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Injury Bug Bites Lakers’ Big Men

by


The Lakers lost more than a game against the Nuggets last night. Apparently, they’ve also lost their best three big men to injury as well. Mike Trudell has the news via his @LakersReporter twitter account:

Let’s take these one by one, shall we?

Trudell later emphasized, again, that Howard is out at least one week. It certainly could be longer. He’ll be reevaluated next week and depending on how things look we’ll get a new timeline. That could mean he’s out a little bit longer. It could also mean we play the waiting game on Howard like we did with Steve Nash (though, lets hope not). Only time will tell.

Gasol’s situation is a bit trickier. He’s out at least two games but it’s not just a matter of him feeling better. As you remember from last season when Kobe came back from being concussed in the All-Star Game by Dwyane Wade, the NBA has instituted a strict policy to establish a protocol that dictates a player’s return to action after a concussion. Gasol will need to clear every hurdle in this process before he’s able to play again.

Hill’s injury seems to be the most straight forward of the bunch, though he will be reexamined later today. The tenor of the news seems to imply that Hill will be back to action before the others, but as I mentioned with Howard, only time will tell. Hip injuries can be pretty serious in their own right and no player should be rushed back from injury, especially to a crucial part of his body (hard to do any of the essential functions of a basketball player with a bad hip).

Taken individually, these injuries could be accounted for. It’d be hard as all three are vital parts to the rotation, but the next player in line would have to step up. It’s how teams work.

However, taken together and all at the same time is another story. These are the Lakers three best big men and two of their presumed best four players on the entire team. Much like with Nash and Gasol were both sidelined earlier in the year, this Laker team doesn’t have the depth to compensate for missing these caliber of players. No team does, actually.

Logistically speaking, Robert Sacre will be called up from the D-League to play (and likely start at) Center. Jamison will be back in the rotation too, likely starting at power forward. Also expect Earl Clark to see minutes at PF to go along with multiple small ball lineups that see Devin Ebanks and Ron as PF’s (or, as D’Antoni hinted with Ron, even at Center). These aren’t necessarily desirable answers, but they’re the only answers available to the team at this time.

Almost every optimistic prediction about the Lakers for this season was tied, first and foremost, to health. Today, like it’s been for nearly the entire season, the Lakers took another hit in this area. I know it’s simple to say they need to play through it, but at some point you have to wonder if there’s simply too many instances of key rotation players going down to injury for the Lakers to come close to being the group we thought they could be. The rest of the season will tell us if that’s true or not, but news like today’s isn’t encouraging on that front.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The Dane says

    This is crazy… all three?? With just one it might even have had its advantages, then the two left standing could get their touches.

  2. lil pau says

    This season is like a nightmare that never ends.

    I know… I’m supposed to enjoy the *process*, right? As far as lessons in advanced Buddhism go, I’d much rather be one of those monks who are whipped while meditating than have to watch Sacre and Earl Clark stand toe to toe with Tim Duncan and company….

    I wish Pau, Dwight, and JHIll a speedy recovery. Not so much for them, but for me.

  3. Kenny T says

    Well, one thing that we know is that nobody is going to feel sorry for the Lakers. The Show is just going to have to take its lumps for a while. The pressure is off for now, because without their best three bigs, they have little hope of winning any games.

    If there was ever a time to develop a bunker mentality, this is it for the Lakers. Maybe some chemistry will develop as they suffer through this period.

  5. lil pau says

    Joel,

    that counter behind Kobe’s head keeps track of the number of uncontested layups the Lakers have given up this season.

  6. Snoopy2006 says

    The part of the story not mentioned is that Howard tore his labrum taking a swing at the Mamba’s jaw. Gasol was likely concussed by the ripple aftershock.

  7. lil pau says

    Lost among all of today’s happy news, the Lakers waived DJO:

    http://www.nba.com/lakers/releases/130107djo_waived

    I know the guaranteed contract date is approaching, but it still seems a little odd to release a player on the day of losing three others to injury. Is a trade/FA acquisition in the works? Then again, if he wasn’t called up for even one minute of action when both the #2 PG (Blake) and the #3 (Duhon) were injured, I suppose the writing was on the wall.

