The Official Los Angeles Lakers thread

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Teammates targeting Bynum for pranks
As his game matures, the center is getting ribbed because of his youth.

By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register

SAN DIEGO – Andrew Bynum had made 8 of 9 shots in a 16-point night and been on the floor with the rest of the starting Lakers to close out a 94-91 victory over the Phoenix Suns. Yet there he was after the game Sunday night, victimized by a regular prank by his older teammates.

Bynum, who turns 19 Friday, earned the nickname "Socks" as a rookie last season for showering in socks on occasions he forgot his shower sandals. And Sunday night, he again had the NBA-issued tube socks he'd worn in the game still on in the shower - but said it wasn't by choice.

"They take my shower shoes, man," Bynum said as he dressed in the locker room, with teammates Lamar Odom, Ronny Turiaf and Jordan Farmar roaring with laughter in the background. "And then they put 'em back (after the shower) - like I didn't see 'em."

Bynum proceeded to put his own athletic socks on without removing the game tape wrapped around his ankles to prevent sprains, slipping his dress shoes and drawing Farmar's notice.

"Drew!" Farmar yelled. "Go to college and learn how to cut your tape off!"

Bynum didn't offer any explanation as to why he'd want to take the bus ride from San Diego back to El Segundo with wet tape around his ankles. He just absorbed the heckling from Farmar, who actually is the rookie on the team this season.

"I'm younger than he is," Bynum explained.

For all the locker-room hijinks, the Lakers are hopeful that Bynum can play like a man for them in his second season - especially with centers Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm out for the start of the regular season.

The Lakers viewed Sunday night as a major test for Bynum, given it was the third game in four nights. Acting head coach Kurt Rambis said working hard and running hard haven't come naturally to Bynum so far.

"He's not used to doing those kinds of things," Rambis said. "It was OK for him in high school just to lope from one end of the floor to the other."

Bynum acknowledged he got tired in the first quarter Sunday night amid the fast pace played by Phoenix. The Lakers trailed, 25-15, when Turiaf replaced Bynum - then ran off a 7-0 run to end the first period.

But Bynum was able to bounce back - he credited Gatorade with re-energizing him - and had enough in his tank to get a hand on the ball and keep a key rebound alive in the final seconds. That helped secure a Lakers victory, even though on an earlier possession, Bynum had asked not to touch the ball when Sasha Vujacic was looking to feed him in the post.

Bynum made a strange throat-cutting gesture to tell Vujacic not to give him the ball. It prompted Kobe Bryant to poke some fun at Bynum once he came to the bench in the next timeout.

Rambis said he wanted to observe a tired Bynum going through the final minutes, and Bynum's tendency to hold the ball instead of moving it did bog down the triangle offense. But there also were times earlier in the game when he aggressively clapped his hands to demand the ball and got good position for easy shots.

Bynum also showed some growth from the first exhibition game, when Utah's Derek Fisher repeatedly took the ball away from Bynum as he brought the ball down low instead of holding it up high.

"He did some real good things," Rambis said.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

"Drew!" Farmar yelled. "Go to college and learn how to cut your tape off!"

Bynum didn't offer any explanation as to why he'd want to take the bus ride from San Diego back to El Segundo with wet tape around his ankles. He just absorbed the heckling from Farmar, who actually is the rookie on the team this season.

"I'm younger than he is," Bynum explained.

It doesn't matter, you have seniority over him. You should be hazing him, not the other way around.

But Bynum was able to bounce back - he credited Gatorade with re-energizing him - and had enough in his tank to get a hand on the ball and keep a key rebound alive in the final seconds. That helped secure a Lakers victory, even though on an earlier possession, Bynum had asked not to touch the ball when Sasha Vujacic was looking to feed him in the post.

I sence a gatorade endorsment in the works.

