The Official Los Angeles Lakers thread

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

Time off will be good for Bryant

Kobe Bryant was back at work, shrugging off the first three quarters of Friday's loss and peeking ahead into a quiet week in which he hoped to regain full strength in his right leg.

Bryant said his knee stiffened up on him during a 97-83 loss to the Detroit Pistons — he had only two points before scoring 17 in the fourth quarter — but the Lakers have four days between games after playing Memphis tonight. They won't play again until Friday against Toronto, the team Bryant hit for 81 points in January.

"Four days makes a great difference," said Bryant, who feels no pain in his surgically repaired knee. "It's just a strength issue. When I play, I want to be at maximum level, to be able to defend, to be able to kick it into sixth gear, and it's not strong enough to do that yet. It will be, though."

Bryant estimated his knee was at 70% its normal strength, but said it would probably be at 95% by Friday.

The team will not practice one of the four days, and Bryant will give his knee equal parts rest and rehabilitation, the latter consisting of weight training and manual-resistance exercises that will strengthen the leg and muscles surrounding the knee.

"It's about getting over that hump, and once you get over that hump, you're fine," Bryant said.

In the meantime, he indicated there might be more games where he was in single-digit scoring entering the fourth quarter.

"It's just a matter of just reading the flow of the game and trying to help us grow as a team and sticking to what we do, and then in the fourth quarter, taking it in my hands a little bit," he said. "I don't really sweat it too much. If I have games where I have four or two [points] or something like that and things are going well for us, I'm more than happy to stick with it. If it's not, and I've got to kick it up, I'll kick it up."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakerep12nov12,0,809404.story?coll=la-headlines-sports

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

  

Smush Parker was the talk of the town a year ago, an apparent find after averaging 17.8 points in the team's first four games.

He's off to a more frayed start this season, averaging 8.1 points and shooting 36.4% through seven games.

What gives?

"I have no idea," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "One of my coaches was saying that last year at this time, Smush had 10 dunks, eight steals, no turnovers through so many games. He's just not in the rhythm of the game right now.

"We just have to stay solid for a little bit and see how it plays out. It's too early to pull the plug on anything."

Parker, who had been with three teams in two NBA seasons before signing with the Lakers, had been used to playing during off-seasons, marketing his game to any and all teams as a free agent.

"Last year, I played summer league. I was playing ball all summer," he said. "This summer, I didn't play any ball. I couldn't find anywhere to play.   I was here half the summer by myself, working out, just doing individual work, so I didn't get a chance to run."

[wcsoldier]

^^^^ WTF  ... Back on the Grizzlies game, I liked our passing game, basically all players moving without the ball... our beginning of the season ( well, since last March but it's even more noticeable now) is drastically different from the 05-06 when all players were watching Kobe playin... Hope Smush gonna step it up though  ... AND Mo Evans is a very nice addition 
..

[Juronimo]

 

Smush Parker was the talk of the town a year ago, an apparent find after averaging 17.8 points in the team's first four games.

He's off to a more frayed start this season, averaging 8.1 points and shooting 36.4% through seven games.

What gives?

"I have no idea," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "One of my coaches was saying that last year at this time, Smush had 10 dunks, eight steals, no turnovers through so many games. He's just not in the rhythm of the game right now.

"We just have to stay solid for a little bit and see how it plays out. It's too early to pull the plug on anything."

Parker, who had been with three teams in two NBA seasons before signing with the Lakers, had been used to playing during off-seasons, marketing his game to any and all teams as a free agent.

"Last year, I played summer league. I was playing ball all summer," he said. "This summer, I didn't play any ball. I couldn't find anywhere to play.   I was here half the summer by myself, working out, just doing individual work, so I didn't get a chance to run."

I wonder what's wrong with Smush...

Last year at this point he was kicking ass, playing good D, scoring, finishing around the hoop. This year he hasn't done much of anything and his D has been lackadaisical. He did look better in the last game and he got 6 assists. Hopefully he can build on that, or else we're going to have serious issues at the PG spot. Farmar isn't ready to start yet so Smush needs to step up.

[Juronimo]

^^^^ WTF  ... Back on the Grizzlies game, I liked our passing game, basically all players moving without the ball... our beginning of the season ( well, since last March but it's even more noticeable now) is drastically different from the 05-06 when all players were watching Kobe playin... Hope Smush gonna step it up though  ... AND Mo Evans is a very nice addition 
..

Yeah, Mo Evans is much better than I thought he was. He's the type of player we need off the bench, Evans, Turiaf and Kwame will give us a very solid second unit. I wonder if the coaching staff has considered starting him at guard opposite of Kobe, what do you guys think of that?

[wcsoldier]

^^^^ That would mean droppin Luke from the starting 5... Luke is the perfect player for the triangle and is very good right now.. Mo brings energy , good D from the bench, I think it's a perfect role for him.. To be honest my only doubt is the PG postion...

