The Los Angeles Lakers!!!

[wardjdim]

Question: How many matches have the Lakers lost, when Gasol takes 20 or more shots?
Answer: None

That's enough for a reply

Kobe Bryant is having a bad season. Out of the question, the game should move to Gasol's hands for the rest of the season and maybe even the playoffs..

They did it in the 4th qtr of the 7th game of the Finals, so this means that Jackson understands and he is a realist. It is still early enough and he wants to make Kobe feel at home, but Kobe is not the same player anymore. As soon as Jackson understands that Gasol will need to become the go-to player of the team, the Lakers will return to dominance

[Sitting Bull]

Would need to research on that, but should not surprise if its accurate.

Bryant is padding his career totals in points during regular season knowing that Lakers make playoffs as top seed regardless. He's been doing that for years. As the No.1 option, he fully realizes and instruments it towards his legacy fetish. Phil has already expressed concerns about Bryants ill-advised shot selection. Gasols disadvantage is of mental character, he lacks the toughness to be a legit No.1 option in this type of franchise combined with the fact Bryant would never defer.

As far as Finals MVP of the last two playoffs, there is no doubt in my mind that Pau Gasol got sacrificed to up Bryant's legacy by awarding the lesser player in the series with two back-to-backs of those.

[Khalid80]

Question: How many matches have the Lakers lost, when Gasol takes 20 or more shots?
Answer: None

That's enough for a reply

Kobe Bryant is having a bad season. Out of the question, the game should move to Gasol's hands for the rest of the season and maybe even the playoffs..

They did it in the 4th qtr of the 7th game of the Finals, so this means that Jackson understands and he is a realist. It is still early enough and he wants to make Kobe feel at home, but Kobe is not the same player anymore. As soon as Jackson understands that Gasol will need to become the go-to player of the team, the Lakers will return to dominance

100% but Gasol should be the one who should tell Kobe and coach Phil to give him the possession and let him shoot more. I believe Kobe would be happy to see Gasol take over...
Kobe knows he's no longer the same player he used to be a few years ago and I remember reading a few weeks ago he took Gasol to the side and told him that he wants to see him playing aggressive...

[wardjdim]

Kobe knows he's no longer the same player he used to be a few years ago and I remember reading a few weeks ago he took Gasol to the side and told him that he wants to see him playing aggressive...

That white-black swan comment of Kobe..

Who believes him when he still shoots the ball so often (24 times yesterday) and only yesterday committed 7 turnovers? He still dominates the ball..

[CKR13]

The Los Angeles Lakers have had trouble guarding young and athletic point guards this season. Last night, Sessions looked like a star. A sign of the times that Fisher can no longer cope with today's athletic point guards as well as Blake and Brown are not also good defenders.

[dxjayrock2008]

Jerry West statue unveiled outside Staples Center




By GREG BEACHAM

AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) Jerry West has been immortalized in a bronze statue outside Staples Center, joining likenesses of fellow Los Angeles Lakers greats Magic Johnson and Chick Hearn in Star Plaza.
West and his family formally unveiled the statue Thursday night in a star-studded ceremony celebrating West's 14-year playing career and a successful front-office tenure with the Lakers.
West thanked the Lakers and Staples Center for the honor, but acknowledged he felt uncomfortable getting so much attention.
The hard-nosed Hall of Fame guard's silhouette is part of the NBA logo, and he won a title in 1972. West began his career teaming with Elgin Baylor, who attended the ceremony along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Pat Riley and Shaquille O'Neal.

[CKR13]

Jerry West

Former Los Angeles Lakers player Jerry West has been honored once again with a statue outside of the Staples Center. West is the silhouette on the NBA's logo and West was among the great pioneers of the NBA during the 60's decade.

[Khalid80]

Lakers GM Kupchak says deadline trade unlikely

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/02/17/lakers-kupchak-trade.ap/index.html

[CKR13]

Injury Updates

Forward Matt Barnes have begun practicing with the team and center Andrew Bynum confirmed that his troubled knee is improving.

