The Lakers, Hollinger style

Remenber Lamar will be worth 14 mil (or whatever) if we win the championship.

If we win a chip, regaurdless if Lamar walks at the end of the season, it will be worth it.

But I think that we need to get better in order to win it all this year, and I don't see it with this squad. I don't trust them.

I saw the Celtic/Philly game yesterday, and I've got to say... DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!! They have not lost a step!!!!!! No doubt, better than the Lakers I saw on the court Tuesday and I hope I don't see today.
Now I know some people will say:
"It's only preseason, it means nothing." But I know bloggers will agree: YOU CAN TELL. TRUST ME!

If we keep Lamar and fizzle out just like we did last year, The Lakers are to bame.

Jerry West even defined insanity by the way of repeating the same act and expecting different results. Even though we have Bynum back, I still say that this won't be his breakout season, but next year.

AND SHAME ON THE LAKERS FOR PUTTING THAT MUCH PRESSURE ON A 20 YEAR OLD KID. Because they are teling Bynum "Win it for us." "We couldn't do it with this exact same squad last season, BUT WITH YOU IN THE LINEUP!!!"

Give me a break Lakers, I see errors in your ways....BIGTIME

Trade Lamar...Let's get better.

And cool it with Andrew, HIS TIME WILL COME!!!!!!!!!!!

You know Butler, some of us has a white collar job (unlike you haha!)

Enough of the insults about you though lol.

Anycase remember pre-season means NOTHING. It's basically a time to screw around with crap. Last year Phil tried to make Kobe a point guard and it FAILED (too many turnovers).

Jazz "beating the Lakers"??

Last year in Pre season Jazz beat the Lakers 102-81. yet the Jazz lose to the Lakers in 6 games in the playoffs. Sorry that argument doesn't work (no but or ifs or whats! :p)

In the last game mostly everyone did a poor job except defensively. The Lakers held the Jazz at 39% at the Half before letting them go offensively. Plus 23 turnovers aren't going to help. Kobe was too much trying to run the offense, Lamar didn't do anything right, Radman was worst, Bynum picked up fouls.

Unlike you, I have NBA League pass I can afford it and it doesn't cost that much to me (haha!). I watched the important games (not games like Oklahoma City vs Memphis). So I can see at the very least the game and unlike you see what goes wrong and such.

And here's a q-tip into that Suns game. Shaq only scored because of no center in the Suns, two was in a half court offense so Nash's scoring was down (3 points??) and 3) No Amare equals more touches for Shaq. So don't try me.

I have to get back to work and I won't be home till late, this project is really important but I have a Tivo to record the game! Remember this is Pre-Season. Tell me when the REAL season begins otherwise keep believing in what only you think and you'll have the Spurs doing a sweep this time in the playoffs.

-blitz and butler get to work son!

What do you get when you cross a stat geek with a computer jockey?

Answer:

A fool who picks Utah to be at the top of the WC this season based on a pie chart.

Now, I'm not saying pick the Lakers, you can make an argument for the Hornets, Rockets etc. But Utah? Hollinger please leave your cave and actually go attend a game for once. Utah 4th place finish last year was a fiction based on the seeding rules. Portland will take that division this year.

The PER is just another reason Lamar is a major disappointment. Barely above average PER for a player whose talent alone should make him a top-10 performer.

Enough is enough.

Lamar=Laker until we find a taker

PER is pointless.
Hollinger is trying to justify his claims using some math formula he created.
It is not scientific.

htj-

Lamar is only a disappointment if you expect great things out of him. Lamar will never be great, but he will be solid on one of the best teams in NBA history...

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

One would think that the greedy ESPN people are doing rather well considering they SELL ADVERTISING SPACE and HAVE A MILLION POP UPS when you go to their crappy little website.

I keep it real; and by that I mean the LAKERS BLOG!!

GAME DAY!!! (A games a game and they are suited up; right??)

GO LAKES!

janaya

Lamar Odom = Eddie Jones

Terrific player that seems to have all the tools that is just missing that little bit of a mental edge to get over the top. Every time the pressure is on, he shrinks. Just like Eddie Jones (whom I loved as a player and was sad when he left), I think Lamar should be traded for someone with more of a killer instinct and a defensive presence. He also just makes too much money.

Ideally, Shawn Marion would be perfect. Wouldn't it be funny if we traded Lamar and one of our small forwards for Marion (either Vlad or Luke) and then won a ring. It's like we rented him for a couple years, let the Heat win a championship, and then traded him back in time for us to win.

HmerHed,

Utah is a VERY good team. I think they're the most underrated team in the west. Do I think they'll finish in first place? No, but only because I think we'll win over 60 and I do agree with Hollinger that Utah could conceivably win 58 games. They won 54 or 55 last year and that was with them starting the season with a very average record prior to the Kyle Korver trade that sparked their turnaround.

Dangles,

Admit despite all your proclamations that you still blow your stack at LO when he disappears in crucial moments.

Put it this way, would you proclaim "James Worthy=Laker for Life" if he gave you AC Green's output (not talking desire and effort, but Magic's no-lookers bouncing off his head) night-in, night-out? Or would you try to trade the potential and expiring contract for a solid, consistent, contributor?

I think it's time to take the latter route. But I'm more than willing to play this year out and resign LO for a Ben Gordon-esque contract (since I doubt anyone really throws a much more lucrative offer LO's way). I'm only pressing for a trade if we can pull it off for an all-star caliber player.

Lamar=Laker until we find a taker

Has anyone ever mentioned that Butler is much like the Black Knight in Monty Python's 'The Holy Grail'?

His team was thoroughly humiliated last year. While still in first, they make a move, considered by most experts, "the worst trade in NBA history" by 'call me a moron' Steve Kerr, slide to the 6th seed, easily knocked out of the first round by a wounded Spurs, then only to watch their hated nemesis, the Lakers advance past them to the Finals, a place this Nash lead Suns team, has never been.

So what does he do? A normal person withdraws and tries to hide his humiliation, but not Butler. He comes to the Lakers site and hysterically yells 'nosensical' and silly irrational taunts.

On the 'losing your arm' in the bad trade:
Butler: "tis just a scratch" Were gonna win the title, you'll see.
After humiliatingly losing the other arm in the first round of the playoffs.
Butler:"Its just a flesh wound" The Suns are still the NBA's best team.
Finally, on the Lakers advancing to the Finals, to a Suns Fan, its like losing both legs.
Butler: "OK, we'll call it a draw"
And now the Lakers roaring past the aging and hopeless Suns, as the NBA's new contender from the West.
Butler says wondering why Lakers Fans no longer consider the Suns competition: "Come back and fight, what are you cowards?!"

Fatty - "Every class needs a clown and every blog needs a fool"

(WARNING: THIS IS EXTREMELY FUNNY. Put down your Soda and swallow before watching. Fatty and the LA Times can not be held responsible for damage to your computer from sudden bursts of spray from your mouth)

Is Butler the Black Knight? http://tinyurl.com/56jjjs

mrbarneydangles

Let me be the 1st to disagree with you about Lamar. If you remember it was 3 years ago when they try to mold him into Pippen. It did not happened, but since then all we doing just lowering expectation from Lamar. No one even talking of ALL-Star anymore. Here the question, how low you can go for someone making $14M this year? Esp. now, when Lakers working on creation of our own version of Twin Towers, How low we can go?

