The Official Los Angeles Lakers thread

[Styles1]

He's a combination of both.... at full strength.

[Halu Sination]

Kwame Brown apologized to teammates after his turnover-filled debacle that drew a series of boos in the Lakers' loss Thursday against Phoenix.

Brown, speaking to reporters Saturday for the first time since the Lakers' one-sided 106-98 loss to the Suns, acknowledged going "into a shell" after hearing fans' reactions to his struggles.

He had seven turnovers, four as the booing escalated in the third quarter, and missed numerous shots from close range, including a dunk, two layups and a hook shot. He finished with eight points and six rebounds and did not play in the fourth quarter.

"I apologized to Kobe [Bryant] and my teammates," Brown said. "They tried to pick me up and I just kept making turnovers and playing hot potato with the ball. There's no excuse for the dunks that I missed. I've just got to get up and finish them. The explosion is not there like it used to be. If I can't dunk it, I've got to make the layup at least. There's no excuse for that."

Brown, 25, is in the last season of a three-year contract worth $24.9 million and sat out 19 games because of a sprained left knee and ankle. He has been back for 10 games and has averaged nine points, eight rebounds and 4.5 turnovers in the two games since Andrew Bynum's knee injury.

It was extremely rare to hear Lakers fans boo a player from the team they follow.

"I'm just real disappointed in myself for reacting to it the way I did," Brown said. "Fans are going to be fans, but my top priority is my teammates and my coaches. I kind of went into a shell a little bit and didn't carry the threat of a shot even when they kept giving it to me. I'll take the blame for that. The confidence wasn't there."

Brown said he was initially confused by the crowd's reaction.

"I actually didn't start off too bad," he said. "I missed my first jump shot and they started booing from there, which was a little weird. I guess they're still panicking from the reaction of losing Andrew. It was an unfortunate situation because we definitely were in that ballgame and came back."

Numerous teammates came to Brown's defense, including Bryant, who said fans could stay home if they wanted to boo Brown.

Brown arrived early for Saturday's short practice and worked on his post moves with special assistant coach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He also spoke briefly with Coach Phil Jackson.

"I just mentioned the fact that I was not surprised how supportive his teammates were," Jackson said. "We know how well he can play. It's a difficult atmosphere and we expect him to come back and play well on Monday."

The Lakers play Denver that night at Staples Center. The Nuggets' center is Marcus Camby, last season's NBA defensive player of the year.

"Next game, I'm going to still come out and try to pass the ball and move the ball around, but I've definitely got to be more active, punch one in and whatever move I make -- make or miss -- I'm going to be aggressive with it," Brown said.

Jackson expressed disappointment at the Lakers' overall effort against the Suns. The Lakers never led and trailed by as many as 20 points.

"The last two big games that we've had, which was Phoenix and Boston, both of them we laid eggs in," Jackson said. "That was disappointing to me that we didn't match either team in the intensity that we had to bring in those two games. That's indicative of something."

The Lakers lost to Boston, 110-91, on Dec. 30.

if theres one good thing that came outta this loss is that kwame is FINALLY practicin with kareem

[Styles1]

He man'ed up to it and went out to practice with the greatest scrorer in NBA history... I can dig that. Acknowledge you stunk, shake it off with a hard practice and come back the best you can the next game... 

[wcsoldier]

A long and very interesting article on Kwame back in 2002 ... didnt know his father was serving a life sentence and 2 of his brothers got major trouble with the law too

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112800709_5.html

[GangstaBoogy]

If he's gonna use the boos as motivation then I got nothin but respect for him.

[GangstaBoogy]

Ariza Breaks Foot At Practice

The L.A. Lakers received some bad news on Sunday after forward Trevor Ariza was diagnosed with fractured bone in his right foot, the Los Angeles Times are reporting.

Ariza apparently came down on Lamar Odom's foot during practice.

"He got tangled up with Lamar," Coach Phil Jackson said a few minutes after Ariza left practice for X-rays at Centinela Hospital Medical Center.

Nice going Odumb. First Bynum, now Ariza. Who are you gonna injure next, Phil Jackson?

[Styles1]

*$#%@! 

[7even]

Wow Odom is becoming a unique kind of cancer on this team.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Damn...Odom is cursed. I bet Ariza and Bynum will be back around the same time.

[Styles1]

Why can't that fucker injure the opponents? Not that I wish injury on anybody, but damn.... 

[wcsoldier]

Its 2006-2007 all over again ... with shorter rotations now I fear more injuries ... we need a BIG , Vlad and Mihm back ASAP

[Hatesrats™]

 

[SO PRUP]

it wasnt odom they changed the story to fisher

Lakers' Ariza goes out with a broken foot

He is injured after coming down on Fisher's foot at practice. A timetable for his return will be determined after he meets with specialist.
By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 21, 2008
As if the Lakers needed this to happen.

Forward Trevor Ariza was diagnosed with a fractured bone in his right foot after hurting it Sunday at practice.
 
Ariza will see foot specialist Kenneth Jung today, at which point a timetable for his return will be determined.

It was unclear exactly how Ariza injured the fourth metatarsal in his foot, but he apparently came down on Derek Fisher's foot, according to a Lakers official.

Ariza, who was taken to Centinela Hospital Medical Center for X-rays, became a fixture on the Lakers' second unit after being acquired from Orlando in November.

He was averaging 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18 minutes a game.

Ariza, who also started three games, had been an active defender for the Lakers, who like his length and speed.

The Lakers are without Andrew Bynum for at least seven more weeks and Chris Mihm for at least another week, although it will probably be longer than that until he returns.

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said Kwame Brown would not be excluded from the offense tonight against the Nuggets, even though Denver center Marcus Camby was last season's NBA defensive player of the year.

Camby leads the league with 3.95 blocked shots a game and is second in rebounding with 14.3 a game.

"It's not about his one-on-one defense. It's his team defense that Camby's renowned for," Jackson said. "We're definitely going to go in to Kwame against Camby. His size and his power against him is obviously a strength that we have."

Brown had seven turnovers Thursday against Phoenix, four in the third quarter as fans began to heavily boo him.

He missed numerous shots from close range, including a dunk, two layups and a hook shot. He finished with eight points and six rebounds and did not play in the fourth quarter.

Jackson thought the Lakers looked fatigued against Phoenix, so he eased up on their practice routine over the weekend.

The Lakers did not practice Friday, had a brief practice Saturday and a slightly longer one Sunday.

Jackson said he was trying to "get these guys rejuvenated, get their legs live again. That's a big part of it."

[7even]

^Probably due to the online death threats Odom received.

[Doggystylin]

I bet it actually was Odom, how can you get those 2 mixed up.