March 2008 Archives

No practice today.
Good day to do taxes, laundry, re-connect with the family, walk the dog, look at what's left for the Lakers. ... Eight games remaining. ... Probably can't win 'em all, but might need to in order to win the West.
Here's a closer look:
Portland, Wednesday at Staples (Gasol might return).
Dallas, Friday at Staples (Mavs not the same since Kidd trade).
Sacramento, Sunday at Arco Arena (Kings sure to be in spoiler mode).
Portland, April 8 at Rose Garden (Blazers always tough at home).
Clippers, April 10 at Staples (Lakers go for Hallway Series sweep).
New Orleans, April 11 at Staples (Paul/West/Chandler formidable trio).
San Antonio, April 13 at Staples (Spurs playing like champs again).
Sacramento, April 15 at Staples (Chance to rest Bryant, Fisher and Odom?)
Playoffs start either April 19 or 20. Probably the 20th for the Lakers since ABC will want them for their Sunday afternoon national telecast.

With Kobe Bryant nursing a damaged right pinkie that will need surgery after he's won the gold medal with Team USA at the Beijing Olympics and Derek Fisher trying to play with a partially torn tendon in his right foot, the Lakers' backcourt suddenly looks fragile.
Bryant and Fisher are hurting just as the team's 7-footers are starting to return.
Chris Mihm played five minutes-plus in Friday's loss to the Grizzlies and Pau Gasol might play Sunday against the Wizards, although Wednesday against the Blazers might be a better guess. Andrew Bynum might be back before the end of the regular season.
Trouble is, this team hasn't been 100 percent healthy at any time this season. It could prove costly down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Pau Gasol practiced for the first time since spraining his left ankle March 14. He wasn't sure if he would play Sunday against the Wizards of Washington.
His post-practice comments:
"Well, I went out there and I tried to move around and go up and down and just try to do some basketball moves. Some felt good and some didn't feel that good. ... It was a first step. I'm still pretty sore. I don't know. I'm still doubtful (for the Washington game)."
Of his conidtioning, or lack thereof, he said:
"It's been better."
Of sitting out for eight games, including Friday's defeat against Memphis, his old team, he said:
"It hurt (to watch) against Charlotte. It hurt even more against Memphis. Just because it's two games we definitely should have won. We've got to take care of our home court no matter what, but especially against teams we should beat."

Phil Jackson shared a few thoughts after Thursday's practice on the Lakers' lackluster play at home of late. He put some of the blame on Staples Center, which wasn't the first time he's taken a few shots at the dark and uninviting downtown arena. Recently, he said the Lakers don't have an advantage at home because they share the building with the Clippers and opponents have grown comfortable playing there.
Anyway, here's Jackson's rant:
"We have a terrific road record (25-13). I'm not pleased with our home record (24-10) at all. It could just be Staples itself. The building, the familiarity, the way you have to drive there -- all those kinds of things. Guys are tired of going down there and playing. It's a dingy, dirty kind of place. I think there's methane gas or something in the building."

Pau Gasol had his first significant workout since spraining his left ankle in the early moments of the Lakers' loss March 14 against New Orleans.
He shot baskets after practice and worked on a few moves with assistant coach Kurt Rambis acting as a defender and with athletic trainer Gary Vitti keeping a close watch on the workout.
Gasol's post-workout comments:
"It's the first day I could do some stuff on the court. It's a big step forward because I felt pretty good. I was pretty sore on some moves, but I kind of expected that. I have to go through a full practice (before deciding whether to play). I'll wait until Saturday to go through a full practice."
Gasol said Wednesday he would probably wait until next Wednesday's game against Portland to make his return, and that still might be the best-case scenario. How well he recovers from his workout will probably determine the next move.
The Lakers have to balance Gasol's need for a slow, steady and certain recovery and their need for a versatile 7-foot center down the stretch.

Kobe Bryant had nothing to say about his ejection from the Lakers' loss Wednesday to Charlotte. He left the El Segundo practice facility without speaking to reporters. He also didn't talk after the game.
He has a league-leading 15 technical fouls this season. One more and he'll have to serve a one-game suspension.
Phil Jackson didn't have much to say either, but he did offer a mild defense of Bryant, who was ejected from a game for the second time in as many months. Jackson defended Bryant's routine of passing the ball to referees by kicking it over to them soccer-style.
"He did not intentionally or to any degree think in any way that he was going to get that last technical," Jackson told reporters. "He's kind of punted the ball over to the referees for about the last week and a half. This one, the referee just wasn't going to take it."

