by The Boss on June 24, 2009
in Lakers
When as a coach you have won ten NBA championships, the rules are somewhat different. The Los Angeles Times reports that one possibility Phil Jackson may look at if he comes back to coach the team in 2009-10 is to not take every road trip, and coach from home, while assistant Kurt Rambis is on the bench. The Lakers certainly are a veteran team, and have two player-coaches on the floor with them(Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant). However, this move, if done, could serve the Lakers organization good both short term and long. Jackson would be able to work, without going through the vigorous strain that traveling on the road puts on your body, and he could be more fresh towards the end of the season. It also would give assistant coach Kurt Rambis some valuable experience, and let him audition to be the successor of Jackson when Phil finally decides to retire. [click to continue…]
For Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson, and the Los Angeles Lakers, the tip off of the 2009 NBA Finals could not come quick enough. It was 364 days ago that this same team was in Boston, taking on a Celtics team that was destined to win the championship. The magical season that Boston’s Big 3 had would not be derailed, not by Lebron James and the Cavs, nor by the Detroit Pistons in the East Finals, and not by the Lakers in the championship round. The Lakers ran into a bigger, stronger, tougher team, who completely took away the finesse game from them. Boston took the heart, and the series, with an improbable Game 4 comeback to go up 3-1, and eventually win the series in 6.
Fast forward to this morning. As fans of the NBA begin to prepare for what should be a very competitive, exciting NBA Finals, these teams come in with the same objective, but very different realities. [click to continue…]
Photo - NBAE
Part 1 –
The Backcourt – MONDAY
Part 2 -
The Frontcourt – TUESDAY
Part 3 – The Bench – WEDNESDAY
Part 4 – The Coaches – WEDNESDAY
Part 5 – The Prediction – THURSDAY
Superstars will be superstars, that is what we all know. Kobe is gonna go for 30 a game, and Dwight Howard will get 20 and 15. Just those impressive stats alone won’t win the NBA title. You can take a look at the 2008-09 NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics, and see how important the bench players were. P.J Brown, James Posey, Eddie House, and Tony Allen played vital roles in the Celtics 4-2 victory over these Lakers, and this time around, the Lakers bench know they must do a better job. [click to continue…]
Game 6 of the Lakers vs. Nuggets series will be full of drama and intrigue, and while this series has been entertaining, it pales in comparison to one of the best NBA series I have ever seen. The 2002 Sacramento Kings were the 2nd best team in the NBA. Their problem was they were matched up against THE BEST. Shaq, Kobe, and Phil were clicking on all cylinders, but for as great as they were, the Kings matched them shot for shot, star for star. Check the video after the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Boss on May 23, 2009
in Rumors
The World Famous LayupDrill Rumor Mill
5/23/09
As the Lakers prepare for what should be quite a challenge ahead of them playing in Denver the next two games, all is not happy on the home front. The Los Angeles Times reports that there seems to be a disagreement that has caused non-verbal communication between coach Phil Jackson and center Andrew Bynum. The root of the beef comes from Bynum wanting to play more, and Jackson opting other lineups thus far.
When Bynum was asked by media if he would approach Jackson about his feelings, he stated, “Nah. It’s not really my place, it’s for him to decide what’s going on.” Bynum also told reporters that his knee, which caused him to miss 31 games during the regular season, has still not healed completely, and is giving him soreness now.
In NBA Draft news, the story in Memphis seems to be changing daily now regarding who the Grizzlies want to select this year. The Memphis Flyer reports that the Grizz will look to move up to the number 1 spot overall, so they can select Blake Griffin, and that talks of them being in love with Hasheem Thabeet over Ricky Rubio are not true.
photo - Retuers
It seems the Minnesota Timberwolves may be narrowing down their coaching search, and it may be someone who is very familiar with the franchise.
The Star Tribune tells us today that Sam Mitchell is high on the list of potential replacements for Kevin Mchale.
photo - NBA
There is always a possibility that an upset can happen. It is no different with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers who are currently tied with the Denver Nuggets in their best of seven Western Conference Finals series at one game game apiece have a chance like every other team to lose.
After losing to the Boston Celtics last year, the Lakers are looking for redemption. Lets overview their past couple of seasons.
Ever since the Lakers traded Shaq to the Miami Heat in the summer of of 2005, the Lakers had been struggling not making the playoffs the year Shaq left, and getting eliminated two years in a row in the first round to the Suns. They went a combined 121-125 Win/Loss record since they traded Shaq.
To make things worse, Kobe Bryant was supposedly demanding trades if the Lakers team did not show signs of improvement. Bryant said on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York: “I would like to be traded, yeah. Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there’s no other alternative, you know?”
“[The Lakers] obviously want to move in a different direction in terms of rebuilding,” Bryant said, adding he could have opted to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers or Chicago Bulls instead. “Three years ago when I was re-signing they should have told me they wanted to rebuild.”
As the 2007-2008 season began, the Lakers started off great with Kobe Bryant leading the way with the breakout star Andrew Bynum. The Lakers had everything going for the until Bynum went down with an injury against Memphis. Things were even worse as Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton and Chris Mihm were all injured. [click to continue…]
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