Getting rid of Kwamay Brown was already a positive. Heck replacing him with Ronny Turiaf was still a positive.

Can't believe some people wanted Brown back this off-season. His best years are behind him. He has great athleticism but he had a fried egg of a mind that preventing him from being productive from wherever he went. He always fools us with his athleticism but his mind being 10x worst of Lamar's.

Agreed - those that wanted Kwame back may as well want Smush back as well. The net effect of getting rid of these guys even for nothing would have been positive... let alone actually swapping Gasol & Fisher for them

utzworld -

No we are not WORTHY...there is only one...

The great James Worthy #42...

MM,
I saw the headline about Minny taking full page ad saying they won't be contenders but did not read the story. What diss did they put on Rubio?

JustaLaker Fan - There's a link to the text of the ad in the post, but here it is http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/sports/timberwolves-full-page-ad-sept-13-2010. It's the last sentence of the letter.

Lone star Laker fan - Thanks for the kudos. Much appreciated

MM

WES -

Just got Shaolin Soccer...That will be tonight's movie for...the Wifey and I...

Wed nights are dinner and movie nights...at home...lights low...phones off...

We are going on our 17th year together...and I think nights like this go a long way...

You guys should try it...drugs, alcohol, candles, chocolates, strawberries, whip cream, should all be in stock...lol

JLF -

Fish makes it in the HOF...he will get his jersey retired on the rafters...

I think Fish deserves any accolades he gets...but I would like to see Michael Cooper get his deserved props...

You mentioned Kwame Brown but forgot Samaki Walker ;)

I am SO trying to catch up with the blog...

LakerTom:
The Making of a Beast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efsJwJxYEk

LOVED this vid! Thanks for sharing it.

- - -

John Hollinger: Sorry bud, once again your long-time Laker-hatred spills over in your writing. Do you HONESTLY think that Bynum/Gasol/Odom/Ratliff along with Kupchak and Phil Jackson are quaking in their boots at the thought that Eric Dampier (?!) might end up in Miami with the Heat?

Do you REALLY think that he's the piece that puts them over the top? Frankly, I think not, you just want to infer that the Lakers are fearing the Heat, and wrapped up that ridiculous 'tactical dilemma' you think up...

- - -

Jon K: Totally agree that the Lakers did great at their draft positions. They probably have 2 steals of the draft, judging by their Vegas Summer League play. Should be fun to see them both develop their games!

- - -

LEWSTRS: I'm with you, give D-Fish his jersey retirement, but give Michael Cooper his LONG OVERDUE props too!

- - -

Adam Morrison to the C's? What, they saw him wave a towel in his street duds on the bench, and it brought up M.L. Carr flashbacks to Ainge?

What beans must he have spilled, 'They run the triangle, Kobe's pretty good, I'm never goin on Jimmy Kimmel with them again...'

- - -

JustaLakerFan: "It was Hack-a-Shaq and now maybe should be Shaq-a-Hack. LOL"

I think that has gotta be the line of the year!

- - -

MM: Excellent rundown on preseason concerns for the upcoming season. Totally agree that the Lakers need to get out to a nice lead that will enable them to rest their starters down the stretch. Blake should finally give D-Fish the CAPABLE backup to take up some of his minutes.

Man, it's nice to have a solid backup at PG for the Lakers! Not since Ty Lue have they had such a solid backup.

LT and Lewstrs,
Here is another video I love and shows why many players don't drive in the paint when AB on patrol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TqIesBvbDU

I still remember Stephen A. Smith going off about Kwame Brown being traded away for Pau Gasol, "Kwah-meh Brown is GONE! The City of Angels should celebrate. Throw a parade already whether you win a championship or not! This man was a bona fide scrub. He can't play! No disrespect whatsover, but I'm sorry to tell everybody, the man cannot play the game of basketball. He has small hands he can't catch the ball, he's got bad feet he can't really move even though he's mobile, doesn't really know what's he's doing, doesn't have a post move that he puts to memory and he can do 2 times in a row, he has no game whatsover, plays no defense, doesn't have the heart, the passion , or anything that comes with it, and you're asking me whether LA gave up too much?!!! Please!!! The Los Angeles Lakers knew exactly what they were doing, they should be celebrating right now, and Kobe Bryant should not be saying a word about anything"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j9nsqv9m6M

I fell in 'love' with Stephen A Smith that day ;)

KB Blitz

As much as I admire PJ, I'm embarrassed to say that I have not read his books. In terms of his coaching philosophy, which one would you recommend first?

