe I watch more basketball than most (League Pass) and believe me the better coaches call time-outs to regroup their players after a significant run by the opposing team. They don't sit on their hands and "let the players figure it out themselves, which is the lamest excuse I've ever heard. Teams need a leader to direct them through tough times. If you were a soldier and came under heavy artillery fire, would you want your squadron leader "let you figure it out" or would you want him to come up with a strategic counter plan?
3.. you say "Phil is admittedly one of the best at in-game adjustements.
Who admits this, now tell me who is the ignorant one? He admittedly did great adjustments against Memphis, Charlotte, Golden State, Sacramento, and Portland
4.. your comment "When you're short-handed, your bench is shorter which means you can't use it as much..."
no it means you go deeper into the bench.
5.. It's called options, but if you want Luke out there...
6.. When was the last time that "out-of -bounds" play worked? It's a running joke, everyone knows it's coming .
7.. If you say something you know is false, I call it a lie. And no, it doesn't cost us games, it just gives you a little insight into his character.
8.. yeah, that dog thing was pathetic
All -in-all ...sound reasons to be on the
Phil Jackson is Overrated Bandwagon
Posted by: DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE | April 02, 2008 at 03:08 PM
"Pig" Miller
LAKER TRUTH
NUMBER OF NBA TITLES PHIL JACKSON HAS WON WITHOUT MICHAEL/SCOTTY OR SHAQ/KOBE
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Posted by: DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE | April 02, 2008 at 03:13 PM
exhelodrvr
creative lineups?? don't think so, Stupid yes.
Posted by: DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE | April 02, 2008 at 03:16 PM
How many titles did Dirk, Nash, and FInley win?
How about Nash, Marion, Stoudamire?
Mullin, Hardaway, RIchmond?
Iverson, Anthony, Camby?
Just a few trios of greats (not All-time greats, but better than Shaq and Kobe + ?) that played against Jackson teams. No titles for their coaches.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | April 02, 2008 at 03:17 PM
Ex,
Those are some great trios you mentioned, but c'mon, they do not compare to Shaq + Kobe + ? in their primes (or MIchael + Scottie + Rodman/Grant for that matter).
Posted by: LAKER TRUTH | April 02, 2008 at 03:34 PM
It is amazing that Jackson has had the best player in the NBA on his roster every year he has coached with the exception of the 1993-94 season and most of the 1994-95 season when Jordan went to play baseball.
Even then, Pippen was certainly one of the top ten players, maybe one of the top five.
For the majority of his coaching career, Jackson has had two of the top ten or top five players in the NBA on his roster every year.
When he hasn't had two Hall of Famers, he hasn't won jack, hasn't made a Finals appearance, has only won a couple of first-round playoff series with the Bulls.
I give the man credit for picking and choosing the Lakers job in 1999. Good for him. But I just don't believe that he is the only coach out there who was capable of winning many rings, maybe even nine rings, with that kind of head start.
Posted by: Jman449 | April 02, 2008 at 03:36 PM
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE
1) The point is that if the team is capable of playing great defense, it follows that they have been taught to play great defense. If the don't do it all the time, it's up to them and their motivational level, not the coach's lack of instruction which was your claim.
2) Your argument goes thusly: Since most people on this blog think that PJ uses timeouts wrongly, he must be wrong. Uuuuh... no. I don't care how many people are wrong with you, you're still wrong. And I'm sorry but if my team gets rattled, I ain't gonna bail them out every time, call time-out, ask them if they're ok, ask them if they want a hug etc... they are men and Phil treats them as such
3) I assume that's sarcasm.... well along those lines, he also did great 6 times in Chicago and 3 times here. I'll take a few regular season losses in exchange for a few championships. But then again since I'm ignorant, I may be wrong on this
4) Ok, now this ain't basketball it's simple logic. If your bench is shorter due to injuries, it means there is no bench to go to....
5) I got no problems with Luke
6) The point of an out of bounds play is to get the ball inbound... I'm not gonna check but I'm pretty sure it works 99% of the time.
7) First off, you're claiming to be a mind-reader if you're saying you know he lied. He may not have known. Second, I don't care about his character, I care about championships.
8) Yup, sure was.
Posted by: machiavelly | April 02, 2008 at 03:49 PM
ANyone who says that Phil Jackson wins on having only "talent" on his team or just being lucky is not the brightest bulb in my opinion.
If you look at nearly EVERY chamionship you will find quality players. If you argue that point than you are not doing your homework.
Just look:
Spurs: Parker, Duncan, Ginobli
Miami: Shaq, Payton, Wade, Mourning
Spurs again: Parker, Duncan, Wade
Pistons: Billups, Hamilton, Wallace and Wallace
Lakers: Shaq, Kobe
Bulls: Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc
Houston: Olojuwan, Cassel, Drexler
80's pistons: Thomas, Dumars, Rodman, Mark Aguire
80's Celtics: Bird, Parish, Mchale, Dennis Johnson, Ainge
Go even farther back the 60's-70's Lakers had West, Baylor, Goodrich, Chamberlin
Knicks: Reid, Frazier, Debushere (sp?)
Celtics: Cousy, Bill Russel, Havlacheck
Even the 78-79 Sonics had Jack Sikma and Dennis Johnson both all star caliber players that era.
