The stoicism in Anthony Brown’s voice partly reflected his understanding why the Lakers’ rookie guard/forward has played limited minutes in three games.
“I haven’t really had a chance to digest it,” said Brown, whom the Lakers drafted 34th overall. “I’ve learned a lot every day just by being here. Even though I’m not playing, I’m still learning.”
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant #24 stands next to coach Byron Scott in the first half. The Lakers played the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening game of the 2015-16 NBA season. Los Angeles, CA, 10/28/2015 (photo by John McCoy/Los Angeles News Group)
Among the many question marks that plague the Lakers, Kobe Bryant’s health is currently not one of them.
The Lakers (2-9) expect Bryant will suit up against the Toronto Raptors (7-6) on Friday at Staples Center. He had missed Monday’s loss in Phoenix to rest after playing a season-high 37 minutes in Sunday’s win over Detroit.
“I’m going to stick to where it’s been about, at that early 30 minute-type minutes, late 20’s,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said of Bryant, who has averaged 30.4 minutes per game through eight contests. “It depends on the situation. I’m happy where his minutes are right now.”
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Lakers guard Kobe Bryant provided guidance to Dallas guard Wesley Mathews as he rehabbed from a left Achilles tendon (photo by John McCoy/Los Angeles News Group)
Father Time and a heavy workload has left Kobe Bryant feeling tired. His shooting inaccuracy has left him frustrated. So has the Lakers’ persistent losing.
But as Bryant talked with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski on his radio show on SiriusXM, the Lakers’ star expressed irritation about something else.
“AAU basketball is just killing us,” said Bryant, whose interview with Krzyzewski will air on Thursday at 6pm ET/3pm PT. “There’s so many games being played without a concept of how to play them. Everything is off theball and how to beat your man off the ball. There’s no concept of playing two-man game or three-man combinations. That concept is a lost art.”
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The Lakers had an extra visitor Wednesday as Larry Nance Sr. stopped by practice and observed his son, Larry Jr.
Nance, who played in the NBA for 13 seasons, watched practice wearing a team hat, which he said was an adjustment from his days facing the Lakers while playing for Phoenix in the 1980s.
“They were always a tough team that came through and beat the crap out of us all the time,” said Nance, who recalled chasing James Worthy and guarding Magic Johnson as well as Lakers coach Byron Scott’s shooting prowess.
Continue reading “Lakers: Larry Nance Sr. shares son’s potential Dunk Contest plans” »
With the Lakers hovering near the bottom of the NBA in rebounding differential following Monday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns, head coach Byron Scott turned to high-school box-out drills at practice on Wednesday to help the team fix its rebounding woes.
The Lakers gave up 18 offensive rebounds in the loss so the drills sought to increase their aggressiveness according to Roy Hibbert. Scott said the team also watched film that focused on giving up offensive rebounds, as well as turnovers.
With the team hosting the Toronto Raptors, who are tied for fifth in offensive rebounding, on Friday, Scott is confident that the team can amend some of its issues but the effort has to start translating on the court.
“It’s just about going out and doing it,” Scott said.
After receiving limited time thus far with the Lakers, rookie forward/guard Anthony Brown has been assigned to the organization’s Development League affiliate. Brown will join the D-Fenders for their road game on Tuesday night in Bakersfield.
Brown, whom the Lakers drafted 34th overall after spending five years at Stanford, has only appeared in three of the Lakers’ 11 regular-season games in limited minutes. He has posted five points on 1-of-2 shooting and one steal in nine minutes through three contests.
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com
Phoenix Suns’ T.J. Warren dunks against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in Phoenix. The Suns defeated the Lakers 120-101. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX — As he played through a nose he believes is broken, Lakers center Roy Hibbert occasionally tugged at his plastic mask to find a comfortable fit. Before shooting a pair of free throws, Hibbert even tossed the mask to the sideline.
But that did not mark the only thing that left Hibbert frustrated during the Lakers’ 120-101 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns also outrebounded the Lakers, 50-37, including a 18-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
Despite posting 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and a team-leading seven rebounds, Hibbert largely faulted himself for the miscues.
“I have to do a better job of boxing out” Hibbert told Los Angeles News Group. “I need to pursue and keep my guy off the board and go to help out the other guys pursuing the rebound.”
Continue reading “Lakers’ Roy Hibbert blames himself for poor rebounding vs. Phoenix” »
Lakers forward Nick Young was credited by coach Byron Scott for his defense in the Lakers’ 97-85 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at Staples Center. AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
The inconsistency in Nick Young’s shot once irritated Lakers coach Byron Scott. Young’s lack of defensive intensity bothered Scott, too. It did not help Scott became annoyed with Young’s goofy personality. So, Scott often yanked Young out of the lineup and benched him throughout the 2014-15 season.
But all of that took a 180-degree turn in the 2015-16 campaign, the most vivid example happening in the Lakers’ 97-85 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at Staples Center.
Young finished with 13 points off the bench on four-of-six shooting in 26 minutes. Young netted a game-high +/- of 20 points, signifying how much the Lakers outscored the Pistons when when he was on the floor. And he injected enough defensive energy to play all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter.
“He was not allowing his man to score. He did all the things that we talk about,” Scott said. “He tagged cutters when he had to. He got back to shooters when he had to. He just did all of the little things, that’s why he stayed on the court. Obviously he’s a treat on the offensive end, every time he catches the ball, so when he has both ends of the floor, it makes him that much better as a player.”
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The three American childhood friends had vacationed in Paris nearly three months ago, initially concerned about the wi-fi reception while sitting on a train. Soon enough, Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler became involved with foiling a terrorist attack on Aug. 21 after charging and subduing a gunman on a train.
The act rightfully earned them international praise, including a tribute from U.S. President Barack Obama. The latest entailed the Lakers honoring them in a brief ceremony during the Lakers’ eventual 97-85 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at Staples Center.
“Thank you for putting your lives at risk to save other lives,” Lakers president Jeanie Buss said.
The Lakers then presented Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler with Lakers jerseys with their last names and No. 1 emblazoned on the back. The three also met before and after the game with Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who said “it was awesome to see them.”
“We all would think in those type of situations, we would behave in the same way. But once you’re in that situation, it’s a completely different story,” Bryant said. “For those guys to unconsciously just react, not think about themselves and think about protecting others, it’s a story that should be sung every single day. Those are true role models. We want our kids to behave thinking about others and not thinking about themselves. In the moment when their life was on the line, they thought about others.”
Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler sounded humbled the Lakers thought of them.
“I’m starstruck,” Sadler said.
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Lakers guard Kobe Bryant plans to play on the team’s second back-to-back.(photo by John McCoy/Los Angeles News Group)
The question will arise repeatedly throughout the 2015-16 season, and the answer will vary seemingly each time. Will Kobe Bryant play in the Lakers’ next set of back-to-back games?
“I don’t know yet,” Lakers coach Byron Scott following Sunday’s morning shootaround. “We haven’t gotten to that point,”
Bryant plans to play when the Lakers (1-8) host the Detroit Piston (5-4) on Sunday at Staples Center. But Bryant’s plans for the Lakers’ game on Monday in Phoenix (5-4) at U.S. Airways Center do not seem as clear.
“Obviously, it will be on how he feels tomorrow,” Scott said. “When we get to the arena and if he says, ‘I feel good and I feel great,’ let’s just try to keep it at the normal minutes and see how he does. If he says, ‘I’m a little tired, maybe get me out a little bit earlier,’ I’ll adjust the minutes to that. But this is all foreign to us.”
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