Archive for the ‘Los Angeles Lakers’ Category

Lakers Blowout Bad Karma Cavs

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Posted 11 Jan 2011 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

When you are down 32 at the half to the Lakers in Los Angeles and 3 of your starters are hut, its best you remain in the locker room and forfeit the remainder because it will only get worse.

The Los Angeles Lakers molly-whopped the Cleveland Cavaliers while sending them to their 11th straight loss, rolling to a 112-57 victory on Tuesday night in their best defensive performance in the shot clock era.

Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum each had 15 points, Kobe, Pau, Lamar, and Shannon Brown each had 13 points.

Kobe lead the team in dimes with 8. Thats how bad it was for Cleveland. But it got WORSE.

Shannon Brown hit a 3-pointer from just inside halfcourt to end the third quarter and give Los Angeles a 92-41 lead, the first time an NBA team has led by that many after three since Nov. 8, 2001, when Chicago was ahead of Minnesota.

Cleveland’s point total was a record low by a Lakers opponent. The Cavs shot 30 percent, were outscored 52-28 in the paint and committed 19 turnovers in losing for the 21st time in their last 22 games. They fell to 8-30 overall, 3-18 on the road and 1-5 against the Western Conference.

As if losing 112-57 wasn’t bad enough, Cavs ex-teammate and Decision maker LeBron James chose to provide his own opinion on why the Cavaliers lost so badly.

LeBron could have been referring to something he was watching on Basketball Wives. The tweet came during the game when it was about at it’s worse, and obviously LeBron hasn’t completely moved on.

Although twitter provides a place for opinions of all types to flow freely, it’s in bad taste for LeBron to associate the players on Cleveland’s roster with his anger towards Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. If God sees everything then LeBron’s tweet will definitely mess up his own karma.

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NBA 2011 RESOLUTIONS

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Posted 31 Dec 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden St. Warriors, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards

With the start of a new year, teams make their own resolutions.  Here is a team by team look at those resolutions.

ATLANTA HAWKS

We resolve to get to the bottom of why we gave Joe Johnson so much damn money. He does lead us in points, but will we make it deep in the playoffs….of course not.

BOSTON CELTICS

We the Boston Celtics resolve to play at least one game with both O’Neal’s on the court at the same time. I, the Boston Celtics  fan resolve to relax and enjoy each game because if anyone gets injured the world will not end.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

I, Michael Jordan resolve to stop wearing all my rings on one necklace to every Bobcats meeting.

CHICAGO BULLS

We resolve to kept nurturing Derrick Rose, and to keep Carlos Boozer and his weird beard away from him.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

We resolve to simply exist before the NBA goes through with contraction and makes us a NBDL team. I, the Cavs fan will save up and buy the Fathead of Daniel Gibson for no reason whatsoever.

DALLAS MAVERICKS

I, Rick Carlisle resolve to stop making faces like Jim Carrey, and to let jason Terry do whatever he wants in the 4th quarter.

DETROIT PISTONS

I, Tayshaun Prince resolve to ask Joe Dumars nicely if I can be traded, then pray its not to Toronto.

DENVER NUGGETS

We resolve to trade Carmelo to the highest bidder, then struggle until we draft anthoer Carmelo and repeat the same process.

GOLDEN ST. WARRIORS

We resolve to never sign a legitimate big man so we can never truly play defense.

HOUSTON ROCKETS

I, the Houston Rockets fan resolve to lower our expectations until Michael Jordan goes and plays baseball for two years.

INDIANA PACERS

We resolve to sleep through the rest of this year, and promptly wake up during the lottery selection this summer.

L.A. CLIPPERS

I, Donald Sterling resolve to continue being concerned about only money, and as long as Blake Griffin makes me money he stays….for cheap of course.

L.A. LAKERS

We resolve to work all year so we actually play a competitive game on Christmas. We also resolve to never let Kobe and Nike convince us that Lime green sneakers are cool.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

We resolve to save our money, to pay for the shipping of all the equipment to our new home in Seattle.

