The Lakers are coming off of a 16-point win against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Hornets are coming off of a tough 100-90 loss to the Raptors. Tonight’s game will be the first of a three-game road trip for New Orleans; fortunately for the Hornets two games are in Los Angeles.

This will be a game that will be a tough test due to the fact that the Lakers will have to defend the screen and roll play multiple times tonight. The Hornets run this play several times a game and All-Star point guard Chris Paul; arguably one of the three best point guards in the league is excellent at orchestrating their offense and this play to perfection.

The Hornets offense is predicated on Chris Paul scoring and distributing the basketball. He has been doing his best to carry the team. New Orleans is also a team in need of a playmaker at shooting guard and someone who can get their own shot as oppose to awaiting a nice set up from Paul. New Orleans has struggled defensively and has had great difficulty stopping anyone. Look for this trend to continue.

Kobe Bryant has been carrying the Lakers and leading them to victory as evidenced by his 41-point performance against the Grizzlies, his third 40-point effort in four games. Kobe Bryant also became the youngest player to score 24, 000 reaching the mark 38 days before Wilt Chamberlain and ironically surpassing Grizzlies Guard Allen Iverson for 16th place on the All-Time scoring list in the process.

Kobe Bryant has been doing a lot of damage to teams in the post like Michael Jordan did later in his career.

The scary thing is that adding this skill to his arsenal has made one of the best ever players in a word better. His knack for finding a weakness in an opponent and exploiting is at an all time high. Kobe improved his post game over the summer working with Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon and as we can all see Bryant is a fast learner.

The short-handed Lakers led by Kobe & Ron Artest put together a solid team effort with everyone contributing to the win. Los Angeles reserves put up 35 points; the team will need the same type of effort tonight. The Lakers need to use excellent ball movement and excellent player movement to outwork the Hornets.

Kobe will continue to do damage in the post which will put several Hornets in foul trouble. The Lakers need to be solid defending the screen and roll play. Los Angeles needs to stop the dribble penetration from breaking down the defense, control the tempo, glass and limit the Hornets to one shot per possession and make it a point to rotate out to three point shooters.

Tip-off: 6:30 PM PST

Television -

• Los Angeles: Fox Sports West (Joel Myers & Stu Lantz)
• New Orleans: Cox Sports Television (Bob Licht & Gil McGregor)

Radio -

• Los Angeles: 710 ESPN (Spero Dedes & Mychal Thompson)
• New Orleans: KMEZ 106.7 (Sean Kelley & Gerry Vaillancourt)

Injuries -

Lakers:

• Pau Gasol (Hamstring)
• Andrew Bynum ( Strained Elbow)

Hornets:

• Ike Diogu (Knee)

Related posts:

1. TLN’s Game Preview: Lakers vs. Hornets
2. TLN’s Game Preview: Lakers vs. Hornets
3. TLN’s Post-Game Report: Lakers vs. Hornets

L.A. Times: Because the healing process has been slow, Lakers center Andrew Bynum and forward Pau Gasol will miss another game.

Neither was able to practice Saturday and neither will play tonight when the Lakers face the struggling New Orleans Hornets at Staples Center.

Bynum will miss his second consecutive game because of a strained right elbow.

Gasol will miss his seventh consecutive game because of a strained right hamstring.

“Hopefully, I can make it back by Thursday,” Bynum said. “It’s just a waiting game, really. I don’t know, man. Just doing some treatment, doing a little bit of things, but it’s basically got to heal up.”

Bynum said that pain in his triceps is the issue, and because of that, he’s unable to use his forearm to hold off an opponent by using the arm to push out.

“I can come in real fast, but just to go out [is a problem],” Bynum said. “But that’s my ‘hold’ position. I’ve got to box out. I’ve got to push people. I’ve got to do all that stuff.”

Continue reading ‘Lakers’ Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol to miss another game’

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1. Bynum & Gasol are expected to miss Friday’s game
2. Injury Update: Gasol, Bynum & Walton
3. Bynum Will Miss Another 6-10 Weeks

L.A. Times: Lakers television color commentator Stu Lantz suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and will have surgery on Monday.

When asked how long he’ll be out after the surgery, Lantz responded: “I’ll be back Thursday. I’m old-school. I play hurt.”

Lantz laughed. He won’t miss any games.

He did Friday night’s game and will do Sunday’s game.

The Lakers don’t play again until Thursday, when they face the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center.

Lantz will have three days to recover before he’s due back at work.

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2. Farmar will undergo surgery on his knee 12/24/08
3. Bynum may undergo surgery on left knee

Something fans always talk about is how Kobe, getting older in age, should go to the post more often. This is simply an argument of the past; the time has come. This season Kobe has focused more on post-play, much like Jordan did in the past in his later years, and Kobe is absolutely dominating. Last night was the best example in the game vs. Memphis. Not only did Kobe focus on the post-play, he did it within the flow of the offense as Ron Artest pointed out despite not having Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in the lineup:

“Tonight was the best because we wasn’t forcing the ball to him, and he (Kobe) worked for the ball. He didn’t just demand it and hog the ball, (if) we went away, we went away, but he continued to work for the ball…and it was totally (in) the offense. You know, sometimes he gotta do what he gotta do, he gotta be the greatest sometimes, but tonight was great because he was able to get it within the team concept… it was great.”

