Exibition Win Over Golden State for the Lakers

The Lakers kicked off the season with a 118-101 exhibition win over Golden State, with Andrew Bynum having an impressive 24 points. Wednesday night (Oct. 7) at Honda Center the Lakers showed their opponents just why they are the defending champions of the NBA title. Last Saturday Bynum played in a scrimmage and last night he proved Phil Jackson’s decision to start him to be a smart one, with 20 points in the first half and four dunks from then on. Said Jackson after the game, “Drew will start. I think that’s important for him and I think it’s important for us to get that big front out there that makes teams have to take a double look.”

While it could easily be said that Bynum’s impressive night was against what the L.A. Times‘ calls “one of the league’s softest defenses,” it was nonetheless an improvement for Bynum, who only averaged 6.3 points in the playoffs last season. Bynum still wore a brace on his knees, having never fully recovered from a torn knee ligament suffered in January, but still appeared in better shape. Said Bynum, “I’ve got my legs back underneath me. I don’t get tired. Feelin’ good. I cam back in shape.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on October 8, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers’ Adam Morrison in the Last Year of His Contract

As reported by the L.A. Times, Lakers’ backup small forward Adam Morrison is entering his fourth year in the NBA and the last year of a contract worth $5.2 million. Thanks to the Lakers’ packed roster, Morrison is the third-string forward behind Luke Walton and newly acquired Laker Ron Artest. After the Lakers practice on Tuesday (Oct. 6) Morrison said, “It’s definitely a big year for me personally, as far as contract years always are.” Along with Shannon Brown, Morrison was acquired from the Charlotte Bobcats last season and played in only eight-regular season games, averaging 1.3 points in 5.5 minutes.

After suffering from a tron anterior cruciate ligament in his left  knee, Morrison didn’t play in the 2007-08 season and now has to prove why Charlotte selected the former Gonzaga star with the third overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft. Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson said of Morrison, “He has shot the ball very well. Liability wise [are his] defense and size at that small forward … [It] still remains an issue perhaps. But he’s really shown that he can shoot the shots and he’s been the best shooter we’ve had so far in camp.” This summer, Morrison played on the Lakers’ summer league in Las Vegas and improved his shot as well as worked out his legs. Remaining optimistic he said Tuesday, “I’m sure they’ll give me a chance. If they don’t, there’ll obviously be some reason I didn’t do what I need to do.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on October 7, 2009 - Post a comment

Derek Fisher Prepares for His 14th Season

Lakers’ point guard Derek Fisher is about to embark on his 14th season and the final year of his contract. Fisher helped the Lakers win the NBA championship last season by making two three-point shots in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, but just one month after the victory he was back at the gym, not wanting to let the Lakers’ 15th title stop him from working hard. Said Fisher, 35, after the Lakers’ practice on Monday (Oct. 5), “I’m definitely not shutting it down after this season.” Although he is well aware that teammates Jordan Farmar, 22, and Shannon Brown, 23, are waiting to push him out of starting position.

Fisher, who will make $5 million in the final year of his contract, revealed he is not near ready to contemplate retirement and Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson doesn’t either. Said Jackson, “I don’t see any reason why he can’t play past this season. I know that we all think that we can get away with the age, but age does have a tendency to level us out as we go along. But he’s done such a great job of keeping his whole physique and his training together, it’s awful hard to see any flaws in him right now.” Read the full article at LATimes.com.

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Permalink - Posted in General on October 6, 2009 - Post a comment

Luke Walton’s Playing Time to Be Cut with Addition of Ron Artest

Newly acquired Laker Ron Artest is known for liking to play heavy minutes, which means Luke Walton may see less playing time this season. After practice on Saturday (Oct. 3) Walton, who will play backup small forward behind Artest this season, said, “I want to play. There’s no way to tell right now until the season gets going. But I’m going to work my tail off to try and earn as many minutes as I can get.” Last season, Walton averaged 17.9 minutes in 65 games, 34 of which he was a starter. As for Artest, he avereaged 35.2 minutes a game last season while playing for the Houston Rockets.

Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson weighed in on the situation saying, “That affects Luke’s role. I talked to him a little bit about it before the season in recognition that some things have changed. But he still can play a number of positions for us. We know that Ron likes to play in the 30s [minutes]. We’ll see how it plays out, but Ron’s going to have big-minute nights.” Walton said as long as he can get on the court he’ll play anywhere, half joking, “Hey, I’ll play some one [point guard], Magic Johnson style. I’ll just back people all the way down the court.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on October 5, 2009 - Post a comment

Newlywed Lamar Odom at Training Camp

During media day on Tuesday (Sept. 29), Lakers forward Lamar Odom seemed uncomfortable when questioned about his marriage to reality star and socialite Khloe Kardashain on Sunday (Seot. 27), although he appared more relaxed when talking about the upcoming season. Odom turns 30 in November and revealed that he spent his summer working out at a West Los Angeles gym, taking up boxing. Said Odom, “If I can just turn my leg–Boom!–and knock you out with my right hand, I’ve got to be able to make a layup with my right hand,” before continuing to explain, “I needed something really combative. It made me think of defense. It was all footwork. It just made me think about competing at the highest level. It was one-on-one. I don’t get tired. I get my second wind easily.”

Although Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson said Odom is “in better shape than he’s been in before,” he joked, “I don’t give any attributes to boxing class.” Odom also quipped, “I’m just waiting for somebody to act up a little bit, one of these teams. I’m going to sneak on real close range to–bink!” before reiterating, “Naw, I would never fight on the court. But it brings something out of you that I can’t explain. Especially defensive, I wanted to become a better defender. Maybe because we were getting Ron [Artest], I want to be able to complement him defensively, Kobe [Bryant] and Pau [Gasol] and all those guys.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on October 2, 2009 - Post a comment

Free Agent Guard Thomas Kelati Signs with Lakers, Joining Gaffney, Monds, Gelebale and Fey

Yesterday (Sept. 30) the Los Angeles Lakers signed free-agent guard Thomas Kelati to a non-guaranteed contract. With the addition of Kelati, 6-foot-5, the Lakers’ roster is up to 18 players. Kelati played four years at Washington State and the kicked off his professional career in 2005 in Belgium. He played for Unicaja in Spain last season, averaging 11.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 22.5 minutes. Prior to his time in Spain, Kelati played in Polant for two seasons, during which he led his team to two Polish League appearances in a row.

The news of the addition of Kelati comes on the heels of the announcement on Monday (Sept. 28) that the Lakers signed forwards Tony Gaffney, David Monds, Mickael Gelebale and Michael Fey. Gaffney finished his senior year at UMASS and was recently a member of the 2009 Lakers summer league team. The 6-8 forward averaged 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in four games played with the summer league and was ranked 3rd in the nation in blocked shots. 6-9 forward Monds, out of Oklahoma State, was also a member of the Lakers 2009 summer league and spent last season playing in the NBA Development League, playing for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. 6-7 French forward Gelable wrapped up the 2008-09 season as a member of the Los Angeles D-Fenders, averaging 16.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in six games. Lastly, 7-0 forward Fey played four seasons at UCLA before spending the 2008-09 season playing for Al Shabab (United Arab Emirates).

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Permalink - Posted in General on October 1, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers Show Confidence on Media Day

Yesterday (Sept. 29) was the Los Angeles Lakers’ media day, and the team gathered at their training facility to talk about the upcoming season, showing they are confident in their ability to secure another NBA championship win. After beating the Orlando Magic in last season’s NBA Finals in June, the Lakers swapped small forward Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest, signing him a five-year, $33.9-million contract with the Lakers after he left the Houston Rockets. Said Laker Derek Fisher about the big move, “There’s also a good place for change in terms of a new hunger and enthusiasm and passion for winning that maybe sometimes after guys have won, it becomes more difficult to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. I think that’s where Ron is going to be the biggest asset for us is that I don’t think there will be a day this season where he will allow other people to take a day off because they’ve already won a championship before. That’s what he’s here.”

