The Official Los Angeles Lakers thread

[LAKERS_FAN89]

Bryant followed up a 65-point game on March 16 with a 50-point performance against the Timberwolves on March 18.

NEW YORK, March 19, 2007 – The New Jersey Nets’ Jason Kidd and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryanttoday were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 12 through Sunday, March 18.

Kidd, who has recorded double-digit assists in four straight games, averaged 14.5 points, a league-best 12.8 assists, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 steals in helping lead New Jersey to a 3-1 record. He scored 18 points to go with 12 assists, six rebounds and four steals in a 112-108 win at New Orleans/Oklahoma City on March 13, and scored 23 points and dished out 13 assists in a 101-95 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on March 18.

Bryant averaged an NBA-high 46.7 points in helping guide the Lakers to a 2-1 record. He poured in 65 points along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 116-111 overtime win over Portland on March 16, and followed that up with 50 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 109-102 win over Minnesota on March 18. Bryant became the first Laker to score 50 or more points in back-to-back games since Elgin Baylor in 1962.

Here is a closer look at the week for Kidd and Bryant:

Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets
# March 12 at Memphis: Dished out 12 assists to go with eight points and eight rebounds in a 113-102 win over the Grizzlies.
# March 13 at New Orleans/Okla. City: Tallied 18 points, 12 assists, six rebounds and four steals in a 112-108 win over the Hornets.
# March 15 vs. Miami: Missed a triple-double by one point with 14 assists, 10 rebounds and nine points in a 93-86 loss to the Heat.
# March 18 vs. L.A. Clippers: Notched 23 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and six steals in a 101-95 win over the Clippers.

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
# Tallied 25 points, nine assists and five rebounds in 113-86 loss to the Nuggets.
# March 16 vs. Portland: Posted 65 points, seven rebounds and three assists in a 116-11 overtime win over the Trail Blazers.
# March 18 vs. Minnesota: Registered 50 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 109-102 win over the Timberwolves.

Other nominees for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Cleveland’s LeBron James and Drew Gooden, Denver’s Allen Iverson, Houston’s Tracy McGrady and Washington’s Gilbert Arenas.

[GangstaBoogy]

Gail Goodrich breaks down Kobe's 50 point performances and discusses where Kobe's place is among former Laker greats...

VIDEO

[Vegasmac25]

I like the way eveyone is playing but im still a bit worried about Kwame he looks fucking lost out there which im a bit worried.Good thing is we still have a few weeks and hopfully Kwame can get his shit together in time.

[LAKERS_FAN89]

hopefully we make 3 in a row

[LAKERS_FAN89]

http://www.nba.com/lakers/spanish/07fiestalakers.html

shit u know im going to my festa Lakers, gold rag u know

[LAKERS_FAN89]

Bryant Amongst the Scoring Elite
By Dave McMenamin





SECAUCUS, N.J., March 22, 2007 -- Kobe Bryant has a chance to become the greatest scorer the NBA has ever seen.

Let that marinate for a minute.

The G.O.A.T. of the NBA. Top of the totem pole. Best of the bunch.

Bryant has the opportunity to be better than Wilt with his 50-point single-season average. More accomplished than Kareem and his 38,387 total points. Even more prolific than MJ who dropped 63 points in the playoffs and caused another guy who wasn’t too shabby at scoring himself, Larry Bird, to say it was like playing against James Naismith, er, God, disguised as Michael Jordan.

He entered the league having not one measly collegiate point and could exit with more scoring feats than any player to ever lace them up.

How did it happen? How did a player who scored zero points in his NBA debut and who took 16 games as a pro to reach 80 career points end up scoring 81 in a single game?

How did a skinny guard out of a suburban Philadelphia high school that took 90 games to reach the 30-point plateau, end up scoring 30 points in a single quarter (just short of George Gervin’s record 33) against the Jazz this season?

From 7.6 points per game as a rookie, 15.4 as a sophomore, 19.9 in his third year, to a run of eight straight seasons of 22.5 per or more, Kobe has morphed into the most potent scorer in the league today.

It’s been a long time coming.

From No. 8 to No. 24. From adidas to Nike. From shorn head to mini 'fro back to shorn again.

Kobe has been getting buckets.

With two straight 50-point games heading into tonight’s matchup with Memphis, Bryant can become the first player since MJ in April of 1987 to go. The 115 points that the 6-6, 220-pound Bryant has scored over his last two games has propelled him past Carmelo Anthony for the league lead in scoring, but this spurt is hardly his first dominant stretch as a net filler.

