The 2007-08 Los Angeles Lakers thread

[S_Nash]

I mean, I think Oscar Robertson might be the greatest of all time, really, but I'm not going to go throw a picket party outside of Big O tires for sullying his good name.

I think you owe Oliver Miller an apoloGEE!

 

[D-Dogg]

P-ouch!!

Without Pau for the whole game, we played ok. It was clear we were getting killed inside though...we had nothing in the paint. For a bit I thought we might steal one here.

Pau better be ok...this was one of the more winnable games on this trip, damn it.

 

[Renz]

Well, that's now three players hurt by stepping on their teammates' foot.

 

[Darth Llama]

Looks like fate is just against the Lakers this year. If Pau is going to miss any major time, the Lakers are going to be looking at a 6th-8th seed and a very tough road ahead.

With the injuries to Bynum, Ariza, Mihm, Bryant, and now Gasol, it really doesn't feel like the year for the Lakers. We'll see what happens, but my gut says their new dynasty starts next year. I hope Pau is ok, we really can't afford to lose him.


On a good note, if we were going to lose to any of the West Elite, I'm glad it was the Hornets. If the Lakers can't do it, they are the team I'm pulling for.

 

[Renz]

Pau won't play the rest of the road trip.

 

[Darth Llama]

Pau won't play the rest of the road trip.

Well then tomorrow the Rockets get control of 1st place.

It's kinda funny if you think about it. At the start of this season, the biggest knocks on Lamar Odom was that he was inconsistent at times, and injury prone. This year, he's the rock for LA. He's consistent and durable. Too bad the rest of the team is a walking triage ward.

A win in Houston on Sunday would take an act of god. Nothing short of Bynum charging in with a super man cape and taking the court is going to save us tomorrow. I'm disappointed, I wanted the Lakers to end the Rockets win streak.

Oh well.

 

[D-Dogg]

We've got two more of these shellackings to withstand, guys.

Good news is that Pau's ankle doesn't seem to be very bad, so he won't miss too much time.

Good lord I want a healthy team during the playoffs.

 

[Darth Llama]

It's cool.. playoffs don't start till late April? or early May? I don't remember.

We don't have to be the #1 seed to have a good shot at the title, and Pau and hopefully Bynum will be back soon enough to make a run. I'm certainly not going to panic, I expect to lose 1st in the division before this is over, but we'll be ok.

It's just going to be a crappy week watching them get killed. Sad thing is though, we still could have won today, just didn't have enough down the stretch. Turiaf played a great game, but he can't replace Bynum or Pau.

We'll be fine in a week. It's just going to be a rough week. Hang in there guys.

 

[D-Dogg]

Link from Kevin Ding's blog at the OC Reg.

DALLAS — Good news all around from the land of the limping and losing Lakers, even though none of the news really qualifies as great news for them.

Pau Gasol was off crutches and standing on his own, reporting he was feeling “much better” and even wandering onto the practice court to take some short, flat-footed shots. Not that it changes the fact that he’ll probably miss two weeks, but it’s a good indication for him just that the swelling was down enough for him to wear an untied shoe on his left foot.


Trevor Ariza finally got out of his walking boot today after a CAT scan showed sufficient healing in his broken foot. He was cleared to begin running on the elliptical machine, but Phil Jackson said Ariza still won’t be back in action in the regular season.

Andrew Bynum has had no adverse reactions to the light treadmill work he began last week, which is important because there was some concern that he would have pain or swelling that might set him back. There remains some hope Bynum will get back in early April.

 

[Darth Llama]

Finally, some good news. These injury problems are killing us.

 

[Renz]

Whew! The Lakers hold on and beat the Mavs in Dallas, shorthanded. Huge win!

 

[Darth Llama]

Whew! The Lakers hold on and beat the Mavs in Dallas, shorthanded. Huge win!

And the Rockets lost.. sweet!

I'm actually impressed. Even though we lost the New Orleans and the Houston game, we were still competitive even without Pau. I'm actually finding more encouragement then anything else from the recent events. Even short handed and expected to lose, they don't give up. When this team is complete, it's going to be a great thing to watch.

 

[D-Dogg]

Big, big win given the dire straits we are in. Although Lamar tried to give it away with his early and unecessary shot at the end of the third, which resulted in the Mavs banking in a three and gobbling up the momentum like crack. It's the same kind of thing he did a few years back in Sacramento....taking a game in hand and completely handing it to the other team...we lost that game, we were damn lucky to hold on this time around.

