John Ireland: Los Angeles Lakers stand pat and that's just fine
Thursday turned out to be a long, strange day for the Lakers. First, they watched several of their top competitors made trade deadline deals, while they stood pat. Then, playing without Kobe Bryant, they watched the Celtics put an end to L.A.'s four-game winning streak.
The fact Boston won the game was no surprise. as I've written before, when the Celtics are healthy, I'm convinced the Celtics are the third-best team in the NBA. They're better than every team except the Lakers and Cleveland. Take Kobe away from L.A., and the Celtics should win at Staples Center. the Lakers made a great comeback and kept it close, but Boston won it 87-86.
But I heard from a lot of Lakers fans today who were upset L.A. didn't make a trade. It wasn't for lack of trying. we had Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak on the Mason and Ireland show Thursday afternoon, and he told us that he talked to every other GM in the league leading up to the deadline. Kupchak said he thought the Lakers were close on a couple of different deals, but that he was committed to keeping the core players of last year's championship team together. Meanwhile, Portland, Dallas, Houston, Cleveland and Boston all made key deals.
But did any of those teams improve enough to challenge the Lakers?
Portland, the team currently in eighth place in the Western Conference, clearly improved. the Trail Blazers tend to give the Lakers fits, especially in Oregon, and now they have a center. Marcus Camby is second in the NBA in rebounding this season, and the Blazers didn't have to give up any of their core rotation to get him. but I just don't think the Blazers could win a series with the Lakers, even with Camby. they might stretch it to six or seven games, but that's as far as it would go.
Dallas now has as much offensive firepower as L.A. By picking up Caron Butler, the Mavericks can now put him on the court with Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, and Shawn Marion. That's a team that can score with anybody. but the Mavs were a middle of the pack defensive team before the trade (ranked 15th), and they didn't get any better on defense after the move. I think if the Lakers ended up in a series with the Mavericks, Dallas wouldn't be able to handle the size or height of L.A.
Houston improved by picking up high-scoring Kevin Martin, and they'll score a lot more now. but Carl Landry, one of the players the Rockets sent to Sacramento in the deal, was a key part of their team. Landry was especially good against the Lakers, both as a scorer and a rebounder. I'm not sure the Rockets improved overall. without Yao Ming, Houston might not even make the postseason.
The only way the Lakers would see either Boston or Cleveland is the NBA Finals. And I would argue that if either team makes it that far, both are now better equipped to beat L.A.
Boston is a long shot to get there, but I may be the last guy to jump off of the Celtics' bandwagon. If they can get everybody through their various injuries, this team is absolutely loaded. Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett are All-Stars, and at any given time, they can put Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace and Ray Allen on the floor with them. now, they've traded for Nate Robinson, who is exactly the kind of change-of-pace sparkplug the team didn't have. On top of that, the Celtics play solid team defense. Coming into Thursday's game, they ranked first in the NBA in points allowed with 93 -- and then they held the Lakers to 86. I don't care how many people tell me Boston is old and done. I'm not sleeping on the Celtics.
Cleveland made the biggest deal on deadline day. the Cavs were able to get Antawn Jamison from Washington, without giving up any of their core players. In a weird twist, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the player they traded, will probably re-sign in Cleveland after the Wizards release him. the end result is that the Cavs were able to add Jamison, without subtracting anybody important. but it's always risky to mess with team chemistry in the middle of the season. On Thursday night, the first game after the trade, the Cavs had their 13-game winning streak snapped by Denver (although Jamison didn't play). I would argue that when they've had a few practices, Cleveland will be better. And that means Cleveland should now be the favorite to win it all, with the Lakers a close second.
Still, I like the Lakers' chances. Although they've lost both games to the Cavs this year, I just can't imagine any team beating L.A. four times in a two-week stretch.
But my guess is I'm going to get a chance to find out.
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John Ireland: Los Angeles Lakers stand pat and that's just fine
Lakers win 4th straight without Kobe
LOS ANGELES – Shannon Brown set career highs with 27 points and 10 rebounds while starting in place of the injured Kobe Bryant, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 104-94 on Tuesday night.
Andrew Bynum added 21 points and seven rebounds in his return to the lineup after missing two games because of a bruised right hip that still gives him discomfort. He was 8 for 11 from the field in 30 minutes.
Brown made his third start and had his first career double-double, scoring eight points in the final 1:13 while Bryant sat out his fourth straight game because of a sprained left ankle.
The defending NBA champions have won all four games they've played without Bryant, who also was unable to play in the All-Star game.
Four different players have led the Lakers in scoring during his absence, including Ron Artest, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, who had 18 rebounds and eight points against the Warriors.
Anthony Morrow scored 23 points and C.J. Watson added 20 off the bench for the Warriors, who lost to the Lakers for the eighth straight time and have dropped 29 of their last 32 road games against Los Angeles.
Stephen Curry had 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Warriors, who are 2-20 against the Lakers at Staples Center since the arena opened in 1999.
The injury-ravaged Warriors used their 30th different starting lineup while losing for the 10th time in 11 games. Corey Maggette had 17 points after missing two games with a dislocated ring finger on his non-shooting hand, but leading scorer Monta Ellis missed his second straight due to a sprained left knee and was in Birmingham, Ala., to get it examined by Dr. James Andrews.