Xodus,

The top teams around Utah have gotten much better --

Lakers -- Bynum
Rockets -- Artest
Hornets -- Posey
Portland -- Fernandez and Oden

Utah is basically the same team. I'm not sold that they will be better this year comparatively speaking.

I'd like to find out if Hollinger's pre-season predictions have EVER been accurate at the end of the year, particularly for teams.

GO LAKERS!

Sean,

You are right on target about LO's lack of killer instinct. He illustrated this perfectly by his summary of his performance:

Asked about his point total, Odom laughed. "Nobody won a scoring title the first game of the year," he said.
Odom later shrugged off the game in general.
"First preseason game," he said. "We've got a lot more to go. Bad game, good game, whatever, that's all it is -- first game."

Shrugging off and laughing about sub-par performance is why we need to trade him ASAP.

Can't blame Lamar for making 14mil, Lakers gave it to him. And its not like balls are bouncing of of Odoms head, he isn't Kwame. Everyone just needs to relax with pointing fingers. Like I said a few days ago, no Laker needs to get crucified until they lose a game by themselves.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

Steven V.

"PER is pointless. Hollinger is trying to justify his claims using some math formula he created. It is not scientific. "

Too true. I'm reminded of the current economic mess and the role that "valuation" played in it.

Numbers worth getting excited about: 08-09, but only if followed by the phrase "NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers"

As someone last year said, "Lamar can put up video game-type numbers" - and he can. Having a 6-10 guy who can come in and do his thing is an asset. Screw the 14 mil contract - numbers are play money to Dr. Jerry and other owners in the league. Lamar is not the lynchpin to a championship for the Lakes, although he could be the start of one if he got mean. That's all LaLa needs to do - get mean. Maybe he should start drinking (think NFL lineman in the 50's and 60's). Get mean, Lamar - and find that bar!!!

Hello to KBBLitz, Mamba24, Taliq, Xodus, Edwin, Butler, and the always too happy and fresh LakerTom.

Okay, so for all the people knocking PER...

How do you compare two players who play different positions?

How do you compare Steve Nash and Amare and decide
who contributes more to the team?

Do you just say that whoever averaged the most points was the
best player? Does someone who gets a lot of steals and assists
but not many points more valuable than a person who gets a lot
of points but not many steals or assists? Is the person who
scored the most points the best offensive player? Or is it
someone who scored 3 less points per game but had a 10%
higher shooting percentage?

PER isn't perfect, but for what it is, it's very good. It's a
way to roll all the stats that are measured in the NBA into
one combined number for comparing players. If you want
to compare a point guard with a center, it's a somewhat
balanced way of doing so.

The thing that PER doesn't account for well is good defense.

Players like Shane Battier and Bruce Bowen can change
a game with their stifling defense, but there are no stats
that measure it well. Not blocking shots, not stealing, but
just staying with your man, guarding him well, and making
him take difficult shots without fouling him.

That's one way in which Kobe is gypped by PER - he's a
better defender than several guys who are usually ahead
of him in PER.

But if you don't think of it as a defensive stat, but as a
combined offensive efficiency stat that includes a little bit
of defense, then it is useful.

LAL_ Fan

Great point, remember all of the:
"ALL STAR LAMAR!!" chants? A distant memory now!

Why Blitz, you sound a tad less enthusiastic than last week about your favorite playa in the NBA universe, Lam-Od. What's up?

You said he's a fantastic defender...and a great choice for PG. Or was I reading someone else?

Keep working at that job and feel free to buy me League Pass when you feel in a generous mood!

HmerHed,

Lakers: I already said the Lakers would finish ahead of Utah.

Rockets: Yao and T-Mac are guarantees to get hurt (T-Mac is already having shoulder problems).

Hornets: Lost their only scorer off the bench in Pargo and have no depth behind West and Chandler (who have extensive injury histories prior to last season). Posey adds extra depth to a position where they already had solid players in Peja and Julian Wright. So they have no backup PG and no reliable backups for West and Chandler, plus Deron Williams always outplays Paul head-to-head.

Blazers: The roster is comprised of guys who either have never played in the playoffs (Roy, Aldridge, etc.) or played in the NBA (Oden, Fernandez) prior to this season. They'll be better this season, but they're a year or two away from contending.

Jon K,

"I'd like to find out if Hollinger's pre-season predictions have EVER been accurate at the end of the year, particularly for teams."

I can't remember if his preseason ratings have been successful but his Hollinger Power Rankings have correctly identified the best teams (they were saying we were very good before the general public) and identified the NBA champion each of the past two seasons (the Spurs and Celtics topped his rankings each of the past two seasons).

I think PER is an interesting tool that has to be taken with a grain of salt. His team rankings I find generally reflect my observations. I think this is because it is easier to quantify what a team is doing with statistics than individual players. According to PER, Amare Stoudemire is better than Duncan and KG, but when you watch the games you see that the majority of Amare's points come off of pick and rolls with Nash and other feeds for easy looks. Team stats on the other hand can explain what a team is doing well and how, unlike PER.

X,

Your argument assumes that Utah stays healthy as well. Sounds like you see Utah in the top three. I'm predicting 5 or 6.

LTLF,

I agree.

Why do we care about what regular Joes, mainly Hollinger, have to say when they don't know anything about basketball?. This guy hasn't been a player, coach and has never participated in any serious basketball competition or tournament, to be able to provide a serious insight of the game. If you want valuable NBA information then check out Charlie Rosen's articles (former coach and PJ's long time friend) or any other retired player or coach.

If watching tv or going to games makes somebody an expert then we should all be holding Doctoral degrees in all kinds of areas.

Hollinger and the other so call ESPN experts said last spring that the Lakers were gonna easily beat the Celtics in the finals, I as a hardcore basketball fan first and laker fan second, knew that it was a bunch of bull, based on the way the celtics played the lakers during the regular season when Bynum was a 100%, playing up to his potential and providing a significant superior defensive presence to that of Gasol.

There goes John Hollinger again...clinging to a job I can't fathom how he got.

Lamar is getting lambasted today. Geez-loueez! But I think it's good, the honeymoon is definitely over for him and the fans. I think the staff thinks he can do what we need him to do, I think he believes that he can do what needs to be done, now he has to win over the masses. I think that, in the end, Odom will get traded.

I hated writing that.

But, I think that if he is already butting heads with Phil about his role, which he hasn't gone out of his way to establish. When he was looking forward to taking only 8 shots a game, that was telling. There's laid back, and then there's uninvolved. I think Lamar is moving towards uninvolved.

Boy, it's pre-season and I'm still negative speculating. I gotta get my optimism on, y'all. Dang.

Who knows what's going on, Phil's probably messing with everyone with all his cross-talk. We'll see if his "curling" comment brings some fire to Lamar's game. But I think that he won't hesitate to really tweak the line up to get these guys moving forward. We have to be ready for the Western conference.

I am fine with PER. I do think it shows you interesting things about players. But I can't tolerate Mr. Hollinger's analysis based on his PER.

David,

Former players and coaches get picks wrong all the time too. It wasn't only writers who were picking the Lakers to win the Finals you know.

