I've been a Kobe fan since before he donned a Laker uniform. And I've stuck with him through all of the ups and downs. It's a pleasure seeing this young man mature as an athlete and a human being. Young stars are subjected to such intense scrutiny--and sure, Kobe's made some big mistakes, but he's been man enough to own his mistakes and learn from them, and that's all you can ask for from any of us, right?

His performance on the court has been phenomenal. Kobe is, without question, the best defender this USA team has, and he's gotten a chance to show the world just how high his basketball IQ is.

Kudos to Kobe. I can't wait to see him hoist the gold medal on the world stage. And I can't wait to see him hoist the trophy again next year on the national stage.

Go Team USA!

Go Lake Show!

In the game tomorrow against Greece I don't want to hear any excuses from
lil Manu that he's hurt. The Lakers beat him in the playoffs & team USA will destroy
\him in the semifinals.

agree with Faith...I've never found the term 'redeem team' cheesy and Ive normally got a pretty good nose for cheese.No doubt some guy will come out with an article saying Kobe is just upset they didnt call it the kobebean team

What other names could their be ?

'The good scene team'?

'The keen team'?

'The not only gold on the beam team'?

and my personal favourite -'the Team' team,

I guess that team with Larry johnson and Kemp called be called 'The mean team' and the 2004 Athens Olympic team 'The lean team'?

AK sir...

I think the 2004 team would have been struggling to win anyway.Not saying they couldnt have - but a lot of this teams work starts with strong D in the backcourt.

Marbury and Iverson would never have given you that and the personel in general just wasnt as strong by any stretch...Dont forget that USA basketball was happy with the guys attitude at the word champs in '05 but they still lost to Greece and that was with lebron and co actually playing...sure they hadnt had three years together but it does indicate that it was never going to be easy and the Athens loss wasn't an aberation regardless of attitude and coaching.

...Already people are underestimating how good this team actually is in terms of sheer talent level and are talking about the three year plan as being the reason for their success...while I'm sure it is important I think with a decent coach, an attitude and culture tweak and the quality of personel in the olympic team and they would've probably cleaned everyone up without a three year plan.

I'd hate for the USA to start thinking they can just have a three year plan and it will happen (like they formerly thought they could send any old NBA player) becasue it wont....they need to do what every other country does and have the best players want to compete and then select them.T

he genius of Colangelo and co is in actually changing the culture in the NBA guys to make them want to play period....understanding patriotism and respecting the opposition while you are preparing is one thing.. so is behaving with class but USA basketball won the battle when they got all the top notch players to sign on.

Not bad:

Navigate throngs of adoring fans as one of the main attractions in the world event of the century. Land in La La land with a gold medal. Get a bit of R&R after some minor surgery and take up your position as STAR on the glamor team of the NBA. And deposit all that money... although he has people for that.

Not bad at all.

Great interview!!!

And clearly, having a guy like Kobe- among other "new guys" on board- is a huge difference. - AK

If I did not in the thre, I would not say that it was AK saying it. I know there were lots of debates about Kobe with Lakofan or Pfunk, nonetheless we have crossed the barriers on Kobe's maturity. He is truly the ambassador of basketball among the Team USA players. Having the gold medal becomes an icing on the cake. Still an important icing to say: Mission Accomplished".

To me the most important accomplishment they have achieved in this Olympics is the respect of their peers from other teams, it is worthy than the medal itself. College standouts would think twice to go for the Euro League vs. NBA, same with foreign player that if they did not play in NBA, they're not a complete professional hoopster.

Fatty, please come back. Faith, can fetch Fatty and tell him to come home?

Are you a Kobe mentu? Here is a nice article about the ambassador and the 300 million Laker fans.

http://tinyurl.com/5qfh5z

Hobbit,

ok deal just here's some last responses.

"my response: so my statement that AI is a combo guard
is correct? i.e. he plays PG & SG."

Iverson 90% of the time plays point guard and if placed in shooting guard will mostly be guarded by the opposing team's point guard. The Nuggets and 76ers know he is small so that's why he's a point guard. Consider him a scoring point guard like Baron Davis except not as buff.

"Mo Evans getting more playing time" does not equal "sasha's game not getting better". Mo evans getting more playing time just means that he was better than sasha at the time. Sasha's work ethic and skills improvement is why he is still a Laker and Mo Evans is not."

I'm afraid to say you are wrong again. Mo Evans was better than Sasha until he got traded. In fact Evans was still eating Sasha's playing time until he got traded. If the Lakers could have gotten Brian Cook just for Trevor Ariza they would have. But because Base Year Compensation in Cook's contract, to make salaries match they had to give up Evans as well.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3844/gamelog;_ylt=AhRFymROGKob0N8vkDPRUYukvLYF

Not until the Pacers Game (the day Evans and Cook got traded) had Sasha registered more than 15 min at all. In fact, until Trevor got injured, Sasha got still some Did not play-CD. He did take advantage of his opportunity however and it has indeed paid off.