It’s no coincidence Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are acclimating Ron Artest more comfortably to the triangle, either. You can say all you want about Ron Artest, but his commitment to the Lakers and basketball has shadowed that of Bryant. The world can easily criticize Artest, but the fans of Los Angeles know that when it all comes together, this team will be very difficult to beat in any 7 game series. Ron is doing an absolutely fantastic job of shutting down the opposition defensively, which in result takes the burden off of Kobe; allowing him to further do damage offensively. It’s a beautiful thing to watch. The haters will hate on Ron, but the truth is, he is allowing Kobe to operate at a dangerous level offensively through Ron’s commitment to the defensive end for 48 minutes on the league’s best.

Speaking of the league’s “best,” last night Kobe became the youngest player to reach the 24,000 career point plateau. Something which shouldn’t surprise us but is always special to us fans. Even better, he passed up Allen Iverson on the all-time scoring list as well; something all us Lakers fans love to see. And while a lot of the milestones and accomplishments Kobe Bryant reaches doesn’t surprise us, he is bound to surpass Jerry West on the all-time scoring list as well. Jerry West – enough said.

14. ........JERRY WEST ................ 25192
15. ........PATRICK EWING ............. 24815
16. ........KOBE BRYANT ............... 24027
17. ........ALLEN IVERSON ............. 24020

One aspect the fans wanted to see was for Kobe to do more work in the post. As Jordan got up in age, he used his IQ and made post-play his strength. And if Jordan made the post-play his strongest aspect of his game, Kobe is making it his playground. What I love most is how he gaining post-position every time down the floor without the ball; pure dominance. Last night vs. Memphis, he not only went 19-30 from the floor, he shot 63% from the post field without attempting a single three-point attempt. This resulted in Kobe’s 3rd straight 40+ point performance, 99th of his career. There is no doubt in my mind, when rested and prepared, Kobe Bryant is still the best player in the game.

Despite his current 34.5ppg average, the Lakers are without Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. This means he won’t have to sustain these kind of numbers, but again, he’s moved his game into the post. He will have his highs and lows. He should and will pace himself for the post-season. Suffice to say, he scares me with his improved game and I’m a Lakers fan; poor league. His footwork is a simply a basketball dance of pure beauty; artwork if you will.

Even Olajuwon says these moves will benefit Bryant moreso than the bigs:

In my mind most of my moves for a guy (with) that agility can use it better than the big guy,” Olajuwon said. “Because my moves are not really for the big guy. It’s for the guards and small forwards. So he would benefit most on the post because of his agility.

I’m going to even claim that Kobe has the greatest post-game of all time for a perimeter player, yes, even better than Jordan. Kobe’s footwork is also up there with Hakeem as the best of all time and the league is his dance floor. Kobe has prepared himself to win as many rings as possible, learning as much as he can to improve himself and his team. All hail Kobe Bryant; he is simply taking over the league, once again, one step at a time.

Related posts:

1. Kobe sought out Olajuwon; worked on post-game moves with him
2. Kobe makes history… again
3. T-Mac says Lakers will win title, Kobe toughest player to guard in league

Yahoo! Sports: It’s been more than four months since Kobe Bryant announced his intentions to sign a contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers and pass up a chance to join the 2010 free-agent market. So why hasn’t he signed anything?

Sources with knowledge of the talks say the Lakers continue to meet with Bryant’s camp and that both sides fully expect the deal to get done, though neither wants to commit to a firm timetable. The initial hope was that the extension would be completed by the start of the season.

Bryant is scheduled to make $23 million this season and $24.8 million next season. He can opt of the final season to become a free agent in July. He is eligible to sign a three-year extension that could pay him more than $90 million, depending on the league’s salary-cap figures.

Related posts:

1. Bryant extention negotiations have begun, Lakers feel secure new deal will be signed
2. Kobe and Lakers hopeful to sign extension before season begins?
3. Kobe will have contract decisions to make after this season

For the first time in a couple games, they came out with great energy; it was essentially what kept them in the game in the first half.

They got most of the hustle plays killing the Grizzles on the glass and in the paint. Unfortunately, it was their dismal shooting (38% as a team), heavy reliance on Kobe, and the mental lapses on defense that allowed the Grizzles head into halftime with a two point lead.

The Lakers apparently got the memo during halftime because they began the 3rd quarter making 7 straight points. As a whole, they played better. They weren’t quite depending on Kobe for everything, and after a quiet first half, it was our bench players who came in and made what I think was the biggest impact in the game. Josh Powell especially.

I think the most impressing thing from tonight was our team play. At first glance you would think it was Kobe being selfish going one on one all night just to put up 40+ points, but as a whole we shared the ball nicely, racking up 35 assists tonight.

A special Congratulations goes out to Kobe Bryant for being the youngest to reach 24,000 points in NBA history; in the process he also passed opponent Allen Iverson for 16th place all time scoring list, as well as hitting the 40 point mark for the 99th time in his career. Congrats, Mamba!