I agree that Charley Rosen knows his stuff but that doesn't mean other guys don't know their stuff either. It's their jobs to cover the NBA while we get all the information we can't see on TV about a team directly from broadcasters and writers. Their opinion has as much of a chance at being wrong as you, me or any former player. But they certainly have more informed opinions than your average fan.

kill me now! the lakers blog was become a promotional place for simmons and hollinger

Another reason why NOT to trade Lamar just occurred to me.

The Lakers will actually pay Lamar 11.7 million this season,
but he counts on the cap as 14.1 million.

If they trade him, they'll have to take more than 11.7 million
back in salary (to match salaries under the CBA). And because
they're over the luxury tax, every dollar they add to salary is
doubled.

So consider the Lamar for Shawn Marion example.

Without even counting for Lamar's bonus money, Marion's
cap space is 17.8 million. So even ignoring Lamar's bonuses,
that increases payroll by 3.7 million AND another 3.7 in
luxury tax.

The Lakers have already paid Lamar the bonuses, so
whoever gets him will only pay the 11.7 million. So if they
traded Odom for Marion straight up (if that were possible),
they would in reality add 6.1 million in salary and 6.1
million in luxury tax.

So think about it. Would it be worth 12 million more to have
Shawn Marion instead of Lamar Odom? So if you're wondering
why that trade didn't go down, that may be one of the reasons.

HmerHed,

Utah's players don't have extensive injury histories like the other teams I mentioned. But even if they do sustain injuries they are likely to be more capable of withstanding them than a team like the Hornets.

My predictions go like this:

Lakers
Rockets
Jazz
Hornets
Spurs
Suns
Dallas
Blazers

I'm sure people are shocked I have the Blazers that "low" but like I said they have a team full of guys who have either never played in the playoffs or the NBA. I could see them finishing ahead of the Suns and Dallas, but I'm playing it safe.

PER=Just for fun

Xodus,

>>>According to PER, Amare Stoudemire is better than
>>>Duncan and KG,

And that's where the defense is a really huge difference. If
you strictly compared Amare's offense of last season with that
of Duncan and KG, he really was better.

If you take into account the fact that Duncan and KG are very
good defenders and Amare is a fair to poor defender, then
it points out the big weakness in PER.

I like how the Nuggets are trying to spin things. They are trying to say that loosing Camby will make them better defensively. No joke.

I am predicting the Lakers have well over 60 wins this season and sweep their way through the NBA finals!!!!

GOOOOOooOOOO LAAAaaaAAKKKKKKERS!!!

Xodus,

You got the Rockets second! You really think Yao and TMack can stay healthy? Doubt that.

They'll be down at 6-8 depending on how many games the 2 stars play.

You got the Jazz and Hornets right. I think it's a 3 team west. The Suns might be a player as well, IF Fat Daddy can play more than 60 games. I think that is a BIG if though.

Long Time Laker Fan,

I agree with you 100%. PER also doesn't take into account how things happen on the court. Amare was absolutely an offensive juggernaut last season, but he's still not as polished a scorer as Duncan and KG. He scores off of Nash feeds.

Eric M,

I didn't like putting the Rockets that high either but if Yao and T-Mac can stay reasonably healthy they should be very good. I know that's a huge if.

KG & TD are above average defenders who use experience and reputation to get away with fouling just about EVERY SINGLE TIME down the court.

KG has admitted this. I hope the refs take notice.

Defensive reputations are blown well out of proportion in the NBA. I'm pretty sure KB24 takes extra delight in lighting up the "so-called" defensive stoppers.

I have mine:
Lakers
Jazz
Hornets
Rockets
Blazers
Spurs
Mavs
Suns

Though I think the Rockets are potentially the second best team in the WC after the Lakers, I see them finishing 4th because they will miss more injury time than the younger teams and they are in the toughest division in the NBA.
Jazz will place 2nd and that's bec. they are in the weakest division in the WC and always have one of the best home court records. Also, they have fewer new things to adjust to , compared to new players and player combinations coming in for LA, Rockets, Hornets, Blazers.
The Spurs, Mavs and Suns finishing 6th, 7th and 8th definitely will signal a changing of the guard in the NBA as younger teams in the WC take over. Of the younger teams, the Rockets and Lakers have the most experience.
I see the Lakers riding the Suns off to the sunset 4-0 in the first round, then a tough 4-3 over Rockets in the 2nd round. A WC final with the Hornets, as Lakers win 4-1. Then over Celtics in the Final 4-2.
I see Deron Will outplaying Chris Paul in their series but Hornets still win over-all.

The only thing I like about Lamar is that he blazes.

Weed makes everything better.

The preseason games being irrelevant notwithstanding, I predict that LO is headed to the bench as reserve PF.
Thats' the reason that Bynum didn't start.

Basically, Lakers are trying to manage LO's move to the bench without driving him to tears.

Ariza's play has made it clear that he will be starting as SF this season. So the starting 5 will be Bynum/Gasol/Ariza/Kobe/Fisher. They need Fisher for the 3 pt shooting, the triangle experience and his defense versus PGs. More than LO's rebounding and ball distribution.

LO is like Horry used to be in not really being physically and mentally ready until the end of the regular season and the playoffs. Both started their career as SFs and PJ converted them into "skinny" PFs because PJ is an unconventional thinker and needed a different kind of PF to play alongside dominant centers. The difference is you always knew that Horry's shot was money in the playoffs. LO?

Now, it will destroy LO emotionally if the Lakers tell him, "You have to move to the bench and lose your starting spot because Ariza is playing better and fits Bynum/Gasol/Kobe/Fisher better as a combo." Ariza is younger, less established and earns a lot less so LO will not take this very well.

However, what the Lakers will do is tell LO, "You have to move to the bench because we want to start Andrew Bynum." LO can not argue against this because it is obvious that Bynum is now one of the top 5 centers in the NBA and to not start him would be foolish and stupid. Of course, LO also can not argue that he s/d start instead of Paul Gasol who is an All-Star and a World Championship MVP.

So that leaves LO realizing that the only place for him is to be the super sixth man, as a reserve PF, playing a lot of minutes when Bynum sits and Gasol moves over to Center, or when Gasol sits. The Lakers have already seen that LO can not play SF or PG.

And he really is more valuable playing from the bench, as he provides stability and experience to Farmar, Sasha and Vlad. His rebounding skills will be more needed with Bynum or Gasol or both out of the game.

So the bench 5 are going to be: Mihm or Mbenga, Odom, Vlad or Luke, Sasha and Farmar. With Powell being in the mix as well especially if Mihm isn't fully healthy or Mbenga doesn't improve.

So .....this is besides the point

anyone have a link to tonights preseason action

anyone?...

colorado roll call!.....where is hugo....where is tim4show...

come on!

colorado second home of the lakers!

I've seen some pretty interesting trade proposals today with all of the expiring contracts out there. Mitch has to be aware and I'm sure he's already cooking up a plan, just in case.

Just incase the our nightmare's come true and Lamar turns out to be a complete dud, we must have a plan b.

Now I wish I could be on the same page with mrbarneydangles. he does bring up some valid points. But at the end of the day, I can see the writing on the wall.

Now, if Lamar does step up, I will be the first one to say that I was wrong.