"BTW, I would suggest that Odom's time at the SF has
not been as good as you believe based upon the
trades that the Lakers keep making. Maurice Evans
SG/SF, re-signing Luke Walton SF, Vlade Radmonovich
SF, Trevor Ariza SF, Ira Newble SG/SF, Brian Cook SF.
The only PF that the Lakers have traded for is Pau. i.e.
if Lamar's natural position is SF, then they should be
playing him there and getting a PF. that is not what
they've done."

Hobbit...making me write some more lol.
Evans was traded for energy off the bench in 2006 offseason and it was a good one considering the 2nd rounder we gave up for him. Evans is not really starter material and while he did start on the Magic, the Magic used their first round pick this year on a shooting guard and did not resign Evans. Luke Walton being resigned as a solid role player and could start once in a while, he was never meant to be a full time starter until Lamar had to play Power Forward again. In fact like I said when Lamar came back from injuries those 7 games he was playing Small Forward. So for sure Lamar is starting over Luke. Radman was taken to increase their 3 point shooting and so far hasn't really lived up to what he was expected to do. Trevor like I said was taken for a solid role playing in defense off the bench and to get rid of Cook's contract (since the Lakers were paying Cook lots of money and he wasn't getting as much playing time). And remember Cook is POWER FORWARD. The only position Cook could play is maybe center and he's not physical enough to play center. Cook in no way should be confused as a Small Forward. Ira was signed because it seemed that Trevor's injury needed more time to heal than the 8 weeks that was projected. When Trevor came back Ira didn't play at all and hasn't been resigned...

"if Lamar's natural position is SF, then they should be
playing him there and getting a PF. that is not what
they've done."

And with the Pau that's what they have done. So Odom can go back to playing Small Forward. The rest are players off the bench, not one that are starter material. They didn't sign/trade for those guys simply for them to get them to all start, they had to strengthen the Small Forward position which had been weak ever since Lamar went to Power Forward.

The Reason Lamar went to Power Forward is because we didn't have any other good power forwards Kobe played Small Forward many times this year also because that there was no other good Small Forwards and if Lamar came back to Small Forwards there would have been a problem at the Power Forward slot as well. Cook got beaten severely on defense many times and Kwa-may Brown is no power forward. Not to mention the rebounding wasn't there until Lamar came back from Small Forward. In 06-07 the Lakers thought Luke Walton was starter material and while he did have a solid season, injuries derailed that plan. Now that we have a great power forward the Lakers will put Lamar back to Small Forward. In fact there are rumors that Kobe will play the 3 and have Lamar be at the 2, something which we will see in the regular season to be true or not.

I would say if Kobe gets his surgery as early as September he will recover just in time for training camp and if not at most until the last preseason game.

thekobebryantblitz,

I thought I heard that Phil Jackson wants Kobe Bryant to skip training camp so his body can get some necessary rest.

GO LAKERS!

I still think USA gets beat. If we don't have Kwame at Center how are they going to stop penetration?

BD

BD,
"how are they going to stop penetration?"

Just say no.

I am glad to see Kobe so grounded, focused and in-sync with Team USA. The team has his stamp on it as much as any other player or coach.

Which makes yesterday's NY Times editorial by Pete Thamel all the more bizarre and mean spirited. Thamel must have a real hate on for KB24 to single him out and run him down as he did. Yes, Lebron is playing terrific ball. So is the whole US squad. So why haul out the big artillery and point it at Kobe?

After all, Kobe is NOT having a problem and is WINNING. The same can't be said of a whole string of US track stars who have failed to come through due more to mental errors than to anything else. Kobe didn't drop a baton and fail to qualify for the finals. Kobe didn't fall off the balance beam and cost him team a very possible gold medal. Kobe didn't fall off the pommel horse and cost him team a very possible silver medal.

And so on. Some of the US athletes' failures have been spectacular and unexpected. Kobe's had no such meltdown. All he has done is to play an important role in steering his team toward a gold medal.

But Thamel and the New York Times saw fit to rag on him and to attempt to create friction between him and Lebron where none seems to exist.

Guys like Thamel shouldn't be allowed anywhere near an American news organization.

thekobebryantblitz,

Hopefully with Kobe resting during the preseason, we can sit back and enjoy watching Coby Karl light up the scoreboard for 60 points.

It could happen.

GO LAKERS!