In case you'd already turned off the Lakers' disappointing loss to the Bobcats tonight, Kobe Bryant picked up his 14th and 15th technical fouls near the end of the game. You know what that means.... One more technical and Bryant will be suspended for a game.

Pau Gasol said before tonight's game against Charlotte that he re-aggravated his ankle injury and might not play until next Wednesday.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it's not until Wednesday that he plays again," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We're hopeful it's Sunday. We'll have to let time take its course."

This will be a daily question in coaches meetings and from the media until the end of the season. This is what Lakers coach Phil Jackson had to say about the Western Conference playoff race and whether first place really matters, on Monday night.

“There’s a great amount of prestige in finishing in first place after 82 games. It’s as simple as that. It does not win you anything in the playoffs. It wins you the seeding, but as we know in the West it can be a recipe for an upset (No. 8 Golden State upset No. 1 Dallas last season). … This year, there’s a lot of chance for anyplace being an upset.”

Kobe Bryant just took an elbow from Baron Davis and a deep cut has opened up under his left eye. Lakers trainer Gary Vitti just turned into a cutman. KCAL's cameras showed him putting skin glue into the cut.

Will it hold?

Lamar Odom currently has 17 rebounds. He had 22 rebounds last night. If he grabs three more by the end of the game, he'll be the first Laker in 13 years to have back to back 20-rebound games.

Who was the last Laker to accomplish the feat?

Click below for the answer:

Hint: He's got a namesake on the team...

The Lakers are locked in another tight game with the Warriors, 95-91 with nine minutes to go at the time of this posting. And if the standings don't change much in the final few weeks of the season, L.A. could be seeing a lot more of the Warriors come playoff time.

So what does Phil Jackson think of Don Nelson's bunch?

Before the game he was asked about Golden State's high-octane offense:

“Creative? I don’t know what that means. Spontaneous? Yeah. There’s a lot of spontaneity in their game, but a lot of it is just basic basketball. That’s one thing (Don Nelson) does very well is allow his guys to play a very simple form of basketball, which gives them a lot of energy to play with so they don’t have to remember a lot of stuff. They just do some stuff that’s basic to the game. Pass and cut. I think they play with better energy that way some times. There are some wrinkles that you have to be prepared for, and that’s one of the reasons he’s been a surprise coach in the first round.”

OK, there's still a lot of basketball left, but don't think this question isn't crossing the minds of coaching staffs throughout the Western Conference...

The Lakers are currently tied with New Orleans atop the Western Conference standings. If the playoffs started today, Golden State would be the 8th seed, Dallas would be the 7th seed, the Spurs would be the 6th seed and Denver would be on the outside looking in.

Consider everything -- match-ups, injuries, playoff experience -- when making your pick:

Lakers coach Phil Jackson didn't hesitate when a reporter asked him which Western Conference team he thought should be considered the frontrunner at this point.

``I think we're the frontrunner,'' Jackson said. ``That's what I would say.''

That's a sign of confidence in his team, but also a recognition that the Lakers have a highly-favorable schedule down the stretch. After tonight's game in Oakland, eight of the Lakers final 11 games are home games. One of the three road games though, is a game against the Clippers, where the Clippers are the designated home team.

And of those next 11 games, only six are against teams with winning records (Washington, Portland (twice), Dallas and San Antonio).

The Lakers have two dates with Sacramento left, one game with the Clippers, Memphis and Charlotte.

Even if the Lakers lose tonight in Oakland, a 9-2 or even 8-3 finish is very realistic with that schedule. That would leave the Lakers with 56 or 57 wins.

New Orleans on the other hand, plays 10 of its final 14 games on the road. It's got dates at Cleveland, at Boston, at Orlando, home games against Golden State and Utah and a road game against the Lakers on April 11.

The only ``easy'' games the Hornets have left are a road game with Miami on April 2, a home date against the Knicks on April 4, a road game in Minnesota on April 9 and a home game against the Clippers on April 15.

To match the Lakers, the Hornets would need to win all four ``easy'' games, and then at least five or six of those other eight games.