PROVE ME WRONG, LAMAR!

PROVE ME WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I said before pre-season that Farmar should start.

Scratttttttttttttttttttttttttttch that!

Fish is shooting the lights out!!

anyone have a link ot the game tonite?

Link pleaseeeee!!!!

Odds that the Lakers will have a 60+ win season ... 100%
Odds that Lamar Odom will be a Laker past the trading deadline... ZERO

Asking Lamar to play four different positions means he doesn't have a role on this team. PJ's comments about what he expects from Lamar prior to tonight's game can best be described as an ominous mixed message.

Why? Never living up to his potential. Never being "clutch." Showing up to camp out of shape. Sleepwalking through the first pre-season game. Whining (almost to the point of tears) at the suggestion he could come off the bench -- even dissing Phil in public when the idea was first mentioned.

The Lakers have clearly decided, they're moving on. The guy has a great heart and most of the time is a great team mate. But Lamar is only a Laker until the team finds a taker.*

(*Apologies to the other bloggers who've used this line previously.)

LakerInBC,

Well said.

I have thought all along that LO was going to be the sixth man.

But you stated it so eloquently and logically.

Anyone has any idea what chanel game on? I have both League Pass and NBA TV, FSN WEST and can not find it.
Please help!!!

LakerInBC,

That being said, I don't think the Blazers will finish ahead of the Spurs though.

Anyone have a link?

bobie,

I found a link. Go to my myp2p.eu

PJ actually prefers the Lakers to lose as many games as possible in the preseason.

Because they are the favorites this year (despite what Hollinger imagines), PJ wants to make sure the Laker players still play with the determination of an underdog.

PJ does not want to show his card yet. His biggest card is the Bynum/Gasol combo.

Link?

http://209.44.113.149/cgi-bin/link.pl?l=kqjcyMfg

Bynum comes in for LO.
I told ya, the Lakers coaching staff is setting it up as a competition for PT between Bynum and Odom.
We all know what the answer will be on that one.
PJ is 5 or 6 steps ahead of Lamar.

Here's a link for anyone interested:

http://209.44.113.149/cgi-bin/link.pl?l=kqjcyMfg

Wow its preseason I know, but things defensively are not pretty. Wide open jumpers left and right to the opponent, slow rotations to open 3 point shooters, and sloppy rebounding.

ugh brings back bad memories.

The Lakers look pretty terrible in this game.

MMMMMMMMMM. BODY LANGUAGE!!! TREVOR DOESN"T BELONG IN STARTING LINEUP!!!! AS SOON AS WALTON IS HEALTHY PLEASE HAVE PHIL REPLACE TREVOR!!!! Trevor is a situational type of player I believe.

Good starting lineup:

C-Bynum
PF-Gasol
SF-Walton (exept against Celtics, maybe Trevor on Pierce)
SG-Kobe
PG-Fisher

odom better improve as the season gets closer

We're playing sloppy on both ends, but especially defensively. We looked pretty good when Bynum was in because his length bothered guys. We're not very crisp on either end, but remember how terribly we played in the pre-season last year.

Say, what's the score in LA?

The SUNS put the defensive screws to the jazz in Salt Lake, then rained down some threes to soundly thrash them in their house.

Neither Amare or Leandro played, which is something. The win bespeaks of the power of this new, powerful SUNS bench. Barnes went 21-11 or something sick like that. We enjoy having this UCLA playa in a SUNS uniform.

does anyone have direct tv nba league pass ... couldn't see the laker game anywhere on there

You mean you're clamoring for Walton to start to save the team? Okay...

The lakers are suffering the post-Finals-loss slump. Their motivation is nil, their passion for the game is nil, and Boston doesn't even have their rings yet. It's normal in the NBA to take a dip in the season following a big loss in the Finals.

Meanwhile, the rest of the West is hungry as alligators. Such as the Clips.

I hope they don't make this a staple kind of sloppy performance. It is annoying to see them play so uncoordinated. Geeze.

Man we suck!!!!!!!! Too many players, rotations are not set...so yeah, Phil he's doing his job in the preseason. We'll get it together.

I do think we need a shooter at the three, Lamar and Ariza are not the guys. We might just need to look to Vlad again, hate to say it.

Rockets might struggle. T-mac has said that his left shoulder is arthritic, so that means it is going to be painful for him to play on it.

Man...I go to work the Dodgers are up by 2, work a 15 min shift, drive straight home to find the Dodgers lost. That is very un good.

And this PER thing is mostly a waste of time. I say this not because it's totally useless, I don't think that, but as a featured ESPN writer Hollinger is going to get a certain amount of front page space and I don't want see this PER thing taking up that space. Too little content. Same for fantasy football or baseball or whatever. And garlic and deviled eggs and mint chocolate chip ice cream. I don't want 20 pounds of this stuff on my plate and I don't want to hear more than one or two sentences about the PER per month. Pardon the pun.

It's like the friend who swears he has the most beautiful baby ever created. Well, yeah, the PER is cute, but it also looks like a miniature astronaut whose helmet came of in outer space. So, please, put it bed. Napie time.

Never mind.

Is there a Laker game on?

Wes

Okay I totally liked the second unit towards the end with Mbenga, Farmar, Radman, Ariza and Coby. These are going to be our bench mob part 2 with FARMAR leading the charge. Farmar will be our future starter for sure some day!!!

Ariza is showing the starters (Odom especially) how to hustle.

Ugly.

The only thing beastly about this preseason is the turn over stat.

Which lesser evil would you choose, watch the Lakers w/ a floor seat or acquire 500 shares of GM stocks? That's how bad are both comparison, Lakers followed the path of the falling stocks while GM is no longer the No. 1. Lakers are out of sync and no chemistry at all. Do they have any organized play or just standing around? We go back to 2004-05 Tomja team, way too many T/O's. They played good a hearty basketball for few minutes then go back to the habit of lackadaisical T/O's, you can say Farmar, Vlad & Ariza were active but who are the Clippers on the floor Taylor, Novak and Skinner. last night it was brevin knight, ronnie price. Yes, it's just preseason but where is the pride of being the runner up team just months ago and the favored team this year. Somebody kept of reminding us that we're in the era of the beast, I see no beast out there, I see a bunch of chihuahuas running around recklessly. haha!

Based on the two pre-season games that I've watched the Lakers will not be a playoff team at all. They are the 2008-2009 N.B.A champion on papers only. The way they play right now will surely alter the odds in Las Vegas on who will bring the bacon this season. I don't see them being in the playoff at all the way their playing. You will say it's only exhibition but if you will look at the previous two games, there's nothing to be excited about this team They can be compared to the present New York Yankees who have an almost all star line-up and yet did not made the play-off. If they will continue playing like this they should be called the LOS ANGELES YANKEES!

Trade Odumb + Space Cadet + Puke = 2008-09 Champ

Lakers Outgoing Players: Lamar Odom , Vladimir Radmanovic, Chris Mihm
Lakers Incoming Players: Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden

Bulls Outgoing Players: Drew Gooden, Kirk Hinrich
Bulls Income Players: Lamar Odom, Chris Mihm

Heat Outgoing Players: Shawn Marion
Heat Incoming Players: Kirk Hinrich, Vladimir Radmanovic

Odom's crashing like the Dow. I hope he snaps out of it soon.

