Lakers

[Dr T]

Lakers, #1 seed in the West and we won our first playoff game today against the OKC Thunder. One down. GO LAKERS!

[Dr T]

That's two down. We are not in the best shape right now and are definitely not at peak performance in the playoffs this year. We can still take the whole thing again this year. Lakers all the way!

[Dr T]

We dropped tonights game to the Thunder. We started out very strong and then fell off at the end. Congrats to OKC. Go LAKERS!

[Dr T]

Man, we got spanked tonight in OKC. I wanted Lakers in 5 but that's not going to happen obviously. GO Lakers. The series is not over. Keep your heads up.

[Dr T]

Finally. We played like I know my boys can play and how they should play. If we play like we did tonight, we will do what I said we will do this year-"Take the whole thing this year!" GO LAKERS!

[Honor]

Good luck to your boys T..... for now.

[Dr T]

On to the next round we go. We get the Jazz next. They are not a push over team-they work hard Boozer plays tough and Williams is great. I hope we get to the next round with no more injuries. GO LAKERS!

[Dr T]

Round 2: Lakers take the first game 104-99 vs Utah. I'll take it. Come on boys, 3 more wins to advance past the semis.

[Dr T]

2 down, 103-111 Lakers over Jazz. Keep it up boys. GO LAKERS!

[Dr T]

Here is some news from Lakers.com

The NBA announced on Thursday that Kobe Bryant was selected to the All-NBA First Team for the fifth straight season and eighth time in his career, while teammate Pau Gasol was named to the Third Team.

[Vanilla]

I just wanted to check in, say hello, and mention that your boys and my SUNS are both 2-0! :-)

May LOS best team win! ;-)

[Dr T]

I've seen that Nillers. It looks like we might face each other in the Conf. Finals. Did you get your PM that said you're boys are playing really well!? We'll c how it all shakes out. :) hahahaha, "May LOS best team win!" I loved it Nils.

[Dr T]

3 down, one more to go to get out of the semis in the west. We barely squeaked it out today. 110-111 Lakers over Jazz in Utah. I'll take the win.

[robcaldwell]

Great game....great game....wish the Jazz would have won, though.

[Dr T]

Hi Rob. We almost lost a huge lead in game 4 of that series.

===

Ok, Nillers, Lakers-Suns next. You guys are playing great ball. They will not be easy to beat at all. This could be a fun series. :) GO LAKERS!

[Vanilla]

No trash talking from me...this will be a great match-up and los best team, WILL win! (I just hope it is the HOTTEST team!) Here's hoping for some good clean games! :-)

[Dr T]

Amen on that Nills. The Suns are hot. I just hope the weather calls for clouds and rain throughout this Western Finals. :)

[Dr T]

Bynum says knee injury getting worse

Updated May 15, 2010 6:22 PM ET

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP)

Andrew Bynum says his injured knee gradually is getting worse, although the Los Angeles Lakers' starting center plans to keep playing on his swelling leg in the Western Conference finals.

Bynum disclosed his right knee's worsening state after running in practice Saturday with the Lakers, who open the conference finals against Phoenix on Monday night.

Bynum discovered a small tear in his meniscus after straining his knee during the Lakers' first-round series with Oklahoma City. The resultant swelling prevented him from playing effectively in the defending NBA champions' last two playoff games in Utah.

Bynum says he'll keep playing with the injury, but doesn't know how it will affect his game.

Bummer, just after his first injury I said, "We should trade him now!" but Phil hasn't listened. "Trade him while we can still get some market value for him and pick up a dead eye three point shooter" is what I still say.

[Dr T]

We start against Phoenix tonight. Here is the preview:

NBA.com - The Game Happens Here

[Dr T]

Kobe Bryant (40 points) torched the Suns in the third quarter as the Lakers cruised to a 128-107 home victory in Game 1 of the West finals Monday. Lamar Odom had 19 boards.

I'm very pleased by my boys play today. Bynum didn't really play tonight. He made 4 shots and made 2 of them. I'm glad we took the first game tonight. Go LAKERS!

[Dr T]

L.A. mayor gets political with bet

Updated May 18, 2010 5:38 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (AP)

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hates Arizona's tough new law on illegal immigration. But he'll take "America's toughest sheriff.''

Villaraigosa has offered a politically tinged bet to his Phoenix counterpart as the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns meet in the Western Conference finals - a series that opened this week with picketing at Staples Center over Lakers coach Phil Jackson's remarks defending the law's constitutionality. The Lakers lead the series 1-0.

FANS PROTEST

Dozens showed their displeasure for Phil Jackson's comments on Arizona's immigration law, and we've got the pictures.

In a letter Monday to Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, Villaraigosa said that if the Suns win the series, Los Angeles will ``humbly'' accept ownership of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio - an outspoken advocate of tough immigration enforcement.

