Can't wait for the TV commentary every time Joey Crawford ref's a game and the announcer says Joe Crawford enters the game for the Lakers.

And for some good 'ol Youtube for you Kobe Haters, let's see how Team USA did with LeBronze, Wade, Melo & CP3 in the 2006 Worlds:

http://tinyurl.com/5z237b

Greece went on to get whupped in the Gold medal game by the Spaniards.

AK,

"On a scale of 1-10, I'm guessing the blogosphere's collective interest in this tidbit rates around a .7."

Actually, AK, an instrument has not been invented that can measure my disinterest in that comment -- Kidding.

Here is how it will be in the west:

1. Lakers
2. Hornets
3. Rockets
4. Spurs
5. Trailblazers
6. Jazz
7. Mavs
8. Suns

Meeting Shaq in the first round on the way to a title -- how sweet it is.

HmrHed

I feel it might go this way

1. Lakers
2. Hornets
3. Rockets
4. Spurs
5. Jazz
6. Suns
7. Mavs
8. Trailblazers

But your line up would be a dream

Plus what rdlee said. Good catch.

HmrHed,

Here's how it's going to be:

1) Lakers
2) Rockets
3) Jazz
4) Hornets
5) Blazers
6) Suns
7) Spurs
8) Mavs

Hmmm, rdlee, you're right -- that darn division winner rule -

Ok here it is.

1. Lakers (7 foot domination on the boards 24/7)
2. Hornets (CP3 MVP 2009?)
3. Trailblazers (Loaded)
4. Rockets (At least one blow-up by artest, but good D)
5. Spurs (Positive: Odd year -- Negative: Manu hurt)
6. Jazz (Overachieved last year)
7. Mavs (borderline mess)
8. Suns (old and fat)

Why no news on Kobe having surgery? I though it was a 6 -week thing. If he has it tomorrow, that would put it out to Mid-October --

"unless Sasha becomes a starter, I really don't see a spot for Coby Karl on this team but... I'll admit, we do need someone to carry the bags of the pro's... so if that's how Coby makes the team, so be it... maybe he should take the #15 to remind him he's one step away..."

Coby will be the 3rd shooting guard on the roster. Coby has more experience plus a wee bit more talent then Joe Crawford playing in the Triangle Offense. Sun Yue will be the 3rd point guard on the team.

Laker Tom,

Disagree with Tony Parker comparisons. Jordan lacks the really gifted athleticism that TP has. Jordan's game may seem like Tony Parker's but his athleticism is not as good as Tony Parker's. That is almost the same as BJ Armstrong trying to be compared to Isiah Thomas, whose games were similar but BJ Armstrong lacked Isiah's Thomas' athleticism (on the positive side, he did lack Thomas' bad decision making in Management). I would say probably as good as BJ Armstrong is Jordan's game if not Luke Ridnour.

Sasha is less athletic plus doesn't have Barry's IQ but otherwise I do stand by the comparison of Brent Barry for Sasha Vujacic.

The same for Ariza as a less athletic, not so long arms, and not so good jumper Tayshaun Prince.

I know you think David Robinson may have been over rated but for me at least he ranks in the top centers of the NBA after Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, George Mikan, and Shaquille O'Neal. I've seen David play and while Drew doesn't have the jumper that the Admiral had, much of Drew's moves really do look like David Robinson's. Plus Drew has just began to really tap into his potential on defense which was a big trademark of David Robinson's (Defensive Player of the Year). Like I said b4, not as good as Robinson but the ceiling for Drew nearly there.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly (otherwise known as Kobe's World) ,

Don't even think about it. Hand checking allows you to keep your hands on your man, not allowing it gives an extreme advantage to your man to move around (Think about the way offensive lineup does against D-Line man).

"Because of the new rules where you can't handcheck, or put your hands on players, he's able to roam free up and down the court"-Reggie Miller on Kobe without Hand checking

Joe Dumars is one of the best perimeter defenders of the NBA and Jordan ranks near him in defense.

