I am keeping this short and sweet today since, like the Lakers, I am on the road (and short for time because of my travels). The Lakers visit Portland tonight in a game which will be Kobe’s last game in the Rose Garden (I know it’s the Moda Center now, but I don’t call it that). These “last game in city X” are always a bit tricky to navigate for Kobe and the rest of the team and I expect tonight to be no different.
The Blazers have been a rival of Kobe’s Lakers over the course of his career, especially the in the early/mid 2000’s when both franchises were league powerhouses. Kobe and Shaq kept those Blazers out of the Finals in 2000 and that team never seemed to fully recover, ultimately disbanding after transforming into the “Jailblazers” and all the problems which came with roster.
That’s another story, though. Visiting the Pacific Northwest has always meant a challenge, even if the Blazers weren’t a top team. They have a great crowd and the Lakers have always seemed to struggle there. Tonight, then, it will be interesting to see what type of reception Kobe receives. It will also be interesting to see the team’s young core — minus Larry Nance, who has already been ruled out with his sore knee — reacts to what will likely be a raucous crowd ready to see Kobe’s last game and a Blazer victory.
Portland has the type of roster which gives the Lakers problems. In Dame Lillard and CJ McCollum, they have an explosive backcourt which scores from all over the floor. The have long and athletic frontcourt players who run the floor and hit the glass. They also have enough wing defense to make the lives of the Lakers’ scoring wings harder. Also consider that Lillard always seems to have a big game against the Lakers and I don’t think this game will yield good results.
On the Lakers’ side, I mentioned the Kobe angle, but these games are still about the incremental steps and development of the young players. Continued positive steps forward are why we watch and tonight will be no different. So, here’s to solid games from Russell, Randle, and Clarkson. I wouldn’t mind them going heads up with their Blazer counterparts and winning a few of those battles. These are the games within the game worth our attention.
Where you can watch: 7:30pm start time on TWC Sportsnet. Also listen on ESPN Radio 710AM Los Angeles.
Fern says
well,they hanging around…
KO says
Every game they start with a bad 1st quarter and a bad 3rd. The constent$
28% from field
19% from 3
Avaraging close to 4 turnover
And avaraging of a minus 17
Over last 7 games.
The Kobe tour has turned into the Laker joke. Is this what the sad franchise has become.
1
kevin_ says
No good habits have been formed for years. Lakers don’t do one thing, at least, good as a team.
BigCitySid says
– Hi-light of last night, both T’Wolves & Suns win. Now if only the Nets can get a win or two sometime in the near future.
J C says
Missed the game last night, but I attended Friday night’s game against Spurs.
Ginobili put on a clinic w 20-4-4 w 5 steals in 19 minutes.
Comments about Russell’s points being in garbage time are silly. Most of our games feature about 35 minutes of “garbage time.” One could consider this entire season 82 games of garbage time.
From what I see, Russell consistently, courteously defers to Kobe and others. He often makes the unselfish pass but it doesn’t always lead to an assist for various reasons, including the talent he’s working with and the team’s Iso-heavy system.
When he feels the time is right, he’ll score several buckets in a row. Sometimes that’s at the end of the game and it’s not his fault the team is usually trailing big. I sense that he feels more comfortable at those stages because it’s more appropriate to show off his skills when there’s less at stake, not that he couldn’t do it sooner. Once he’s promoted to a starting position, and Kobe’s not casting a huge shadow, I have zero doubt Russell’s numbers will increase. In fact, I think he could and will easily score 25 points a game if/when given the freedom to do it. That’s a legit NBA player.
I re-iterate that Russell’s speed or lack of it isn’t an issue. Bird and Magic weren’t lightning-quick either. I’m not comparing Russell to those guys. I’m simply pointing out that having blinding speed is not a prerequisite to being an effective player.
Russell seems to be able to get to his spots without too much trouble, can drain the 3, and uses change of pace to great effect.
Things Russell needs to improve include reducing turnovers (should happen organically as he grows more acclimated to the league’s speedy defenders), his FT %, and his defensive effort – which I currently blame partly on the coaching staff’s appalling lack of a unified defensive system.
Mikey says
Wow. Such pessimistic comments.
I can’t agree. The Kobe farewell tour is a sunk cost we inherited over the last two decades, and ensured with the extension 2 years ago. Most players and teams don’t do this, but for a non contending LA, it’s not the worst thing in the world.
More importantly, LA has formed a potentially excellent core for the future. Russell is getting his reps, and seems to me to be a breakout point guard for next year. I think he’s going to be great, will make other players great, and will always the team an attractive destination.
Clarkson, while having a very modest ceiling, should thrive next to Russell, because both can play on or off the ball, and Clarksons athleticism complements Russells skill game.
At least one of Randle and Nance are going G to be keepers, and it looks like they can play together with Nance playing small ball center, given his crazy wingspan and the current league composition.
If LA gets a couple solid workmanship players this summer, defensive two way wing, and a true rim protector, as opposed to an empty block stat stuffer (DeAndre), they’ll take a leap and be one of the most exciting and up and coming teams next year, whole still having tons of cap space for 2017, when they’ll be competitive as a free agent draw.
Byron should be gone by then, or during the season, and all of the pessimism will have been for naught.
At least that’s what I see.
matt says
Yeah randle did look like he’s excelling
KO says
Mikey
As of today the Lakers have one potential very good offensive player in Russell
The three guards are rated 30th in the NBA in defense. Thats last. They have no center,, small forward, poor bench and ask ourself how many minutes does Randle/Nance get on a playoff team.
