New 710 ESPN.com Lakers PodKast!!!
Ears receive the gift of manna from the heavens, because a new 710 ESPN.com Lakers PodKast has entered the Internet. And like them gum hawking twins, BK and I double our listener's pleasure with two installments of our voices. At no extra charge, I might add. Because we're givers.
Part I
-The Lakers arrive in L.A. after back-to-back OT roadie wins over Oklahoma City and Houston. Only bummer? Andrew Bynum's strained elbow, which will force him to miss tomorrow's game against Memphis. Hopefully, it's not an extended absence, if for no other reason than he and Pau Gasol need time together on the floor ASAP.
-Well, one more reason, too. The sooner Drew and Pau are the starting 4/5 duo, the sooner Lamar Odom can rejoin the second unit, which desperately misses his presence. Sixth man LO also likely means the quick end of a five man guard rotation, which PJ hinted wouldn't run much longer either way. We speculate who's most likely to find himself aced out.
-Who'da thunk it, but Sasha Vujacic may be half of the highest profile romance involving an NBA player. Does dating Maria Sharapova top Khlamar? And more importantly, is this a "Domino!" heard 'round the the Lakers locker room?
PART II
- BK and I talk with Slam Magazine/Slamonline.com's Lang Whitaker about who got the better end of the Artest-Ariza "swap," shoot down the ludricous "LeBron to the Lakers" scenario that's all the rage these days, and discuss the media's delicate covering of Delonte West's issues (detailed in wonderful form by Cleveland Scene's '64 And Counting blog)
-Move over, Antoine Walker, there's a new irresponsible spending sheriff in town. Once chief among my acting heroes, Nicolas Cage not only makes mostly crap movies these days, but spends his "crap movie" checks on ludicrous nonsense he neither needs nor apparently can afford. Like, say, a pair of islands. Or a pet octopus. Although if he knows a guy who sells shrunken heads in bulk, that might have saved him a few bucks.
AK
Nemaia,
Although I agree with you that it is silly to criticize Bynum for missing a couple games due to injury, you are not giving Kobe enough credit for his ability to play through injuries. He's played through much worse than finger injuries. Remember when Kobe sprained his right shoulder which forced Kobe to shoot most of his shots left handed for a while? If Kobe had a hyper extended elbow to his shooting arm, Kobe has the ability to play through it and use his left arm to shoot and pass. This is not a knock on Bynum as Kobe's ability to play through injuries is a pretty unique talent, but you seem to have a habit this season of unnecessarily knocking Kobe down to heap praise on Bynum.
Posted by: LAKER TRUTH | November 05, 2009 at 07:29 PM
Just catching up on today's threads. The Kelly Dwyer piece rawked. As for Cage, he's always been a rather peculiar fellow, maybe not on the level of say a Crispin Glover but still. As for Shmaria, that ought to be a real laid back romance.
Posted by: dave m | November 05, 2009 at 07:43 PM
LAKER TRUTH,
I see where you're coming from and in no way did I knock Kobe for playing through injury to praise Bynum. It's a matter of interpretation because if you read my post again I was simply making a point that it's difficult to extend your arm when the injury is further up your arm. I said that I give Kobe much props for playing through injury because he's a flat out stud and obviously has a high threshold for pain.
I do remember that Kobe played with an injured shoulder, but what you forgot to mention and again this is no slight to Kobe, but how did he do playing with one arm? He didn't do to well and decided to wait until his shoulder got better. I was simply stating to those on the blog that made light of Andrew's injury and that he should play through it and I qualified my statement by saying that it would be difficult for any one of us to go out and play if our shooting arm got whacked really hard causing hyperextension or a sprain. In my opinion I think it's unfair for some people to take shots at a player for being injured and he's just trying to be cautious with it.
It's no secret that I'm rooting for Bynum to become the next great Laker Center, but Kobe has always been my favorite Laker. I'd rather see Andrew be cautious and miss a game or two instead of playing and possibly making his injury worse resulting in missing more time which would really bring out the bashers on this blog.
The Lakers virtually won the title last year without much help at all from Bynum, but since all the other contenders improved their roster this year, we're going to need him more to repeat.
Posted by: Nemaia Faletogo | November 05, 2009 at 08:10 PM
Sign Jonathan Broxton NOW!
Just don't ask him to hold onto a 1 point lead with 10 seconds left on the clock...
Posted by: Scott | November 05, 2009 at 08:53 PM
Trade machine wants to make a deal--Adam Morrison for Ronny Turiaf.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine
We're going to have a lot of open roster spots in the next 2 years and I hope Mitch makes good decisions picking players. Sasha's gone, Morrison's gone, Farmar's gone, Fisher might stay for 2 million a year.
Hmmm.
BTW, I'm watching a great spaghetti western right now called Keoma: Once upon a Time in Italy. Great stuff. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk6Fmmm45Jg
Wes
Posted by: wesjoenixon | November 05, 2009 at 08:55 PM
puddle,
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Thank you for that intelligent spot on defense of Jordan Farmar. As a long time Farmar fan, even I have to confess to having forgotten how well Jordan is capable of playing. Phil and Tex recognized the impact that a true point guard could have on the Lakers even though they played the Triangle Offense. It was Tex who convinced Phil to go more up tempo to take advantage of Jordan’s skills. That is quite a compliment to a young player for the Lakers to actually change their game due to him.