Here's what the Jordan Rules were about:

The Jordan Rules: The guiding principle is that a defender is never left to guard Jordan unaided. Jordan's position on the floor dictates whether the Pistons trap him with a second defender or have the second defender play "help and recover" (that is, run at Jordan to stop his dribble, but then scramble back to his own man; Salley is a master at this ploy). The closer Jordan is to the basket, the more the Pistons go with the trap. When he is above the sideline hash mark (28 feet from the baseline), they usually play help and recover. Even when Jordan is far from the basket, perhaps bringing up the ball as a point guard on a wide-open floor, Detroit runs a second player at him, someone like Salley or Rodman. This reduces the amount of open court that he has to work with and often forces him to give up the ball to a teammate. The Pistons always want someone else to handle the ball. Not sometimes. Always. When Jordan has the ball on the wing, the Detroit player guarding him forces him toward defensive help. Most often that means turning Jordan to the right when he's on the left side of the floor and to the left when he's on the right side. If Jordan happens to get isolated with one man and is in a potential scoring position, the Piston defender will try to force him to go left. They think he makes a stronger, more explosive move to his right. So does Jordan. When Jordan tries to run a pick-and-roll, Detroit traps him. That means that two men, the one guarding Jordan and the one guarding the Bull setting the pick, run at him. The Pistons do this with remarkable efficiency, partly because that second defender is usually the 6 ft. 11 in. Salley or the 6 ft. 11 in. Laimbeer. The tall trappers make it almost impossible for Jordan to deliver the ball to a teammate rolling toward the basket, and their aggressive charge toward Jordan usually forces him to retreat. When Jordan posts up near the basket, Detroit typically puts three men on him, with Dumars most often behind him, using his strong hips and legs to "body" Jordan away from the basket. When the entry pass comes in from the point guard, Thomas leaves that guard and double-teams Jordan. If that means the point guard is free, so be it. Meanwhile, another defender, perhaps Laimbeer or Salley, will have come over and planted himself in the lane, maybe on the baseline side, maybe toward the middle. Dumars will then turn Jordan toward that help. Jordan loves the baseline. "Even though there's less room down there, I can be more creative," he says. But by and large, the Pistons take it away from him. When Jordan comes off a screen set near the baseline -- his most frequent maneuver when he's playing shooting guard -- a host of Jordan Rules come into play. Dumars must follow him around the screen -- no matter if he has to go into the bleachers -- to prevent Jordan from making a backdoor cut and receiving an alley-oop pass for an almost certain dunk. The Piston -- usually Laimbeer -- guarding the Bull setting the pick will step out to make Jordan receive the ball farther from the basket. In addition -- and this is important -- that man will guard against Jordan's making a "tight curl" off the top of the screen and suddenly looping back into the middle to take a short pass on the dead run, a circumstance that is almost always disastrous for the defense. In most cases Jordan will have to step back and take the pass on the wing. Then Thomas will come over, creating a double team, and the process begins all over again. If Jordan puts the ball on the floor, at least two players stay on him, pushing him toward even more help. If he passes, the weakside defenders adjust to play two Pistons against four Bulls or one against three. As long as Jordan is out of the picture, they love those odds. EVERYTHING the Pistons did, other teams did when facing Jordan. Teams like the Boston Celtics ran zones in the 80's. Only a lazy defender would be called for illegal defense. Team passing can take a team out of a zone pretty quick.

"Kobe would be considered on-par with MJ defensively in that categorie."
I kinda agree.

Again, who was Michael guarding back then?
Clyde Drexler, Grant Hill (Hill was good in the 90's), Penny Hardaway, Reggie Miller, Glen Rice, Dominque Wilkins, Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Mitch Richmond, Michael Cooper, Gary Payton, Hedo Torkuglu, Rashard Lewis, James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Joe Dumars, Vince Carter, Eddie Jones, Brian Shaw, Ray Allen, Danny Ainge, Sam Cassell, Baron Davis, Steve Francis, Tim Hardaway, Ron Harper (before he joined the Bulls) and Allen Iverson.

These are not ALL of the players Jordan faced, however, these are merely the players whom Jordan defended against who are noteworthy from the Jordan era.

>>>Hey random question for long-time Laker fans: between
>>>the time Van Exel was drafted in 94 (?), and the
>>>season's start, were there any signs that he would be
>>>THAT good?