[Juronimo]

^^Yup...And you missed a GREAT one. Bynum's breakthrough game. he looked so damn dominant down there...FUCK anyone who claimed "Bynum will be a Theo Ratliff type player at best"...This kid is gunna be BIG. Did anyone see the foot-work? Holy shit, Bynum will easily be a 20-10 guy by the time his career is over...I've been waiting for a game like this, in which he keeps his head up, demands the ball, and showcases his dominance (like he did in the SPL)...PeACe

Hey it's ok, you can mention my name, I won't mind, it was me who said that.

Anyway, we'll see, he did look good out there, I'll give him that. We'll see how he along with all the other young players develop during the season.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^^Yup...And you missed a GREAT one. Bynum's breakthrough game. he looked so damn dominant down there...FUCK anyone who claimed "Bynum will be a Theo Ratliff type player at best"...This kid is gunna be BIG. Did anyone see the foot-work? Holy shit, Bynum will easily be a 20-10 guy by the time his career is over...I've been waiting for a game like this, in which he keeps his head up, demands the ball, and showcases his dominance (like he did in the SPL)...PeACe

Hey it's ok, you can mention my name, I won't mind, it was me who said that.

Anyway, we'll see, he did look good out there, I'll give him that. We'll see how he along with all the other young players develop during the season.

It's a shame to be a Laker fan and think like that...

[Juronimo]

^^Yup...And you missed a GREAT one. Bynum's breakthrough game. he looked so damn dominant down there...FUCK anyone who claimed "Bynum will be a Theo Ratliff type player at best"...This kid is gunna be BIG. Did anyone see the foot-work? Holy shit, Bynum will easily be a 20-10 guy by the time his career is over...I've been waiting for a game like this, in which he keeps his head up, demands the ball, and showcases his dominance (like he did in the SPL)...PeACe

Hey it's ok, you can mention my name, I won't mind, it was me who said that.

Anyway, we'll see, he did look good out there, I'll give him that. We'll see how he along with all the other young players develop during the season.

Nah, it's called not jumping the gun and comparing someone who's barely played and comparing them to "insert hall of famer/legend's name here", which happens too often. It's easy to overrate our own players, after all they're on our team and we want them to succeed.


It's a shame to be a Laker fan and think like that...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Yea...But our organization has HUGE expectations for this dude. To be a Laker fan and disregard him as nothing more than the "next Theo Ratliff at best" is pretty much disgraceful...PeACe

[Juronimo]

Yea...But our organization has HUGE expectations for this dude. To be a Laker fan and disregard him as nothing more than the "next Theo Ratliff at best" is pretty much disgraceful...PeACe

So if I don't think he's going to be the next Kareem or Shaq, that's a disgrace?

Come on man, you're smarter than that, besides I compared him to a guy that was 1st all NBA D a few years back.

I hope he does become the next Kareem, but the odds of that happening are extremely slim.

While we're at it, we might as well say that Kwame Brown will turn into Karl Malone and Sasha will become Reggie Miller and Smush will become Gary Payton.

It's one thing to support the players, as we should as fans and it's another thing to be completely unrealistic.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Yea...But our organization has HUGE expectations for this dude. To be a Laker fan and disregard him as nothing more than the "next Theo Ratliff at best" is pretty much disgraceful...PeACe

So if I don't think he's going to be the next Kareem or Shaq, that's a disgrace?

Come on man, you're smarter than that, besides I compared him to a guy that was 1st all NBA D a few years back.

I hope he does become the next Kareem, but the odds of that happening are extremely slim.

While we're at it, we might as well say that Kwame Brown will turn into Karl Malone and Sasha will become Reggie Miller and Smush will become Gary Payton.

It's one thing to support the players, as we should as fans and it's another thing to be completely unrealistic.

Naah, man, but you completely discredited him, saying he'd be lucky to be a Theo Ratliff type player...I personally don't think he's the next Kareem, Kareem was one of the best players to ever step foot on a basketball court, but I do think higher of him than "some guy who has a chance to be Theo Ratliff"...We would not put this much effort into developing a Theo Ratliff and that's for damn sure...PeACe

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

CMI SUNDAY: KOBE BRYANT

 
His basketball life has unfolded under the lights and cameras,, while providing plenty of action on and off the court. So what is it like to be Kobe Bryant? On Sunday's episode of CMI: THE CHRIS MYERS INTERVIEW, Myers talks with the Lakers' superstar about his journey from high school wunderkind to NBA veteran.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Several injuries keep Lakers trainer busy

By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
October 24, 2006

Gary Vitti has seen all the bumps, breaks and bruises in 23 years as the Lakers' trainer.