In the season, while Shaquille O’Neal struggled with injury, Bryant scored 40 or more in nine straight games in February. Only two other players in the history of the league have had comparable 40-point streaks – Jordan with nine in 1986, and Chamberlain with two streaks of 14 in the season and as well as a run of 10 in ’62-63.

You could call all of last season an extended “spurt” as Mamba averaged 35.4 points (the eight highest scoring average of all time) as he dropped 27 40-plus point games, six 50-plus point games and had he been a composer his 62 points in three quarters would have been his Ride of the Valkyries and the 81-pointer was so beyond the realm of imagination, consider it his Sprach Zarathustra (the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey).

Bryant has scored 1,860 points this season, giving him 18,726 for his career. He started the season ranked 67th on the all-time list and has leapfrogged to 42nd, passing the likes of Dr. J, Rick Barry, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas in the process.

If he hits for his season average (30.0 ppg) over the last 14 games this year, he’ll catch Chet Walker, Scottie Pippen (barring a comeback), Dale Ellis and Reggie Theus as well.

If Bryant can hold off Anthony for the scoring title, it will be his second straight, joining him with George Mikan, Neil Johnston, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo, Gervin, Jordan, Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady as the only back-to-back scoring champs.

It’s about more than numbers though. The ultimate scorer is the guy who you want to have the ball in the last possession of the game.

The ultimate scorer is the guy that the other team doesn’t want to have the ball. The ultimate scorer is respected by his peers. Ask around the league, “Who is the hardest player to guard?” The answer is inevitably:

“Oh, you mean, besides Kobe?”

The ultimate scorer is the player who can elude a trap, split a double team, handle help-side defense and still get his shot off.

He is versatile, able to pull up for the three (Kobe is tied with Donyell Marshall for the record of 12 threes in a game) or take it to the tin and finish. Oh, and if he’s fouled he better be able to nail those freebies (career .837 shooter from the stripe).

He may never catch Kareem for the all-time lead, but it’s possible. Unlikely, but possible. All he has to do is hit his career average of 24.4 points per game over 70 games for the next 12 seasons to retire a few months shy of his 41st birthday with 39,000-plus in 2019.

He probably won’t retire in the top three in career-scoring average (Jordan – 30.12 ppg, Chamberlain 30.07 ppg, Iverson 28.0 ppg), but if you don’t count his first three seasons in the league – consider it his quasi college adjustment period – then his career average jumps to 28.1 ppg.

Wilt’s 100 points scored in Hershey, Pa. on March 2, 1962 might never be eclipsed, but then again, probably neither will Kobe’s 81 against Toronto on Jan. 22, 2006.

Couple that 81 with his 65 against Portland this season and checking out of the Dallas game up 62-61 on the Mavs last year, and Bryant becomes one of only four players with multiple 60-point games (Wilt – 32, Michael – four, Elgin Baylor – three).

Pile up the evidence - the three seasons with 30-point averages, the 16 career 50-point games, the thousands upon thousands of points.

The title of ultimate scorer might not ever rest upon one sole individual, but Kobe Bryant has assured that his name will be in the conversation.

http://www.nba.com/features/kobe_ultimatescorer_070322.html

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I want a blowout tonight...

[Vegasmac25]

fuck a blow out i just want a win.

[LAKERS_FAN89]

we are going to get a win and 2morrow

[Vegasmac25]

damn i couldnt ask for anything more after tonights game.Congrats Kobe on the 60pts and 3rd game in a row with at least 50pts only other players to do that are Wilt,Jordan and Baylor.Kobe is just fucking amazing.

[Halu Sination]

kobe with YET ANOTHER 60 point game.

even tho lakers only won by 2, this is the lakers i love to see. odom couldnt get surgery and was forced to play thru injury yet is still settin a good example for the rest of team. shammond hit some pretty big shots. and kwame has got to be one of the clutchest big man defenders in the league. i squirmed wen he got some clumsy turnovers but then he more than makes up for it with like... 5 consecutive defensive stops.

[LAKERS_FAN89]

once again we doing a big

L'UP

[rik]

3 in a row baby!

[GangstaBoogy]

What more can we say about number 24?

[LAKERS_FAN89]

Kobe Bryant scored 60 to lead the Lakers past the Grizzlies, 121-119, on Thursday. Bryant became the first NBA player to top the 50-point plateau in three straight games since Michael Jordan did so 20 years ago.