Pau Gasol is not with the team for tonight's game in Oakland. There's a chance he could play Wednesday against the Bobcats, but I really get the impression that the Lakers want to be cautious and not rush him back.

If he doesn't play Wednesday, the Lakers next game is against another lowly team, Memphis, and you have to wonder if the Lakers would just as soon try to get through both those games without him if Gasol doesn't feel like he's 100 percent yet.

Here's what Phil Jackson said on the matter Sunday.

"We're hoping he'll be back on the floor this week, Tuesday maybe or Thursday, hopefully," Jackson said. "I'm not going to say one game or the other right now. It's just a matter of ... how much he can endure."

The Lakers have a home-and-home with Golden State tonight and Monday, so that question was the focus of Saturday's light practice.

Here are the keys to victory, according to Lakers coach Phil Jackson:

``Take care of the basketball," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. `` "Limit the amount of (fastbreaks). Limit your turnovers. Approach the game like you don't have to play their pace. You can play at the pace you want, but you can run against them because that's part of their game.

"It's got to be our tempo."

Ronny Turiaf's run as a starter will likely come to an end when Pau Gasol returns from his sprained ankle, but Turiaf has certainly made an impact.

In his four starts, Turiaf is averaging 11.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 blocks.

Turiaf's normally known as an energy guy, which is why he works so well with the second unit, but he's been able to mesh well with the starters and is a big reason why the Lakers have been getting off to such fast starts recently.

``I don't see why it's a problem for me to give the first unit my energy,'' Turiaf said. ``It's like a battery. You put in the battery and it's going to work.''

Hey. Late night blog tonight. Just got back after hanging out at the 626 Reserve in Downtown with Daily News alum Gary Washburn, who covers the Sonics for the Post-Intelligencer, and my friend Jayda Evans, who writes for the Seattle Times. The Sonics just lost their 10th straight, so I figured Gary and Jayda could use some company before heading out to Salt Lake City for what'll probably be loss No. 11.

Anyway, we all got to meet the Lakers' newest player, Ira Newble before the game today. He should be a good veteran addition to the team. Newble's a nice, even-keeled guy who has bounced around a bunch in his eight-years in the league. He'll add a tough-guy defensive presence to the Lakers.

``I've bounced around a lot. I played in the CBA. I started like this so it's familiar territory for me,'' Newble said of his 10-day contract status. ``It's how I made my way into the league and I made the best of it.''

Now that he's with the Lakers, Newble has the distinction of having played with both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. So we had to ask, in his humble opinion, which superstar is the best?

``I knew that was coming,'' Newble joked. ``You know what... Kobe's better. If you ask LeBron that, he'll tell you Kobe's better too.

``One thing I noticed from playing against him (Kobe)... you can have a hand in his face and cover his eyes, but he shoots the ball like he's in there by himself. That impressed me.''

Good win for the Lakers tonight. Coming off that grueling four-game swing through Houston, Dallas, New Orleans and Houston, this would've been an easy game to lose focus and lose to a lesser opponent. But the Lakers got off to another fast start and put Seattle away by the end of the third quarter to keep their one game lead on Houston and New Orleans.

Here's the story:

By Ramona Shelburne
Staff Writer

T.G.I.F.

And better yet, Thank God It's the Sonics.

After a grueling four-game, seven-day roadtrip through Utah, Dallas, Houston and New Orleans the Lakers returned home to the Staples Center Friday night and got a little reward from the NBA's schedule-makers.

With their legs still a bit weary, and the intensity dialed down a bit from the playoff atmosphere that greeted them at every stop along this past trip, the Lakers managed to summon just enough energy to dispatch the hapless Sonics 130-105 to complete a sweep of the season series with Seattle for the first time in 18 years.

And this time, Kobe Bryant didn't have to do it all.

The Lakers (48-21) dished out a season-high 36 assists Friday night, and eight players scored in double figures as the Lakers maintained their one-game lead over Houston and New Orleans atop the Western Conference standings, despite being without Pau Gasol (ankle) for the fourth consecutive game.

``We've been playing together for a long time, so I think our ball movement and our passing ability is second to none in the league,'' Bryant said. ``We've all been on board (with the triangle offense) since day one.

``But then you add Pau Gasol to the mix, with his passing ability, and it makes us a very dangerous team,''

Dangerous enough to be considered frontrunners in the tightly-bunched Western Conference?