    Too bad: he’s raw, but the guy is fast as hell.

  8. Robert says

    All of these injuries occurred during a team dinner. Dwight took a swing at Kobe, missed and hit Pau in the nose while simultaneously pulling his shoulder. Hill injured his hip trying to get out of the way. The whole thing started of course when Kobe grabbed all the Burgers and said “I eat first”.

    rr: You should take the coaching job I offered you. It is truly becoming (in the minds of some) a no lose situation.
    BigCity/lil pau/jayz: Looks like everyone needs to start rooting for the Kobe records – nobody else is on the court. I will start my next Kobe Alert in an attempt to keep people interested in these games.

  9. Kenny T says

    The Heat waived F/C Josh Harrelson. I saw some promise in him last year when he was with the Knicks. He couldn’t crack the Heat’s rotation, but may be worth a look as a stop gap in light of the recent spate of Injuries. He is a big with range on his shot that has some history with MD’A. Waiving DJO opens a spot on the roster.

  10. Gary says

    This season is officially over. And we have no lotto picks. Time to trade Gasol( if anyone wants him) for picks or players.

  11. Shaun says

    If we get Kenyon martin it would be nice – hes good on defense, might still have some hops/boozer rugged type ability – has the nastiness we lost with barnes that would suit Kobes personality

  12. ko says

    Here is my shocker! Lakers will play better next 3 games without Pau and Dwight!

    Pau is good for 7 points and zero defense these days. Jamison will score more and can’t be worse on D.

    Without Dwight the team won’t feel oblagated to pass into the post for a turnover or missed FT. With Clark the real MD offense will show up and Lakers will win 2 of 3. So there!

  13. Slappy says

    This is where I hate and/or loath the quasi-secrecy attending sports injuries. How bad is the labrum tear? I otherwise do not believe the one week for a single moment. Any tear where surgery is not initially indicated is going to require a conservative treatment plan consisting of some serious physical therapy. And that’s because the tear isn’t exactly going to repair itself (unfortunately). So the plan is to strengthen the surrounding musculature. Sure, he might try playing through it after a week or so, but if he doesn’t build up the muscles even more, then he risks worsening the tear. Heck, he risks that anyway, but the hope is that the muscle build-up rather lessens the risk of further tearing.

    By the way, this is why you don’t get rid of Pau.

    Lastly, for those who have seen the film, the applicable line here is Tom Cruise’s line in A Few Good Men, when he stops to pick up the newspaper or whatever at the news stand, to wit, The hits just keep on comin’…

    Almost forgot, but Darius, never trust twitter. The longer form version of the Howard story, courtesy of NBC:

    He is out at least one week, but officially, he is out indefinitely.

    That is what it usually is with a torn labrum in the shoulder, out indefinitely, and with some others who have had such an injury in the midst of their sporting careers, well, they’ve gone for 6 months of a physical therapy regimen before a call was made on surgery or not.

    All that’s left is for Sacre to channel his inner Wilt. Or so I’m hoping…

    Oh, and Robert, I’ve been busy of late, but thanks for that update re Kobe’s missed 3 PT attempts. Keep up the good work.

    By the way, is there some PF version of Delonte West out there waiting for the call? And does anyone think that the Clips would take Jamison, Jim Buss, Chaz, a box of peanuts (so many bags of peanuts), and some future considerations for Lamar? Perhaps the Lakers can sweeten the deal by offering D’Antoni as well (the team could revert to Mr. B)(not B as in Brown, but the other guy). Sorry for my lame attempt at humor, but it’s either that or cry.

  14. rr says

    Responding to something Robert said two threads back:

    Some on this site do not think it was that great of a summer and are now saying the roster is flawed
    —————–

    What I think you have been missing the whole time is that it was a great summer AND the roster is flawed. The two are not mutually exclusive.

  17. Manny says

    Ko,
    Was that you that called the Max n Marcellus show a few minutes ago? A caller said the exact same thing you did on your last comment, jw.

    Um, either Hill loves attention or he’s injury prone. Not one game passes where hill plays that he limps, grab some part of his body in pain or grimaces for something.
    Also, one thing I really miss from the Phil n even the Bernie days is a steady player rotation. Holy, how many starting line ups have we seen this season? Ha, how many different line ups have we seen, during the games!?!?!

