Shannon Brown jumps higher than you
Just in case you weren't sure...
He doesn't get to play much, but Shannon Brown clearly knows how to take advantage. In the locker room after the game, I heard someone ask him if he was going to dunk the next one with his elbow. Brown just smiled, probably because he can, if his work back in high school is any indication, at least.
(Note: That last link features a very impressive guest star, and you know it's a Lakers Blog endorsed bit of footage when LeBron James isn't to whom I'm referring. Click it. Definitely four or so minutes well spent.)
BK
Love Shannon Brown's athletic ability, but will love him even more when he can contribute meaningful minutes on the court.
That dunk contest was insane. Never thought I'd see LBJ looking even remotely young but he did there!
Posted by: longtimelakerlover | March 07, 2009 at 07:23 PM
very cool dunk contest vid!
Posted by: ajax | March 07, 2009 at 08:22 PM
If Shannon Brown can handle and distribute the ball efficiently, make consistent perimeter jump shots and a respectable 3 point shot percentage, Jor an Farmar has to watch out. Brown has the height, strenght and hops to guard taller opposing point/shooting guards. If he learns the triangle fast and gets PJ's attention, JF will be in trouble if not a goner.
Posted by: Lakergurl | March 07, 2009 at 08:32 PM
my man Von!!
Posted by: JY | March 07, 2009 at 09:34 PM
This is from the last threat concerning Sasha Vujacic:
Sasha is very frustrated no doubt. It doesn't mean he's wants to undermine the team, far from it. But he needs to realize that 1) His play isn't up to his standards despite what he feels it can be and 2) He has different looks than what he had last year as a 6th man because of Trevor's injury, Vlad's limited game beyond shooting, and Walton being injured more often.
Now he doesn't have Kobe Bryant getting attention away from him not to mention teams paying more attention to him particularly after Game 3 of the 2008 Finals. Kobe can't often slide over to Small Forward because well there is a glut in that position of Luke, Trevor, and Adam unless the situation demands Kobe be shifted to SF. Because he plays more with the rest of the bench instead with Kobe, Sasha isn't as much opened as he was last year and yet hasn't really adjusted. It seems he is trying too hard to have the same production as he did last year and his game suffers since it is not obviously the same. His emotions does play a factor and it can be seen with his 3pt% when compared to Trevor's. Sasha by far is the better shooter than Trevor but he is merely shooting 3.6% better than Trevor is (35.6% by Sasha compared to 32.0% by Trevor!). If Sasha could only be more controlled, not let his emotions (which are good at firing up the crowd but also a double edged sword) get too out of control I feel he can still shoot at a higher FG and 3pt% and thus gain more minutes.
In any case it's simple: Better play will usually mean more playing time. It seems though he think it is the opposite and it's harming his game quite a bit compared to last year.
-KB Blitz
Posted by: Kobeblitz | March 07, 2009 at 09:47 PM
Man why does every body think the playoffs will be a cake walk. This year playoffs will be very very hard.
Utah is on the rise. I reapet Utah is on the rise.
Posted by: omega | March 07, 2009 at 09:54 PM
I hope Shannon Brown is with the Lakers for a long time.
Good spirit.
Lakers Today... Lakers Tomorrow... Lakers Forever.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | March 07, 2009 at 10:07 PM
Omega...I definitely do not think the playoffs are going to be a cake walk. You are correct, Utah is on the rise and going to be hard to beat - especially on their home court. I feel that we should have gone after Starbury even though everyone said he is a cancer. Kobe would not have let him get out of control and we needed a PG. If we looked at him like the celtics did he could have shored up our bench mob. If he caused trouble, cut him quick. Cavs and Spurs improved their 2nd units - we did nothing. We're counting on Drew but that might be wishful thinking. We don't know how/if he will be back and even if he does - will he return straight to where he left off? I don't think so - it takes a while for the brain to believe in your body after an injury - and now he may have 2 weak knees.
Believe me, I am hard core Laker fan to the bone - I'm screaming at the tv when they play bad and hooting and hollering at the great plays....but I don't think it is going to be a cake walk into the finals.
Let's hope they prove us wrong and kick ass all the way to the ring!!!!!!