Posted by: KobeMVP888 | September 15, 2010 at 05:38 PM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More than a game by Jackson and Charely Rosen. That book handled his philosophy of making the right decisions and what made the triangle offense turn the Shaq-Kobe Lakers into a dynasty.

His infamous last book is also insightful to him in how he handled egos in the locker besides O'Neal's and Bryant's obvious discontent and why he made certain adjustments like starting Payton instead of Fisher (Fisher brought more energy off the bench than Gary could).

I don't agree on the "practice season". Yes the regular season is meant to bring up chemistry but last season in particular Jackson yanked the reserves more than he did in seasons past. The reason is he felt the reserves were making bad habits that plagued them in the 08-09 season where there quite a few games of blow/nearly blown big leads. So he put back the starters to win the game instead of letting the reserves show what they could do which paid off in the end because in spite of the injury situation the Lakers still got Home court through the WC.

As for the reserves argument, he gives them a chance to show off what they could do. If the reserves can play better in the regular season it is an added plus in the playoffs. Luke played decent as a reserve in his rookie year and he got time even in the 04 Finals where his 7 point 8 assist game changed the complexion of that game. IF they play consistently in the regular season they earn PJ's trusts in the playoffs. That's how Sasha got minutes in the 08 playoffs. He was outplaying Vlad Radmanovich and was there in crunch time.

Reason why Jordan Farmar never worked out in LA. Was given minutes during the regular season but never was consistent in them. Was given 18 minutes compared to Fisher's 27 minutes in the last 2 seasons.

Same reason Bynum got 28mpg (30mpg because it also included games when Gasol was out and increased his PT). Phil didn't give Bynum 36 mpg and "practice". He made sure they won the game to help get mpg by playing Gasol in the pivot more.

Seely_Iggy-

My favorite line from the SAS quote was "No disrespect whatsover, but I'm sorry to tell everybody, the man cannot play the game of basketball"

LOL.

I guess in all the hyperbole, Stevie forgot what disrespect meant.

KobeMVP888,

I'm hoping, as you are, that the Basketball Gods are going to be kind to Andrew from here on. I've felt that the poor guy was just snake bitten when it comes to injuries, and that given some extended injury-free run, he can reclaim his early '08 form. I really think he would've come back in the playoffs that year had he already signed his contract extension, but I put that on David Lee more than Andrew.

I don't need to rehash the scores of players who had some injury issues early on who went on to have outstanding careers later on. Or the ones who never fully recovered. Injuries happen, and when you're 7'1, 290, they're probably going to happen more often. Hopefully, as Andrew embarks upon his physical prime, they'll happen less frequently.

As for trading him, I really ask, for whom? Other than for one of a handful of untouchable, first-ballot future hall of fame players out there, I'll ride with the potential franchise center.

If a future injury happens, it's a reality the Laker nation will have to face. Injury can happen to any player. It really is a crap shoot. With that said, I'll roll with the guy who sucked it up for two straight playoffs and gave us his all. Had he not been there at all, who knows how things might have turned out?

Lewstrs,
Thanks for the props and sorry to hear about TrueFan. Council meeting sounds fun.

Hold on, hold on . . . . Fisher in the HOF? Come on, now - who suggested this?

Posted by: Otis | September 15, 2010 at 07:01 PM

------------
Otis,
I did as per opinion of hoops doctors.

See earlier comment on this thread. Better yet here it is as a repost.
---
Fisher HOF player?

The hoops doctors think so.

http://thehoopdoctors.com/online2/2010/09/could-the-hall-make-room-for-derek-fisher/

Posted by: JustaLakerFan | September 15, 2010 at 04:52 PM

Laker Truth,

If Bynum gets seriously hurt next year, the year after he becomes an expiring deal in a likely shortened or altogether canceled season. It's practically like he's in a contract year as he (and the douche agent of his), and will be looking to secure a contract extension prior to the renegotiating of the CBA. The FO weighed his injury history heavily when structuring a shorter term deal for him. The team is fairly protected and he'll be an expiring deal after next season, should the team exercise that option.

Does another Bynum injury seriously affect our repeat chances? Of course it does. It doesn't kill them though. With a very top-heavy eastern conference beating the crap out of each other for at least a couple of round, the Lakers have as good a shot as anyone at a Larry O. Bynum or no Bynum. I don't think his deal is a dynasty killer. It's nowhere near as bad as paying Luke Walton near 6 million to be the ugliest Laker Girl in history.

Regardless, I think this year, with the added core strength, conditioning, and experience, and additional team depth around him, he'll have the breakout year and healthy playoff run we've all been waiting for.