  18. Snowmass Dave says

    Bad, bad karma for this season for many reasons. But I want to tell everyone how wrong I have been on DH (aka Superman). I lobbied to get him but now regret it. I was wrong about my assessment of this man-child. Yes, he is not 100% because of his back injury and now th latest setback is another tough one to swallow. That said, there is something missing from this guy’s B-Ball heart. He is not a defensive stopper by any stretch. His horseplay antics and immaturity point to a person who is uncomfortable with himself, and uses the antics to deflect. And his latest comments about teammates needing to … “like each other more, etc.” sounds like an excuse. A “close team” doesn’t make a good team. The guy is just so disappointing in so many ways. The Laker greats of the past and Kobe know when to stop the kidding and be serious about their game, their livelihood, their teammaes. Dwight just doesn’t get it. All the talk of him being a “cancer” in Orlando now rings true .. maybe I am being too hard but I just can’t believe in him. Plus, hi actual physical skills as a center are limited. He has been successful because of his athletic ability, not basketbal smarts and moves.

  19. Chearn says

    After the loss against the 76ers you thought it couldn’t get any worse. Ha.

    Well now the Lakers need make no semblance of playing defense. It will be all offense all the time just as D’Antoni likes.

    Remember a team will always resemble the coach. Mike does not preach defense because he’s all about the offense, thus we have this predicament with the Lakers.

    I believe that D’Antoni is better suited as an assistant coach. He should be the offensive scheme behind a coach that preaches defense first and that can motivate a team.

    The Lakers FO made a fundamental mistake that everyone knows is the kiss of death for a team, and that is to fire a coach during the season. In the Lakers case 5 games into the regular season. This team has one player that fits MDA’s system that’s an aged and injured Nash and maybe Kobe. Other than that no one else is a prototype for his offensive system.
    Everyone appears to have discounted the mess that started with the 8 game preseason loss and the 5 game losses at the beginning of the season. Those games were not conducive to team camaraderie. Particularly when you factor in that only Kobe, Metta and Pau knew how each other play on the court and how they act off the court. I don’t count Darius, Ebanks, or Blake as they were not integral to any past championship.

    NBA veterans or not, they are people. It is not easy to engender friendship and camaraderie in the midst of a messy organization, injuries to key players and losing. If anyone thinks it’s easy just go to each floor in your office building and pick the first person you see to assemble a group of about 7 people. Then put those 7 people in a room and try to decide where to eat dinner and which movie you should see as a group.

    All teams that the Lakers have faced in the past, that have quick guards or a player that can offset Kobe’s offensive output have always played the Lakers tough. A quick defensive veteran pg and an NBA ready shooting guard that can defend 1-3’s has been a need of the Lakers for longer than I care to track. Consequently, teams that possess quick guards, go at the Lakers guards which in turn require the big men to rotate over to the pg on far too many plays. Add to the fact that the Lakers do NOT help the helper then the recipes for defensive lapses are evident.

  20. Robert says

    rr: Was certainly not meant as a slight on you – I just hired you (again). Rather – as you know I had us “6th” last year which is where we ended up. The great summer put them “1st” in my book (wrong). Now a more conservative and perhaps more knowledgable poster such as yourself would have had them at say “4th”. Am I close? Nobody had them as 12th in the West (or “24th”).
    Slappy: Thanks – I have not forgotten about the pursuit of Hondo in all time misses either – I will keep you posted : )

  21. BigCitySid says

    1) Hmmm, I wonder who field goal attempts will increase with Gasol & D-12 out???
    2) Looks like the Lakers will miss the post-season for only the 7th time in their history
    3) I don’t believe D-12 will only miss one week, his injury sounds very serious.

  22. Chearn says

    Hope Kobe doesn’t try to carry this team and end up getting injured, too.

    Robert, please keep going with the Kobe updates they have been positive in light of the negativity that has been this season. Thanks for your work

    I’d like to give Earl Clark some credit for making his free throws when he was chosen by Karl. Awesome!

    Howard played injured last night and still scored 14 points and 25 rebounds. He definitely loves the game enough to risk further injury to himself. What’s not tough about that.

