Have the Lakers Gotten Better?

Have the Los Angeles Lakers gotten any better so far in the off season? Well, first we must remember that the off season is not officially over here for a while and that the Lakers still have time, and a little bit of room to make some free agency moves. But, according to John Hollinger at ESPN.com, the Lakers appear to have been one of the 15 teams that have already gotten better this off season- provided they don’t do anything damaging in the next few weeks. The article was meant to determine if teams got better for the immediate season, not for the long haul, which is why you will find both Portland and Seattle in the “Not improved” section.

According the Hollinger, the Lakers have improved their roster by adding size and experience to a position that needed both last season. The one glaring weakness of the Lakers last year was their point guard, and the Lakers immediately got better with the addition of their first round draft pick, Javaris Crittenton, and an old vet named Derek Fisher.

To see this new, better roster, you can get Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 19, 2007 - Post a comment

Bryant to Report to USA Hoops Camp

Kobe Bryant is expected to report to the Team USA basketball minicamp this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bryant is considered to be the highlight of the team, which will include, potentially, this list of NBA stars and soon-to-be NBA stars: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Shane Battier, Kirk Hinrich, Chauncey Billups, Amare Stoudemire, Michael Redd, Kevin Durant, Jason Kidd, Mike Miller, Tyson Chandler, Tayshaun Prince, J.J. Redick and Deron Williams.

Of course, like a lot of the latest superstar USA basketball teams, this one looks like it has a lot of talent on paper. The question will be, will the USA be able to compete? There are a lot of excuses offered up every year for why the US fails to dominate the international basketball scene, but fans like myself are getting impatient with the results. Last year’s team, whose premier star was LeBron James, managed to (barely) get the bronze medal. Will Kobe’s game help or hurt the team? We will soon find out- that is, if Kobe decides to play. Of course, you can always count on seeing him play live by getting Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 18, 2007 - Post a comment

Lakers to Make Moves in Free Agency?

After the Lakers signed Derek Fisher last week and Luke Walton the week before, a lot of people are wondering if the Lakers will make any more free agency moves? Right now the situations in Los Angeles looks like it will not be conducive to the Lakers make any more acquisitions in the market. Being that Javaris Crittenton will have to be signed, and there’s not much cap room already, the Lakers look like they will be over the maximum allowable salary if they use all of their mid-level exception money.

But what do the Lakers really need? They might have a decent point guard in Crittenton, and Fisher will at least be adequate. Their big man is a young project, but it seems like they will have to get a center in a trade. So it looks like the shopping list for the Lakers has been reduced to one thing: satisfaction for Kobe.

To bad you can’t do that for a few million dollars. Oh well. You can at least buy Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com and make yourself happy for a night.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 17, 2007 - Post a comment

Psychoanalysis of Lakers-Kobe Drama

Bob Keisser of the Long Beach Press Telegram is taking a bit of a different angle on the whole Kobe-Lakers drama. For one, he sees the relationship between the Lakers and Kobe as similar to that of two people in a romantic relationship, like a marriage. If Kobe and the Lakers were married, would they need to be working out who gets the kids on the weekends, or should they be trying to work things out to save what they have?

Keisser also looks at things a little farther down the road than most of us have been looking. To date, there has been a lot of scuttlebutt about possible trades and maneuvering with Kobe and Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O’Neal and anybody else, that nobody has stopped to think about the future just a little down the road, two years from now when Kobe’s contract expires and he can just pack up and leave no matter what the Lakers try to do now to keep him. Suppose the Lakers get Kevin Garnett, suppose they get KG and a good point guard. Then what? Kobe will still likely want to leave anyways.

So then what is the point of trying to keep building around Kobe if Kobe is going to be gone soon anyways? Well, you can ponder that while you search StubHub.com for Los Angeles Lakers tickets.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 16, 2007 - Post a comment

D-Fish Returns to Lakers

Derek Fisher, a former Lakers guard who was released from the Utah Jazz recently, will more than likely be putting on a Lakers uniform again next season. His daughter is seeking medical treatment at a facility in Los Angeles, and according to all sources, the Lakers will sign the veteran point guard for three years and $14 million.

Mitch Kupchack, the Lakers GM, had this to say: “That position has been something that we identified as an area where we felt we needed to improve. Not a slight to Jordan [Farmar] and our drafted rookie [Javaris Crittenton], who’s just 19 years old, but at 19 and 20 years old with limited NBA experience, we’re not going to think that they’re going to be the ones that can lead the team next year. Having said that, without naming players that are out there, when we have additional information and we have an announcement, we’ll make that announcement. Right now, we’re not in that position, but we’re getting close.”

So it looks like Los Angeles Lakers tickets next season will get you a view at a rookie and a veteran, paired together in what should be a very cinematic back court. Check out StubHub.com for those tickets.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 13, 2007 - Post a comment

Now Kobe Won’t Say Anything

Kobe Bryant is all out of things to say about his past, present and future with the Los Angeles Lakers. In a recent interview outside of a Nike basketball camp that he is helping to run, Kobe refused to answer questions or respond to speculation that he wants to stay or go.