Posted by: james | March 07, 2009 at 10:20 PM
With all this psycho-analysis of Sasha, I'm surprise no one is talking about how the coaches have adjusted what they want from him. Since he's on the scouting report as a quick trigger catch and shoot guy, they want him to expand his game so he's not so predictable. Well, I think THAT is the reason why he's struggling. Look at Mike Miller and how screwed up he is. He can't even knock down a shot when he's supposed to b/c of how McHale has adjusted what he wants from him. Like I said yesterday, when someone tweaks your golf swing, there's a period of time when you can't do your new swing or your old swing.
Personally, I'd rather Sasha's role was limited to being a catch-n-shoot guy.
Posted by: lakers_sth | March 07, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Jon,
I'm not kidding dude. Sometimes you do lobby for former Clippers (not all like Smush and Dan Dickau perhaps) at times and while it's not a bad thing it's something I noticed. It's like back in the summer when you were happy that Josh signed with the Lakers yet was all grumpy when the Lakers signed Sun.
In my opinion Jon, if Powell weren't a former Clipper I don't think you would have welcomed Josh as much though how Josh performed so far you were right about him being a good player and a wee bit better offensively than Ronny was.
-KB Blitz
Posted by: Kobeblitz | March 07, 2009 at 11:25 PM
JC Garcia,
Powell is noway comparable to Horace Grant. Horace was much bigger, much stronger, was able to box out his man more, more consistent scorer (He could be a solid 2nd option) and was a better rebounder than Josh is. Plus Horace was an outstanding defender and even at age 35 was still solid defensively enough to keep down many of the best power forwards back in 2000-2001 season such as a pre-knee injury Chris Webber and Tim Duncan and Horace's contributions helped the Lakers go 15-1 in the 2001 Playoffs.
Powell only shows a jump shot that Horace had and the will to rebound. Other than Powell is no way even mentioning to Horace Grant. Even in NBA 2K9.
-KB Blitz
Posted by: Kobeblitz | March 07, 2009 at 11:32 PM
James
Good point, i believe that drew will not be the same so it is all on odom and the bench. Kobe n Paul will allways be there for us. But Paul n physical teams dont mix!
Posted by: omega | March 08, 2009 at 12:03 AM
From Blazers Edge
"Nate on the matchup with the Lakers: '[LA] has been talking about it, they talked about it all last night on that telecast. They know that we've beaten them up here so they'll be ready for the game. We go into this game, what I wanted us to do was have a good rhythm going into this game. I wanted us to basically play really sharp to go into that game. We get this game but we gotta play much better than we did tonight to get that game because they are looking forward to it and for us it's at home and we want to continue to protect home court' "
I'm telling you guys that the Blazers and the entire Northwest marked their calendars for Monday night. Even during the Blazers/Wolves game, the crowd cheered loudly when a fan was shown holding a "Beat LA" sign.
Posted by: never | March 08, 2009 at 03:11 AM
Watched a replay of the Wolves game with my son focused on Pau so he could see of how to defend his position. "He gets pushed right out of plays, Dad". Yeah, well it's Minnesota in March. "Kobe's playin' hard".
True.
The boy had one of the best games of the season.
Posted by: VMan | March 08, 2009 at 07:18 AM
Kb blitz. Good point about horace grant as being the better player. I totally agree. I'm actually hoping that Powell is the second coming of horace grant and lamar being the heir to pippen's throne as the propably the best 2nd fiddle in NBA history. But all that is wishful thinking. Both are definetly a poor mans version of pippen and grant. But if both lamar and powell show at least a portion of pippen and grants game, the title will surely be ours come june. Plus with drew "knock on wood" 100percent healthy before primetime, its actualy the lakers title to lose.
Posted by: Jc garcia | March 08, 2009 at 07:23 AM
KB Blitz,
To JC Garcia, you wrote:
Powell is noway comparable to Horace Grant. Horace was much bigger, much stronger, was able to box out his man more, more consistent scorer (He cou
Basketball-reference.com says:
Horace Junior Grant (The General)
Position: Forward-Center
Height: 6-10 Weight: 215 lbs.
Josh Powell
Position: Forward
Height: 6-9 Weight: 225 lbs.
