Lakers

[FN Phat]

The Lakers have never looked so good.

[Flystripper]

She's not just a Dodger's fan....

I have never wanted an autograph in my life but I might stand in that line.

[TripletDaddy]

First day of work. Tipoff in a few hours. Finally, a glimpse of the potential back-to-back squad tonight at 7PM.

A nice brief piece on The Road to Repeat: First Stop, Anaheim

http://www.lakersnation.com/road-to-the-repeat-first-stop-anaheim/2009/10/07/

Big questions for the pre-season:

1. Bynum: did he improve in the offseason? And much like questions with Shaq....will he focus on defense?

2. The Machine: is he still broken? If so, time to trade him away to the first taker.

3. Crybaby: does he have confidence to play some effective minutes? If so, another nice deep-threat weapon off the bench. If not, a cap space hog.

4. Artest: what will be the effect of his energy? Will it translate to more aggressive defense? Will Pow and Bynum feed off it? How long will it take him to adapt to the triangle?

[TripletDaddy]

Crybaby: cry, cry again?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...,4466765.story

Apparently Derek Fisher is getting younger

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...,3680331.story

[TripletDaddy]

Lakers should be PERfect this season!

3 players projected to finish in the Top 15: Kobe, Pow, and Bynum.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/rankings

And btw, Chris Paul's rookie season was better than Magic Johnson's rookie season....

[Surfah]

Way to open up the pre-season strong Lakers. Artest is going to be deadly in a Lakers uniform. Bynum was big. But the play of the night was Shannon Brown's dunk. That thing was nasty Watch it here, it's at the end of the highlights.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=291007013

[TripletDaddy]

I was flipping back and forth between Dodgers and Lakers (talk about over-stimulation!), so I missed the dunk live. I received a text that said, "DOWNTOWN SHANNON BROWN!" in all caps, so I knew I had to check it out. That was nice.

A few thoughts about what I saw last night:

1. Bynum was active. Very active. With that kind of energy, the Lakers will be tough to beat. The really nice thing about the Laker depth is that no one player is required to have a 30-15 night every night. Bynum will be deadly even if he averages 12 points and 8 boards. He is more than capable of doing that.

2. Artest....not bad at all for his first game. Almost a double double and hit the 3. This will be his role all season long. too many fouls, though (same critique for Bynum). I think Artest was pressing too hard to live up this reputation for defense. He can't do it all in one pre-season game. He needs to learn to play with fouls and not flirt with the 6th in final. Later in the season, this will be critical as Jax tightens his rotations. Artest needs to be on the floor and he can't if he picks up 2 or 3 quick fouls in the first quarter.

3. Pow needs limited minutes. He had no rest this summer. Good to see him sitting early. What little we did see was the same beautiful ballet that we saw last season and all summer in euroball. Plus, pow looks a bit more swoll.

4. I don't know what Jax will do at the PG slot. Fisher is taking an odd stand early in the season, announcing that he has no plans to retire, but that he wants to retire a Laker. This season is really about Farmar, not Fisher. Farmar wears #1, but if he now wants to be #1, he needs to rise up and take it. This means more effort on defense, more consistency on offense. Farmar has a good head and wants to do the right thing. His issue is not selfishness. It is all mental at this point. I am rooting for Farmar because we need someone now for the future. Fisher is old reliable but his days are numbered. I believe the Lakers will honor him by bringing him back, but obviously at a paycut.

5. If Shannon Brown keeps bringing the energy, he might....just might...edge out Farmar as heir to the throne. Brown's defense appears to be far superior to Farmar (last season) and he is incredibly athletic. His dunk last night was simply one more to add to the ever-growing list. I am looking forward to seeing him bust out this season.

6. Crybaby and Sasha...not enough evidence, although Sasha hit more shots last night than he did all post-season earlier this year. If he can maintain that average all season long....wow. Crybaby is in a contract year so I am thinking he will be more aggressive when he is on the floor. Ultimately, I don't see him doing much. He will likely not be a Laker next season, at least that is my guess.

[TripletDaddy]

Nice dunk by Shannon Brown



Artest is good

http://my.lakers.com/blogs/2009/10/07/artest-opens-strong-in-anaheim/

Postgame recap

http://www.lakersnation.com/lakers-vs-warriors-post-game-recap/2009/10/07/

Ron Artest is willing to die

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/091007video.html

[Surfah]

Good HD vid of SB12's dunk!

[YOUTUBE]K2QpIfgUtcg[/YOUTUBE]

[TripletDaddy]

In what has now become an annual tradition, Shaq declares this Cavs team to be the greatest team on which he has ever played

http://www.lakersnation.com/nba-weekly-shaq-claims-cavs-are-his-best-team-yet/2009/10/09/

Happy 50th Birthday, Lakers. Welcome back to the Fabulous Forum

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...,6039633.story

a pic of Jax at his first media day ever at the Forum....back in 2000

[Flystripper]

In what has now become an annual tradition, Shaq declares this Cavs team to be the greatest team on which he has ever played

http://www.lakersnation.com/nba-weekly-shaq-claims-cavs-are-his-best-team-yet/2009/10/09/

Happy 50th Birthday, Lakers. Welcome back to the Fabulous Forum

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...,6039633.story

a pic of Jax at his first media day ever at the Forum....back in 2000

By the look on some of the media's faces Jax had some LAX Tacos for lunch. Their tacos are so good though, I wouldn't care what I did to the media either.

[JohnnyLingo]

By the look on some of the media's faces Jax had some LAX Tacos for lunch. Their tacos are so good though, I wouldn't care what I did to the media either.

Chipotlaway!

[TripletDaddy]

No extension for Jordan Farmar

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...0,794430.story

His salary is really inexpensive...not even $2M. Is this the beginning of the end? Shannon Brown might be the new backup.




DJ Mbenga's groin is nice

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2009/10/lakers-cut-gelabale-monds-and-fey.html

[TripletDaddy]

Tru Warrior still learning the triangle

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw...,1275061.story

[TripletDaddy]

Lakers European Vacation; Jax unimpressed with Shannon Brown throwing it down

http://www.dailynews.com/lakers/ci_13531225

2 games into pre-season, first players only meeting; Crybaby to play guard

http://www.dailynews.com/lakers/ci_13536848