  24. John says

    MWP at the center? Oddly enough I bet this is the type of lineup D’Antoni actually wants to run. Yikes.

  25. Steve says

    Stupid Mayans.
    If they hadn’t been wrong, we wouldn’t have to be suffering through this.

    Not having any picks just adds to the pain. If we do miss the playoffs we can’t even luck out
    like San Antonio did with Duncan, when they sucked for a year and got the #1 pick because of David Robinson being injured.

  26. Vegas says

    Robert, thanks for that bit of levity.

    One of the only things I’m enjoying about this season are your Kobe alerts, and watching him march up the all-time ranks. I spend way too much time surfing through basketball-reference.com and wondering just how many legends he can catch/pass. Where else do you go for your Kobe stats?

    With or without these injuries, I feel like this team missing the playoffs would be the biggest bust of all time. Can anyone think of a bigger one? 2004 Lakers or 2011 Heat are not even close; both those teams made the Finals. Lakers post-Shaq and pre-Gasol were bad but there were no expectations for those teams. It’s morbidly fascinating watching history happening.

    Oh, and I am enjoying that I found this website this season, although I wish I had found it during a better year.

    Go Lakers

  27. Snoopy2006 says

    Agree with Slappy on the labral tear and the clandestine nature of sports injuries, good post.

  28. T. Rogers says

    Ken,

    Its cool to hear you on the radio. It’s good to put a voice to your posts. Your are definitely a passionate fan.

  29. lil pau says

    Kobe is currently 929 points behind Wilt. With all these injuries, does anyone else think he has a shot on this roadtrip? I don’t see the Spurs giving up more than 400, so he’s really going to have to go off tomorrow night.

  30. Snoopy2006 says

    If memory serves, I do remember Odom played through a labral tear during one of our playoff series – if I remember right, it was an early playoff exit, I believe before our 2 championships. Without knowing the degree or type of tear, you can’t really compare the 2 situations. But just offhand, I was wondering if Odom ever underwent surgery the offseason after that tear, as he seemed to have no lasting effects in subsequent years.

  32. randomsz says

    MWP at center is pretty bull. The guy is 6’7 and while it might happen, expect some physical altercation from his part. So now, the chance is here for Jamison to prove what he still can.

    Strangely, I don’t feel all is lost. Unless Nash or Kobe join the list. What they will miss is Hill’s hustle and rebounds. And I guess Dwight’s d.

  34. Slappy says

    According to the LAT, the good news is that Howard has apparently been told that he doesn’t need surgery. The bad news is that his absence is said to be “for a while”. More specifically:

    “I don’t need surgery,” Howard said. “It should keep me out for a while but [I need] to make sure that I’m cautious, to make sure that I get healthy, that’s the most important thing,” Howard said.

    And he also needs to make sure that he does not totally blow out his shoulder prior to signing a max contract. Not blaming him here for any such thought, just something that he and we need consider.

    Oh, and Snoop, yes, we need to know not only how bad the tear, but what type of tear, i.e., a SLAP, Bankart and/or posterior labral tear.

    And Lamar did have such a tear. In 05 and 07. The 05 injury ended his season. As the LAT reported back in the day (March 07):

    “Odom will be out at least two to three weeks, Coach Phil Jackson said, and probably longer, with surgery a remote possibility. Odom had surgery on the same shoulder for the same injury two years ago. The recovery period was almost four months.”

    He eventually had surgery in May 07, if I’m not mistaken. I also have this vague recollection that he described the pain as the worst of his life. Can’t remember, though, whether that related to the first or second tear, or both.

    And not that I want to be the harbinger of death, as it were, but that 04-05 season was but the 5th time in franchise history that the team failed to make the playoffs.

    And here’s one of the reasons why I hate their quasi-secrecy:

    “MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Los Angeles Lakers place forward Lamar Odom on the injured list with a left shoulder sprain Sunday night prior to their game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

    Odom, who has missed the past seven games, is averaging 15.2 points and 10.2 rebounds in 64 games this season.”