Otis: "Hold on, hold on . . . . Fisher in the HOF? Come on, now - who suggested this?"
-
I don't think even the die-hardiest Fish fan would consider him to be a true HOF candidate. However, if the Lakers did decide to retire his jersey, I'd be fine with that.

Yes, they only have honored HOF'ers with jersey retirements in the past, but Fisher has really been the soul of the Lakers for a number of years, and represented all that is good with the franchise, outside the success.

However, if the Lakers were to put his #2 up in the rafters, then they had better put Michael Coopers iconic #21 up there alongside Fish's.

Frankly, the Lakers should have already honored the player that was the finest frontcourt defender of his generation - possibly ever - with his number. Aside from spending his entire NBA career in L.A., he was a premiere 6th man, an excellent 3-pt shooter, helped create 'alley-oops' with his 'Coop-a-loop' and I think 'Coooooooop.....' probably still resonates throughout the Forum rafters.

You seem like a much more patient person that I am, so my question to you is - How long before you lose your patience and give up hope that Bynum can stay healthy for the playoffs? If Bynum gets hurt before the playoffs next year (making it FOUR years in a row), will you continue to invest your hopes on his health the following year? What if he gets injured the year after that? Before answering this question, please remember that if Bynum continues this trend of getting injured, the longer you stay patient, the less you will get in return for a trade, and this is precisely the reason why I feel we must trade Bynum next season if he gets hurt again, before he becomes as untradeable as Greg Oden with a $15 mil salary.

peace

Posted by: LAKER TRUTH | September 15, 2010 at 07:30 PM
========

LAKER TRUTH

It's a difficult question to answer. Sure, it's disheartening and frustrating when he goes down with an injury, but fortunately for us, we have two rings in the bank with him playing as our starting center in the playoffs, however hobbled he was. In both instances, Phil Jackson proclaimed that at some point he would be a factor and, while he wasn't the beast that you or I would have loved to see, his limited minutes against Dwight Howard and the Celtics' bigs allowed PJ to play his normal 4-5 rotation with Lamar coming off the bench. This is a formula that has been undeniably successful. The fact that he played through a knee injury that would have had many players his size down for the count showed his maturity as a player and a young man and, more important than that, the size of his heart. He KNEW we could not win in either 2009 or 2010 without him, so in that respect, while he may have played at significantly less than 100%, he did what was asked of him and we have back-to-back championships. I understand the opposing view, which is that he was a non-factor or that he hurt us, but I can't buy into that when at the end of the day, Lamar Odom was drilling a three pointer from the corner in '09 at the end of Game 5 against the Magic and playing superb switching man-to-man defense in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against Boston. At leas a small part of that was made possible because of Andrew Bynum's minutes in those games which enabled Lamar to be fresh.

As for the salary issues, as far as I am concerned that is none of my business. As I have stated previously, considering that he is one of very few talented 7' back to the basket centers in the NBA with soft hands, agility, championship experience, and a tremendous upside, I personally don't view his salary disproportionate to other big men in the NBA. They are all overpaid (and always have been since big salaries came into the league) and perhaps Dr. Buss is overpaying him by a few mil a year. Personally, I was bothered by the fact that they extended his contract in a year when he was going to be a restricted free agent, but Mitch Kupchak knows his craft much better than I do and I was glad to know we had him for an extended period of time regardless. I thought at the time that they should have made him earn it and, if he did, then they could have matched any offer made to him. And don't kid yourself, even with his history of injuries, someone would have taken their chances on him and possibly paid him more.

So I honestly don't know how to answer your question. He earns 13.8 mil this season, 15.2 mil in 2011-12 and then the Lakers hold a team option for 16.5 mil for him in 2012-13. If he suffers serious injuries next season, it probably will be difficult to get anything for him in a trade. The following year, 2012-13, that team option becomes an extremely valuable trade piece, notwithstanding the new CBA. To me, trading Andrew Bynum for anyone other than Dwight Howard is riskier than keeping him. And remember this. If you simply eliminate Bynum's contract from the payroll, the Lakers are still over the cap and into luxury tax territory.

I don't think my views are extreme. I think young Andrew has become an integral part of the Lakers chemistry which has now produced two championships. I think he has tremendous potential to be a true difference maker in this league. It would be a huge bonus if he developed into that beast. In the meantime, we have two championships in the bank!

What a ridiculously self-righteous post about a non-Faker related piece of news. Though I'm not surprised at all, coming from a Fakers fan. Thank god you guys just got man-handled by Mark Cuban and the Mavs. Can't wait for his latest shit-talking comments. Fuck the Fakers.