But he has never been through an exhibition season like this.

"Worst I've ever seen," Vitti said. "We've got all the little things, and that's normal, but we came into camp with preexisting conditions that aren't just going to go away."

Of the seven players that sat out Sunday's exhibition game, Kobe Bryant has not been through a full practice since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in mid-July and Chris Mihm has been sidelined since arthroscopic ankle surgery two weeks after Bryant's procedure.

Bryant is closer to returning than Mihm, but he probably won't play Thursday against Denver in the team's final exhibition, a team official said Monday.

Bryant is still expected to play in the season opener Tuesday against Phoenix. Mihm could be out another three to four weeks.

"Kobe said to me that his knee feels 10 times better than it did at the end of last season," Vitti said. "But he does have some discomfort. We don't want to keep pushing him into pain. We want to get it right now so that we're not behind the curve. We want to get ahead of the health curve."

Bryant does not feel pain when he runs in a straight line. His right knee, however, feels "ginger," to borrow Bryant's description, when he pushes off his right leg.

"Straight ahead, he's OK," Vitti said. "On one leg, if he gets into a lunge position, it's still weak. We'll get him there, though."

It will take Mihm longer to get there.

Mihm missed 24 of the Lakers' last 25 games after landing awkwardly on the foot of Seattle forward Rashard Lewis in the final minute of a mid-March game. Mihm, who had 20 points and 13 rebounds in that game, tore ligaments on both sides of his ankle.

"I've been in athletic training since 1980, and Chris Mihm has the worst ankle injury I've seen," Vitti said. "This is the kind of injury you don't see in basketball. You see it in a car accident."

Mihm felt pain during rehabilitation activities this month and stopped exercising for nine days. He resumed weight-bearing activity Monday but is still a ways from playing.

"We're three or four weeks away," Vitti said. "Let's say it takes a couple weeks to get him ramped up for practice. Then it takes him a couple weeks with practice. But it's an inexact science. It could be a week earlier or a week later."

Vitti compared Mihm's pain tolerance to that of former Lakers guard Derek Fisher.

"This kid is so tough that, like Fisher, they think it's normal for it to hurt," he said. "As you dig deeper, you realize they're in chronic pain. Chris is going to be fine. We just have to do a little bit more to get him to the same place."

Mihm and center Kwame Brown could return during a mid-November stretch in which the Lakers have four days of practice between a Nov. 12 game against Memphis and a Nov. 17 game against Toronto.

Brown, who filled in capably for Mihm last season, is out with a bruised rotator cuff and bursitis in his right shoulder. The Lakers will have played eight games without Mihm and Brown if they do not return until Nov. 17, leaving a heavy burden on Andrew Bynum and Ronny Turiaf.

Bynum has played well in the last three exhibition games, averaging 12.7 points and 5.3 rebounds while making 15 of 20 shots (75%). He turns 19 years old Friday.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Strong Ties Bond Cleamons With Jackson, Lakers

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, October 23, 2006
By BRODERICK TURNER
The Press-Enterprise
 
Jim Cleamons is back as an assistant coach with the Lakers after spending the past two seasons serving in the same capacity with the New Orleans Hornets.
 
Cleamons is no stranger to longtime Lakers fans. He was drafted by the team in 1971 and was a part of a Lakers team that set an NBA record with 33 consecutive victories and won the 1972 championship. Cleamons was an assistant coach with the Lakers from 1999 to 2004, when he helped the team win three consecutive NBA championships.