    So he missed seven before he went on the injured list in preparation for undergoing surgery. That Memphis game was on 3 April. They lost the game against the Pacers when Lamar got hurt (on 18 March) and then went 2-15 the rest of that season (were at 32-33 following the loss to the Pacers and so ended up at 32+2=34 and 33+15=48, good for 4th in the Pacific and 11th in the West). Couldn’t possibly be that bad, could it?

    Let me leave you all with the glass half full, suicide avoidance view of things, as it were. At least if it takes Dwight a while to come back, and Pau comes back fairly soon, we’ll all find out whether Pau is being misused in the scheme of things or whether he has well and truly lost it. That’s assuming, of course, that D’Antoni doesn’t have Pau out there for corner 3s while Nash mans the post. And don’t get me wrong, since for some strange and undoubtedly inane reason, the team refuses to learn from that Celts team of old, you know, the one that went to 4 consecutive NBA Finals there in the 80s, and so, like them, run a double low post scheme, in part. So that as a given, I don’t expect them to go that route any time soon. So if Pau can come back and play well as the 5, and the team is likely to misuse him if and when Howard returns, at least if he plays well at the 5, well, that’ll help his trade value.

  35. Chearn says

    After the loss against the 76ers you thought it couldn’t get any worse. Ha.

    Well now the Lakers need make no semblance of playing defense. It will be all offense all the time just as D’Antoni likes.

    Remember a team will always resemble the coach. Mike does not preach defense because he’s all about the offense, thus we have this predicament with the Lakers.

    I believe that D’Antoni is better suited as an assistant coach. He should be the offensive scheme behind a coach that preaches defense first and that can motivate a team.

    The Lakers FO made a fundamental mistake that everyone knows is the kiss of death for a team, and that is to fire a coach during the season. In the Lakers case 5 games into the regular season. This team has one player that fits MDA’s system that’s an aged and injured Nash and maybe Kobe. Other than that no one else is a prototype for his offensive system.
    Everyone appears to have discounted the mess that started with the 8 game preseason loss and the 5 game losses at the beginning of the season. Those games were not conducive to team camaraderie. Particularly when you factor in that only Kobe, Metta and Pau knew how each other play on the court and how they act off the court. I don’t count Darius, Ebanks, or Blake as they were not integral to any past championship.

    NBA veterans or not, they are people. It is not easy to engender friendship and camaraderie in the midst of a messy organization, injuries to key players and losing. If anyone thinks it’s easy just go to each floor in your office building and pick the first person you see to assemble a group of about 7 people. Then put those 7 people in a room and try to decide where to eat dinner and which movie you should see as a group.

    All teams that the Lakers have faced in the past, that have quick guards or a player that can offset Kobe’s offensive output have always played the Lakers tough. A quick defensive veteran pg and an NBA ready shooting guard that can defend 1-3?s has been a need of the Lakers for longer than I care to track. Consequently, teams that possess quick guards, go at the Lakers guards which in turn require the big men to rotate over to the pg on far too many plays. Add to the fact that the Lakers do NOT help the helper then the recipes for defensive lapses are evident.

  37. rr says

    I tend to think that winning leads to the various things that people call “chemistry” as opposed to the reverse.

  38. Tom Daniels says

    Well, now it’s official. This is an interesting season. All three bigs? You could argue Pau is a blessing, and his foot will heal. But in reality with Dwight out he could have played down low and found himself.

    Well, Earl Clark walked in and canned those foul shots. Maybe he is about to be the discovery of the season.

    This lost season.

  39. Warren Wee Lim says

    For so many things to be lost, some good things ought to be found. Sacre resembles Gortat. He has a decent 15-footer. Its your time to shine my man!

  40. KOOO says

    Well don’t fear Clark is here. Jamison for 20 and 10 tomorrow. Kobe for 35. Metta for 20 and Nash shoots more for 18. Lakers win.

    What about Hornets beating Spurs?

    Maybe Pop will rest the entire team Weds.

    Saw Moon playing for D league and I thought he could help Lakers right now. What’s his story?

  42. Robert says

    Slappy: You convinced me. He could be done for the year.

    OK – let’s chalk more evidence up for those who think we are snake bit. We don’t make the deal we are stuck with AB who sits out the year. We do make the deal we get DH who sits out a chunk of the year.