JP's FT% is .737 HG's FT% is .692
JP's FG% is .467 HG's FG% was .462
at the age of 35 when he played for
the Lakers and .5* when he played
for Chicago.
Per 36 minutes HG avg'd 8.8 rebounds.
Per 36 minutes JP avg's 9.0
In other words, HG was not *MUCH*
bigger or stronger than JP. He was
not *MUCH* more of a consistent
scorer. He did play *MUCH* more
than JP.
I suggest that you do not have enough
statistical evidence for your comparison. Furthermore, I suggest
that if Powell played more minutes,
like HG, his FG% would go up and
possibly be better. I'm assuming that
there's a *some* correlation b/n
FT% and ability to shoot a mid-range
shot. If you'd like to say that C's have
the highest FG% based upon closeness
to the basket, I wouldn't argue that pt.
HG playing a F/C would cause his FG%
to go up based upon proximity to the
basket.
Perhaps if you stopped reading books
about people who don't play anymore
and stopped idolizing people who don't
play anymore you'd be more accurate
in your assessments. Just a thought.
Posted by: hobbitmage | March 08, 2009 at 08:20 AM
Mark Madsen dated Larry King's nanny?
http://tinyurl.com/bhfd4m
Trudell interviewed Madsen before Friday's game. It's not just a fluff piece. Mark actually has some insightful things to say about the Lakers. I think everyone remembers pundits picking the Lakers to win going into the Finals, but people forget that not many were picking them before that. Madsen characterized it as "overachieving" and I agree with him. Before the first round last year, I posted my prediction for the playoffs which was a deep run that would give the players some much needed playoff experience since most of them hadn't been through the wars before. I said I couldn't see them winning without Drew b/c Pau and LO were undersized at their respective positions IMO. Even though the entire team is much better this year, I still think that Pau and LO are too undersized. The great thing is, while Pau can get pushed around at the C position, he's a formidable PF. While LO gets beat up against physical PFs like Boozer and Garnett, he won't have to match-up with them as much once Drew is back and available.
Posted by: lakers_sth | March 08, 2009 at 09:41 AM
I would prefer these Lakers going to the playoffs than the Lakers I know in 06 & 07 with the same regulars of Walton, LO, Sasha, Farmar & Kobe. Therefore, the added new personnel added dynamism to the Lakers like Fisher, Gasol, Ariza, Powell, and lately, Mbenga. I think Shannon will be able to contribute while Morrison will remain as the 12th man. In retrospect, if we expect the Lakers to win it all, there has to be change of outlook on those old players. I still see inconsistency, jerky plays, fundamentals and lack of defense. They call committing fouls as their best defense. In fact, Walton was quoted saying as a team they're doing good defense not yet that great. yeah good D good only for the last quarter while the first three are about moonlighting and exchanging shots. In the last game with T'wolves, what a sight to see Walton, Lamar and Farmar going to the bench to watch the new brand of defense on Powell, Ariza, Brown and Mbenga with the big addition of Bynum- that's defense. Of course, these players are just role players who would not be playing regularly except for Ariza. Now we are confident that if the past "scrubs" do not work, Kobe, Fisher and Pau are not left alone, there are new backups to restart the engine. Bynum is the center of the storm that spells domination or a mere competitive team out there.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | March 08, 2009 at 10:01 AM
LakerinBC,
You mentioned J-Critt threat in the previous on Farmar that pushed him to improve, hopefully Shannon's shadow will make him a keeper. Fisher will not last long with this team, the most is another season as he fades to retirement faster than we envisioned. Farmar should be starting at this time while Fisher becomes the mentor on the bench, well what we see is that Farmar is not ready. His game is attuned to collegiate work of run n' gun, exhibition typed of games in entertaining fans as though he's one of the Harlem Globetrotters. Why not be a scientific player? Watch tapes and run comparison of what a PG is all about? A PG runs plays, attract guards in order to feed to the open man before he makes his own move. That's even done in collegiate b'ball. I say Farmar is imitating Kobe b/c he moves to the hoop first before he feeds to the open man. The problem is that he is not Kobe, but just a Farmar which means " quite far from kobe".
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | March 08, 2009 at 10:21 AM
"I suggest that you do not have enough
statistical evidence for your comparison."\
damn Hobbit i knew you were so much of a homer for the young Lakers but this takes the cake.