He joined the Hornets staff in 2004 and was an assistant under former Laker Byron Scott. Cleamons was a teammate of Lakers coach Phil Jackson with the New York Knicks and also served under Jackson with the Chicago Bulls from 1989 to 1996, where he was a part of four NBA championships. He was the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks for 1 ˝ seasons.

Q: Why did you return to the Lakers' coaching staff?

A: I enjoy the environment, and by the environment, I mean the work environment. I'm comfortable here. My family, after Hurricane Katrina, moved back to Southern California, and I tried to avoid moving them again this year. I was fortunate that this position opened up.

I think that as long as I've been in the league, I've looked at opportunities that can get you back into a winning state of mind and environment. I think there is talent on this basketball team and I welcome the opportunity to be a part of the youth movement, and hopefully they continue to grow.

Q: What will your role be?

A: I'm going to miss having Tex (Winter) here on a daily basis because I really enjoy learning basketball from Tex. But if he's just going to be a consultant, I look forward to the days of the month he's now a consultant. But I think with B (Brian) Shaw and Kurt (Rambis) and Frank (Hamblen), we've got a work history together. I look forward to growing and to have some continued input on things. I look forward to working with Craig Hodges and Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) as they go through their individual skills.

Q: You were a head coach with the Dallas Mavericks once. Do you still want to be a head coach in the NBA?

A: I welcome the opportunity to one day to have an opportunity to have my own basketball team. It's been 10 years since I've had the opportunity. I don't want to go into a situation where once again it dissipates so quickly if you don't have the success your general manager, your owner thinks that you should have. Not that there is ever a perfect situation, but I think some situations are obviously better than others.

I would like to be in a situation where you have an opportunity to enjoy the experience. This is a stressful business. When people put teams together, oftentimes the coach is the one who is expendable, because, due to financial concerns, sometimes you move a coach rather than move a player.

Q: You worked for the New Orleans Hornets and moved your family to Los Angeles during the Hurricane Katrina devastation. How did it affect you and your family?

A: It wasn't devastating to me from a personal point of view. But I was awestruck at the effect it had on a whole region of this country. I felt extremely fortunate and blessed that we were able to survive it.

During the whole ordeal, we had our family together. Looking at TV, CNN and other media outlets, you saw that people couldn't find their loved ones. You realize how fortunate that you were with your family. Our family was intact. I knew where they were. I was also very fortunate to live in a part of New Orleans that when the levees broke, the area was not flooded.

Through the whole Katrina ordeal, I'm happy to say that we came out relatively unscathed. The difficult part was being detached from my family. My two young kids were in Los Angeles, and we (the Hornets) ultimately ended up playing in Oklahoma City. The psychological part of being away from your home, from your quote, unquote "normal" routine, of basically playing all your games on the road, that's the one where you just have to suck it up and get it done. By in large, the experience in Oklahoma City was one of enjoyment.

Q: What's your relationship like with Lakers coach Phil Jackson?

A: I do consider him my boss, my immediate superior on the basketball staff. But I also view him as a friend. So he's not only a former teammate and colleague, but he's also a friend. All these years he's been one that's easy to work with.

When we were first hired in Chicago, I asked him what the duties were going to be because I didn't just want to be a scout. I wanted to have active participation of helping to build and mold a team. He's been true to his word every step of the way to allow me the opportunity to grow, to participate, to have a solid coaching background and to be hands-on on what we do here as an organization, which I truly appreciate.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

His right knee, however, feels "ginger," to borrow Bryant's description, when he pushes off his right leg.

WTF? 

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

I think Kobe is ready to go, all this shit about still recoring is bullshit...i think he just wants to debute his new # on opening day 

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Battle for LA

10:57 PM PDT on Monday, October 23, 2006
By GREGG PATTON
The Press-Enterprise
 
The Lakers are so beat up even their coach is nursing his way back.

The Clippers are in such good shape, coming off their best season since moving to Los Angeles in 1984, you wonder if cockiness might be an issue.

Such is the state of the two area NBA teams, a week away from the start of the regular season: The wounded Lakers are still in recovery mode after their championship era crashed, and the Clippers -- yes, the Clippers -- are heady with high self-esteem.