"Perhaps a stint in Los Angeles would teach him that you cannot deduce immigration status simply by looking at a person,'' Villaraigosa wrote.

A call seeking comment from Gordon was not immediately returned.

However, Arpaio said he believed that Gordon, a frequent critic of his, called Villaraigosa "on his secret telephone'' and agreed to include the sheriff in the wager.

"If I went to Los Angeles, I'll teach them how the sheriff operates here in Arizona,'' said Arpaio, who has earned a reputation for such measures as putting jail inmates in tents and making them wear pink underwear.

Arizona is the nation's busiest gateway for illegal border crossings, and the federal government has estimated that 460,000 illegal immigrants live in the state.

Arizona's law, which takes effect on July 29, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and directs local police to question people about their immigration status and demand to see their documents if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.

Villaraigosa calls the law unpatriotic.

Last week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to stop doing city business with Arizona or companies based in that state.

The Arizona law mirrors many of the policies Arpaio has put into place in the Phoenix area, where he set up a hotline for the public to report immigration violations, conducts crime and immigration sweeps in heavily Latino neighborhoods, and raids workplaces for people in the U.S. illegally.

In recent years his deputies have arrested some 2,000 illegal immigrants on federal immigration violations even though they weren't charged with state crimes.

Should the Lakers win, Los Angeles would give Phoenix California Republican gubernatorial candidates Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman, Villaraigosa said.

"Perhaps some time in Arizona,'' Villaraigosa said, "would show them both that being governor isn't always all it's cracked up to be.''

Both candidates have campaign ads promising to get tough on illegal immigration.

"The best thing for California would be a Lakers win followed by a Steve Poizner victory because as governor Steve will have the courage to address illegal immigration,'' said a statement from Jarrod Agen, Poizner's communications director.

A call to Whitman's campaign seeking comment was not immediately returned.

[Dr T]

False Alarm!

Posted by Sekou Smith

LOS ANGELES – You didn’t need ol’ Jack’s designer shades to figure out that we’d all been played for fools.

Whatever is wrong with Kobe Bryant‘s right knee had little-to-no impact on his performance in the Lakers’ Game 1 win over the Suns Monday night at Staples Center.

Sure, he wore a bright yellow sleeve on the knee. But he delivered a signature playoff performance with 40 points on 13-for-23 shooting from the floor, notching his sixth straight 30-point game as the Lakers toyed with the Suns before running them out of the building.

“I felt fine,” Bryant said after the questions started after the game. “I’ve been wearing the sleeve the entire playoffs. Now people are so observant, they pick up on it tonight. I’ve got [sleeves] that are purple and yellow. The knee felt fine. It felt fine.”

So did having his knee drained in the days leading up to the game really make a difference?

“Just lost weight,” Bryant said.

Was there any discomfort?

“I feel a couple pounds lighter,” he shot back.

The six full days of rest between the end of the conference semifinals and the start of the conference finals seemed to do Bryant’s body good.

“Well, I think my legs benefitted a lot,” Bryant said. “I was just able to take some time off and just get stronger, get my legs stronger, get my upper body stronger. It’s just kind of like training camp all over again where I don’t do much on the court, but I was in the weight room doing what I needed to do.”

Suns coach Alvin Gentry said his team will live with Kobe doing exactly that.

“I still think we can withstand the 40 that Kobe got,” Gentry said.

Maybe, but it certainly didn’t work that way this time.

But Gentry is convinced.

“We played them before, Kobe has had 40 before against us, and we won the game,” Gentry said. “When he’s in a zone like [he was] tonight, there’s not a whole lot you can do about it other than just completely running off a guy and trying to get the ball out of his hands, then you totally break down everything.”

The cat with the bum knee did all the breaking down Monday night.

And the Suns had no answer for it.

Now they get to pick their poison Wednesday night in Game 2, provided that knee holds up and all.

[Dr T]

Lakers Practice Report 5/18/10

We used a round-up format in Tuesday’s Practice Report to look more closely at L.A.’s defense of Phoenix pick and rolls, potential double-teams coming Kobe Bryant’s way, Lamar Odom’s big night, Pau Gasol’s passing, Andrew Bynum’s knee and Josh Powell’s baby boy:

Pick and Rollin'

That Phoenix likes to run pick and rolls with Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire in particular is less of a secret than Charles Barkley's pension for Krispy Kreme donuts, but few teams are as equipped as the Lakers to handle the staple play in hoops, due to L.A.'s unique combination of length, athleticism and brains.

That fact was demonstrated on Monday evening during L.A.'s 128-107 Game 1 victory, when the Suns were able to execute at times but not consistently out of the screen/roll set. Though Stoudemire got through for a few dunks, and Robin Lopez one dunk plus two layups, Phoenix managed only 36 points in the paint on the evening, compared to L.A.'s 56.