ARiza and SunYue are both long and athletic, what everyone has been wanting for a long time is now here!

Kobe just got help in the perimeter.

Odom, Vlad and Luke are done..

I did not get to see the game. But I have to say, all you freaks declaring that the Lakers won't be able to even get to the playoffs this year need to take the fattest pill you can find.

We shall overcome. Don't give up hope yet. 2 down 90 to go. Ye who pass thorugh hear and give up all hope SUCK.

GOOOooOOOO LAKERS!!!!!

Enjoy the rocky road to the finals SWEEEP!!!!

Good evening Butler boy and Laker blogs.

This project going on at work is huge and dunno if I will have time to blog :(.

Any case positives (individually):

Kobe-individual defense of course shooting less than 7 shot attempts isn't going to help (heck its pre season)

Pau Gasol-He worked well with Andrew and defense inside wise increased.

Andrew Bynum-Once in the game there was a big difference at post defense Pau couldn't deliver against Kaman.

Jordan Farmar-Leader of the bench mob shows why he is the leader.

Trevor Ariza-When he came off the bench and joined with Jordan led the near rally of the Lakers. That's why I've advocated him on the bench with Jordan, so those things can happen. It seems when his energy is down, so is his game.

Radman in the beginning: At power forward backup slot shooting against the none starters really got him in a groove in his shooting.

Starter wise 3rd quarter: The defense actually was better and had the lineup been brought up from the 1st quarter, then the 36-30 burst would have been less.

BIG Negatives (Only the major ones):

Josh Powell: Was the Ronny Turiaf of the 2008 Finals. Very few rebounds and settled for jumpshots. Jump shooting is nice but settled only for them and like Ronny wasn't finishing well (Ronny only finished well when he had a clear dunk).

Chris Mihm-Is beginning to show why our post defense in 2005-2006 really sucked and why his 10ppg was deceiving.

Coby Karl-Is a reminder of Sasha Vujacic of 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.

Trevor Ariza as a starter-His energy wasn't there and he settled for way too many jumpshots in fact was 1-7 before coming into 3rd quarter and doing his game.

Bynum's off the block jumpers: Too many times settling off the block. The jumpers really must be closer to achieve a higher FG%, dont' want him to settle for shots like he is doing.

The "defense first" kinda attitude: It's fine to focus on defense, it's what wins championships. Here's the thing though: 25 turnovers. Clips scored 16 points off turnovers. Baron Davis shot less than 40% yet got 7 assists most of them in transition such as the dish to Thorton. Focus on the defense but:

"You cannot defend if you keep turning over the ball".

Execute the offense is needed regardless of "warrior" mentality.

Bummed up Clippers beat the Lakers in Preaseason?

112-96 the Clippers beat the Lakers in 2007 Preseason and then we had 22 turnovers!

Get this straight: IT MATTERS NOT WHAT HAPPENS IN PRESEASON (except for injuries like Tim Thomas).

Plus this is experimentation time when coaches can see "what works" and "what doesn't work". They don't have that luxury in the regular season. And do people forget other teams have scouts also watching? Run regular plays and use starters and basically give them your game plan.

Mike Taylor scored 20 points against Heath, does that mean no playoffs?

It's laughable to think that.

In the end it's the regular season what counts and trying to project performance from the preseason alone is likely a foolish endeavor.

THE TRUTH!! OUT!!

-blitz

won't be back till late night again, this project is huge :(.

dacsila,

Go back and look at our records and stats from last pre-season. Pre-season play means absolutely nothing. Heck, we even played terribly in our season opener against Houston. Rotations aren't set, there are guys who are playing who either won't be on the team or won't play at all, and Odom has lost his mind. Not to mention that Sasha has yet to play.

Our best lineup is likely to be Farmar, Kobe, Ariza, Pau and Gasol and I don't believe we ever got those 5 guys on the court.

kobebryantblitz,

Good post. Problem is anyone really willing to write a team off because of a preseason loss isn't going to care that you say preseason doesn't matter. One guy actually said the Lakers won't make the playoffs.

Ugly game.

But it's preseason, no need to worry about it. Lakers notoriously don't look good preseason. The one thing that did stick out to me is the fact that we're a very deep team. Very deep.

Guys'll start shaking off the rust, getting in the flow.

Gonna be a great year.

And as for Hollinger? He lost any credibility when he picked Utah to win the WC. I emailed him and asked if he was on crack. What a bonehead.

LET'S GO LAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! What a terrible basketball game.

The problem? The coaching. These guys are not being taught defense. It's the same old thing year in and year out with Phil Jackson. You don't see this guys playing with any type of defensive philosophy as their main priority.

It's preseason and mistakes are supposed to happen. But those mistakes are supposed to happen within the context of what you're trying to implement. The Lakers aren't trying to implement defense.

From what I've seen...I have no idea what they're trying to implement.

Perhaps they're setting up Odom to be traded.

mike t.

First off, I'd like to point out what is obvious. PJ is our coach. PJ hates the preseason. And, every year the Lakers won a championship under PJ, they looked AWFUL in preseason.

I think he does it to make a point about just how pointless preseason games are.

I mean, Shaq was always fat. Horry was always dragging his leg around. Fox would never be able to hit the side of a barn with a beach ball. Just terrible. Then, once the season started, everything would miraculously fall right into place.

Every preseason, this very blog would be talking about how we couldn't do it this season because of how bad everyone looked (except Kobe, of course).

Don't panic because the Clips wiped us out. The Clips will NOT be doing that when the games count, I can guarantee you that!

--Fearless

PS: Don't panic!

I missed the game last night.

Well, the results were not what I expected.

Wow.

Thank God the Kamenetsky Brothers have called for calm. Now we'll only have 30% of Laker Nation screaming "The sky is falling!"

It's not.

Go Clippers!

GO LAKERS!

Why is it that neither Yahoo nor the L.A. Times has the box score for the game last night. What the hell?

GO LAKERS!

Fatty,

If Butt-ler is the Black Knight, then I want to be Brother Maynard - the keeper of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

"And taketh such, this, thy Holy Hand Grenade, and hurl it upon thine enemy, that he shall be blown to tiny bits...in Thy Mercy."

Jon K.

I know you're on the East, and youobably missed the game, so I wanted to give you some of my prespective since you are our resident Laker/Clipper fan.

First of all, the Clippers are way better than what we all imagined. Or at least what I imagined. When they got Baron, I knew it was going to be big, and I'm shocked I wasn't this concerned before, because I shoulda been.

Baron has changed the whole landscape of that team!

That is a huge uderstatement Jon, and you will see what I mean once the season starts and you get a chance to see for yourself.

And Baron's not even the best player on he team!

Al Thorton is a bona fide star!! I see a true breakout season this year. Last year was good, but this guy i just a monster now!

And I never thought I see the day where I WISH THE LAKERS WOULD HAVE PICKED UP RICKY DAVIS!!!!!!

The Clippers are gonna be good this year, a little too good for my taste. They absolutely murdered the Lakers last night. Pre-Season yes, but did you know that Phil was playing Kobe A TON of minues? I'm telling you Jon, Phil did not want to loose that game. This is what scares me the most. He tried everything he could to get us back and couldn't. We got asses handed to us last night.

