Tag: Los Angeles Lakers (Page 4 of 48)

      Thunder’s championship hopes depend on Russell Westbrook

      February 27, 2011 /
      Oklahoma City Thunder Russell Westbrook shoots a jump shot over New York Knicks Wilson Chandler in the second quarter at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 22, 2010. UPI/John Angelillo

      The Thunder’s 90-87 loss to the Lakers on Sunday is a great example of why Russell Westbrook holds the championship keys for this young Oklahoma City team. He posted 22 points, six assists and six rebounds, but turned the ball over seven times, including two bad turnovers in the final minute when the Thunder were trying to complete a comeback.

      He’s super-aggressive and supremely talented, but the bottom line is that he’s a scoring guard playing the point, and he has to learn to keep himself under control, especially when he’s attacking the rim and there are defenders in position to take the charge. Unfortunately, his turnovers are actually up this year (3.8 vs 3.3 last season) so it doesn’t look like the light is going to go on anytime soon. He’s actually tied with Rajon Rondo with the most turnovers per game this season.

      Can the Thunder emerge from the West? I think they can, but they’re going to have to play better offensively than they did on Sunday. OKC took the Lakers to a Game 7 last year, and once they get Kendrick Perkins into the mix — he sat out of Sunday’s game with sprained knee — they’ll fare better against the Lakers’ big front line. Serge Ibaka looks more than capable of playing power forward, while James Harden and Nick Collison anchor a very capable bench.

      Believe it or not — even with the best scorer in the league in Kevin Durant, the Thunder have trouble executing offensively. Westbrook is not a natural playmaker so when he’s penetrating he’s looking for his own shot. The Thunder will probably have to play Harden at the two down the stretch if Ibaka and Perkins are also on the floor. Otherwise, the defense will be able to focus on Durant and Westbrook.

      If Westbrook can raise his game and increase his assist-to-turnover ratio from the current 2.2 to 2.8 or 3.0, the Thunder will be very, very dangerous come playoff time.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Bynum’s knees, historically speaking

      February 18, 2011 /
      Los Angeles Lakers’ Andrwew Bynum poses for photos during the basketball team’s media day at the Lakers training facility in El Segundo, California on September 25, 2010. The Lakers will try to three-peat this season after winning back-to-back NBA championship titles. UPI/Jim Ruymen

      In his annual trade value column, Bill Simmons discusses how Andrew Bynum’s first six seasons rank amongst his historical peers.

      38. Andrew Bynum
      A list of the most memorable centers and power forwards of the past 35 years organized by their first six regular seasons for “games played,” “games missed” and “number of seasons in which they played 90 percent of the games.”

      Dwight Howard: 489 — 3 — 6
      Karl Malone: 489 — 3 — 6
      Tim Duncan: 451 — 9 — 5
      David Robinson: 475 — 17 — 5
      Kevin McHale: 475 — 17 — 5
      Charles Barkley: 472 — 20 — 6
      Dikembe Mutombo: 471 –21 — 5
      Robert Parish: 469 — 23 — 5
      Hakeem Olajuwon: 468 — 24 — 5
      Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 467 — 25 — 5
      Dirk Nowitzki: 444 — 48 — 5
      Kevin Garnett: 442 — 50 — 5
      Patrick Ewing: 438 — 54 — 4
      Moses Malone: 428 — 66 — 4
      Alonzo Mourning: 409 — 83 — 2
      Shaquille O’Neal: 408 — 84 — 2
      Yao Ming: 404 — 88 — 3
      Ralph Sampson: 395 — 97 — 3
      Chris Webber: 329 — 131 — 1
      Andrew Bynum: 309 — 169 — 1
      Bill Walton: 223 — 269 — 0
      Sam Bowie: 207 — 285 — 1
      Greg Oden: 82 — 266 — 0

      What jumps out? First, the durable guys remained durable throughout their careers, with just one exception: McHale, who ruined the second half of his career by bravely (and some would say foolishly) playing on a broken foot in the 1987 playoffs. Second, anyone who missed more than 80 games and couldn’t play in 90 percent of the games in at least four of their first six seasons went on to have injury-plagued careers. (That includes Shaq, who played more than 68 games in a season just six times and missed an average of 18 games per season.) And third, if you can’t stay on the court at your youngest/healthiest/freshest/most energetic, it’s a pretty safe bet that things won’t change as you get older. It’s straight DNA: Some dudes are structurally built for 82-game NBA seasons, others aren’t. So if you make the argument “If Bynum can stay healthy, he’s a franchise center,” just make sure you also mention that we have 35 years of evidence that there’s a tipping point when “If he can stay healthy …” becomes “… he’s not going to stay healthy.” We’re there with Andrew Bynum. He’s not going to stay healthy. If I were the Lakers, I would trade him right now.

      (Actually, what am I saying? They should definitely keep him! The guy is built like solid oak!)