Other than the fact that he was the point guard and leading
scorer for a final four Cincinnati team, a 3rd team All-American,
and a Wooden Award finalist?

Taliq,

>>>>> h*ll back in the day, you spoke bad of jordan famarr and lakertom would come at
>>>>>you with knives, machine guns etc .. and that was ok cuz famarr is a laker and it's
>>>>>only right that someone on hurr be a diehard fan of his ...

LMAO, Taliq. A no doubt that fan means fanatic to you and me. But you have to remember that one of the big reasons for my fervor about Jordan was also getting rid of Smush. Not to say I don’t love our future Tony Parker. If we run more this year, as I have predicted, then Jordan will become even more critical a component in our team’s success.

But as anybody who blogs here knows, this year’s over-the-top fandom has been dedicated with great pride to the next great Lakers center – young phenom stud center Andrew Bynum, the Beast who is going to dominate the entire NBA next year at both ends of the court and help Kobe lead the Lakers to their first of a long string of NBA championships.

Take it easy on lakers_sth. He’s just expressing all of our frustration of not having much to talk about. I noticed since the blog convinced Jon K to ignore the trolls, he has been going crazy on AK again. I love you, Jon, but you really need to smoke something. Or something. LOL! It’s like Mrs. LakerTom said, without the trolls to assault, the bloggers would end up attacking each other. Tell us what you really think about GWB and Butler, Jon. LOL

Tom

Where's BK been? I don't think I've seen him post in weeks.

green weenie from beanie...

yah kobe is better than pierce....its such an easy observation....

i love it that you are too dumb to figure that out...you just love being the weenie....with no brains....

thats ok--we wouldnt expect anyone from the beanie to know any better...
have a good day weenie boy...

Jon K - all said in love, bro....

PEOPLE,

WHERE CAN I WATCH USA VS SPAIN FINAL QTR WHERE KOBE SCORED FREAKING 13 POINTS? OR ATLEAST THE HIGHLIGHTS. I COULDN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE

justanothermambafan,

It's cool, brother.

I know I have a tendency to be like a Biblical Jeremiah at times, screaming my point when I think no one is listening to me.

GO LAKERS!

BTW, for those of you waiting for news on Kobe's surgery, I'm guessing its not going to happen just yet.

1) Travelling from China back to the US, Kobe's jet-lagged, he probably sleeps during the day and wakes up at night

2) If you've never been to China before, the diet and bacteria over there is quite different from here. Needless to say, almost every US athlete probably came back to the USA with diarhea aka "the runs".

3) Surgery when you're jet-lagged and having the runs is probably not a good idea. :)

Kobe is a modern day wonder!!!!!

ahhhhhahaahhahhaha

Boston sucks!

Lakers rule!

Posted by: LGC | August 27, 2008 at 09:04 PM

exactly..beanie from weenie :)

Ok since we can't seem to agree on this and that I'll close my argument Hobbit and state my reasons on why it is best for Lamar to play Small Forward and Ariza coming off the bench.

Top 5 Reasons why Lamar should be starting Small Forward.