Horace played PF most of the time and was more of a jump shooting PF similar to Powell yet his FG% was up to 50%+. He didn't play center most times if you watch not only Bulls games but also Lakers game he played PF. Only in times where there was no center (ie. Shaq being suspended or injured) he was forced to play center.
You are out of you damn mind to even think that Powell could be compared to Horace Grant.
You probably are also in Rick Carlisle's bed and his absurd comparisons of Dirk Nowitkzi and Larry Bird
-KB Blitz
Posted by: Kobeblitz | March 08, 2009 at 10:25 AM
We complain, we criticize, we hope for better games ahead. It doesn't we trash all these old players to oblivion. We want them to realize their shortcomings and change for the better. Great teams always improve their games not contented with just winning like great movies come from several takes and attempts before coming up with the final version. The same with the Lakers, don't be contented with your FT%, just keep on improving on those freebies. Winning in the season does not mean anything if you cannot win it all in the playoffs. There are two competition in this league: the season and the playoffs. It is enough that we learned a hard lesson last year that we were the favored team and melted down in the end. I don't think we can use the absence of Bynum as a good excuse, it is more of the absence of a strong will to be a championship caliber and individually strong enough against those Celtic thugs. Our Lakers shouted and cried for fouls but lack the fortitude wither the storm and fought back. Therefore, if we want to win the Championship, it is not enough to win 65,68 or 70 games during the season, it has to be a complete enchilada from offense, defense, starter, bench mob, free throws and complete domination of the post. Until there is a parade in Figueroa, never be afraid of criticisms, always keep on improving, that's the mark of a Championship team.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | March 08, 2009 at 10:53 AM
Shannon Brown is good no doubt. I think he has the capability of starting in the NBA. As shown in the high school dunk contest, Brown was a big time prep star. I used to read Slam Magazine when I was in high school and they would always write about how great Shannon Brown was, even as a Junior if I recall. He then went on to Michigan State and then got drafted (second round right?) where he has had anything but a successful NBA career.
Judging by Browns early hype it's easy to say he is an overall failure, however I think the Lakers might have just scored. I don't think he will ever be Kobe but I think, given the opportunity, he can be a very good back up. He clearly knows/has the skills to be an above average NBA player however so some reason (who knows why? I haven't really followed him since reading about him in SLAM and maybe watching him a few times at MSU) he hasn't reached his potential.
I will definitely be rooting for Brown, it's clear he has way more potential then Morrison. If nothing else, Brown will give us something fun to watch during garbage time.
Lamar = Finals MVP
GO LAKERS
Posted by: mrbarneydangles | March 08, 2009 at 11:06 AM
If Starbury continues to provide good contributions from the bench in Boston, Laker fans will regret that LA did not go after him more actively despite his friendships w/Jeannie and Kobe. This is compounded by Farmar's inconsistent play, consistent weak defense, and his "Starbury" attitude problems.
Posted by: LakerinBC | March 08, 2009 at 11:14 AM
Good Morning Laker Peeps!
As a HUGE fan in Utah, I am so excited about this season and for Phil to get ring #10! One for each finger.
Question: The only thing my brother and I disagree on is whether Andrew Bynum will be back this year. I say yes, he will be back and will the the key for them in the playoffs. He thinks he's done for the year, considering what happened last year. What do you all think? I say he'll be back first of April. P.S. Shannon Brown has some hops.
Posted by: Lord of the Rings | March 08, 2009 at 11:14 AM
LOTR,
He'll back this year for sure. Last year's injury was more serious and while MCL tears are serious injuries, it isn't on the level as a dislocation of a knee cap.
He'll back either late this month or next month in time for the playoffs.
-KB Blitz
Posted by: Kobeblitz | March 08, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Shannon Brown has all the tools to be a quality NBA player. Now he has got to put in the work to improve his weaknesses. He has got to improve his shot and his ballhandling. The ball is in his court. From a business standpoint, the Lakers would love for him to do well. He is a player on a minimum contract and as such he would not do much to their salary cap. Shannon could morph into a Derek Fisher with hops if he puts in the work. It's up to him.
Posted by: bronxlakerfan | March 08, 2009 at 02:43 PM