From Mark Heisler, Lakers Nation: REALITY CHECK, Tex.–Well, it was fun while it lasted. This season was such a bummer for Laker fans, it’s not surprising that they seized upon, or imagined, a ray of hope when the team finished 28-12 and, Kobe or no Kobe, made the playoffs as a No. 7 seed. Unfortunately for […]
Around The World (Wide Web): Reaction From Lakers Loss In Game One
From Sam Amick, USA TODAY: It made perfect sense that the San Antonio Spurs could be in trouble in their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers.They were barely worthy of being a playoff team down the stretch of the regular season, which means they may as well have been, well, the Lakers. They were […]
Around The World (Wide Web): Lakers Make The Playoffs
From Mike Bresnahan, LA Times: Kobe Bryant was right about his guarantee. The Lakers made the playoffs. He didn’t need to be present to see it happen on the last day of the regular season. Then the Lakers one-upped him, turning their good start to Wednesday evening into a better one, the equivalent of improving their hand in Texas […]
Around The World (Wide Wide Web): All You Need Is One
From Mark Heisler, Lakers Nation: Has this been a great season in Lakerdom, or what? Of course, even the most zealous Laker fans knows they may not make the Finals… or the conference finals… or the conference semifinals. Okay, there’s still a chance they won’t even make the playoffs — but who could ask for more? […]
Around The World (Wide Web): No Kobe? No Problem
From Bill Plashke, LA Times: On the first night of the rest of their season, the Lakers without Kobe Bryant looked like Steve Blake’s bright purple low-cut sneakers. They were ungodly ugly, but delightfully fun. It’s impossible to imagine them taking more than a few steps before splitting apart at their bubble gum seams, but it’s going to be interesting to […]
Around The World (Wide Web): Kobe willing the Lakers to the playoffs
From Brett Polakoff, Pro Basketball Talk: The criticism for this Lakers team, which has struggled mightily in consecutive nights against teams that have long since been out of the playoff picture, is both real and well-justified. But regardless of the poor starts, even worse team defense, and a propensity to play down to their level of […]
Around The World (Wide Web): Laker’s Chasing That Final Spot
From C.A. Clark, Silver Screen & Roll: For the briefest of moments, it was there: Hope. The belief that the Lakers had tricks up their sleeve that had not yet been revealed. For 9 glorious minutes, as the Lakers took the court against the Los Angeles Clippers, they did something previously thought to be impossible. They […]
Around The World (Wide Web): Lakers, Kobe, Playoffs, Dwight, Mike D
From Michael Jones, Yahoo Sports: It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult — the Los Angeles Lakers were one of the NBA’s elite teams from the onset of the 2012-13 season. But in 48 minutes during Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers may have seen their season come to a premature end. That’s because the Clips clinched the […]
Around The World (Wide Web): More Shaq, Earl Clark, Kobe, Dwight’s D
From Mark Heisler, Lakers Nation: They went down to the crossroads, fell down on their knees, and who came by? Ho, ho, ho…He was huge, he was round but no, he wasn’t Fat Albert, even if there was enough of a resemblance for Dallas owner Mark Cuban to put him on their scoreboard screen with the […]
Around The World (Wide Web): HORNS, The Diesel, Kobe-Shaq
From Drew Garrison, Silver Screen & Roll: The puzzle of playing Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol has been a daunting one for the Los Angeles Lakers, both offensively and defensively. While it’s clear that Gasol does not have the foot speed to defend many power forwards, he still has the ability to play as a “stretch” four in the sense that […]