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You hear so much cliché reasoning that says we don’t really need a true point guard since we run the Triangle Offense when the better and more intelligent issue is how much better we might be with a true point guard running the Triangle and turbo-charging our transition offense. And that is not even counting how important it is going to be down the road to have a point guard who can feed the post. I thought two years ago that Jordan might be that player. Then came last year’s disappointment.
So where did the train get derailed because I find myself cringing more than cheering when Jordan is on the floor the last few games. Here is my theory. I think getting abused on defense led to frustration that undermined Jordan’s confidence and his entire game. I also don’t think the problem was entirely Jordan’s fault because there really was no clearly set strategy last year as to how to play the pick and roll and hesitation is the kiss of death for the defense against a team that runs the PNR well.
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Phil’s philosophy on defense is similar to his philosophy on offense. Rather than set a specific strategy on how to play the pick and roll, such as how UCLA’s Ben Howland does by almost always trapping the ball handler, Phil prefers to let the players make the judgment, sort of a read and react strategy. Counting on players to make the right judgment on how to defend the pick and roll on the fly is tough, which is why the Lakers always seem to have problems with pick and rolls. Simpler is often better as Howland’s players know exactly what to do and act decisively. Do you see that with the Lakers?
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Anyway, I think there are good reasons for the Lakers to perhaps experiment with Farmar by even giving him a series of starts in place of Fisher to (1) see how he performs over a series of games working with the starters and (2) possibly showcase him to another team, if we decide he is never going to be good enough to be our starter. My hunch is that Jordan just might surprise us and play well enough to deserve a longer audition. One way or another, I think him coming in always looking over his shoulder is going to do nothing but turn a potential asset into an actual expiring contract.
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Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | November 05, 2009 at 09:06 PM
I notice with interest the reference to ESPN's 710 AM programming because for many of the 4 million of us in the Inland Empire the broadcasts at night are impossible to hear and there are no alternatives. What a wonderful way to sustain our interest...maybe some of their brass should drive out here and try to hear.
Posted by: Bud Weisbart | November 05, 2009 at 09:37 PM
Bud Weisbart.
Obviously, the Inland Empire reception is something BK and I have no control over, but we'll let the powers that be know of the problem. Maybe it's something they're not aware of. Hopefully, passing along the message helps.
AK
Posted by: Andrew and Brian Kamenetzky | November 05, 2009 at 09:42 PM
Sean Penn was right about Nicholas Cage loosing his mind after becoming a star. The guy made great movie after great movie until one day he turned his back on a serious study of his craft and started taking TV dinner roles. He was offered the role in The Wrestler and was too lazy to bulk up.
But Adaptation/ Leaving Las Vegas are pretty amazing displays of talent.
Wes
Posted by: wesjoenixon | November 05, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Nemaia,
Seems everything upsets you. Which part of what I said wasn't true? That he had 3 rebounds just like Dfish? That passing seems to be unknown to him? That he's injured again? That PJ wants him more active in defense that offense? That I agreed to your suggestion we talk after 20 games? That while I root for Drew, he's not TODAY the best LA center (that I believe is Gasol)? That Drew can't even outrebound LO much less DHoward in any scenario? That like LT I hope that Drew becomes the next great center but I would rather go NOW with Gasol's mad skills that Drew's potential?
Tell you what, I'll start now you start 2 years from now when Drew reaches his potential then I'll nod to anything you say.
Posted by: p ang | November 05, 2009 at 11:02 PM
Are you saying "Con Air" and "The Rock" aren't great movies?
Posted by: exhelodrvr | November 05, 2009 at 11:02 PM
ANDREW WILL BE MISSED.. GET WELL AND SPEEDY RECOVERY!!
Posted by: lakerfan | November 05, 2009 at 11:25 PM
Here is the trade we should make: Morrison and Farmar for Stephen Jackson. He is the only good player available.
Then in the offseason flip Odom and Bynum for Lebron to reignite the team. We already have SJax to take Odom's spot. Lakers will need a new backup/starting C though. Sign Shaq. Re-sign Brown. Sign Marbury to keep Phil interested.
So it will be Shaq, Pau, Lebron, Kobe, Artest. Marbury, Brown, Powell, Walton, Jackson 6th man. Kobe runs point. Artest and Lebron switch between the 2, 3, and 4 positions. First undefeated team ever.
Posted by: KobeMVP | November 06, 2009 at 03:02 AM
wesjoe - keep dreaming
KobeMVP - that was too funny. Yes, Don Nelson will bite on that one. Why not trade for Iverson, too? Then you can have the all-nutbag team of AI, Captain Jack, Ron Ron and Mr. Khardashian all on the floor at the same time.
What larks!!!!
Posted by: Giant Green Bald-Headed Lunatic | November 06, 2009 at 08:13 AM
Ex,
Don't forget "Face Off"
Posted by: ChicNstu | November 06, 2009 at 08:29 AM
My girlfriend gets mad at me for reading your blog on my laptop in the bathroom. She says its gross.
:(
Posted by: Jesse | November 06, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Jesse,
"My girlfriend gets mad at me for reading your blog on my laptop in the bathroom"
I'll bet that is what the Celtics fans are doing, too! That would explain the quality of their posts.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | November 06, 2009 at 01:42 PM
Exhelodrvr:
I am not sure whether or not that is a rip on my post, but I would like to say it was relevant to the podcast, as the K-bros speak at length about reading laptops in the bathroom.
Plus, I don't think bathroom time is the result of bad posts, I think great thinking gets done in there. Rick Barry came up with the song "Louie, Louie" in the... Lou. That wasn't initially supposed to be a pun.
Posted by: Jesse | November 07, 2009 at 10:38 PM