MIAMI HEAT

I, Miami Heat fan resolve to show up to games on time, especially once the playoffs start. At least we will make it seem that basketball games are more fun then the beach, or clubs full of young hispanic women.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

We resolve to continue doing whatever it was we did to beat the Lakers. *Brandon Jennings didn’t play

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

I, Kevin Love resolve to rebound every ball, on every shot, from every basketball game in the world.

NEW JERSEY NETS

We resolve to never put an ad across from Madison Square Garden again. Unless of course, if we get Carmelo Anthony then we get to play in the Garden.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS

We the NBA speak for the Hornets, and the Hornets have nothing to say.

NEW YORK KNICKS

I, Spike Lee resolve to continue wearing clothes too big for me to games, and my Landry Fields jersey, even if he gets traded.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

We resolve to take out as many loans as possible to keep Russell Westbrook away from Los Angeles.

ORLANDO MAGIC

I, Dwight Howard will work on my three point shooting so I can fit in better with the team.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

We resolve to hire Michael Vick as soon as the NFL season is over. He will suit up and be in the starting lineup, just for the player introductions, but he wont play any minutes.

PHOENIX SUNS

I, Marcin Gortat, will continue to plead with my teammates to play defense, even if they speak another language.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

I, Trail Blazers fan will take a class in physical therapy so I can be more hands on with the players.

SACRAMENTO KINGS

We, the Maloof Brothers resolve to finish construction on our secret basketball stadium in Las Vegas. We also must sit Tyreke Evans down and ask that he not hit 50 footers to win games and instead keep piling on the loses.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS

We resolve to casually ignore the age of our Big 3, but encourage fans to purchase DeJuan Blair Bears from the gift shop

TORONTO RAPTORS

We resolve to call the NBA everyday, and send flowers so that they remember there is a team in Toronto.

UTAH JAZZ

We resolve to continue research into age-defying potions that can make it possible for Jerry Sloan to coach the Jazz forever.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS

We resolve to finally change our name back to the Bullets, and once again lose out on front page reports to real bullets.

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Nets, Rockets, Lakers 3-Way Trade

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Posted 15 Dec 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, New Jersey Nets

New Jersey has sent swingman Terrence Williams to Houston in a three-team trade that gives the Nets two more first-round draft picks for potential use in a Carmelo Anthony deal.

Williams, who was inactive for the Nets’ 82-77 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday, is averaging 6.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in a turbulent season that saw him fined for showing up late for practices and later sent to the franchise’s D-League team in Springfield.

The Nets got the Rockets’ first-round draft pick in 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round pick in 2011 and shooting guard Sasha Vujacic from the Lakers. The Lakers get veteran forward Joe Smith in the trade.

Sasha joins his teammate Jordan Farmar in New Jersey, as they await the call that they have been sent to Denver.

On a second deal Wednesday, the Kings acquired Jermaine Taylor and cash considerations from the Rockets in exchange for a heavily-protected, second-round pick, and cash.

Rockets coach Rick Adelman said he’s “not going to rush into anything” and force Williams into Houston’s rotation without first seeing him in practice.

“He can break people down, he can pass the ball, so it’s just a matter of where he fits with the group we have,” Adelman said. “Unfortunately, we have a lot of games in a short time before Christmas. But we’ll see. It will work itself out.”

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Kobe, Karl, and Amare!

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Posted 10 Dec 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards

Friday night in the NBA breakdown:

Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl joins Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson and Larry Brown as the only coaches with 1,000 wins. Karl survived prostate cancer in 2005 and was treated for neck and throat cancer earlier this year, missing the end of last season while undergoing treatment. “It’s unbelievable,” Billups said. “He’s got 1,000 wins and he beat cancer twice. Those are his biggest wins.”

Amare Stoudemire had 36 points and 10 rebounds to help overcome his 11 turnovers against the Washington Wizards.  The NBA’s first triple-double involving turnovers since February 2008. His seventh straight 30-point game is matched in franchise history only by Willie Naulls, who accomplished it way back in 1962. The Knicks have won 7 straight, and lead the NBA with 10 away wins.