    The same thing happened in the hair department. We traded AB and avoided having the worst doo in the league. However, we pick up Nash who also had one of the worst doos, then he cuts his hair, and it might look even worse. How is all this possible?

  43. rr says

    Robert,

    This is Year 2 of “The Curse of David Stern.” There is a very real possibility that the Lakers will be in the lottery with no pick since they traded it to get a PG. Meanwhile, the Clippers with Odom could be in the NBA Finals, while Pau has sat out with knee problems and now with a concussion.

  44. Jayz says

    I think this would be perfect time to say “the sky has fallen”.

    Robert,
    Because of these injuries, i wouldnt be suprised if Kobe goes vintage on us and drops his usual string of 40 point games.

    And as long we have Kobe on our team, we will always have a punchers chance to make the playoffs or even a shot at a title(yeah I went there).

  45. sT says

    Hmmmm, I came here tonight to see what is happening with the Lakers, and, wow, who would have thought that all three bigs gone, just like that. At least this blog is entertaining, and yeah, let Kobe go off for 40+ a night, why not? This season is history in my book, but I would enjoy seeing Kobe break more records this year, if anything. A $130 million basketball team payroll just completely wasted.

  46. Hale says

    The other NBA teams minus a few have all been chickens running around feeding off the latest trend. When Boston (booOoOooooo) won, all the sound bites were about its defense so everyone talked about ramping up defense. When the Lakers (yaaaaaaaay) won its back to back, everyone else scrambled to get bigger. With the Heat winning by going small, again most teams are chasing that dynamic. What those chicken teams failed to take into account is that those winners all had to play to the way that the talent was constructed.

    Four coaches ago, the Lakers had an identity. Now it seems that the organization wants to act like chickens. MB’s line was about having a ball dominate point to move the offense. MDA’s preached the gospel of the Nash path. Bernie is an asterisk but at least he let the dudes play. Letting them play allowed them to find their own level. Maybe it would have all gone to hell in the next couple of games but at least it wasn’t about pining away for a messiah to have some built-in excuse as to why the team didn’t achieve the most loftiest of goals. That’s why I don’t like these coaching choices where the entire roster has to be flipped to fit their coaching whims.

    The best thing about all the bigs being dinged is that all the excuses are on the table. Nothing to lose and automatic underdog status. Let’s see who shows up to the games balls on fire. MDA’s going to have to show me something, too. Distribute the minutes like Nash distributes the rock. Loosen your roster and let the kids play kamikaze style: 100% hard until their tongues hang out then rotate them. Change the rhythm with them and maybe they’ll play with some damn fervent passion. It’s basketball and money. If you can’t get up for that, get them a job with a paper hat and see how they like it.

  47. Warren Wee Lim says

    I’m disappointed at you fellas… 40+ is all you ask? Kobe goes for 50 for the rest of the season to take Wilt’s place THIS YEAR.

  48. Warren Wee Lim says

    On a more serious note, I do believe the waiving of DJO means something. Other than the fact that his contract becomes fully guaranteed if he had stayed on the roster tomorrow.

    Lets talk basketball, odds and other stuff.

    Depth Chart
    5: Robert Sacre / Earl Clark
    4: Metta World Peace / Antawn Jamison
    3: Kobe Bryant / Devin Ebanks
    2: Darius Morris / Jodie Meeks
    1: Steve Nash / Chris Duhon

    Injuries:
    Dwight Howard – shoulder
    Pau Gasol – concussion
    Jordan HIll – hip
    Steve Blake – abdomen

    This is lineup is quite hilarious. We sport Sacre and Morris possibly on the starting 5 both of which have no offense whatsoever.

    Robert Sacre showed me signs of staying in the roster for good with a passable midrange 15-ftr and good roll skills. I do know he’s very foul prone.

    Earl Clark buys time at Center tho he’s more of a mobile forward than anything resembling a center. He’d get killed inside.

    World Peace will start at PF and I like this move. But only if it was Dwight at C, but hey, there’s only too much you can do at this point.

    Antawn most likely gets 28 minutes at PF. Not much we can do but rely on him to hopefully give us meaningful minutes and a 33/15 performance (yeah right).