It seems like only yesterday that Kobe was spouting off to anybody who would listen that he either loved L.A. and wanted to remain there for the rest of his career, or that he desperately wanted a trade to another franchise. When asked about his situation yesterday, Kobe responded, “If you want, you can call Mitch (Kupchak) up, call those guys up and talk to them about it. I’m not going to beat a dead horse in the head anymore. Just because too much has been said already. I don’t want to get into it no more.”

Well, that might work for Kobe, but us here in the sports blog writing world need more interesting copy, and Kobe has been severely lacking in supplying us with any lately. Heck, we even had to cover the draft and the new players for a short while. But don’t expect the silent treatment to last forever, folks. Until Kobe wants to speak again, we can busy ourselves with checking out StubHub.com for more Los Angeles Lakers tickets.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 12, 2007 - Post a comment

Gasol to Remain on Plain in Spain

You might remember that the Los Angeles Lakers drafted a Spanish power forward/center named Marc Gasol, the younger brother of Pau Gasol. Well, apparently Marc Gasol is going to remain playing in Spain indefinitely. He currently plays for the league champion Akasvayu Girona, who would like to retain their star athlete if possible. Just listen to this quote by Marc Gasol:

“It’s in my best interests to continue at Girona due to their ambitious sporting project and the great atmosphere in the team. I want to work very hard and improve this coming year.”

What is that supposed to mean? In his best interest? It appears that the brothers Gasol have lost contact with each other, or the Spanish team is playing puppeteer with Marc Gasol’s mouth. Well, either way, the Lakers will benefit a little bit from this, as they will not have to pay Gasol for a while, yet still maintain the rights to this 22-year old player. Even though you won’t get to see Gasol play with Los Angeles Lakers tickets next year, you probably will in a few years.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 11, 2007 - Post a comment

New Lakers Guard Crittenton Impresses in Las Vegas

The Los Angeles Lakers are playing Summer League basketball in Las Vegas, Nevada right now. Several bubble players, new draft picks, journeymen and invitees are attempting to showcase what they can do to help the Lakers and, hopefully, earn a spot on the roster that leaves for the Lakers’ training camp in Hawaii.

One of the most impressive players so far in the Summer League games has been the newest addition to the team, point guard Javaris Crittenton from Georgia Tech. Crittenton was able to impress the assistant coach Briand Shaw with a game high 18 points in a contest against the Milwaukee Bucks a few days ago. Two of those game-high points came in the closing 1.7 seconds of play putting the Lakers up for good against he Bucks 66-64.

Said Crittenton afterwards, “It was a lot of fun out there for me. Me and my teammates have been working really hard, and it was nice to get off to a good start. Hopefully, I can build on this.” If you would like a chance to see Crittenton, who appears to have a starting or backup spot assured, you can get Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 10, 2007 - Post a comment

Kobe Makes the Tourney

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers has been included in the tournament designed to determine the “ultimate sports star.” ESPN’s “Who’s Now” interactive competition pits the most successful and buzz-worthy athletes against one another in a bracket-format tournament. Winners of each one-on-one match are chosen by a combination of fan voting and a celebrity jury. Kobe Bryant is a three seed in his eight-player regional bracket. His first match up is against the famous Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho.

Voting for Kobe’s first round competition has ended, and the results will be on Sports Center tonight. If he defeats Rony, he will move on to face Alex Rodriguez, who has just advanced after soundly beating Terrell Owens. One of the most surprising results of the tournament so far has been the incredibly narrow victory of LaDamian Tomlinson over David Beckham. What a sham! Based on the supposed criteria for this competition Beckham should have won outright before this thing even started. Even though American’s are relatively in the dark about Becks, if both of them walked into a mall here I doubt more people would recognize LT if he didn’t have a tinted face shield on at the time.

Even though this competition is fake, you can see Kobe in real life by getting Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 9, 2007 - Post a comment

Kobe Apologizes to Kupchack

Reports indicate that Kobe Bryant has apologized to Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak about the comments he made a few weeks ago. Kobe was heard on a secretly recorded tape message saying very derogatory things about Kupchack and reiterating that he would like to be traded to another team.

Bryant appears to have softened his stance a bit in recent days. In an interview after a sports camp he runs at Loyola Marymount the other day, Bryant gave a rather ambiguous answer to a question about whether he still felt the same way. Bryant said, “I haven’t thought about that in a long, long time. I’ve kind of stepped away from that. … We’ll just have to see where it goes.”

Everybody appreciates it when somebody realizes they were out of line and apologizes. This goes for plenty of people in Kobe’s wake: Shaq, Vanessa Bryant, Mitch Kupchack…. But will Los Angeles basketball fans be willing to forgive and forget when it comes to Kobe wanting to leave? If Kobe plays in L.A. next season, will fans of his basketball prowess be willing to give him a pass for such transgressions? Will they still flock to StubHub.com to get Los Angeles Lakers tickets? Only time will tell.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 6, 2007 - Post a comment


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