The preseason is winding down and the Lakers will face their co-tenants tonight, without Kobe Bryant who has been bothered with a sore right foot. Given his threshold of pain, it must be really sore. I’d like to deviate from all things Lakers to mention a piece of basketball work that is in a word, substantial. The group at Hardwood Paroxysm has put together a 2012-2013 season preview that is unlike any other you will ever come across. This down-loadable opus runs 130-plus pages and includes original artwork. I won’t bother to list all the names involved with the project but suffice to say they knocked it out of the park.
On to the Laker-type links:
Andy Kamenetzky at ESPN’s Lakers Report offers practice news, Dwight’s DPOY feelings and more.
Mark Medina at the LA Daily News reports on Kobe Bryant’s foot injury.
Mark Travis at Silver Screen and Roll has a nice piece about Kobe and Russell Westbrook.
Jeff Miller at the OC Register writes about a different side of Steve Blake, apart from the game.
Melissa Rohlin at the LA Times relays advice from Kobe to Dwight about injury recovery, ‘be patient, be smart’.
Eric Pincus, also at the Times, has a game preview for tonight’s Lakers match against the Clippers.
And finally, Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo Sports offered this on Monday, after Dwight Howard’s first game in a Lakers uniform. It was about the pranks that teammates played before Dwight took the court and about the emotion the big man felt when greeted by the cheers of the fans. Ultimately however, it came down to Kobe briefly clenching hands with his new center on the way to tip-off, with typically succinct words to live by: ‘Let’s play some (mother-bleeping) ball’. Indeed.
– Dave Murphy
exhelodrvr says
Kobe didn’t say anything about being concerned about the backup point guard situation?
Chearn says
The Clippers will either use this game to rest some people, or they are going to blow the Lakers out of the water in an attempt to stake claim in this town.
These Clippers are scary good, Deandre Jordan looks like he’s ready for a spot on the All-Star team and their bench is deep with Jamal Crawford and Bledsoe anchoring Grant Hill, Matt Barnes, Hollins, Turiaf and Odom. Whew! The Lakers can’t touch that.
Kevin_ says
Kareem wrote on October 24, 2012 at 3:01 am
I don’t see the need to stop using his starters. I personally would like to see the starting unit build chemistry ASAP and the rotations become more solidified.
Kareem: The goal of this year is to win the championship. That will require 100+ games to do. Just the daily grind of the season will wear on the players. There’s no need for Brown to play the starters to build chemistry as soon as possible. This is a marathon not a sprint. Playing Pau 36 mins last game indicates Brown isn’t thinking about the bigger picture.
Rich says
@2
lol Are you talking about the LO that came into camp out of shape or the Grant HIll that is out a few weeks before he’s even played a game, or perhaps the same Billups who is also coming off a major injury?
Not sure if serious or not. Anyways though, heard Kobe is out for the final two preseason games which I think could be a blessing…but I’m hoping the injury to his foot isn’t major. Also hoping D. Howard is just sore from finally playing a game and isn’t a setback.
Don’t care if we don’t win in the preseason, all I care about is getting into the playoffs healthy.
david h says
dave m: can’t believe i’ll be watching the lakers play on the clippers primeticket tonite. we do what we gotta do, correct? or is that being blacked out also?
while our local cable providers fight it out, i mean negotiate the rights to broadcast laker games soon, rather than later, can’t help but vent because it’s a 60 mile drive to future wifey’s house out in the OC. Satellite crosses all boundaries and cable providers are franchised/restricted to specific areas; currently are coming up short and we have nothing to show for it ‘cept am radio, for now. Come on Time Warner, get it on, get it together. Got it? Get it? good because i like kicking back, kicking it on and just kicking it with my own big screen.
Tonite, Go Lakers
T. Rogers says
Kevin,
I wouldn’t say Mike is not thinking about it. The reality is the Lakers core will have to play a certain amount of minutes together on the floor before things truly click. The last game was the first with all the starters. There are only a few more preseason games left. It makes sense to let them all get a good amount of burn together now.
Unless Kobe, Steve, and Pau are playing 40+ minutes a night, we shouldn’t worry too much. The key for this team will be taking care of business with bad and mediocre teams. Blow those teams out and get the starters rest. That allows the starters to play more minutes in the big games against teams like OKC, Miami, Boston, etc.
Shaun says
hey for everyone that cannot watch the games on their satelite, you can watch the games online at front row sports.eu
If you have the wire connection you need you can then stream the games right to your TV
Dave M. says
@david h – I live in Austin now and recently paid TWC the extra $ for the Lakers channel only to discover that the games themselves are blacked out. So yeah, I hear you. I’ve been listening to games on the free audio league pass.
@ex – you know Kobe would never do such a thing.
Darius Soriano says
Our game preview is up.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2012/10/24/preseason-preview-chat-the-los-angeles-clippers/
david h says
dave m: austin, as in austin, tx? wow.
think maybe all the dave’s on this blog should begin chanting, Lakers, Lakers, Lakers at beginning of tonite’s game which will send out a subconscious message to twc and our local cable providers to get their collective acts together in time for us loyal daves’ to begin chanting lakers, lakers, lakers when we begin to view the games on our big, medium and small screens.
my future wifey says i have an overdeveloped imagination. i say that’s what makes me me.
Go Lakers !