[dxjayrock2008]

Lakers edge Thunder 90-87

By JEFF LATZKE, AP Sports Writer


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t sure what to expect when they see the Oklahoma City Thunder with playoff nemesis Kendrick Perkins(notes) in the lineup next time.
Until then, they’re doing their best to build up a cushion in the Western Conference standings.
Pau Gasol(notes) had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Kobe Bryant(notes) scored 17 points and the Lakers firmed up their grasp on third place in the West by beating the Thunder 90-87 on Sunday.
“They’re a dangerous team now, they’re a very good team now and probably Perkins is going to help them, especially in the playoffs,” Gasol said. “But we’ll see. That has to be seen and proven.”






Andrew Bynum(notes) added 16 points and 10 rebounds, but the Lakers still weren’t able to simply overpower a Thunder team that added Perkins for interior toughness but won’t get him in the lineup for a couple weeks due to a sprained left knee.
Perkins helped Boston beat L.A. for the 2008 title and the Celtics were up 3-2 in last year’s finals before he got hurt.
“Kendrick will obviously provide great muscle inside, and he’s the best low-post defender we have in the game, so it’s a welcome addition for them, I’m sure,” Bryant said.
Lamar Odom(notes) missed a pair of free throws with 10.9 seconds left to leave the door open for Oklahoma City, but Kevin Durant(notes) and James Harden(notes) each missed 3-pointers from the top of the key in the closing moments.
The Thunder have lost three straight games for the first time all season. Only San Antonio, Boston and Chicago have made it this far without a losing streak of at least three games.
“Once I let it go, I thought it was good. It rimmed in and out,” Durant said. “I felt the same way for James.
“These last couple games, it’s felt like nothing has gone our way, but we’ve got to keep pushing, keep fighting and stay positive.”
Russell Westbrook(notes) led Oklahoma City with 22 points and Durant scored 21 while being hounded most of the time by Ron Artest(notes). The Thunder were held to a season-low 31 second-half points and scored only 13 in their least productive third quarter of the season.
The Lakers used a similar formula for their win against Oklahoma City earlier this season in Los Angeles, when they held the Thunder to 39 points in the second half after allowing 55 before halftime.
This time, Oklahoma City shot 61 percent in the first half and led by as many as 14 before holding a 56-51 edge at halftime. The Thunder managed just half that percentage in the second half and lost after Durant and Westbrook each had turnovers in the final minute.
Artest stripped Durant of the ball after Bryant’s jumper made it 90-87 with 56.4 seconds left, and Westbrook charged into Gasol for an offensive foul with 17.3 seconds remaining.
The Thunder still got one last chance but couldn’t convert.
Los Angeles has won four in a row after going into the All-Star break on a three-game losing streak capped by a loss at lowly Cleveland, and has gained three games on the fourth-place Thunder in the standings in the past five days. The Lakers are now 4 1/2 games ahead.
“The rest did the guys some good. It was a chance to kind of recover, regroup, and focus on the opportunity that we have ahead of ourselves,” said Bryant, who moved past Elvin Hayes for seventh on the NBA’s career scoring list and is 89 points behind Moses Malone for sixth.
None of Oklahoma City’s three trade deadline acquisitions—Perkins, Nazr Mohammed(notes) and Nate Robinson(notes)—played although Perkins was the only one unavailable. The Thunder still held their own in the paint after getting outscored there 54-26 in a blowout loss at Orlando on Friday night.
Oklahoma City actually outscored the Lakers 40-34 inside largely by getting perimeter players to the basket, and held a 39-36 rebounding advantage behind Serge Ibaka’s(notes) 13 boards.
“We’re not going to make excuses that we’re waiting on Perk to come back,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said before the game. “We have enough to win games.”
Harden added 14 points off the bench for the Thunder, who have lost six straight national TV games after starting the season 7-0.
“Everybody’s fighting for playoff position. It was a fun game, it was back and forth,” Durant said. “We just didn’t come up on the winning side.”
Notes: Bryant picked up his 11th technical foul of the season with 59.8 seconds left before halftime when he turned to official Steve Javie to apparently protest a non-call with Thabo Sefolosha(notes) guarding him. Players get a one-game suspension if they accrue 16 technical fouls in a season. “I didn’t say much of anything,” Bryant said. … Lakers coach Phil Jackson questioned Perkins’ playoff impact, despite the fact he helped Boston win the title against L.A. in 2008. “Kendrick’s a pretty young guy. I don’t know how much experience he has if Garnett’s not talking in his ear and sending him where to go. I think he’s got the notion but whether he can be a leader and lead that deal, that’s another story.” … Brooks said beforehand that Mohammed and Robinson should be ready to contribute immediately. “It probably doesn’t say good about my playbook, but I think they picked it up pretty good,” he said. “I should just lie to you guys. ‘They’re only on Page 1 right now.”’