    Kobe will most exclusively be a 3 against Houston (Parsons) and San Antonio (Leonard) but I seriously doubt he’d be a 3 against OKC (Durant).

    Devin Ebanks, time to shine boi.

    Darius Morris and Jodie Meeks, there are games where you guys show us the meaning of bench. Most of the time though, you are what you’re paid. Hopefully we can get more diamonds in the rough from you two.

    Steve Nash and Chris Duhon, well, this is the stretch where we need to get a consistent 17/10 from Stevie and 8/4 from Duhon.

  49. Joe M says

    Yea, I have become more interested now in what Kobe can do each game than what the team will do. This team is done, no way will they win a championship, which means the year is a failure since this team was supposidly made for a championship lol.

  50. mindcrime says

    I’ve been preaching patience, and telling everyone to calm their inner chicken-littles.

    I’ve officially joined the book-of-the-month club—as in the Book of Job. In the fictionalized version I’m reading, David Stern plays the role of God AND the Devil. He has this conversation with himself in the early chapters. “Have you seen the flagship franchise of my league? They have champtionship banners and hall-of-famers galore! Nothing can compare with them!” Then, in a Smeagol/Gollum moment, he suddenly channels an inner demon and says “let’s see how that crew handles nixing the Chris Paul trade!” The next few chapters feature an early playoff exit, a winless preseason, a series of coaches, and devastating injuries. It’s quite a read. I think it’s the next chapter where an earthquake levels Staples.

  51. tviper says

    It now is all about 1 game at a time. You would think that the FO will be sellers at the deadline to reduce lux tax hit this year and next, but every seller needs a buyer…

  52. Warren Wee Lim says

    On a happy note, atleast we don’t expect our team to win anymore… just kobe to rain 60 on those Rockets.

    Kobe 42/4/4
    Nash 22/4/12
    Peace 15/8/2
    Sacre 8/10/1
    Meeks 17/2/2
    Jamison 10/2/1
    Morris 4/1/1
    Clark 4/7/1

    Final Score: Lakers 122 Rockets 121

  53. Shaun says

    Wow – if howards injury is close to lamars then we should just tank and try to get some of our picks back

    Not having lottery protection on our picks was stupid, dantoni hire was stupid, letting barnes go was stupid ……

    For those that remember pre-gasol we were actually 1st in the west but Bynum just went down so we traded for gasol we were good and just got better

    As for this year …… It’s really not looking good – Mitch needs to work on his fringe player skills and find us some talent and MD needs to get out of the teams way

    Hopefully jamison is given free reign to play his game like under Bernie so that he can make MD look stupid for benching him and he becomes part of the rotation

  54. BigCitySid says

    Somehow I don’t think Kobe is that bothered that Gasol & Howard are out. Now he can go for 50 a game. Hopefully he won’t have to take 50 shots to get it.

  55. Shaun says

    http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/46851/analyzing-the-lakers-injury-apocalypse

    Take a read main point on our picks

    ”(Other teams watching the Lakers: Cleveland and Phoenix, both of whom own rights to L.A. draft picks. The Cavs can swap one of their 2013 first-rounders — likely the Heat’s via the LeBron sign-and-trade, certain to be near the bottom of the first round — for the Lakers’ first-rounder, but only if the Lakers make the playoffs. In a complicated roundabout, Phoenix via the Nash trade would get whichever Lakers’ 2013 first-rounder is lowest — i.e., furthest toward no. 30 — after the Cleveland swap, but with the caveat that if the Lakers miss the playoffs the Suns get the Lakers’ own lottery pick. In other words: The Cavs benefit most if the Lakers barely make the playoffs, while the Suns benefit most if the Lakers miss the playoffs.)”

  56. Dave M. says

    I’ve been down on the team lately but I’m actually going to take this as a positive. I want to see renewed energy. I want to see Sacre mixing it up in the post, want to see some guys making the most out of this opportunity. We’ve already got a crappy record and this pattern of good one night, listless the next isn’t doing anything to move us up in the standings. And if I could move Bernie back up to the lead coaches chair, I would. Since that’s not gonna happen I’ll settle for some end of the bench players showing why they want to be in this league.

