We played Houston w/ Tmac in the 1st half and I believe were up by double digits at a point when he got injured. It was only when Bonzi Wells got subbed in that our lead squandered because of the matchup problems he presents.

@47

The situation last year differs from this year. Last year the Lakers had a very generous opening schedule. This year they’re playing the top teams in the league right from the start. And you can see there’s a difference in attitude right away. Here’s to the Miami/Smush pairing.

whoa they were wrong

A week ago I talked about the biggest thing that Lakers were missing, which was confidence from the players. Kobe and Fisher have been leading by example and by challenging the team day in and day out. It seems to be working b/c Farmar is playing w/ a confidence that Phil is rewarding w/ playing time and trust. Bynum was getting stuffed left and right the whole game…but he didn’t leave w/ his tail between his legs he kept bringing it!!!! Same thing w/ Lamar, he kept getting stuffed and started taking the issue to heart almost as if the Detroit defense was questioning his manhood. Alright how about I give you a lil ball fake and dunk it on ur face, is that gonna work? Never stopped hustling and gave us some important put backs. (Needs to get his legs back…his 3′s and jump shots are really flat)

Something special is brewing in the pot and I love the intensity Kobe is bringing on defense. Like Phil has been saying Kobe now appears to be well invested into this team and it’s showing in the W column. GO LAKERRRS!

“Radmanovic last year, [Rasheed] Wallace toasted him and made fun of him and made ‘Borat’ jokes about him when he was out there.”

For the second unit to play well enough for Kobe to sit for the first 6minutes of the fourth quarterbodes well for this team and Kobe’s (and LO’s) aging legs…

Speaking of Cook. He is terrible. A power forward who is a poor rebounder, shot blocker, and defender. Total opposite of Ronny. Plus he shoots like he has a Kobe Bryant green light. I also feel like he doesn’t know the offense that well. Or at least it looked that way to me last night.

Rip v. Kobe was fun to watch. If the Lakers can get scoring from others, then Kobe can do more of what he did to Rip last night. Watching those two, I can tell that it has to be very annoying to guard that guy. He runs off of a ton of picks, and pushes, grabs, and slaps his way to open positioning. Kobe pointed out what he was doing to the refs and the refs started calling Rip for offensive fouls. Rip hates getting shown up by Kobe because they were rivals in the PA area during high school.

Jordan Farmar is the difference maker on this team. When he is in the game he totally changes the way the Lakers play. He’s aggressive on defense and then pushes the ball at every opportunity. He gets everyone on the team pumped up with his exciting play. Also, in only his second year, he’s already directing everyone else on what to do. When Bynum was slow getting back off of a rotation making it so Farmar was guarding one of the Pistons bigs in the post, Farmar got in Bynums ass about it. Bynum got a little offended until Lamar basically came over and told him to shut up. On every free throw situation, Jordan comes over and talks to Phil. You can tell that Phil and the coaching staff are just in love with him.

After the game my brother and I ran into his father Damon. He was beaming from ear to ear. I’ve known their family for years. It’s so good to see wonderful things happen to wonderful people. Jordan wants to eventually be an All-Star, and believe me it will happen. He’s as driven to be great as a guy like Kobe Bryant. Don’t doubt #5.

Lamar Odom is also sensational. He’s a totally different player now that he doesn’t have to match up with guys like Tim Duncan and Rasheed Wallace everynight. I’ve written this before, but Odom is at his best when the Lakers are running and he can get out on the break and do his thing. He had 5 or 6 opportunities like that last night. They gotta find a way to have Farmar, Mo Evans, and Lamar on the floor together, because those guys love to get the rebound and push the ball. Very fun basketball to watch.

When Kobe sees those Bulls come to town on Sunday and then looks at the team he has when healthy, I’m sure he’ll be happy that he didn’t end up in there.