I love Lamar, but he just doesn't understand a) momentum and b) late clock situations.

 

[Darth Llama]

I love Lamar, but he just doesn't understand a) momentum and b) late clock situations.

He really doesn't. Thats where we suffer the most having Odom as our #2 as opposed to Gasol. Gasol has a very good head for the game, as does Lamar, but Pau is much better in those crucial minutes where the games are decided.

 

[Darth Llama]

In case you guys didn't see it..

Bynum likely won't play until the 1st round of the Playoffs.

Kind of sucks that we'll have to wait till it counts most to see how the team works together.

 

[D-Dogg]

In case you guys didn't see it..

Bynum likely won't play until the 1st round of the Playoffs.

Kind of sucks that we'll have to wait till it counts most to see how the team works together.

Not buying it, since all other reports are different and also since a "couple, three weeks" is still within the early April timeline. April 8 would be three weeks.

And he's already "doing some things on the court." He's shooting in practice and has dunked it at least once, a big jam, according to a practice report.

I don't think anything at all has changed. And ESPN saying the 18th makes no sense in what they quote Phil as saying.

What Phil said is consistent with what we are hearing, including the Ding report above...what isn't consistent is ESPN's interpretation of it. Right now I'm more concerned with getting Pau back ASAP...then we can worry about the other Tower.

 

[Darth Llama]

Not buying it, since all other reports are different and also since a "couple, three weeks" is still within the early April timeline. April 8 would be three weeks.

And he's already "doing some things on the court." He's shooting in practice and has dunked it at least once, a big jam, according to a practice report.

I don't think anything at all has changed. And ESPN saying the 18th makes no sense in what they quote Phil as saying.

What Phil said is consistent with what we are hearing, including the Ding report above...what isn't consistent is ESPN's interpretation of it. Right now I'm more concerned with getting Pau back ASAP...then we can worry about the other Tower.

Yeah, I'm not taking it as law either, and I agree, I'm more concerned with getting Pau back right now. The one thing all the reports agree on though, is that we're probably going to see Bynum back on the court this season. That's good news.

 

[D-Dogg]

Phil already backing off those statements above. Drew possibly back April 6th.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Uh, nevermind.

The Andrew Bynum injury situation took an unusual turn Wednesday when Lakers Coach Phil Jackson stepped back from his Tuesday night decree that the 20-year-old center wouldn't return from a knee injury until the playoffs.

Bynum could now return two weeks from Sunday, Jackson said, which would give him up to six games with the Lakers before playoffs.

"I threw that out there [Tuesday] to kind of take everything off the table," Jackson said. "We're [now] saying it was three weeks as of [last] Sunday. It would give him a week -- four games, three games."

Or more.

The team initially said Bynum would miss at least eight weeks, although Jackson said Wednesday that "12 weeks was kind of like that outside parameter."

That mark would be April 6. The Lakers play at Sacramento that night. They have five more regular-season games after that.

The Lakers will take a healthy Bynum as soon as they can, what with the frenetic Western Conference standings. The Lakers (46-21) now find themselves tied for first with New Orleans after the Hornets dealt Houston (46-22) a second consecutive defeat.

Still, Jackson cautioned that Bynum would need time to get in shape and catch up to the speed of the game after being out since mid-January.

"The reality is if he comes back and he plays the Sunday game and the Tuesday game before the season's over, great. It's still not going to get our rotation [settled]," he said. "It's going to be an exercise in kind of getting him back on the court."

Jackson seemed upbeat about another injury, saying Pau Gasol's sprained left ankle was healing quickly.

"We're really pleased," Jackson said. "He's come around and he was actually on the court [Wednesday] shooting jumpers a little bit."

 

[Darth Llama]

Awesome news. April 6th against the Kings is the current target date. I can't wait, it's been way too long since we have seen Bynum in action.

 

[D-Dogg]

Upcoming: the worst road trip of the rest of the season. The worst 4 game stretch of the rest of the season. If we can come out of that 2-2 I'll be happy, ecstatic at 3-1.

Ok, so I wrote this when I expected Pau to be playing in these games.

We went 2-2 WITHOUT Pau. We beat Utah and Dallas on their home floor, and had 25 point leads in both games.

That was just a fantastic win. I'm more than ecstatic at this point...with Pau coming back soon these last two wins were critical. Now, we can't eff around on the backend of the back to back.

Kobe is a beast with a monster heart...Lamar is playing outstanding ball right now. Ronny Turiaf has played his ass off.