Kobe Bryant passed John Havlicek for 11th on the NBA All-Time Scoring list. Kobe shot 23 shots and scored 23 points…thus the Lakers lost. Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls looked confident, playing tough defense and not backing down from the defending champs. It was the Bulls’ first win over the Lakers in nearly four years. Los Angeles had won seven straight against Chicago since a 94-89 Bulls victory on Dec. 19, 2006, at the United Center.

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Posted 23 Nov 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

“Actually, I really don’t give a [expletive]. I’m not curious about it. Give me my [expletive] gold medal and then let me try to win another NBA championship. Let’s practice, have a good time, and if you need me in the last two minutes of the game, I’ll be coming in to pull the [expletive] out.”

- Kobe Bryant from Adrian Wojnarowski amazing article

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Rondo and Odom reach milestones

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Posted 02 Nov 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

On Tuesday night Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom both reached milestones.

After a triple-double with 24 dimes Friday night against New York, Rondo finished with 17 dimes against the Detroit Pistons. Rondo also added 9 points and NO TURNOVERS.  Seventeen dimes and NO TURNOVERS. His performance on Tuesday gave him 67 assists through Boston’s first four games. Rondo has 2,211 assists as a Celtic. He moved past Sam Jones (2,209) into 13th place on the team’s career list.

Rondo is in pursuit of John Stockton’s 156 assists through the first 10 games in the 1989-90 season.

Boston won easily 109-86. Detroit finished with only 13 assists, four fewer than Rondo.

— On the West Coast the Los Angels Lakers hosted the (we gave Mike Conley $40+ Million) Memphis Grizzlies.

The Lakers had little trouble with the Grizzlies, blowing them out from the start and winning 124-105. Pau Gasol had 21 points 13 rebounds, and 23 points from Kobe Bryant who is one minute away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the Lakers franchise record for minutes played.

Matt Barnes finished 2 off his career best in rebounds with 14.

Lamar Odom finished with 17 points, 8 boards, 6 dimes in 35 minutes. He shot 6 of 7 from floor. Odom became the 10th fastest player in NBA history to 11,000 points, 6,000 boards, and 3,000 dimes. The 9 folks to do it faster then Odom, are Larry Bird, Chris Webber, Kevin Garnett, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Alvan Adams, Bill Russell.

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Everyone has played NBA POWER RANKINGS

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Posted 01 Nov 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, NBA, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Portland Trailblazers

All the NBA teams have played at least one game so without further adieu, we present our first power rankings of the season:

TOP TEN

1. Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe says knee is 100%, the Lakers are first in points per game and Matt Barnes and Ron Artest have yet to kill anyone. Something tells me the Lakers are gonna hold the #1 spot for a long time

2. New Orleans Hornets: Chris Paul is back and surprising the league with an early undefeated record. Wins against the Spurs and Nuggets were big.

3. Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers defense is the reason for their record. If they can get Oden back by December to just stand in the paint they could shake up the West.

4. Atlanta Hawks: Just like the Hornets the Hawks new head coach Larry Drew is enjoying a perfect record, but for how long.

5. Boston Celtics: Rondo has 50 dimes in three games, if not for old legs against the Cavs, the Celtics would be much higher in the rankings.

6. Miami Heat: Allowing a league low 80.8 points a game, the Heat have turned it on following an opening night lost to the Celtics.

7. Orlando Magic: Yet another season of living and dying by the three. At least Stan Van is sporting a collar.

8. Oklahoma City Thunder: Tentative play against Utah lead to their only lost. Kevin Durant is second in scoring behind Derrick Rose…for now.

9. Chicago Bulls: Joakim Noah leads the league in rebounds, Derrick Rose leads in scoring…they have only played two games. Has anyone seen Luol Deng?

10. New Jersey Nets: Derrick Favors can rebound better then you. The Nets would have been undefeated had they avoided playing the Heat who destroyed them in transisition. If Avery Johnson keeps this team above .500 he has to win Coach of the Year.

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Lakers 2009-10 Championship Rings

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Posted 27 Oct 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

Lakers senior vice president of business operations Tim Harris said the two requirements for the ring were that it had to be unmistakable in representing the Lakers brand and it had to be big.