      I still don’t know why the Lakers are so intent on holding onto Bynum in this scenario unless they are simply convinced that Carmelo wouldn’t fit in with the 2011 Lakers or are going all in, hoping that Bynum’s knees will hold up until the end of June so that Kobe can get his sixth ring.

      Bynum doesn’t even finish games, so the Lakers are theoretically passing on a multiple All-NBA forward for a guy who always rides the pine in crunch time. It’s truly ponderous — I don’t care what Jon Barry says.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, Humor, NBA

      L.A. Times: ESPN promoted D.O.A. Carmelo/Bynum story for ratings

      February 13, 2011 /
      Los Angeles Laker’s talks to reporters during the media day at the Lakers training facility in El Segundo, Ca., on September 25, 2010 (UPI Photo/Lori Shepler)

      Mark Heisler of the L.A. Times asserts that the Worldwide Leader promoted the dead on arrival Carmelo Anthony/Andrew Bynum trade rumors just to get ratings and hits.

      ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported “preliminary discussions about a blockbuster trade.”

      Cellphones on the Lakers beat started ringing like the hot line from Moscow.

      With the advantage of years developing Lakers sources . . . as opposed to trusting a single source, like the one who assured everyone Anthony was New Jersey-bound . . . local writers got denials across the board and, significantly, nothing suggesting Jim Buss doesn’t still dote on Bynum.

      This is a beat writer (who has multiple sources with the team he covers) taking aim at a national writer (who may only have one source). Heisler’s accusation falls squarely on the shoulders of Broussard and those producers at ESPN who decided to promote this story/rumor based on Broussard’s source(s).

      This doesn’t change the fact that the Lakers should absolutely trade Bynum for Carmelo, if they have the opportunity.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Shannon Brown can really dunk [video]

      February 13, 2011 /

      Supposedly Brown’s vertical was measured pre-draft (in 2006) by the Lakers at 44.5 inches, and based on the various dunks we’ve seen him finish, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s accurate. The guy has some serious hops.

      Brown has a better than average Player Efficiency Rating (15.66) for the first time in his career, largely because he’s hitting almost 39% of his three-point shots. For a “point guard,” he’s still a poor playmaker (1.1 assists per game), but that’s not the role of the point guard in the triangle offense.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Video

      Kobe ruins Ray-Ray’s special night

      February 11, 2011 /
      Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (R) hugs Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen at the end of their NBA basketball game in Boston, Massachusetts February 10, 2011. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      With his second of three three-pointers on the night, Ray Allen broke Reggie Miller’s all-time three-point record (2,560) against the Lakers, but Kobe Bryant was too much in the second half, and the Celtics fell, 92-86.

      After struggling all season against the league’s top teams, the Lakers needed a “signature win” and they got it in Boston despite a rough start. L.A. trailed by 15 points in the middle of the second quarter, but closed with a 13-6 run to cut the lead to eight at halftime. A 10-0 Laker run to start the third quarter, and Boston’s lead was gone. The teams traded blows until a well-rested Kobe came off the bench with the Lakers nursing a three-point lead and 5:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, and effectively put the game away with 10 points in the final five minutes.

      What does this win mean? Laker fans can take their fingers off the panic button, for one. Had the Celtics won by a wide margin, the Lakers would have been more likely to shake the roster up before the Feb. 24 trade deadline. With the win, they’re likely to do nothing at all, or possibly tinker with some of the players at the bottom of the rotation.

      I still don’t understand why the Lakers wouldn’t pull a trigger on a Bynum-for-Carmelo swap, but Steve Kerr said last night that by giving up Bynum, they’d be giving up their height advantage. And who am I to argue with Kerr, who broke up that Suns team (to acquire Shaquille O’Neal) that was two bench-clearing suspensions away from upsetting the eventual-champion San Antonio Spurs in 2007? Kerr also wonders how difficult it would be to insert Carmelo into the triangle offense, but with the way Ron Artest is playing (i.e. not well), Anthony would be a huge upgrade. Even if it took him a while to fit in, he couldn’t be any worse than Artest.

      Bynum definitely helps the Lakers against the Celtics. I just think Carmelo would help them more against everyone else they might play in the postseason. Plus, he’s not the injury risk that Bynum is.

      Oh, and if you’re wondering how Reggie Miller felt about Allen breaking his record. Here’s what he said just before it happened:

      “It just shows you, when people ask me, ‘you’ve got to be a little bit upset or bitter?’ Why? First of all, all records are made to be broken. I had a conversation with Ray earlier tonight and he was like, ‘when I was a rookie and I came to Market Square Arena and I saw you for three, three and a half hours before (the game) shooting, that’s how I wanted to patent my game.’ I’m just so happy for him because this is one of the best guys. He’s so humble, he’s so giving, he’s a great family man and I’m excited. This is great. This is great for the game of basketball. You know why? We’re focusing and talking about shooting, Steve. You know how many hours (we went) and we had keys to the gym, we’d go early. No one talks about shooting anymore.”

      Those are two pretty classy individuals right there.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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