The Laker bench is ridiculous. We are starting our 4th string center, and beating very good teams. Every player on our playoff rotation is a gamer and will have an impact in the playoffs.



Oh, and the Jazz fans are ***** ******* who deserve to see their team get beat on their home floor...booing Fish? Classless.

 

[Darth Llama]

Ok, so I wrote this when I expected Pau to be playing in these games.

We went 2-2 WITHOUT Pau. We beat Utah and Dallas on their home floor, and had 25 point leads in both games.

That was just a fantastic win. I'm more than ecstatic at this point...with Pau coming back soon these last two wins were critical. Now, we can't eff around on the backend of the back to back.

Kobe is a beast with a monster heart...Lamar is playing outstanding ball right now. Ronny Turiaf has played his ass off.

The Laker bench is ridiculous. We are starting our 4th string center, and beating very good teams. Every player on our playoff rotation is a gamer and will have an impact in the playoffs.



Oh, and the Jazz fans are ***** ******* who deserve to see their team get beat on their home floor...booing Fish? Classless.

Wow.. I missed the game, they Boo'ed D-Fish? No F'ing way!! That sucks.

I am thrilled to see we managed to pull 2 wins out on this trip without Pau, that is much better then I hoped for as well. This team has a lot of heart, and they just don't quit. They have taken on Kobe's mentality of taking everything as a personal challenge. I like that a lot, and it will help us in the Playoffs.

So what do you guys think? When Bynum comes back, does he play tentative and conservative, or does he go all out? Can we win a title this year with Bynum being 75%?

 

[D-Dogg]

Wow.. I missed the game, they Boo'ed D-Fish? No F'ing way!! That sucks.

Yep, the first of the game, every time he touched the ball they booed him. At the end of the game, they booed him again. Kobe then started talking ish to the crowd, and in the postgame he was asked why he was angry at the end of the game and he said something like "They booed Fish last time we were here, and I told the guys before this game that this one was personal."

I am thrilled to see we managed to pull 2 wins out on this trip without Pau, that is much better then I hoped for as well. This team has a lot of heart, and they just don't quit. They have taken on Kobe's mentality of taking everything as a personal challenge. I like that a lot, and it will help us in the Playoffs.

Agreed, they absolutely do. They see what he does, and his mentality is seeping through this team and they are embracing it. Late in the game Kobe fouled Deron Williams for a 4 point play, then immediately came down court and took over, dunking it, then getting a steal and dropping a no look dime. On the bench, a miked up Ronny says to Jordan "let me tell you something, he takes something bad and turns it into a positive." This team IS a hired assassin kind of group.

So what do you guys think? When Bynum comes back, does he play tentative and conservative, or does he go all out? Can we win a title this year with Bynum being 75%?

That's the million dollar question. A 75 percent Andrew? Maybe...maybe. I'm hoping he isn't around 50 percent though. I can't see him being anything but tentative for his first few games though, you know? He'll probably be eased into it though...and just his presence on the court is going to help both spacing and interior defense immensely.

 

[Darth Llama]

That's the million dollar question. A 75 percent Andrew? Maybe...maybe. I'm hoping he isn't around 50 percent though. I can't see him being anything but tentative for his first few games though, you know? He'll probably be eased into it though...and just his presence on the court is going to help both spacing and interior defense immensely.

I'm trying to look at it this way..

If we have Bryant, Gasol and Odom as our big three, we're already a championship contender. With that line up, we're the best team in the West (or one of them.) When Bynum comes back, he won't be 100%, that's a given, but what he can give will be a bonus. It won't be easy, that's for sure, but we got a real shot. Next season, we're clear favorites IMO.

 

[Trophytown]

I think the addition of Mihm back in the rotation even in limited minutes actually allows Bynum to ease in slowly and even run with the second unit. I dont really want to see Bynumite logging heavy minutes in what likely turns out to be a physical playoffs. Im comfortable with 15 mins per contest the opening round.

Note: I see we just sign Ira Newble to a 10-day(er). Shoring up that defense (for the likes of Stephen Jax, Manu G, Tracy Mc, etc) in case Dunk (Ariza) cant make it back.

 

[D-Dogg]

Note: I see we just sign Ira Newble to a 10-day(er). Shoring up that defense (for the likes of Stephen Jax, Manu G, Tracy Mc, etc) in case Dunk (Ariza) cant make it back.

Yeah, that was a good signing. He's also dressed tonight and might get some run since we are killing the Sonics early.