At the end of the season Phil was quoted as saying that Kobe could miss all of training camp in order to get his body a little R 'n' R. Of course, I think Kobe's version of R 'n' R is probably tackling K 2 followed by a jet ski adventure through the Persian Gulf.

By the way, when I said maded, I meant "made" as opposed to some bizarre past active verb form of "mad".

However, it of course does make me mad that people don't understand that victory in any sport is impossible unless Kwame Brown is there to stop penetration.

It's a basic law of physics.

GO LAKERS!

Jon K.

LOL! Indeed it could happen.

The things I'm most interested is the bench mob offense and defense. With most of them coming back we can see how their offseason went and give an idea of how they can do once the season comes rolling in. Jordan I'm hoping to see a better jumpershot combined with better passing decisions (I thought during the playoffs and especially late in the season he was way too flashy). Also hoping he could increase his steals and his personal defense a bit also. Sasha I'm hoping for more increase FG% and maybe try to not get into dry spells as least as possible (1-11 shooting in game 4). I'm expected his defense to also increase. I'm looking forward to Trevor's defense and if he increased his 3 point shooting. I'm really hoping Radman can finally improve and be consistent and know the offense by now and Luke to step up after having a down season compared to 06-07. Mihm needs to show he is capable as backup center. Looking forward to see Sun Yue and how he does with the USA style of basketball (ABA doesn't count!). I'm also looking forward to see who can make the team: Coby Karl/Dwyane MItchell/Joe Crawford. I'm picking Coby and if the Lakers have room Dwyane Mitchell. Sorry Crawford, D-League for you.

Pre-season games will be how the bench mob improved and I'm hoping also for them to be improved defensively as well.

Xodus, thanks for that.

The bench mob's defense has to become better though. Games 4,5,6 we did great when the starting unit was playing but then when the Bench Mob (Jordan/Sasha/Luke/Ronny/Ariza) came out our leads shrunk and our deficit shrunk. Lamar/Pau/Derek/Bynum and especially Kobe's defense I don't have a problem with, our bench guys must defend better.

Hello CRUE!

AK - great interview with KB24 - thanks for posting it. I love how this young man has become a mature veteran before our eyes. I will be happy to see him with that gold around his neck - it will be hard-earned and well deserved.

Regarding Usain "Lightening" Bolt - there have been many articles posted about checking for doping (not just on him but all the athletes) and he has always tested clean. I think we are priviledged to witness this young man run - he's making history and doing it in style! I know the IOC has come out & said he needs to show his competitors more respect, and maybe that's true, but I know he's definitely increased the ratings for viewing the track events with his antics! I think he's a kid having a great time and letting it all hang out in fun. GO USAIN! Go Jamaica! Can't wait to see the relay tomorrow night.

thekobebryantblitz,

"Pre-season games will be how the bench mob improved and I'm hoping also for them to be improved defensively as well."

Absolutely.

I really enjoy watching the second and third team get a lot of minutes. We know what we can expect of Kobe, Fish, Gasol, and Odom.

How good can Sasha/Josh Powell/Dwayne Mitchell/Coby Karl/Sun Yue be? I want to see them play A LOT of minutes so I can get a better idea.

Thank God UCLA football starts soon, I need something to offset my Laker addiction and I need it NOW!

GO LAKERS!

Laker 32,

Can you put the link in tiny URL form, please. We're trying to make that a standard thing on the blog.

tinyurl.com.

Thanks,

AK

It's so sad that Kobe is getting old...... ;( The best basketball player and a superb personality - you just have to admire and respect him.

I still think USA gets beat. If we don't have Kwame at Center how are they going to stop penetration?

BD,

The same way LGC's Mom should have done:

1) show up sober
2) keep their eyes on the team they're guarding
3)anticipate where the ball is going

BURN!!!!
ahahahaha!!!! Still Laughing!!!

http://tinyurl.com/4bmst

this link is to cnnsi which has the DP show interviewiing larry bird..
who says kobe is the best player ever..

green weenie from beanie....
eat that up :) if larry says it, its true...
green weenie...

Jamicaican Sprinters:

I had a buddy that compteted in Europe at the 400M during the Ben Johnson era. He told me that Ben Johnson getting caught for steroids was a big joke amongst the track & field community, because everyone in the sport was taking some sort of illegal substance. I mean EVERYONE (including him). It's easy to single out the great performances and raise suspicion that something fishy is going on, but when everyone is using, it is sessentially an even playing field. Just remember that it's not only the winners that cheat (use illegal performance enhancers), it's also the losers.

I guess my point is that basketball is the greatest sport on Earth. Nobody in basketball gets caught for cheating. While athletes in so many other sports are getting caught for using illegal performance enhancers, basketball players only get caught for smoking an "illegal" performance inhibitor.