But it's a long season. Six months from now, it's likely these two will be fighting in the same tier for spots in the postseason, both somewhere in the 46-to-50 win range.

I like the Lakers' chances, as much as the Clippers'. Never mind Kobe Bryant's knee surgery, the twin casualties (Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm) in the middle, the assorted other nicks, and even Coach Phil Jackson's lost preseason due to hip surgery.

The pain will pass. And so will Kobe. Official prediction: Bryant loses five points off his 2005-06 scoring average and the Lakers will gain five wins, to a 50-32 season.

The new No. 24 -- new in multiple ways -- will still lead the league in shots taken, and likely win his second consecutive scoring title. But he won't succumb to the urge to overpower opponents from start to finish.

Not just because he said as much a couple of weeks ago. There was something about the way the Lakers finished up last spring -- 11 wins in their last 14 regular-season games, and their near-upset of Phoenix in that seven-game, first-round playoff series -- that looks promising for this team.

More promising than the acquisition of veteran three-point shooter Vladimir Radmanovic. More promising than the inspired exhibition play of top pick Jordan Farmar from UCLA. And more promising than the ongoing development of 19-year-old (on Friday) center Andrew Bynum.

The Lakers looked eerily team-like last spring for the first time since -- well, maybe even before Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant used their sheer, dominating talent to collect three NBA titles.

Whether it took them all of last year to figure out Jackson's triangle offense, or just to figure out their own strengths, it doesn't matter. NBA teams still rise or fall on the shoulders of superstar players, and there isn't a bigger one than Bryant. When basketball teams learn how to blend the star and the role players, they become dangerous. After two years of meandering, the Lakers should be formidable again -- once they all get out of the trainer's room.

"It hurts because we got a taste of how to play together last year," said Bryant recently, of the injuries that have plagued the team and kept him out of all seven exhibition games, so far. "But once we get everybody back, we should be able to build that rhythm again."

The sooner for the Lakers, the better, of course. NBA seasons routinely hang on the severity of the bumps and bruises.

"We hope everybody's getting hurt early so they don't get hurt late," said Brown, wishing for the one thing the Lakers can't control.

The Clippers, by contrast, are ready to go.

They won 47 games in their breakout season, made it to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time, and are even healthier than they were last year. For starters, they will meld Corey Maggette back into the talented rotation, after his injury-plagued 2005-06 season turned him into a maraschino cherry atop a crisply baked lasagna at season's end.

Conventional thinking says the Clippers -- with veteran point guard Sam Cassell cracking the whip again, and fully-matured All-Star Elton Brand peaking -- should keep rising as young players Chris Kaman and Shaun Livingston progress, too.

But a question: Will the Clippers respond to a second season of Cassell's brash leadership, or will his fire be less fresh and less effective? Opponents also are likely to take the Clips more seriously this year. They will not win just because they did once.

After one recent lackadaisical exhibition effort, Coach Mike Dunleavy seethed, surely sensing how an attitude shift can swamp the Clippers.

"This isn't make-believe, or something you just have to get through," said Dunleavy of the exhibition season, when asked about his own intensity. "This is to get you ready to get you into the playoffs. Nothing is going to get in the way of winning."

Said Brand: "He wants us paying attention to detail. His message is we're not good enough to take the preseason off."

Brand smiled, and added, "It's OK, coach, we understand."

Maggette acknowledged Dunleavy's concerns, too.

"He's trying to set an attitude, to get us on the right path," Maggette said. "We work on things in practice, then make mistakes in the game ... but it is just the preseason. It's like, calm down a little bit."

Only two games separated the Lakers and Clippers last year, and they may be twinned closely in the Pacific Division standings again.

If these two teams are truly rising, supremacy in the city might really -- finally -- mean something.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I think Kobe is ready to go, all this shit about still recoring is bullshit...i think he just wants to debute his new # on opening day 

I'm sure he's fully capable of playing, he just doesn't wanna risk anything for pre-season...