Lakers have the worst team in NBA with possibly no 1st round draft for 2 years, a coach with the worst record in NBA history last 5 years and ownership that has zero idea how to fix it while getting paid big bucks to screw it up.
Guessing you must be under 16 and a fairly
new fan. This is going to be a very long Buss ride back to respectability.
But thats what makes us stronger so stay with it.
Fulofunk says
Miley,
Appreciate your optimism. The Kobe farewell tour has been interesting and a huge redeeming quality of this year for me. By that I mean, it is refreshing to see a franchise honor arguably the GOAT like the Lakers have done, which allows us to see a truly unique phenomenon whereby Kobe’s name is chanted and cheered in virtually every stadium he appears in. Last night was no different, after his initial introduction anyway.
We do have a potentially great core that can develop over time, and it seems like now is the time to let them develop. BS appears to be gradually letting this happen, although not playing Tarik Black still boggles my mind. Unless it is strictly a “match ups” issue, which I doubt, I would love to find out someday what he did to get BS so p&$$@d off, that his plying time is limited to an extreme last resort.
All that being said, this year has been extremely hard to watch, much more so than last year. This year’s team looked like they would be a big improvement – better players, another year under the coach’s Princeton offense, but they play so poorly together much of the time. They show spurts of competency, but never, or rarely win enough quarters to be competitive. Granted, we have 3 1st year players ( four if you count Randle) and two 2nd players all seeing significant minutes, so the learning curve is very steep.
So, I appreciate the optimism and remain hopeful.
Clay Bertrand says
Still no Tarik Black??? We are getting our fill of Ryan Kelly but NEVER Tarik Black!!! Its gonna be REAL BAD if Byron gets a “free pass” for this year and they Lakers pull the,
“Well Byron was put in a really unfair position with Kobe last year. He deserves a full year to develop the young players and we are going to give him that year.”
The young guys are merely getting used to the water temperature at this level but NO ONE is teaching them to SWIM!!!!!!!!! That’ll be NEXT YEAR…….if we have a COACH.
Anonymous says
“Young guys getting used to the water temperature but no one is teaching them to swim”
Haha this is a funny and surprisingly apt analogy.
One could argue that simply by getting minutes, regardless of the quality of coaching, that players will begin to adapt and improve.
However it brings to mind the story about lobsters (or is it crabs?) that, when placed in a pot of water that slowly rolls to scalding temperatures, won’t react to being boiled to death because the change is gradual.
Ouch, Byron!
LKK says
Apparently Kobe made mention of the continuing poor defense:
http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/
Baylor Fan says
Kobe has been quite talkative lately. Here are his comments about Popovich courtesy of Baxter Holmes:
Kobe Bryant said he has “just a tremendous, tremendous amount of respect” for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and always tries to talk to Popovich for 15-20 minutes any time he gets that chance. What is Bryant most impressed by? “His ability to communicate the system to the guys no matter who comes in there,” Bryant said of Popovich. “His ability to get guys to understand themselves [and] what he expects from them and how to do that.”
That is what a “winning” coach does. Hopefully the Lakers will make better decisions in the future.
24hrx. says
At BigCitySid “– Hi-light of last night, both T’Wolves & Suns win. Now if only the Nets can get a win or two sometime in the near future.”
I agree, the Lakers need to help Brooklyn win games. They have no draft picks this year or next, so they should still be in a “win now” mode even with the King/Hollins firings.
They need shooting, which the Lakers have to offer. As a side plus, it would screw Boston, whom has their pick this year, if Brooklyn made the play-offs.
With that in mind, the Lakers should be all over a trade within this framework: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ja7ellp
Roughly: Hibbert, Williams, Young, & Bass for Joe Johnson.
Thoughts?
Mid-Wilshire says
Here’s another article on Kobe ripping both Russell and Randle after the game (apparently he singled them out by name) for their lackadaisical defense:
http://nba.nbcsports.com/2016/01/24/report-kobe-bryant-rips-into-lakers-after-teams-sixth-straight-loss/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs
KevTheBold says
~Mikey, I welcome your optimism, and agree with many of your comments !
KevTheBold says
Thanks for posting Mid.
I agree with some of the comments there.
Though I understand that in his mind, Kobe is trying to teach a lesson, he could best lead by example, which is not happening thus far.
If Kobe was going to rip into someone, there are vets which are much worse than our rookies on defense.
As for smiling, since Kobe smiles and jokes with everyone in this bizarre season, it’s kind of hypocritical for him to mention others by name.
Chearn says
Kev,
Why even bother speaking to the vets if none of them are in the Lakers near- or long-term plan? Rookies either start playing defense from the start or they never do. So why not call out the rookies? He didn’t include Anthony Brown or Larry Nance in that statement now did he? At least, Kobe attempted to play defense as a rookie, Russel and Randle don’t even bother.
KevTheBold says
Chearn, Why? Because despite the trade rumors, they are a team now, and defence is a team effort. Plus the media is no place to teach.
As for your assertion that defence is only learned during the rookie season, if not, too late, do your research on Curry, then come back.
As for DAR, he has had defensive spurts, and will continue to improve. I’m hopeful that Randle will do likewise.
Vasheed says
I agree with Darius that their a number of factors. I’d call for an all of the above answer. Scott might be right to criticize the rookies defense but, it doesn’t help when he clearly has a double standard for his veterans who also play poor defense. I agreed with Randle when he complained earlier in the season about being singled out. Even worse Scott doesn’t communicate well with his players what they should be doing as was evidence by some of Russell’s comments when asked about being given direction. The Lakers also just have a lot of guys who don’t play defense. You might be able to hide a weak defender but there is a breaking point. The Lakers need to balance their roster out better with a focus on getting guys who can defend.