“It has to be big, it has to be large,” Harris said of the design instructions.  It is indeed BIG, and I’m sure very heavy.  You even have a chance at winning your very own thanks to Ron Artest and the raffle that takes place Dec.25th.

Here is the ring breakdown:

The ring also features 16 oversized diamonds to represent the 16 titles in franchise history. What makes the rings unique is that one of the basketballs used during Game 7 of the NBA Finals was cut up and portions of the leather was used on the underside of the ring.  Each player’s ring also features a 3-dimensional sculpture of his face, an upgrade from the laser-cut faces on the 2009 rings.

Creepy right!?

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Lakers get rings and show Rockets how to win

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Posted 26 Oct 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, newcomer Steve Blake hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.8 seconds left, and Los Angeles rallied late for a 112-110 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

Pau Gasol had 29 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who hung the golden banner celebrating their 16th NBA championship and handed out their unique rings in a touching(nohomo) pregame ceremony.

What makes the rings unique is that one of the basketballs used during Game 7 of the NBA Finals was cut up and portions of the leather was used on the underside of the ring.

The champs then fell behind by 15 points before rallying for a fourth-quarter lead behind a 3-point barrage by Shannon Brown, who scored 14 of his 16 points in a 6 1/2-minute span.

Houston took a 108-107 lead with 53 seconds left after Brad Miller’s free throws capped a 6-0 run. Gasol and Scola traded baskets before Blake came open on the perimeter and confidently hit a 3-pointer — the new backup point guard’s third of the night.

Kevin Martin scored 26 points and Brooks had 18 of his 24 in the first half of Houston’s eighth loss in its last nine regular-season meetings with the Lakers.

Yao Ming had nine points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 6:30 left in his first NBA game since the 2009 playoffs, also against the Lakers. Yao largely looked good in his 24-minute limit mandated by coach Rick Adelman, missing his opening jump-hook and fighting off a season of rust.

The clubs traded the lead four times in the final minute, but  Luis Scola missed a difficult scoop shot with 3 seconds left. After officials used a lengthy video review to award possession of the loose ball to Houston with 2.4 seconds to play, Aaron Brooks’ layup attempt at the buzzer was blocked by Lamar Odom.

It says something about a team that goes for the tie on the road then attempt the three to win the game. The Rockets staters combined for 16 turnovers.

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Magic Johnson sells stake for better opportunity

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Posted 19 Oct 2010 — by Phillip Pyle
Category Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

Yesterday, Magic Johnson sold his ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.  The first thought is MAGIC DID WHAT?  How could Magic sell his shares to a guy named Dr. Soon-Shiong?  Then you find out who the doctor is.

Soon-Shiong is an innovative physician, a businessman, a philanthropist, and a UCLA professor.  He left UCLA in 1991 to start VivoRx, a diabetes research firm.(My community thanks you!)

He is also a 25-year Lakers season ticket-holder.  He founded two lucrative pharmaceutical companies: Abraxis BioScience, which was purchased by Celgene Corp. for $2.9 billion last week, and American Pharma Partners.  So the doc doesn’t have to pay for seasons tickets anymore, and Magic gets the freedom to pursue a larger role with another organization.

Johnson bought shares representing about 4.5 percent of the Lakers in June 1994 for a reported $10 million. Johnson said Monday’s sale was strictly a “bittersweet business decision,” but the five-time NBA champion has long been interested in taking a larger ownership role in a team. Also Dr. $oon-$hiong can be super convincing!

“I thank (Lakers owner) Dr. (Jerry) Buss from the deepest part of my heart and soul for allowing me such an incredible opportunity,” Johnson said in a statement. “I want to assure all the wonderful and loyal Lakers fans that my decision will in no way affect my dedication and support for the Los Angeles Lakers. I am and will always be a Laker for life.”

Magic then walked out of the press room, pulled out his phone and called Mike Ilitch.

Johnson expressed interest last month in taking a significant role in a group attempting to buy the Detroit Pistons led by Mike Ilitch, who also owns the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers. Ilitch’s group hasn’t publicly made any connection with Johnson….yet.

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