Turning it around. Call it a slump, blame the injuries, say the season of bad defense is catching up with them, say that Mercury is retrograde so the stars are lined up against us, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the Lakers are 3-7 in their last 10 and have looked like a team […]
Game Preview
Preview and Chat: The Cleveland Cavaliers
4-4? At the start of this road trip Phil Jackson said 6-2 was feasible, I was hoping for 5-3, but in the end I can live with 4-4. However, the Lakers need to win today to reach that lowest of goals. Missing Luke. For the last couple games, the Lakers have been very slow up […]
Preview and Chat: The Toronto Raptors
A word or 75 on Detroit. Some teams just have your number, teams where the matchups all seem to be in the other guy’s favor. The Pistons are apparently that for the Lakers, because the two Laker games against the Pistons may have been their two worst this season. All you can do in these […]
Preview and Chat: The Detroit Pistons
The John Amaechi story. I’m not going to break far from this blog’s long-stated purpose of trying to focus on the court not off (remember, I started this site in frustration of the lack of stories and media discussion actually about basketball and not the soap opera in LA in the wake of the Kobe/Shaq […]
Preview and Chat: The Atlanta Hawks
Did you see Smush play defense? The Lakers had maybe their best defensive game of the year against the Wizards on Saturday, and Gatinho sat down with a pen and paper and tracked Smush: Well, last night was an over all good game for Smush. He used his length to bother Arenas and was savvy […]
Preview and Chat: The Washington Wizards
A word or 164 on Indiana. Is it just me, or did the Lakers last night remind you of last season’s version? The ones that, if Kobe wasn’t on top of his game, couldn’t step up to help out. The ones that had absolutely horrible defensive rotations so their defense only worked when they could […]
Preview and Chat: The Indiana Pacers
Last time these two got together. The Lakers won pretty handily, 101-86, leading from the middle of the first quarter on and the game was never really in doubt. The Lakers did it on the strength of their starters — all five of the regular starters (Smush, Kobe, Walton, Odom and UPS) were at least […]
I Think I’m Going To Boston
I Think I’m Just That Tired. Both teams come into this one a little tired, this is the second night of a back-to-back for both teams. Boston lost last night in Indiana, the Lakers lost in New York. The one guy who shouldn’t be tired — but will be fired up — is Kobe. I’d […]
On Tap: The New York Knicks
Breaking News — No Kobe Tonight. Apparently the league thought Kobe intentionally swept his elbow into Manu Ginobli’s face when Manu came at Kobe from the side with 2.7 left in regulation Sunday and blocked Kobe’s shot. Because of that, he’s suspended for tonight’s game . I’d love to see a replay of that again, […]
Preview and Chat: San Antonio Spurs
Last 5 games: 4-1 Spurs Point differential: +6.8 Vegas: Lakers +3 Similar problems, Different expectations: The Spurs are suffering from the same inability to play well without their backs being against the wall. That’s a bad habit and a hard one to break. The Spurs and their fan base continue to be concerned with the […]