Check this out: We startted the first half trailing by 11. We had just given up 59 POINTS TO THE CLIPPERS IN THE FIRST HALF!!!
Phil goes in guns a blazin' with Andrew, Pau L.O., Kobe and Fish. It ends up not doing us any good and Phil had to scrap the idea later in the 3rd when Pau got into foul trouble.

Belive it or not, this turned out to be "Comeback Crue":

Farmar
Karl
Ariza
RadMan
MBenga

Trevor Ariza was easily our MVP (if you can give a mvp to a loosing team) and I feel that by last nights performance alone, he won over that starting spot. The dude has skills!!

That squad brought us(Lakers) back from 18 points down to 5. I was impressed.

But I am concerned though, The Clippers are clearly the better team right now, and the Lakers need a ton of work. I thought it would be the ther way around, but I was totally wrong.

C.L.F.

All rise!

To those who always make excuses for phil and think preseason doesn't count

Why must there always be EXCUSES for what phil can't do (actually coach-anymore)?
Why can't some of you here just go off of what you see on the t.v screen? I know it's preseason, but at the same time I don't see any preseason D, which is what we all expected with Bynum coming back, right. What have they been running at practice?

>>> PJ hates the preseason.>I think he does it to make a point about just how pointless preseason games are.<<

Posted by: Fearless | October 10, 2008 at 07:42 AM

Are you serious? There is a problem here. 2 plus weeks of training camp and 2 preseason games under their belts and the team doesn't look like they're up to par with the other top western squads.

PRESEASON COUNTS!!!

You guys need to tip your collective hats to the Clips.

I said yesterday they are better than what the Holingers and other so-called experts are saying. Even without Camby you could see the energy this team has.

Baron Davis won't just stand pat and let the lakers dominate Staples - he came home to play. His highlight steal of kobey and then that sick assist is a harbinger of the coming season.

The lakers may have a great team on paper, but chemistry and psychology following a Finals loss means the challenge is as much mental and spiritual as it is physical.

The SUNS bench looked great last nite in Utah. They'll have their off nights but the SUNS got some talented pickups this summer.

Fearless,

i TOTALLY agree with you. PJ does want to make a subtle point....well not so subtle for us fans...that he does in fact think that the preseason is a bunch of garbage..he would rather be practicing i bet...

regardless....easy everyone...so we lost...kobe didnt play half of the third NONE of the fourth...we had C.Karl in for 20+ minutes..i mean again PRE SEASON..doesnt matter...

we will be ready for portland at the end of the month.....trust me.

Xodus,
" Farmar, Kobe, Ariza, Pau and Gasol "

That would be a good lienup, but personally, I would replace one of the Spanish twins with Bynum.

Lakers playes terrible last night, not enough spacing running the triangle, guys looked like they didn't know when to rotate or cut, leaving Mihm to go one on one like 5 times in the 4 quarter..what was that about.

I know it was our bench, but c'mon, like the guy said the celts don't slack off, not even in the preseason. Odom has to go!!! As soon as I get my NBA live 2009, I'm trading him for Marion before I start My season, hopefully Mitch & co. do the same thingm let's ge Marion in a laker uniform now so he can learn the offense.

At least we know he will give 15 ppg 10 rpg every night, and can be interchangble with Gasol or Bynum in case the lakers want to play fast ball. Let's do this and win big this year!!

Getting back to the chemistry thing...you never know what you're going to get. Camby and Kaman could click right away, whereas bynum and gasal could be one of those pairings that just never quite comes together.

It's too early to say anything with confidence, of course. But if one looks at how well gasal fit into the lakers when he came aboard, compared to last night's debut of the new team, it does finally shine the cold light of reality upon the mythical projections.

Allow me to add some perspective to the blog. We were 3-4 in the preseason last year and lost our first two games as well. Among those losses was a 16 point loss to the Clippers and a 21 point loss to the Jazz.

We had a 20 turnovers in the loss to the Jazz and 22 turnovers against the Clippers.

What's that you say? We made it to the NBA Finals and were two wins away from winning the whole thing despite our poor preseason play? Impossible!

Xodus,

It was a really disheartening loss though. Maybe this team has too much hype, and people are expecting more than what is realistically possible.

Pre-season doesn't mean anything exept getting your feet a little wet in prepperation for the season.

There is this little thing called pride, that I believe you are overlooking.

I saw the game last night on KCAL. And the game was just about getting all of te X's and O's down, but there was a point when I was about more than that.

The Lakers were trying to win, that was obvious to see, but there was nothing that they could do. And when you read between the plays, and look at the grit and will of the players. you would be hard pressed to even consider these Lakers eligable to even be called players because players compete. A pre-requisite these guys didn't posses.

I saw no heart!
No soul!

I so I can understand the bloggers who are giving up so quickly. IF THEY WOULD HAVE FOUGHT, THER WOULD BE NO PROBLEM WITH A 27 POINT LOSS!

But they laid down. How can you root for that? I ask you.

Although, I do have to say that I also understand bloggers who didn't see the game, yet are confused by the rash of comments coming in by posters like me who are letting so much ride on one pre-season game. Crazy right?

I can see it from both sides.

HEY EVERYONE HOWS IT GOING?

DUDE ITS THE PRESEASON. PHIL JACKSON IS EXPERIMENTING WITH THINGS. EXPECT THE LAST 3 PRESEASON GAMES HE STARTS TO PLAY THE REGULARS ALOT MORE TOGETHER.

MAN THE MORE I SEE OUR POINT GUARD PLAY ON BOTH ENDS OF THE COURT THE MORE I SAY WE SHOULD MOVE LAMAR ODOM/CHRIS MIHM FOR KIRK HINRICH AND DREW GOODEN. TREVOR ARIZA IS A PLAYER AND ALWAYS PROVIDES A SPARK. WE NEED TO SHORE UP THAT POSITION AND KIRK IS A 2 SIDED PLAYER PLAYERS GOOD ENOUGH OFFENSE AND GOOD DEFENSE. THESE GUARDS KEEP BLOWING BY US AND LAST NIGHT WE COULDNT EVEN GET THE BALL UP COURT THAT WAS CRAZY AND THAT TAYLOR GUY AND BARON DAVIS WERE BEATING OUR GUARDS ALL GAME LONG.

FARMER WAS ALLOWING THAT TAYLOR GUY TO GET IN HIS HEAD SO WAS BRANDON HEATH OR POINT GUARDS CANNOT BE INTIMATED ESPECIALLY BY SOMEONE WHO MAY NOT EVEN MAKE THE TEAM WTH THE CLIPPERS BUT HE DID IMPRESS ME

Its the preseason, there's an inverse relationship between the preseason and the regular season. The more you suck in the preseason, the better you'll be once the games start counting.

We just need to take care of the ball better.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

i really think LO should come off the bench and be the super-sub. and PJ always had that setup anyway, he has a starting five and the sixth man will finish the game with the other four starters.

ron harper - steve kerr / tony kukoc
samaki walker - robert horry

so now it will be ariza - lamar. but the only problem i see here is that lamar doesnt have the killer instinct or shot accuracy as those other names.

