Lakers Thread

[mp3]

Nice find Bruce.

I sure wouldn't call Russell a bust or any player for that matter after just the summer league.

Me myself like to give players 3 full season's in the league before making that judgement so Anthony Bennett is going into his make or break season now.

[NovU]

phpBB [video]

:3

[Kevin]

[mp3]

I saw this in twitter last night, kobe has turned into a very hard teammate over the years.

[Jackal]

I think its being blown out of proportion. The dude is on Europe on a vacation with his wife and kids. Why should he be texting guys he will see after the vacation?

Much ado about nothing.

[NovU]

It got attention only because of players' reaction to the question and its humour factor. The random attack on Kobe by some fans for this non news is gravy on top.

[Andrew]

It's the kind of thing that makes headlines in the offseason, especially when a player with Kobe's reputation is involved. In many respects it's a non-story, especially since he's on vacation, but I think it does underscore a point that's often made about Kobe. His approach to his teammates hasn't cost him a successful career, but you could argue that it's cost him an even more successful career. At the very least, it's ensured that the Lakers can't really start to rebuild until he rides off into the sunset.

[Stress Fracture]

They can just say Kobe hasn't talked to them yet.

[Andrew]

Seems to me they were trying to figure out how to say they hadn't talked to Kobe yet without it sounding bad or making a big deal out of it...and ultimately making it seem like a bigger deal because they didn't answer.

[mp3]

Seems to me they were trying to figure out how to say they hadn't talked to Kobe yet without it sounding bad or making a big deal out of it...and ultimately making it seem like a bigger deal because they didn't answer.

This.

[Andrew]

Russell responds to criticism over tweet

Russell suggested in a tweet nearly two weeks ago that Tracy McGrady is the greatest player of all time. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and his legions of fans expressed their disapproval over Russell’s since-deleted tweet, though Russell said Bryant “was cool” about the incident.

“There’s a lot of spoiled Lakers fans. I wasn’t downgrading Kobe at all,” Russell said Saturday in an interview with the Los Angeles News Group. “I was just watching a highlight tape of Tracy McGrady and I got excited. I tweeted and the whole state of California went crazy.”

Good for him. I mean, as good as he was, I wouldn't say there's a particularly strong argument for T-Mac being the Greatest of All-Time, but Kobe's response was childishly insecure; the Lakerz fanboy* responses, even more so. A day after it happened, all I saw were Tweets and articles talking about Kobe "set him straight". The real headline should've been "Insecure Superstar Makes Big Deal Out of Different Opinion".

*Not to be confused with your average, sensible Lakers fans.

[NovU]

What is with these youngsters and tweet? I personally think it's attention whoring.

That said I agree with you Andrew on all points. Well said.

[Bruce]

Players are actually paid to advertise and make noise on social media. And these players have to actually make some noise to grab attention and gain following for their social media deals to be more lucrative. Read it here how much LBJ and money mayweather makes on sponsored tweets:
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13470 ... -cost-140k

[Kevin]

Heard about that a month ago. I was actually surprised that that was happening in social media.

[NovU]

So it seems these stupid tweets/media-frenzy are intentional and manufactured. I didn't think all of them were 100% sincere anyway as a lot of them were ridiculous.

It was weird anyway that DAngelo would tweet an obvious shot at Kobe pride, who is going to be his mentor and floor mate.

[Andrew]

Byron Scott wants to limit Kobe's minutes, back-to-backs: 'I don't want him to go out hurt'

Might be a tall order, given Kobe's competitiveness, but it's a sound idea. In lieu of Kobe accepting a Tim Duncan-like transition into more of a supporting role, where his strengths can be utilised and his weaknesses borne of age covered up, it's a good approach moving forward.

[mp3]

Even if Kobe only plays 41 games this season he will still average 1000 shots more than the be the guy!

Unfortunately I don't think the Lakers players will move forward till Kobe retires as people tend to stand around waiting for him to do something great.

[NovU]

Definitely Kobe's not going to push it this year. He's been trying to stay relevant for last 4-5 seasons now and each time he ended up shortening his season by injury.

[Kevin]

That seems to be a good idea right now with all the injuries he's suffered. I miss the 2004-2006 Kobe

[Bruce]

That seems to be a good idea right now with all the injuries he's suffered. I miss the 2004-2006 Kobe

Kobe's got to retire sometime


the saddest part is, it still looks to me like Kobe is still the best player on the Lakers anyway.

[mp3]

I think Kobe believes he his, the his team mates what in orr when he has the ball but the reality is he is no where near the player he once was but he tries to do it anyway which isn't a knock on him but it's hurting the Lakers going forward.

Kobe is a good passer and I think the team would benefit more from him trying to do move of that this season than taking 20-25 shots a night.

[PoundedChicken]

I just think some more efficient minutes from him would be great. Shooting with fewer bad shots, facilitating with fewer turnovers, defending with fewer gambles/off-ball roaming that leads to defensive breakdowns.

Aside from a handful of games over the last few years, I just haven't seen this from him (yes, even accounting for late shot clock possessions).

[air gordon]

Saw Upshaw was cut?! What happened!?

[[Q]]

Too many big guys. Hibs & Randle to start, Bass as the solid rotation guy and then Big Rob, R Kelly, and Nance (as guaranteed contracts) with Black possibly making the cut. Roster is at 17 and this Holmes guy is definitely not making it especially after dislocating his shoulder last night and I have a feeling jabari Brown will be the last cut because he's not that good.

Upshaw was a bit of a low-risk gamble for the Lakers. They'd sign him to see if he'd be a shot blocking monster at the NBA level and he's not, so they cut him.

[Bruce]

^^ My guess is that the Lakers is installing an up tempo/fast break type of team reminiscent of the showtime Lakers. Upshaw has slow feet, not very good at breaking down pick and rolls. Sometimes he can knock down the mid-range jumper. Looks like Upshaw is a player more suited to a team that plays half court sets. While the NBA is now playing more small ball/3 and D, the Lakers probably see Suckre as a more serviceable back-up (back-up) center. I think Tarik will/should see more time at C than Suckre, watching Huertas working with Tarik Black and the 2nd unit was just too beautiful. In the end, there was a reason why Upshaw went undrafted.