Said Kobe Bryant about the upcoming season, “We understand the challenge of winning another [title]. We have a chance here. We have the talent to win another one. If we don’t, it’s because of our lack of focus, or something else, or an injury here or there. That’s something that we want to try to avoid and try to defend our title.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 30, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers’ Training Camp Begins Tomorrow

The defending NBA champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, have their media day today (Sept. 29), begin training camp on Wednesday (Sept. 30) and will have their first exhibition game against Golden State in Anaheim on Oct. 7. The Los Angeles Times listed five things to watch as the Lakers open training camp and begin the road to opening night of the NBA season, when they host their hometown rivals the Clippers at Staples Center on Oct. 27. Not surprisingly, Ron Artest is the first variable, as he swapped places with fellow forward Trevor Ariza in signing a five-year contract with the Lakers (Ariza inked a similar deal with the Houston Rockets).

Center Andrew Bynum comes next, as his health seems to always be an issue. Last January Bynum suffered a torn knee ligament and sat out 32 games, averaging just 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in the playoffs (a stark contrast to his previous averages of 26.2 points, 14 rebounds and 3.2 blocks). After signing a four-year, $33-million contract to remain with the Lakers, Lamar Odom is back (and is the third variable listed by the Times). At number four is Kobe Bryant, or more specifically his age. Bryant, 31, will be entering his 14th season, which has some wondering if his age will begin to show. Lastly, the NBA hasn’t had a repeat champion since 2002 with the Lakers so everyone will be waiting to see what will happen this June.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 29, 2009 - Post a comment

Phil Jackson’s Meet and Greet

On Friday (September 25), Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson had a meet and greet with the press. Jackson’s talks with the media came before Tuesday’s official Media Day, and the Los Angeles Times reported on what he had to say. Jackson addressed the issue of the possibility of international players’ (like Pau Gasol, Sasha Vujacic and Pau Gasol) getting burnt out prior to the Lakers’ season saying, “My concern is not to overdo it. Jackson also joked about sending Gasol a text cautioning the Spaniard not to “expect to be coddled when he comes in” (Gasol was granted two weeks off to treat his injury).

While Doc Buss and Jackson have yet to officially discuss an extension of his career, Jackson said he didn’t want to be viewed as a “lame duck” coach in the meet and greet and also discussed bringing Ron Artest into the Lakers’ fold. Said Jackson of Artest, “He’ll have an important role.” Jackson did address Artest’s tendency to post clips of himself on YouTube and Tweet frequently, as well as Lamar Odom’s marriage to Khloe Kardashian over the weekend saying, “There’s a certain amount of privacy that we’ll have to demand from them, so that our business doesn’t become street business. These guys are professionals. They’ll understand that.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 28, 2009 - Post a comment

Los Angeles D-Fenders Coach Named

According to The Press-Telegram, Chucky Brown was named the coach of the Los Angeles D-Fenders on Monday (September 21). Brown served as assistant coach with the NBA Development League for its first three seasons and is set to succeed Dan Panaggio as coach of the D-Fenders; Panaggio served as the D-Fender’s coach for the first three seasons. In addition Brown, 41, was also an assistant coach with with Roanoke Dazzle of the NBA Development League  for two seasons and coached the Raleigh Knights of the World Basketball Association in 2004.

Chucky Brown played in the NBA from 1989 to 2002 for a record-tying 12 teams in the league, with the Los Angeles Lakers among them. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who owns the D-Fenders, said, “We think Chucky Brown has a bright future in coaching and are excited to have him as the next head coach of the Los Angeles D-Fenders.” During the 2008-2009 season, the D-Fenders were 19-31 and finished fifth in the six-team West Division.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 25, 2009 - Post a comment


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