Live from Staples: Lakers vs. Hornets
It's a different Hornets team without Chris Paul, no question. For one thing, GM/coach Jeff Bower is giving much more burn to a rookie backcourt of Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton than Byron Scott ever did. Neither makes up for CP3, but it's unquestionably a more vibrant combination than Browns Bobby and Devin. But as it was the first time these teams met, New Orleans will suffer up front, particularly now that the Lakers again have Pau Gasol at their disposal. Emeka Okafor is an undersized center, one that Andrew Bynum can handle, and the Lakers have the length to bother David West on both ends.
Even with Gasol in the lineup, Phil Jackson expects Kobe Bryant to do plenty of damage in the post tonight, just as he did a few weeks back. "He'll get there by hook or by crook," PJ said with a smile. Frankly, as long as the ball gets down there, I don't really care who takes the shots. The easiest way for the Lakers to keep this game competitive would be to allow the Hornets to get out and run, scoring in transition.
Shots near the hoop help keep that from happening.
Chat box below.
BK
Lovely game chat. Thanx everybody for being so great to be with :)
Posted by: ZairaAmaterasu | December 01, 2009 at 09:58 PM
No hard feelings blog fam. I just said what I felt I needed to say.
Go Lakers!
Posted by: Faith | December 01, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Now that the high stakes drama of whether the Staples crowd would get their tacos, a bigger one may soon be confronting those of us who populate this blog.
ESPN will be launching its own LA sports web site on December 21.
http://bit.ly/7JbohL
With the K-Bros ties to ESPN Radio 710 here and ESPN the Magazine, will the K-Bros be taking this act from LATimes.com to the new ESPN web site?
AK and BK, I'm not counting on you to comment on this post, as you possibly can't. But as a media junkie, I find this very intriguing.
Posted by: Rick Friedman | December 01, 2009 at 10:29 PM
It's clear that many of you here hate the Tiger Woods story, but it's apparently far from over. MSNBC's "Scoop" reporter Courtney Hazlett, who is very well sourced, has a post suggesting that Tiger's bumpy ride is only just beginning.
http://bit.ly/4Y1n11
Apparently, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas for only so long. Womanizing athletes are nothing new. In the world of basketball, both Wilt and Michael became legendary for what they did both on and off the court. Now Tiger Woods, whose image has been packaged like a P&G soap product, seems about to take a media cold shower.
Posted by: Rick Friedman | December 01, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Lakers and Celtics have the best records in the NBA - all is well with the world.
Posted by: Otis | December 01, 2009 at 11:09 PM
Whenever I watch a unit of all 5 Laker bench players on the floor, I get the distinct impression that they are hurrying up the game too much. As if they are out of control, and the game is going too fast for them.
Such a huge contrast with the starting five or even whenever there are at least 2 starters on the floor.
Even Farmar plays very differently whenever he's with the starters. Much more under control and playing real defense.
But the garbage time unit really plays like garbage. Ugly ugly basketball.
Posted by: LakerinBC | December 01, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Eh, I could do without the Celtics having a good record.
Posted by: ladlal | December 02, 2009 at 12:53 AM
If i wanted to be updated about Tiger Woods problem I would go to his web site. Lets keep it Laker Nation News. Thanks
Posted by: the candy man | December 02, 2009 at 05:22 AM