Posted by: Xodus | October 10, 2008 at 08:40 AM

So does this mean no championship again this year?

Ex,

"That would be a good lienup, but personally, I would replace one of the Spanish twins with Bynum."

haha, oops. I forgot we shipped Marc to Memphis for his big bro. Yeah, obviously Bynum would be at the 5.

JoeSixPack,

I'm not rooting FOR the team's 27 point loss, I'm saying it means absolutely nothing. Did we look horrendous? Yes, but it doesn't matter because our guys looked like they were coasting for long stretches (to me) while the Clips brought a lot of energy. Also, there are positives to take from the first two games like Pau finding his touch from the perimeter, Bynum's improvement, Ariza's hustle, Farmar's improvement.

The game was too disjointed with guys like Mbenga and Karl that can't play NBA basketball playing big minutes to be taken seriously.

Jon K,

Don't worry even when the stock market is in global meltdown, Dodgers lost a win game, and Lakers losing two games consecutively to other team's rookies - the sky never fell in Los Angeles. We always have a bright smoggy day unlike your gloomy place there in Cleveland. You will notice the blog has lots of GM's, Coaches, Prophets, Prognosticators, Snake-oil salesmen with the usual complacency attuned with the laid back Lakers. According to Lamar, Kobe and Gasol preseason means working vacation.

mrbarneydangles

I tried man, I really did. Your posts over the last couple of days gave me a change of heart about Lamar. I went into lastnighs game rooting for Lamar to succeed. But I can't do it anymore.

He just isn't there. And when he is, it's just long enough to turn the ball over!

I root for the name on the front of the jersey. And I only root for the name on the back if the name on the back can help the name on the front win. In this case, I feel the name on the back is contributing largley to losses.

It is totally clear now that Ariza is our best option now.

Lamar=Coming off the bench at PF=Unhappy Lamar=Cancer=Team Destruction.=We need to trade Lamar NOW!!!!!!!!

>>>The SUNS put the defensive screws to the jazz in Salt
>>>Lake, then rained down some threes to soundly thrash
>>>them in their house.

Wow. You must be so proud of their pre-season record. And
all those divisional banners. Gosh, must be great to cheer
for your team like that.

It's how you play in June that matters.

Xodus,

"but it doesn't matter because our guys looked like they were coasting for long stretches (to me) while the Clips brought a lot of energy"

What I don't get is how you don't understand that this IS the problem! The Lakers COASTED, that is the concern. Heart and determination are things that cannot be taught. RosettaStone has yet to crack that market.

And I know you wrn't rooting for a 27 point loss. My point was that the Lakers didn't fight back, and that made the loss a thousand times worst.

If Kimbo Slice woulda fought back, that fight woulda been better too! LOL Same thing.

Good morning Lakers friends!

Its hard for us fans to distinguish a loss in the regular season to a loss in the preseason, but we need to train ourselves to watch the game through the eyes of Phil.

He could care less about the win or playing at a Championship level in game two. Its about individual player development.

PJ views it as almost a waste of time to do these games and his attitude shows in the way the players on the court play their game.

The Clips on the other hand were energized, picking fights, getting technicals and acting like this game in Fresno REALLY mattered. Are you worried about the Clippers? I'm not. They won't even make the playoffs.

I tried to ignore the poor team play and concentrate on players like AB, Ariza, Jordie, and Mihm. While also looking at the rooks and guessing who might make the squad.

I like what I'm seeing so far and am encouraged. I do feel though that the Twin Tower idea will take longer to develop than I hoped for. It might be gradually worked into as the season goes on.

Was that Rambis you could hear barking out orders during the 2nd half? I couldn't tell for sure.

banner year sez:

"I went into lastnighs game rooting for Lamar to succeed. But I can't do it anymore."

Don't tell ThekobeyBryantBlitz that. He's been trying to convince us all summer that Lam-Od is a great all around playa with tons of potential.

Without Turiaf, the lakers will be at a loss for backups in the frontcourt. The way Mihm got posterized last night isn't terribly encouraging.

banner year-

I too root for the name on the front of the jersey, but its also to have some favorites on the team. I don't want anyone confusing me. I am a Laker fan before any player. I was ready to hate Kobe last year when he wanted to get traded, and will root for anyone that wears the purple and gold (even if it was Steve Nash). Don't get me confused with a Mike T like person, that aint me. But I will root for the Lakers as a whole and LO as an individual on the team. The win is the only thing that matters but I wouldn't mind LO being a big part of that win.

I will agree with everyone that Lamar has sucked during the preseason, but its the preseason...LT doesn't even touch the ball during the Chargers preseason. I bet Lamar is bored out of his mind for the preseason, even Bynum said he is getting bored of preseason now that he's in his 4th year.

I don't care when or where Lamar plays as long as he isn't a cancer and he stays a Laker. He may not be an all-star or a all time Laker great but he will help the team out more then he hurts them in the long run. Lamar won't lose any games for the Lakers by himself.

I'm going to wait until a month or two in to the season before I say that Lamar is either a failure or a success (he will most likely be somewhere in the middle). Lamar is the swiss army knife of the Lakers and will no doubt help the Lakers reach their ultimate goal, a championship.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

Paul Lee,

>>>I SAY WE SHOULD MOVE LAMAR ODOM/CHRIS MIHM
>>>FOR KIRK HINRICH AND DREW GOODEN

While that may seem attractive on paper, don't forget that
that increases the Lakers salaries by about 4 million and
thus increases their luxury tax by another 4 million.

And besides, if Lamar and Mihm are so bad and Hinrich
and Gooden are so good, then why in heck would Chicago
want to do that deal?

Farmar will be fine when he's on the floor with guys like
Sasha and Luke and (hopefully) Lamar instead of the
not-ready-for-prime-time Lakers (Coby, Heath, Giles,
MBenga, Crawford).

Watch the last 2 or 3 games of the pre-season. By then,
the Lakers will have cut most of the guys they're going to
cut, and the rotation will be shortened a lot and the number
of turnovers will drop and the defense will pick up and the
Lakers will be just fine.

Considering my comments the past couple of days, I'm obviously glad we finally got to see Pau and Bynum play together. From what I saw, the success of having that tandem on the court really has to do with what all the other players do. As cliche as it sounds, what I think the team has to improve on the most (offensively) with both bigs on the floor is their spacing and, more specifically, where the other players are at when the ball goes into either post. Too often, the bigs have no passing options, primarily because the first thing that happens when they get the ball is the teammates on their side usually clear out to the weak side. And after making their first set of cuts, the motion stops. So, the big is forced to create a shot, whether or not they should. It harkens back to the Shaq days. The triangle runs a very specific way when the ball goes through the low post like that.

Defensively, Bynum did a good job of protecting the rim and making it very difficult for Kaman or any penetrators to score. Where he and Gasol have trouble is the dreaded pick-n-roll defense where they get caught out on the perimeter and are forced to rely on their teammates rotating over to help. Those rotations last night were already better than they were the first game but their communication with each other and knowing who to rotate to is a far cry from where the team left off last year.

What also screws things up is mixing in garbage-time players with those that know the offense and defense well. The unfortunate thing about the triangle is all 5 players have to be on the same page for it to work.