1) Lamar playing Small Forward gives us better defense which at the time being is a bit better than Trevor Ariza's. Is it lock down Bruce Bowen type? That is a no but based on prior experience Lamar has proven to hang around Lebron James and Josh Smith in the past and Trevor doesn't have that experience edge yet.
2) Trevor's energy is what is needed coming off the bench. It is my opinion that Lamar cannot provide the same kind of energy that Trevor brings that is needed for the bench to succeed. Phil Jackson even said himself "sometimes you do not put your best suited player on the floor, sometimes you have to put in your better overall player" This came from when deciding whether to start Gary Payton or Derek Fisher. Gary had more defensive skill than Fisher (too bad nothing of that sort came in the finals as Mr. Chauncey Billups rained jumpers on his head) even though Mr. Derek Fisher was more suited at the point guard spot than what Mr. Gary Payton could do in the triangle offense. Trevor is also suited better for the bench because he provides the bench with better defense at the small forward slot than Mr. Radmanovich could do, defense is severely needed on the bench and not having Mr. Trevor Ariza on the bench weakens the defense of the bench quite significantly.
3) Lamar is still superior no doubt than Trevor on offense. While we both disagree how he will do on defense, Lamar's offense is still needed. He is better than Trevor at the time being at penetrating the paint and into the rim and while not being a consistent shooter, Lamar does have a better jumpshot than Trevor at the time being with the results of training camp unknown till later.
4) Rebounding is needed for the bench no doubt but it is my opinion based on past games that Lamar will not fare as well on the bench both offensively and defensively if he is to be a backup Power Forward. Evidence in the past has shown that Lamar's defense on Power Forward is not quite as good as his defense at Small Forward. Furthermore being on the bench means he will have less opportunities on the offensive side of the ball since he will be keyed in more by defenders and both Hobbitmage and I have agreed in the past that Mr. Lamar Odom is not effective if the defense is keyed on him despite his superior passing skills.
5) Lamar on the bench does not solve the bench's greatest weakness: defense. As explained above Lamar Odom's defense is not as good as Power Forward than it is at Small Forward. Furthermore he should not be dependent as a reliable post defender as shown on the last season game against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, California. Having him at back up Power Forward weakens the perimeter defense at the Small Forward position since it will most likely be a Mr. Vladimir Radmanovich who will be manning that spot, one who has been criticized in the past for his poor defense. Only an average defender, Mr. Alexandar "Sasha" Vujacic, can play any time of defense on the bench and having Mr. Lamar Odom at the Power Forward will take away defense that the bench has lacked even with the benefit of additional rebounding.

On the last thing that I would like to respond to a Mr. Hobbitmage:

"The double-teams that Kobe attracts will
open things up for Ariza & Fisher. Teams *should* have
a hard time dealing with Bynum & Gasol together."

*Should* is about as good as *hope* I do not in any way think it is *solid* and only the regular season will tell. Double teams on Kobe will open some opportunities but for people like Trevor, teams do not fear him on offense since so far that Mr. Trevor Ariza does not have a very solid offensive game and a suspectible jump shot which is not even on par with Mr. Lamar Odom's jump shot.

It is my conclusion that Lamar Odom should be starting Small Forward and when the bench comes out, switch to power forward in accordance to the situation on the court.

Hey Hobit,

When exactly did Mitch say lamar wasnt good enough on defense to play the SF position? I do not recall the interview. As far as signing Ariza is concerned, Lamar was our starting PF at the time and we didnt have Pau yet, so i think thats probably the reason, dont you think? As a matter of fact Mitch said he probably wouldnt have pursued the Gasol trade if Andrew had not have been injured. So anyway, our rotation will look something like this at least the 1st part of the season.

Center Andrew/Pau/Mihm
Power Forward Pau/lamar/Luke & Vlade at times
small Forward Lamar/Kobe/Trevor(luke&Vlade at times)
Shooting guard Kobe/Sasha
Point Guard Fish/Jordon/sasha at times

If you have noticed in our rotations, Phil likes at least one or two starters on the floor at almost all times. Now we will be able to have 2 or 3. I mean NOBODY in the NBA brings in 5 guys to replace the 5 starters. Some teams only use 8 or 9 guys. I really do not understand why this is such a hard concept. Lamar will split his time between the 2 positions, Kobe will split his time between 2 positions and Pau will split his time between 2 positions. I will even venture to guess that Lamar will play maybe 20 of 35 minutes a game at the Power Forward spot. So really all of the arguing about it is kind of pointless since the versitility of this team allows a lot of differnt looks, which Phil will use.

and one last thing tat has been bugging me from a few threads back when you said Lamar was "slow of foot". Dude anyone that can take a rebound, lead the break and finish on the other end is not slow, period.

MH

AK,

I see the corruption here and I don't like it. I guess it's just coincidence that the dude running the Lakers Blog is also a HS classmate of the younger brother of the agent of a second round draft pick Lakers rookie!! Yes I know you've had the blog for a while, even before Crawford was drafted by Kupchak, but that shows just how deep this conspiracy runs.

If the Lakers ever trade Crawford does the Times have to include you in the deal? Do you have a no-trade blogging contract?