``I certainly like our chances,'' Bryant said. ``I think the size we have, and the versatility we have makes teams have to adjust to us, and the way we play.''

Pau Gasol was able to shoot and do some on-court drills before the game on Friday, but coach Phil Jackson said he wasn't optimistic about Gasol (ankle) playing in either of the Lakers upcoming games against Golden State: Sunday in Los Angeles or Monday in Oakland.

``I don't anticipate he'll play in the Golden State games. I'd like him to. I think that would be a good opponent for him ... but that might be impossible for us to even remotely have that as a possibility,'' Jackson said. ``But I think in the next week there's a chance he could come back.''

With Gasol, Ariza, Mihm and Bynum still out with injuries, this should help give the Lakers some depth until they all heal up.

Anyway, here's the release from the Lakers:

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent forward Ira Newble to a 10-day contract, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Newble, currently in his eighth NBA season, most recently played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Seattle Supersonics, averaging 4.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 15.5 minutes in 43 combined games this season, including 13 starts.

Prior to playing in the NBA, Newble played in the International Basketball Association for the Wisconsin Blast (1997-98) and played in the CBA with the Idaho Stampede from the 1997-98 season through the 1999-2000 season.

Undrafted by an NBA team, Newble played two seasons with Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College before attending Miami (OH) University, where he averaged 8.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in 58 games over two seasons, while being named Honorable Mention All-Mid American Conference his senior year.

In 374 career games including 197 starts, Newble is averaging 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in 20.4 minutes.

The Lakers roster now stands at 15.

Pau Gasol sprained his left ankle less than three minutes into tonight's game in New Orleans. He went to the locker room and will not return. X-ray's are pending...

I know, Lakers fans. Things are going great, right? Fantastic, really.

But how good are the Lakers?

Looks like we're going to find over the next two weeks or so.

Once Kobe and Co. get through Sacramento (tomorrow), the Clippers (Friday) Sacramento (Sunday) and Toronto (Tue, Mar. 11), they'll face the toughest stretch of the season.

Road games at New Orleans (Mar. 14), Houston (Mar. 16), Dallas (Mar. 18) and Utah (Mar. 20) will tell the story.

It's not make or break - and we all know we can't truly assess this team until Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza return - but it sure will be interesting to see how the Lakers fare on the road against teams with a combined 155-82 record.

By the way, while yesterday's 52-point performance by Kobe was reminiscent of a number of scoring explosions he's had in the Post Shaq era - and that wasn't always a good thing. But Lakers fans can take comfort in this observation:

Prior to this season - and specifically the arrival of Pau Gasol - it was almost required that Kobe carry that sort of load for the Lakers to be successful. Even when he did, there was no guarantee the Lakers would prevail.

Now, it's almost a luxury.

When the Lakers are getting production throughout the lineup, as they have pretty much the whole year, they don't need Kobe to go off.

But it sure is nice to know Kobe can still dial it up a notch when the rest of the team is struggling - as was the case yesterday.

I know, Lakers fans. Things are going great, right? Fantastic, really.

But how good are the Lakers?

Looks like we're going to find over the next two weeks or so.

Once Kobe and Co. get through Sacramento (tomorrow), the Clippers (Friday) Sacramento (Sunday) and Toronto (Tue, Mar. 11), they'll face the toughest stretch of the season.

Road games at New Orleans (Mar. 14), Houston (Mar. 16), Dallas (Mar. 18) and Utah (Mar. 20) will tell the story.

It's not make or break - and we all know we can't truly assess this team until Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza return - but it sure will be interesting to see how the Lakers fare on the road against teams with a combined 155-82 record.

By the way, while yesterday's 52-point performance by Kobe was reminiscent of a number of scoring explosions he's had in the Post Shaq era - and that wasn't always a good thing. But Lakers fans can take comfort in this observation:

Prior to this season - and specifically the arrival of Pau Gasol - it was almost required that Kobe carry that sort of load for the Lakers to be successful. Even when he did, there was no guarantee the Lakers would prevail.

Now, it's almost a luxury.

When the Lakers are getting production throughout the lineup, as they have pretty much the whole year, they don't need Kobe to go off.

But it sure is nice to know Kobe can still dial it up a notch when the rest of the team is struggling - as was the case yesterday.