The connundrum they're facing at SF is that, even though the Lakers have a number of servicable SFs, none of them are consistent. If they give you production, it's gravy but you're also going to have some poor shooting and decision-making to go along with it.

Concerned Laker Fan,

Thanks a lot for the rundown on the game. I mean that.

You synopsis was better than anything else I could find online about the game.

Well, I'm glad the Clippers looked good, but I'm going to side with the Kamenetsky Brothers admonishment not to panic.

I'm not panicking.

We're the Lakers, not the stock market, after all.

Go Clippers!

GO LAKERS!

Boy, you'd think it was midway through the season around here.

Two words, well, one word and a prefix:

PRESEASON

Look, 1st off, there is no rythym to the rotation. You got guys auditioning for the waiver wire, you've got a 7 footer to pair up with another 7 footer to complete a trio of 7 foorters. You have Kobe and Pau still getting some R and R, even if it's on the court. I would imagine that there is some confusion in the locker room as to what should be done by whom at what time.

No Vujacic, no Walton, to some it may not seem like much, but you have to remember that Luke's a glue man, who holds guys together on the court and keeps the ball moving. Most of the line ups Phil used had 3 or more slashers without a play maker in the bunch. As good as Farmar is, he isn't a play maker. He's a scoring pg, as is Fish. That's why Luke and Lamar are so valuable to this squad, they are the unselfish contributors that the team needs.

Let's not hit the PANIC button quite yet, gang. Let's give the team a chance gel.

Jon,

"We're the Lakers, not the stock market, after all."

That's true, maybe I jumped the gun a little bit. Because even though it may seem tough now, the Lakers do have more upside than the Clips do for the future. (although one can never overlook Thorton or Eric Gordon) The Clippers are just more complete at this time.

Can't wait for the REAL season to start.

Go Lakers!!

Jamie Sweet,

"Luke's a glue man, who holds guys together on the court and keeps the ball moving"

The ball moving to direction of a sure T/O, and a glue man that freezes scoring for minutes. I don't think they need Luke to save them from the morass. What they need is a whip from PJ and a threatened suspension of daily pay just like disciplining a child with no dinner, no video games, no cell if he doesn't do his homework. Don't get upset, just my twist.

The prognosis is clear from my view in AZ. The lakers are suffering post-Finals letdown.

Not to mention the question mark of a brand new front court.

The Clips have zero expectations - if they win 40 games this season, it's a success. The crushing weight of title predictions can be a burden - from what I've seen, the lakers are not trying at all, maybe just buying into what they've been reading about how great they will be, etc.

BTW, the SUNS will play the nugs on ESPN in Palm Springs tomorrow for the first-ever outside NBA game. Trouble is, violent winds are predicted and anything less than a dunk will not likely go in the basket..

Two useless preseason games, so far. Except for Trevor and Jordan, hardly anybody on the floor seemed to care. No leadership from the coaching staff or the veterans.

Sunday the Lakers play the Kings. The Kings will play like they have something to prove, even though it is a preseason game. Will the Lakers?

I hope Mitch is talking to anybody and everybody about trading Lamar. He has become a cancer and clearly has no role on this team, based on everything PJ has said. Yes, I know PJ almost speaks in tongues, sometimes, but I'll stand by my analysis.

We pretty much know who's going to get minutes and who's going to be glued to the pine or sent to the D-League (or sent packing entirely). Let's get this team into some rhythm and work out the kinks that matter.

Let's see some Laker pride on Sunday. Go Lakers!

Rick Friedman,

Speaking about Jordan and Trevor, isn't that a crazy tandem. When the Lakers made that little comeback, they were the ones mostly responsible.

On defense, they were hounding the ball, creating turnover after turnover for the Clippers.

On offense, my favorite play:

Jordan jacked ap a long three, it clanks the back of the rim bounced high. Vlad secured the rebound sitting on the three-point-line. Everybody, including myself, were thinking Vlad was gonna jack one of his own threes with 24 seconds on the clock.
Just before my voice could muster up the word "NOOOOOOOOOOO", Vlad wisley passed the ball along the perimeter to Trevor, who in turn, hit a cutting Farmar that easily led to free throws.

I love this Ariza/Farmar tandem.

That's why I hope we can get Lamar ready to start. We could have a really dangerous bench!

I haven't checked the blog the last few days. I was curious if there has been any discussion/comments regarding Shaq's Sunday conversation interview on ESPN. He had some interesting things to say about Kobe and some revisionist-history-ish comments about his time with the Lakers (and Kobe).

JoeSixPack,

The thing is I don't care that the team coasted during their second preseason game because really there is no reason to exert themselves. Would it be nice if they did? Sure. Is it necessary? Nope.

We were something like 2-5 in the 1999 preseason and we went on to start the season 31-5. We were 3-4 last year and were beating the Suns for the second time by Christmas. Do you remember how poorly we played last year? We played just as bad and it meant nothing.

A few years back the Raptors went something like 7-1 in the preseason and went on to win 30 something games. Preseason games aren't an accurate indicator of anything because they're sloppy and ugly by nature.

CLF,

Baron's not the best player on hist team? Whatever you're on, please let me know where I can score some. Who exactly would be better?

Baron is arguably the 2nd best pro ball player in LA and was the best on the court last night.

I'm more concerned about getting quality in exchange for Lamar than the meaningless preseason. He's looked absolutely worthless. All that talent. Wasted.

Lamar=Laker until we find a taker

Magia32,

You may feel that preseason counts. But, if PJ continues to think the contrary and coach like that, then we still can't pull any meaning from those games.

It may be frustrating, but it is true.

You can holler and scream about preseason counting all you want. But, if our coach disregards those games, then we are forced to as well.

Even both Bulls three-peat teams played horribly in preseason. I believe (if memory serves me correctly) the worst preseason team PJ coached was the Bulls team that won 72 games.

Magia32, it looks like the evidence is stacked against you.

--Fearless

what happened to the lamar of the spurs series last year..the one who was motivated...aggressive and wanted the ball..the rebound the basket.

i have always felt bad for his life experiences..but to me....he hasnt readied himself or his body for this season..meanwhile everyone else had been lifting working doing their preparation...

i think lamar needs to go.

so... what did I miss? Did the Lakers cut Coby Karl yet? has everybody figured out that Odom needs to be traded? I saw Trevor Ariza shoot for the first time last night, eh... I thought he was working on his jumpshot this summer? Guess not... looks like Radmanovic will be the starting SF again... what else...

Which stiff are we going to keep, Mihm or Mbenga?

I saw Sun Yue in there, I thought he had mono? Are they risking him giving it to someone else? Seriously.

Trevor Ariza is NOT the most interesting man in the world anymore... but he's an awesome guy to have come off the bench.

Hey Laker Nation!

I will add my voice to the "calm down people" side. It's only PREseason - c'mon now all you "chicken littles" out there. The sky - contrary to what you're saying - is NOT falling (at least not in Lakerland). Lakers will be fine.

The good news is that both Ariza and Bynum are looking great. They will - of course - round out into better game shape, but I like what I see so far.

The bad news is that Phil's smirk looks even goofier without his mustache. I think he should re-grow some facial hair to cover that thing up. He can't rightly be called the "zen master" looking like he does now.

GO LAKERS!

Xodus,

" there is no reason to exert themselves.