"We had some success on pick and rolls tonight, but they also do a good job at times defending it because they can clog up the paint and use their length," said Nash. "It's our bread and butter. That's how we create movement, and we create opportunities for ourselves, so we're definitely going to keep going to it."

While pleased generally with his team's defense, Phil Jackson wasn't completely satisfied with the screen/roll coverage.

"I thought a number of times in the first half we weren't where we want to be defensively with our big guys helping and assisting our guards in screen/roll," he said. "We want to work on that and be in better placement so we can slow that down a little bit. If they can move the ball through the mismatches that they get off that roll man, a lot of times they're very successful with their three-point shooting."

Double-teams coming to Kobe?

As Jackson explained both after Game 1 and following L.A.'s Tuesday practice session, he wouldn't be surprised to see the Suns bring double teams to Kobe Bryant in hopes of getting the ball out of his hands, as Phoenix did against Brandon Roy in the Round 1.

The Lakers, however, are quite comfortable playing against such tactics, as they showed against Denver in Games 5 and 6 of last season's Western Conference Finals, during which the Nuggets brought quick and frequent double-teams Bryant's way.

"We do now how to (counter) that," said Jackson. "Hopefully we can handle that situation and that duress, it depends upon how much pressure and how quickly we move the ball."

Bryant responded in turn when asked if it was something he was prepared for.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "We just move the ball to an open guy. They send two guys at me, I've done my job. I've made them make adjustments and (gotten) easy opportunities for my teammates. We'll be ready if that happens."

Odom's Big Night, Amare's "Lucky" Comments

After his 19-point, 19-rebound Game 1 against Phoenix, Lamar Odom summed up a terrific effort to a postgame audience from the podium.

"I had a pretty rough first two series offensively, and I just spent some time in the gym," he said. "I knew my opportunity would come, especially with them always sagging on 'Drew (Bynum), always sagging on Pau (Gasol) and Kobe (Bryant), as well. So I just tried to be more efficient, where I shoot the ball from and how I get my shot and rebound the ball as much as possible."

At Lakers practice the next day, however, much was made about Amare Stoudemire's Tuesday morning comments directed towards Odom in sound provided by 710 ESPN's Beto Duran.

"I'm not giving him no hype right now," said Stoudemire, who scored 23 points but grabbed 16 fewer rebounds than Odom. "He had a lucky game in Game 1. We just have to make sure we box him out ... we have to do a better job on him."

Odom chose not to fire back after being informed of Stoudemire's comments.

"So be it," said Odom. "Hopefully I can have another lucky one."

Yet both Phil Jackson and Pau Gasol responded with variations of the old saying, "You make your own luck." Jackson cited how Odom's aggressiveness clearly paid off, while Gasol said that he "earned" his good game.

Perhaps just as important as Odom's aggression was his health. While much of the six days between Rounds 1 and 2 were spent discussing the respective knees of Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant, the beat-up-all-over Odom certainly needed the break.

"It was perfect," he said. "I got a lot of treatment, got to work on my shot and my individual game, and it was exactly what I needed."

Apparently so.

The League's Most Skilled Big Man

That's what TNT analyst Doug Collins called Gasol during the Game 1 broadcast, and something we've heard more and more of late, from ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich and so on.

Generally, when Jackson is asked to describe his super-skilled seven-foot power forward/center, it's not the Spaniard's elite scoring, rebounding, shot blocking or floor running that gets mentioned first, but rather his passing ability and understanding of the game.

Gasol showed why in the second half of Game 1, amassing five assists to complement his 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting (21 total on 10-of-13). One play in particular showed as much. With 3:35 remaining in the third quarter, Gasol flashed over to the near side of the court and called for a high post entry pass from Derek Fisher, in a split second sensing an opening in the Suns' defense. After receiving the pass from Fisher, Gasol immediately threw Kobe Bryant a no-look bounce pass as Bryant cut hard to the hoop, resulting in No. 24's layup, plus the foul, which put the Lakers up 87-72 in the midst of a 11-0 Lakers run that broke the game open entirely.

The All-Star from Barcelona ranks 14th in the NBA in points per game in the playoffs at 20.3, third in field goal percentage at 58.2 percent, third in rebounding at 12.3, fifth in blocks at 1.91 and second on the Lakers with 3.5 assists.

Bynum's Knee

How did Andrew Bynum respond to 19 minutes of playing time, in which he produced just four points and four rebounds but hustled back to clog L.A.'s paint defensively?

"It feels fine," he said. "I just finished getting treatment done on it and there's a lot less swelling."

Phil Jackson was asked if he thought the Lakers could expect performances along those lines from Bynum as the playoffs go on, or if more production were possible.