Player of the Game: Someone please get O.J. Mayo a free massage; the boy got schooled tonight. Kobe put in work for 41 points on well over 60% shooting and only 4 free throw attempts. He added 4 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. That’s getting it done.

Play of the Game: Kobe had an assortment of dunks tonight, but I decided to go with his fall away over Marc Gasol late in the 3rd quarter. Kobe being Kobe.

What’s Up Next: Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets roll into town Sunday evening. The Hornets are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Raptors. I expect this to be their ‘bounce-back’ game; the Lakers need to not take them lightly.

Related posts:

1. TLN’s Postgame Report: Lakers vs. Mavericks
2. TLN’s Post-Game Report: Lakers @ Grizzlies
3. TLN’s Postgame Report: Lakers @ Rockets

Every Lakers fan is awaiting Gasol’s season debut although it is a possibility that some might have missed Andrew being injured toward the end of the Rockets game. A game where he had an impressive 17 point 17 rebound 3 blocked shot stat line.

He is listed as day-to-day but according to reports; he may not play. The last thing anyone wants to see in Bynum hurt again and especially not against this team for the third year in a row. Andrew is off to a good start that needs to continue.

This off-season the Grizzlies added Allen Iverson and spoke with him about playing the role of being the sixth man and coming off the bench. Iverson publicly didn’t have a problem with the role at the time; but things have changed and apparently coming off of the bench is the last thing he wants to do. There has been a lot of talk in the news that he could become a distraction in Memphis. The Grizzlies have far more problems than Iverson; Memphis is allowing 115 points per game.

I will admit a backcourt of Allen Iverson & O.J. Mayo sounds much more formidable than matching Mayo & Mike Conley. Despite Iverson not being elated with the situation the coaching staff states that his role is coming off the bench and it is supported by the team owner.

The Lakers are 4-1 and should handle the Grizzlies even without two of their big men. The Grizzlies scoring tandem of O.J. Mayo & Rudy Gay should put up some points but will be forced to deal with the impossible task of slowing Kobe Bryant & Ron Artest. We won’t see the Gasol brothers match up in this game but the Grizzlies have some talent on their front line in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.

The second overall pick in the draft Hasheem Thabeet hasn’t logged many minutes but there is a chance that he will match up with Bynum (if he plays) or D.J. Mbenga. His tall and can contribute as a shot blocker but he is a work in progress. Look for the Lakers to run their offense using excellent ball movement and excellent player movement to outwork the young Grizzlies.

Los Angeles needs to frustrate this team by limiting them to one shot per possession, getting back in transition to eliminate the Grizzlies from scoring easy buckets, control the glass an the tempo. The Lakers need to play defense without fouling, stop the dribble penetration and defend the screen and roll play and defend all the way out to the three point line.

The Lakers experience and executing down the stretch will carry the team to a win. However, I want to see the bench come in with energy change the pace of the game and extend the lead that the starters will establish.

Tip-off: 7:30 PM PST

Television -

• Los Angeles: Fox Sports West (Joel Myers & Stu Lantz)
• Memphis: Fox Sports TN (Pete Pranica & Sean Tuohy)

Radio -

• Los Angeles: 710 ESPN (Spero Dedes & Mychal Thompson)
• Memphis: 103.5 FM (Eric Hasseltine & Hank McDowell)

Injuries -

Lakers:

• Pau Gasol (Hamstring)
• Andrew Bynum (Strained Right Elbow)

Grizzlies:

• Darrell Arthur (Right Pectoralis Surgery)

Related posts:

1. TLN’s Game Preview: Lakers vs. Grizzlies
2. TLN’s Game Preview: Lakers @ Grizzlies
3. TLN’s Game Preview: Lakers vs. Grizzlies

NBA.com -

• 2nd Round – Alan Wiggins
• 3rd Round – Jeremy Wise
• 4th Round – Christopher Hayes

You can find out more information about these players at the link.

Related posts:

1. In the end… the Lakers draft Chinemelu Elonu
2. Lakers announce 2009 NBA Summer League Schedule and Roster
3. Lakers recall Sun Yue from D-League

KLAC has set a goal of $100,000 and all proceeds will benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), an organization dedicated to providing rehabilitation, access to medical services, and continuing research in finding a cure for spinal cord injury and disease. The station is encouraging listeners to reflect on all the securities our nation’s military has provided to this great country, and to let our veterans know how much we value their service.

If you would like to donate now you can e-mail, click here, or bid on items in our silent auction!

How will your donation help?

PVA’s Mission -

The Paralyzed Veterans of America, a congressionally chartered veterans service organization founded in 1946, has developed a unique expertise on a wide variety of issues involving the special needs of our members—veterans of the armed forces who have experienced spinal cord injury or dysfunction.

Paralyzed Veterans will use that expertise to be the leading advocate for…

• Quality health care for our members,
• Research and education addressing spinal cord injury and dysfunction,
• Benefits available as a result of our members’ military service,
• Civil rights and opportunities which maximize the independence of our members.

Related posts:

1. Help us donate to the PVA
2. Remembering some Lakers veterans
3. Buss makes clear his support of Bryant

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