Looks like we're going to have a whole mess of Joe Crawford Blog Threads coming our way in the 08-09.

:-)

DP

LakersTom,

"But as anybody who blogs here knows, this year’s over-the-top fandom has been dedicated with great pride to the next great Lakers center – young phenom stud center Andrew Bynum, the Beast who is going to dominate the entire NBA next year at both ends of the court and help Kobe lead the Lakers to their first of a long string of NBA championships."

My over-the-top fandom starts and ends with Kobe. But yeah I'm a big fan of big baby though and right now his knee is the biggest story of the season. Though I'll breathe easier as well once I hear Kobe's done his surgery and a timeliine is provided for when he'll be able to play.

"Take it easy on lakers_sth. He’s just expressing all of our frustration of not having much to talk about. I noticed since the blog convinced Jon K to ignore the trolls, he has been going crazy on AK again. I love you, Jon, but you really need to smoke something. Or something. LOL! It’s like Mrs. LakerTom said, without the trolls to assault, the bloggers would end up attacking each other. Tell us what you really think about GWB and Butler, Jon. LOL"

Yeah I read Jon's comments on the last thread and as much as I enjoy calling out AK for his hater tendencies every now and then, I was also of the opinion that the dude must have impaled some of his mineral salts.

Anyway I think you gave the intro to my outro. There's really very little basketball news out there and thus probably makes more sense to just lay low till pre-season. Plus no matter how hard i try i can't find a grain of intellect in lgc's responses, you couple that with his 'broken record' routine and ya can't help but conclude that it's insane to engage d dude in a conversation.

Mamba24, here's my badge and gun. If I hold unto it I might use it on a fan like laker_sth. I'm gonna go enjoy my vacation on lake shore drive. See y'all when training camp starts.

I'm out like the olympics.

Good Morning Fam,

Thanks to Jon K - Hmr Hed, Elle, Calliphilosopher, Justanothamambafromanothamotha, Senior Edwin Gueco and Grail. I appreciate the warm wishes. Really I do...

To Edwin and Grail. I was thinking "Air Force One."

Anybody in Souther California wanna get together for the weekend of September 6th or 7th? Lunch or Dinner and let's talk them Lakers.

Also from Eric Pincus

"Livingston and Ellis: According to the Contra Costa Times, the Golden State Warriors will be checking out point guard Shaun Livingston in Chicago on Thursday in a pre-scheduled workout. Of course this comes on the heels of $66 million dollar man Monta Ellis undergoing surgery for a torn deltoid ligament. Ellis will be out until at least 2009 - with a three to four month recovery.

Livingston has been working out with trainer Tim Grover and has recently been cleared to play full contact five-on-five basketball after nearly two years trying to recover from a devastating knee injury."

Eric Pincus ALSO sees that Shaun Livingston and Quinton Ross would greatly benefit the Lakers.

If Shaun Livingston is available and healthy, we should try to make things work somehow.

GO LAKERS!

The players closest to being lock down defenders on the team are Kobe and Sash. Trevors a good defender but not great, he's quick which aloud him to get in alot of passing lanes for steals, but rarely did I see him lock down the guy in front of him.

michael h

Your rotation post was very good.

There is much room for debate on how PJ will use the Lakers incredible depth. But Kobe gives you the key to all rotations in his post season comments.

DEFENSE!

Think D and the rotations and minutes become easier to figure out. Versatility in the line up will help overcome the inevitable injury problems, maybe better than any other NBA team.

Even if Mr. 81 goes down for awhile, this Lakers team can win at a decent percentage.

It will be a long season, (with plenty of back to backs), everyone will see lots of time. But one overriding theme according to PJ and Kobe will be Team Defense.

All the Lakers said they need the best record and will commit to winning the best seed. That will be a tall order with some tough competition. Add to that, the Celtics and Kwame led Pistons will have an easier go.

The Lakers are on a mission. Everyone seems to be on board. I think we do have a lot to debate in the next 4 weeks as to rotations and playing time, match ups with other teams, etc...
Who will have breakout years for the Lakers? Improving small things that could lead up to a dominant team?

Let's have some fun on the blog and be respectful of others opinions. Except for trolls, they don't count.....lol