  57. Manny says

    Who is Nash going to pick n roll with now? since he’s been back, seems like that’s all he can do. I thought he was the best at getting *everyone* shots. Instead I see the same play over n over. PnR with Gasol or a pass to Gasol at the top of the key and Nash goes and sets a pick for Kobe. They run these two plays to death. Since Nash has been back, Meeks and Metta have suffered a little, a lot. Oh well, workout game for me tonight. Every time they have a close up of Dantoni making a funny face nodding his head, I’m gonna do 50 pushups.

  58. PurpleBlood says

    I agree with Dave M., gotta find a silver lining!
    Don´t know if anyone´s read this SS&R article from yesterday, but here´s one line that mademe lol:
    ..could the team have been expected to win two out of three even with this fully healthy squad playing like a group of drunk D’Antoni brothers in a Thanksgiving pick-up game? Probably not. Losses are losses….

  60. Kevin_ says

    Houston 4 game win streak Lakers lost last 3. Houston 13-6 at home Lakers 5-10 on road. Houston 1st in points a game, 7th in assists and 8th in rebounds while Lakers are without their top 3 rim protectors. Lakers are going to get rocked.

    Asik, Duncan, Ibaka next 3 without Howard, Pau and Hill. If Sacre gets in foul trouble Lakers have no centers left.

  61. rr says

    Somehow I don’t think Kobe is that bothered that Gasol & Howard are out. Now he can go for 50 a game. Hopefully he won’t have to take 50 shots to get it.
    —

    You spend way too much time thinking about what you think Kobe is thinking.

  63. Kevin_ says

    rr: definitely in that area. Guards are going to toy with Sacre off pnr next 3 games. Only career stretches from guys will prevent blowouts this week.

  64. rr says

    Every time they have a close up of Dantoni making a funny face nodding his head, I’m gonna do 50 pushups
    —

    Then you are going to get quite a workout.

  65. 82481 says

    Kobe is playing at a higher clip than ever, Howard is still a 20 per…

    but the Laker’s weren’t counting the drastic decline from Gasol & Nash.
    both Nash & Gasol’s efficiency is way down this year.
    Is it a sign of players declining or coaching? or both?

  66. david h says

    darius and dave m: it keeps getting uglier and uglier. i’m talking about uglier than homemade sin.

    manny, moe and jack; larry, curly, moe have nothing on our not so walking wounded. what is it exactly? a head concussion, a shoulder and hip displacment of some sort? unless we see blood gushing out of one’s eyes are we really certain as to the extent of one’s injury? especially if one’s injury is not a chronic condition.

    which brings us to the present, clearly and dangerously close to becoming a disenfranchised franchise. the train wreck we’ve been witnessing these past several weeks has now gone into overdive but in slow motion; like molasses moving in the month of january somehow, someway. one can only hope and now pray that the situation gets better before it gets any worst and soon would be the operative word.

    in the year of the snake, one can say we’ve been truly bitten. with venom seeping out our very pores, like moth to a flame, we are drawn and mystified at the same time. why? is the age old question, because of our love and dedication to laker nation can this really be happening all at once ? it does and it has. what to do? what to do?
    praise the lord, it’s laker nation for tonite is another game so let’s get on with it.

    Go Lakers

  69. MannyP says

    With DJO being waived, we now have an open roster spot and the team desperately needs a PF or Center to help bridge the gap.

    Without getting into speculation, are there any free agents out there that are available to fill one (or both) of these gaps? I hear a lot about KMart, but I don’t know if he fits in financially – although I would love to see a guy that bring some toughness and attitude. Who else is out there worth taking a shot at? Perhaps this is a topic for another time……

  71. Chearn says

    Alex, funny.

    Warren you forgot to add Duhon’s 5/4/1 but it may be for naught because he plays zero defense and doesn’t even use his fouls to prevent a basket.

    I hope the Lakers foul hard enough to stop giving up and 1’s on soft fouls at the rim.

    Let’s go Lakers. I’m more excited about watching this group than the starters because every one of them knows they have to play balls to the walls, in order to avoid a blowout.

    Lakers let’s surprise the NBA pundits. Lakers fan regardless the roster, record or coach.