"I really have no idea - we hope we can get him going again," said the Head Coach. "I think sometimes his activation was good at the start of the game, in the second half I didn't think he had quite as much activity as we'd like him to have."

"I think it's just trying to be as aggressive as you can with the current situation," Bynum added. "I just have to go out there and play, try to get something going."

Josh Powell's baby boy ain't sleeping

Reserve forward Josh Powell, who maximized his brief playing time with an emphatic put-back slam of buddy Kobe Bryant's near miss at the end of the first half, hasn't been getting a ton of sleep of late.

Neither would you if your baby boy, "Deuce," all of three weeks old, was about as fond of sleeping as Kobe is of losing playoff series to Phoenix.

[Dr T]

Lakers up 2-0 in Western Conf. Finals! Kobe (21 points, 13 assists) and Pau Gasol (29 points, nine rebounds) led the Lakers to a 124-112 home win over the Suns in Game 2 Wednesday night. Ron Artest added 18 points. GO LAKERS! Hill had a great shooting night. He didn't seem to miss much. he'd run up the court and pop it time and time again. They stood up like I knew they could in the 2nd and 3rd when they went to a small lineup. That is exactly what concerned me. Good job Suns. :)

Edited May 20, 2010 by Dr T

[Dr T]

Laker Report 5/21/10

Heading into the Western Conference Finals, L.A.’s coaching staff consistently cited the importance of playing fundamentally sound defense against the league’s best shooting team in the Phoenix Suns.

There wasn’t much said about L.A.’s shooting, however, but in Games 1 and 2, the Lakers were ridiculous from both the perimeter and the paint, scoring an average of 126 points on 58 percent shooting.

In the paint, Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom combined to make 44-of-66 field goals (66.7 percent), many on dunks and layups.

On the perimeter, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest and Jordan Farmar all made three three-pointers in at least one game, while Shannon Brown, Derek Fisher and Odom connected on open looks around the arc as well as the team shot 51.5 percent from long range.

Having mismatches at several positions has no doubt been a Purple and Gold key, but after Friday’s practice Phil Jackson specifically cited not only the teams crisp ball movement and spacing around the perimeter but also Bryant’s particular skill at dissecting a defense.

“It’s about spacing and it’s about finding your open opportunities on the floor, drawing the double-teams in situations where teams are going to have to help,” he said. “Kobe is very efficient at knowing how to get teams to double-team and finding the open guys. I think it just becomes more apparent the longer you play a team in a playoff round.”

Bryant, meanwhile, has been elated to have “one of the best players in the league” (his words) seeing things the same way on either the low or high post in Pau Gasol. (link) Bryant, Gasol Dissect Suns’ D in Game 2 Win at Lakers.com BasketBlog While Bryant scored 40 points in Game 1 and dished out 13 assists in Game 2, Gasol’s gone off for 29 and 21 points, respectively, tossed five assists in both games, blocked four total shots and effectively shown against Steve Nash’s favorite play.

“I’m always impressed with his passing,” said Phil Jackson. “He’s scored obviously, that’s important to us, but we (also) value the defense he’s able to give us against screen/roll.”

Jackson was also pleased with Artest and Odom’s collective offensive contribution, not to mention what he’s gotten from Farmar, Fisher and Brown in terms of knocking down open shots created by others. Yet more than anything else, it’s the word “efficiency” that does it for the 10-time coaching champ.

“Most of it is about efficiency,” he explained. “Can you score over 1.1 points per play, those type of things. Every possession becomes a worthy possession, and that’s really what the playoffs are about.”

Farmar Offers Bench Boost

In a total of 32 minutes in Games 1 and 2 against Phoenix, reserve guard Jordan Farmar strode in off the bench to provide a nice burst to L.A.’s offense, connecting on 8-of-11 shots (72.7 percent), including 5-of-6 from three-point range.

Three of those triples came in the fourth quarters of respective games, including a corner conversion that broke a 90-90 tie at the beginning of Game 2’s fourth quarter, and a pull-up triple in transition that put L.A. up nine four minutes later.

Phil Jackson maintained throughout the regular season that he wanted Farmar to be aggressive in however many minutes he played off the bench; the head coach was thus pleased with what he saw in the Western Conference Finals.

“I think it’s always about Jordan coming out and being aggressive, looking for the open opportunities on the floor,” he said. “(Also,) being active defensively – because he can be a disrupter if he’s active and trying to get through picks and get around big guys as quickly as possible.”

Farmar scored 21 of L.A.’s 80 bench points, 19 more than the vaunted Suns’ bench mustered in the first two games. Of course, Phoenix has seen its second unit play very well at home, a fact of which L.A. is quite aware heading into Games 3 and 4 in the Valley of the Sun.