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A Lakers Blog. Thoughts, reflections, and the odd rant on the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA (even the Clippers).

Lakers v. Bobcats, and a Lot of Links

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Getting close to the time of year when we do serious previews, but a preseason rematch against the Bobcats does not inspire one. Instead, what follows is some of the many great things on the Web the last few days worth checking out:

• First, we have the blogger previews for the Northwest Division:

Denver Nuggets
Pickaxe and Roll
The Nugg Doctor

Minnesota Timberwolves
TWolves Blog
Empty the Bench
Canis Hoopus

Oklahoma City
BallerBlogger
Blue Blitz
The Thunderworld

Portland Trail Blazers
…a stern warning
Blazers Edge
Rip City Project

Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz
SLC Dunk

Also see links to all the previews at CelticsBlog.com

• I got the chance to have lunch with Kevin Pelton this summer, and he was talking about his plans to revive a PETCOA-style predictor for the NBA. He’s done it. And, when he breaks down the Pacific Division, he says the system really likes the Lakers. Ergo, I think it’s a great system.

• The ESPN Lakers preview is up, where you can she how I answer this question: Lakers down one, 9.2 seconds to play, must-win game. What’s the play?

• Here is the latest (and wrap up) in Little White Statistic’s incredibly detailed breakdown of Kobe’s shooting numbers.

• Who are the Lakers top 10 bench warmers of all time? You have to love any list with Mike Penberthy on it.

• Kurt Streeter did a fantastic Lamar Odom piece for the Los Angeles Times.

• Vote for your favorite NBA blog, by team. (You had better vote for SactownRoyalty.)

• Are the Lakers the logical choice to win the title?


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kwame a. says

    One of my favorite Laker bench warmers was always Pig Miller. Probably was just the name, but I was always fascinated by him. I wouldn’t put T. Knight on that list, he was solid for us for a couple seasons, then he hit the lotto, not his fault someone offered him 21 mill.

  7. Darius says

    Sorry. I know your pain.

    I like what we’re doing so far on offense and defense. Everything is skewed because the ‘Cats don’t have the size to play with Bynum and Gasol, but we’re zoning up the strong side with one of our bigs and really cutting down the penetration and contesting shots at the rim. We’re also rotating well on the perimeter and when players are driving baseline we’re dropping down on the weakside to make that pass to the opposite corner difficult. On offense, we haven’t seen anything exotic, just running when we have the chance and going through our sets, but we’re playing in rythm and with patience and getting good looks.

  9. Kurt says

    7. I’m with you, I’ve liked the defense so far this game, really taking away the paint with that psuedo-zone, forcing the Bobcats to be jump shooters. Sean May cannot cover Pau Gasol, so it does skew things, but I think we’ll see a lot of this during the season, not many teams will match up with our starting front line well.

    Luke looks rusty.

  13. KurkPeterman says

    12 – at least he ditched the stache for a goatee. Now he looks like a burnt out hippie instead of a child molester.

    Granted, it’s Charlotte, but these Lakers look fantastic even without the Kobester. We can score in droves with almost anyone on the court. These turnovers are disconcerting, but it’s just timing stuff mainly (which we should overcome after a couple weeks of regular season).

  14. Darius says

    #9. Gotta agree on Luke. He looks decent with his handle, but not with his timing or with how he wants to score.

    #13. Yeah, too many turnovers. Some of that is timing, but a lot of it is just carelessness. Too many lobs, bad lead passes on the fast break, and overall just some poor decision making.

  15. Darius says

    Nice to see we still know how to open a half with no energy and lazy execution on both ends.

    While it’s the preseason and this is a time to improve and not necessarily play your best ball…And we’re playing without Kobe and any other reason/excuse you want to use, I’d still like to play better against an overmatched team.

  16. sharky says

    You know… a lot of people thought that Sasha was garbage early in his career. I always thought he’d be a player in this league and he’s proven to be a pretty good one. He was clearly out of his league in his first year in the NBA, but there was something about him – a demeanor I guess – that looked like it would pan out.

    Sun Yue doesn’t look like he will ever pan out in this league. He looks so ridiculously out of his league. It’s too bad that the lucrative Chinese market and the contract (as he was drafted) probably will keep him on this team over guys that were clearly better this preseason.

    I hope I’m wrong.

  17. hansoulfood says

    Farmar continues to impress. You can just feel the energy of the second he comes in. That and his playmaking ability, the second unit will continue to be exciting this year.

    How about Coby Karl tonight? He played pretty well and had some nice plays. Nice to see George Karl having something to smile about.

  19. bchamp says

    I agree this game was pretty sloppy but still quite a few bright spots for the Lakers.

    Farmar looks in command out there. At this rate he should be pushing for close to 30 minutes per game by the end of this season.

    Bynum is finally to get some of his timing and defensive aggressiveness down. Great help to reject a Felton drive in the first half and he stuff one right down Okefor’s throat in the second.

    Oh, and nice shout out by Doug Collins to Kurt’s article in the times on LO.

  20. j. d. hastings says

    It’s weird to me that the San Francisco Examiner has a designated Lakers page. Would the LA Times have a page devoted to the Giants?

  23. ryan says

    Coby Karls dunk on the fast break was pretty nice, its always fun to watch the most un-athletic guy on the team get a big dunk.

    The game was really sloppy (I guess thats expected in the preseason though), but The lakers are showing signs that they are going to be very good, possibly very very good.

    Farmar looks great, very confident, he might be challenging Fisher for most of the minutes at PG by the middle of the season. Odom played well in the second half, but didn’t look like he was even there in the first half.

  24. 81 Witness says

    Most of the members have already hit last night’s game on the nose:

    Very sloppy. Did the Lakers go out and party the night before? Not much hustle, passing into double teams, and just bad decisions with the ball.

    Their defense was good, but I think Charlotte tended to settle for jump shots. I do not envy the work that Brown has ahead of him.

  25. kwame a. says

    I would’ve kept Crawford over Karl and Sun. Marketing defintley was a factor, but I would also say Phil just likes that Karl knows the offense.

  26. Darius says

    I didn’t get to see much of Crawford, but Karl has looked okay in the limited minutes that I’ve seen. Plus I like Karl’s size as a shooter and a ball handler. He’s not a PG, but much like Sasha, I think he can be a ball handler and provides the shooting that we would want to space the floor if he ever sees the court for meaningful minutes. The play that I liked from him yesterday was when he ran that curl into the lane off of a down screen, head and shoulder faked off his dribble, and then up and undered a little leaner for a savvy bucket.

    As for Sun, I at least like the fact that he’s shooting when he’s supposed to and not shying away from the open shot. For a guy that isn’t known as a shooter, he is more confident than I thought at letting it fly within the flow of the offense. Although, I’d like to see a few more of those go in. He is definitely nowhere close to contributing, but, it’s a modest investment and it could pay off down the road. I also understand that there was not much more for him to learn in the environment that he was in, so even a stint in the D-league would be an upgrade in level of play. I’m still cautiously optimistic that he can be some sort of contributor sometime down the line.

  27. J.D. Hastings says

    21- Oh, okay. When I open it it says “Examiner, San Francisco.” But I guess that’s the result of a cookie or something where it specifies my location. But since there is an actual SF Examiner, I became confused.

    Last night I thought it was amusing when PJ had the lineup of Pau-Bynum-Odom-Ariza-Fisher in there. On defense, Pau, Bynum and Odom were virtually running into each other in the lane. Yet the Bobcats tried to drive still. I didn’t see them take an outside shot then despite the fact that they’d probably have been open. Im guessing we dont see much of that once the season starts.