[Juronimo]

^^^^ That would mean droppin Luke from the starting 5... Luke is the perfect player for the triangle and is very good right now.. Mo brings energy , good D from the bench, I think it's a perfect role for him.. To be honest my only doubt is the PG postion...

Kobe was basically the PG on Sunday, I was thinking replacing Smush with Mo Evans in the starting lineup, let Kobe initiate, and put Odom on the low block.

[wcsoldier]

^^^^ Why not, who would u use as a backup of Kobe in this situation ?

[GangstaBoogy]

^^^^ That would mean droppin Luke from the starting 5... Luke is the perfect player for the triangle and is very good right now.. Mo brings energy , good D from the bench, I think it's a perfect role for him.. To be honest my only doubt is the PG postion...

Kobe was basically the PG on Sunday, I was thinking replacing Smush with Mo Evans in the starting lineup, let Kobe initiate, and put Odom on the low block.

Kobe is always basically the PG. His playmaking ability is really underrated.

[wcsoldier]

^^^^^ Lamar initiated a lot last year...

[Don Jacob]

kobe's always been the silent point guard, but like you said lamar odom helps with that

if the lakers can develope farmar more he'll be the PG sure enough but as of right now we need a definate leader and distributor , who can play some good d. i'm not asking for a jason kidd or anything but it wouldn't hurt to get derek fisher back or someone with that type of strength and intensity

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^^^^ That would mean droppin Luke from the starting 5... Luke is the perfect player for the triangle and is very good right now.. Mo brings energy , good D from the bench, I think it's a perfect role for him.. To be honest my only doubt is the PG postion...

Kobe was basically the PG on Sunday, I was thinking replacing Smush with Mo Evans in the starting lineup, let Kobe initiate, and put Odom on the low block.

Woah! that would take way too much un-needed energy out of Kobe...You're better off putting Odom at point and Kobe at the 3 in that case...PeACe

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I also agree, Smush needs to drastically step it up...But he didn't mean that he hasn't played basketball AT ALL this season, he meant that last year he was playing orangized ball all summer with the summer league, training camp, etc. and this year he had no organized leagues to play in...Of course he still worked on his game and everything, just not in game situations...PeACe

[LAKERS_FAN89]

Kobe Bryant hit with a lawsuit
Body: A Memphis-area man claims Kobe Bryant deliberately hit him with an elbow during a Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Lakers game at the FedExForum on November 14, 2005. The suit asks for at least $75,000 in damages.


http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=b7216660-df3e-4433-9219-36e17d37659d

my thoughts what people will do for money fucken idiot if u ask me

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Sharing playing time becomes central issue
With Brown back from injury and Bynum playing well, the Lakers have two centers to put on the floor.

By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register

Lakers owner Jerry Buss' vision for his team's ascent to greatness is for Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and one of his two young centers - Kwame Brown or Andrew Bynum - to give the Lakers three star-quality players.

Before the season, Buss said: "So now you say, 'How far can Kwame come?' or 'Will Bynum be that missing ingredient?'"

Since both players are uncomfortable playing any position but center, that would seem to pit Brown and Bynum against each other not just for immediate court time, but for the long-term chance to excel next to Bryant and Odom.

But it doesn't appear that Brown or Bynum will let their egos get in the way. In Brown's season debut Sunday night, their support for each other was evident.

Brown began the game on the bench in light of Bynum's strong start this season, and when Bynum made a particularly nice move to score, Brown was the one Laker to leap off the bench in celebration. In the second half, when Brown got a dunk, Bynum was all smiles on the bench for several minutes.

Even though getting tangled up with Bynum in practice was what caused Brown to miss the first seven games, Brown has been supportive and helpful in Bynum's development. The Lakers hope Bynum's emergence doesn't cause Brown to cut back on his effort. Lakers coach Phil Jackson gave Brown a piece of paper to carry in the offseason to remind him that he should strive for 15 points and 10 rebounds per game this season.

That might not be possible if he's splitting time with Bynum, but Brown should still be more than a backup center who favors his shoulder all season and just gives the Lakers better pick-and-roll defense when he plays.

"I was a little scared to get it hit," Brown said of his shoulder after the game Sunday night.

Brown said the pain in his neck has abated, but soreness in his shoulder is something he'll have to accept this season. He said he can lift his arm over his head without pain, but he remains concerned about guarding players in the post using his right arm as a forearm bar.

Brown also has said he expects trouble at the foul line given his limited practice of late. And with 2:08 left in the third quarter, he missed his first two free-throw attempts - long on one and then so short on the next he barely reached the rim. Brown compounded his misses with a defensive three-second violation immediately thereafter.

"Some of the other things weren't so great," Jackson said with a chuckle, "but his movement looked fine."