The Warriors, who came in averaging a league-best 23.2 fastbreak points, didn't crack that column until Watson made a driving layup with 9:46 left in the second quarter to trim the Lakers lead to 38-26. Former Laker Ronny Turiaf's dunk capped a 25-9 run that turned Golden State's 14-point deficit into a 49-47 lead with 1:55 left in the half.
Bryant did not miss a game in either of the previous two seasons. the next game he plays will be his 1,000th during the regular season, and will make him the youngest player in NBA history to reach that milestone.
NOTES: the Lakers are 57-33 all-time when Bryant has been out of the lineup. ... A moment of silence was observed in memory of former Lakers coach and general manager Fred Schaus, who died last Wednesday at age 84. ... Frank "Pep" Saul, who played on three Lakers championship teams in Minneapolis during the 1950s, turned 86 years old on Tuesday. He's the second-oldest living Lakers player behind Gene Stump — who was born 95 days before Saul. ... Brown made a pair of jumpers less than a minute apart that originally were ruled 3-pointers. but both were changed to 2-pointers after the referees reviewed the tape during a timeout with 4 1-2 minutes left in the first quarter.
Kobe to be a part of Brown's dunk contest – Lakers blog : The …
EL SEGUNDO
Shannon Brown wants to win the Slam Dunk contest. or at least put on a really good show.
So the young guard has asked Kobe Bryant, winner of the 1997 contest, for ideas to incorporate into his high-flying act for Saturday's dunk-off. he then went a step further and asked Bryant to be a part of his act.
Bryant will pass him the ball during the competition maybe even do more, such as serve as a prop.
"Everybody has been throwing me stuff and Kobe was coming up with some stuff while we were practicing out here," Brown said. "So we got a lot of great ideas and we still got a couple more days of practice."
One Laker who has not offered any ideas is 6-foot-1 Derek Fisher, who at 35 years old no longer attempts to shoot vertically.
"Not at all. I don't even know what the air smells like that high," Fish said. "He and Kobe and other players who pay rent up that high, let them worry about that."
Fisher didn't always keep his feet on the ground. in his younger days, he was know to throw down a few dunks now and then.
"Yeah, a little bit. but what he (Brown) does is totally different than what I used to do," Fisher said. "I wish I had (kept pictures) because my step-son doesn't believe I could dunk."
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Kobe to be a part of Brown's dunk contest - Lakers blog : The ...
A Case For Kobe Bryant As Lakers' Sixth Man
An odd thing happened at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon last night. the Lakers beat the Blazers for the first time in the Rose City in nearly five years. Stranger yet, LA did it in convincing fashion... without superstar Kobe Bryant in the line-up.
Anyone who watched the game or highlights, witnessed a fired up Lakers team; the key word being team. LA played team ball for the first time in many games. nearly everyone participating in the win. even Bryant, by being absent.
As Kobe nursed a bad ankle and mangled digit, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom came to life. both filled the void with inspiring play, the Candy Man grabbing 22 rebounds and Ron Ron scoring 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting (75% from the floor; not bad).
Against a lesser opponent in a more Laker-friendly venue, the victory wouldn't generate a second thought. In Portland, against the feisty Blazers and a very loud LA-hater dominated crowd, it's thought provoking. So much so, that it forced my mind to wander into unthinkable territory the morning after.
This is hard to get out, and it feels like committing heresy, but here goes. How about bringing Kobe off of the bench on given nights? no, I've never seen a crack pipe let alone used one. I've been getting plenty of rest, take vitamins, and have had a cup of coffee this morning. I'm a picture of health.
Just allow your imagination to take over for a minute. if Kobe came off the bench, what would it do for LA? Does it piss the Mamba off, and make him even better? Does it overwhelm opponents' second units? Most importantly, does it force the likes of Shannon Brown and Lamar Odom to step up rather than step aside for Bryant? strange chemistry indeed! maybe Kobe even heals a bit in the process.
It's an off-the-beaten-path thought, and I'm sure Bryant's super ego would never tolerate the idea.
Phil Jackson on the other hand, now there is a guy who might consider the experiment. it would take every new age book that the Zen Master has ever read plus a little bit of hypnosis to convince his superstar to consider the possibility. maybe last night's milestone win (only because of the long losing streak that it broke) opens his eyes to the possibility.
Saturday, Portland prepared for the same LA team that it had soundly beaten on its home court nine straight games. no reason to do anything different. Until the Lakers showed up without their superstar. one small change in the line-up made a big difference - addition by subtraction in this case. Portland planned the game around containing Bryant and forcing him to take bad shots. That game plan obviously wasn't much use with the Mamba at home watching the game in high def. It's history today, but a lesson nonetheless.
So rip me apart for unconventional thinking. Have at it. But the possibility of bringing Kobe off the the bench is intriguing to at least one person in world. as the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." from my angle on the armchair, the purple and gold looked like a sputtering broken-down junker Friday night versus Denver. the same unit, minus a part (the gas pedal?), rolled into the Rose City Saturday night and looked unbeatable against a team that used to own it. makes a guy think wild thoughts the next morning.