[CKR13]

Rookie Devin Ebanks will be sidelined for three weeks atleast before being re-evaluated due to a stress fracture on the left femur bone.

[rockmannia7881]

Lakers rout NBA-best Spurs for 7th straight win
By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press


SAN ANTONIO (AP)—Kobe Bryant(notes) scored 26 points, Pau Gasol(notes) had 21 and the Los Angeles Lakers embarrassed the NBA-best San Antonio Spurs for their seventh consecutive victory, 99-83 on Sunday.

What was billed as a potential Western Conference finals preview was a blowout from the start. And the Lakers likely relished this rout after losing twice to the Spurs, including on Antonio McDyess’(notes) memorable buzzer tip-in last month.

Tony Parker(notes) led the Spurs with 14 points. He was their only starter in double figures.


The Lakers trail the Spurs by 6 1/2 games in the West, and coach Phil Jackson conceded before tipoff it was unlikely they’d catch up. But they can take satisfaction in emphatically ending San Antonio’s franchise-record home win streak at 22 games.

The last Spurs loss at the AT&T Center had been to Dallas on Nov. 26.

But that game wasn’t anything like this.

Two days after San Antonio humiliated LeBron James(notes) and Miami in a 30-point blowout, the Spurs took their own lumps. The NBA’s sixth-highest scoring team mustered just 37 points in the first half—matching a season low—and shot 36 percent from the floor.

Tim Duncan(notes) had two points on 1 of 7 shooting. Manu Ginobili(notes) had six points and was 3 for 10. Parker shot 6 for 14.

And it could’ve been worse. The Lakers led by as many as 32 in third quarter before the Spurs threw in the towel and emptied their bench.

Bryant also didn’t have much reason to remain on the floor by then. He finished 12 for 25 and had seven rebounds. His only blemish was a technical foul in the second quarter after getting tangled up with Ginobili, leading to a brief exchange of stares and words.

Ron Artest(notes) rushed between the two and pulled Bryant away. It is officially tallied as Bryant’s 14th technical foul this season, though the Lakers believe that total doesn’t subtract one that was later rescinded. The NBA issues a one-game suspension after 16 technical fouls.

Andrew Bynum(notes) had 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who can match their longest win streak of the season with a victory at Atlanta on Tuesday.

It’s part of perhaps the toughest stretch this season for the Lakers, who are still out to prove they’re the NBA’s best despite trailing the Spurs all season. The Lakers will also play at Miami and at Dallas before coming home to face Orlando on March 14.

By the time the Magic leave Los Angeles, the Lakers will have faced four of the NBA’s top seven teams in a span of eight days.

The last time the Spurs and Lakers met was in Los Angeles on Feb. 3, when the Spurs won 89-88 on McDyess’ stunning tip-in as time expired. Jackson had his video staff pull that clip before this one and remind his team of a game Jackson said they should’ve won.

It apparently worked.

Gary Neal(notes) scored 15 points and George Hill(notes) added 14 for the Spurs.

Derek Fisher(notes) scored eight points and remained in the starting lineup after being listed as probable going into the game because of a strained right elbow.

Notes: Bryant is 13 points shy of surpassing Moses Malone for sixth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. … Spurs F Antonio McDyess played in his 999th career game. The 15-year veteran can hit 1,000 if he plays Wednesday against Detroit. … The Lakers in town made for a rare courtside celebrity sighting in San Antonio: late-night host George Lopez.

[CKR13]

The Los Angeles Lakers winning their eighth consecutive game with a convincing win against the Atlanta Hawks last night 101-87, lead by Kobe Bryant who scored 26 points. Bryant passed Moses Malone to move into sixth all time in the career points scored.

[CKR13]

Los Angeles Lakers 96 Dallas Mavericks 91

The rest of the Lakers overcoming the poor shooting night of Kobe Bryant and minutes of absence due to a sprained ankle as Bryant landed awkwardly after a shot late in the third quarter. Bryant scored 16 points in the game.

[CKR13]

Bryant a game time decision

Head coach Phil Jackson stated in a short interview on ESPN Radio that Kobe Bryant is a game time decision tonight as the Los Angeles Lakers will hos the Orlando Magic.