So my point is to say that PJ only wins with talent is moronic, EVERY COACH who has won had Talent on his team EVERY ONE OF THEM. If you call him lucky than say the same about the couches of the above teams as well.
If your going to make a point and blast a succesful person at least have sound facts to support your claim. The arguements against PJ on this blog are at best stupid.
Posted by: BrandonC | April 02, 2008 at 03:49 PM
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE,
No, because I'm not hallucinating.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | April 02, 2008 at 03:51 PM
NUMBER OF NBA TITLES PHIL JACKSON WON WITHOUT MICHAEL/SCOTTY OR SHAQ/KOBE
0
NUMBER OF NBA TITLES MICHAEL/SCOTTY AND SHAQ/KOBE WON WITHOUT PHIL JACKSON
0
You're not as smart as Phil Jackson.
Go away troll. But not before I sample your delicious meat.
*Whistling* Anything you can do I can do better . . .
I can do anything better than yooouuuuuuu . . .
Posted by: "Pig" Miller | April 02, 2008 at 04:00 PM
Actually, Riley only won five titles as head coach.
Posted by: The Dude Abides | April 02, 2008 at 04:04 PM
Number of titles Red Auerbach won without Bill Russell--
0
And your point would be ...?
Posted by: lone star laker fan | April 02, 2008 at 04:25 PM
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE & Laker Truth,
You two guys are morons. I bet you two miserable people to be around and there is no way you guys can have wives or girlfriends. If by some miracle you do, it's because they have very low self-esteem and hate life.
You two are Trolls and pathetic ones at that.
Go away.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | April 02, 2008 at 04:26 PM
Just happen to be looking at the Cavs vs Bobcats game as a tune up before the laker game and noticed there are a lot of empty seats, where are the fans? LeBron is in town and the house isn't full? If the Lakers were in town, there wouldn't be any empty seats..
Posted by: 70slakerfan | April 02, 2008 at 04:40 PM
Fire 32....
Tinker Bell got T'd up last night for being a jerk and disrespectful of the referees. Probably cost his team a game in the process. Nice job, Raja!
Posted by: bronxlakerfan | April 02, 2008 at 05:20 PM
Charles,
thanks for the agreement.
Even though we lost to Charlotte and Memphis, it's still hard to play defense night in and night out with no basket coverage.
I mean, we beat Dallas and Utah so I guess that cancels everything out.
Win games we are undermanned in and lose games we are suppose to win.
It happens when you have an incomplete team.
Posted by: Korey | April 02, 2008 at 05:40 PM
The GUYS who signed up on Phil Jackson Bandwagon as an overrated coach are all IGNORAMOUS (IGNORANT)!!!
Get a life guys on other blogs! Don't bring in your bias, uneducated, divisive, opinions about the best coach in the NBA!
Your opinions are all so shallow, it is sickening!
Posted by: totokano | April 02, 2008 at 05:43 PM
Laker Truth,
Any of those trios were better than Shaq + Kobe (who wasn't nearly as good as he is now) + Glen RIce/Rick Fox (or whoever the third best Laker was on the three-peat).
Posted by: exhelodrvr | April 02, 2008 at 06:10 PM
Posted from previous thread:
machiavelly,
OMG! Please accept my apologies! I take back all the things I said about you and even those things that I was thinking but didn't post. :)
BTW, I think you have the coolest name. And I'm not (really) trying to suck up because I was wrong.
--FearlessWhackJob
Posted by: FearlessWhackJob | April 02, 2008 at 06:14 PM
Phil Jackson is a great coach. No ifs, and or buts about it. He may do some things that I find questionable, but one can not simply discount the man's track record. His success speaks for itself. Great players make great coaches and vice versa. Does anyone think that Doc Rivers suddenly became a coaching genius over the summer? Of course not. Doc is on record as saying that it is amazing how much better of a coach he became once the Celtics acquired KG and Ray Allen.
Great players help make a coach great, much the same way as good locks make for honest neighbors. One just follows the other.
Posted by: bronxlakerfan | April 02, 2008 at 06:21 PM
lfan,
As of today, you are probably correct about CP3. However, if the Lakers somehow re-overtake the Hornets and finish number one (a real possibility), you have to give the MVP to Kobe. CP3 hasn't had to deal with the staggering number of injuries that Kobe has, and he has more all-stars around him. That means that by all rights, if he's an MVP, then he should be expected to finish ahead of Kobe in the standings.
BUT, dude is like barely 6 feet tall and is putting up truly ridiculous numbers, and he's really for REAL. He's single-handedly put the Hornets on the map (with a big assist from By Scott).
I wouldn't like it, but I wouldn't complain if CP3 got it. Dude's amazing.
--FearlessWhackJob
Posted by: FearlessWhackJob | April 02, 2008 at 06:22 PM
jon k
pig meat
So anyone who disagrees with you is a troll huh?
Whatever, The Lakers are bigger than PJ and never forget it
you guys are the trolls, feed or starve yourselves
Posted by: DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE | April 02, 2008 at 06:56 PM
--FearlessWhackJob
No problem -- guess I was a bit unclear there
Posted by: machiavelly | April 02, 2008 at 08:21 PM