Pau Gasol

Bryant may be the best player on earth, but the title of Lakers MVP belongs to Pau Gasol. As good as Kobe Bryant is (and he's very, very good), the game is still played inside-out. NBA championships are won with the big guys in the paint, not with the guys who make the "pretty" plays.

Continue reading "LAKERS ARE FUELED BY GASOL"

They full court press. They trap. It’s just a completely different look from the starters. Pau Gasol played like a beast against Yao Ming and the sturdy, but undersized power forward crew

Continue reading "Defensive Force--Kobe for DPY?"

What does Kobe need to accomplish to finally get out of the shadow of Michael Jordan? Well, despite having 5 All-NBA Defensive First team selections, he has yet to win a Defensive Player of the Year a

Continue reading "How Does Kobe be Better than MJ?"

I'm back. lol. Got a new blogsite that will be up and running by the start of the season. This site will still get Lakers updates, but it will be strictly Lakers. For all things Westcoast in the NBA, check out www.westcoastlsant.blogspot.com next week. And check the links too. Okay, on to the meat. 

Continue reading "Lakers Notes on Preseason game against Toronto"

Wow, these Olympics have really been something huh? The first week was dominated by Michael Phelps, his 8 gold medals, his 7 world records, that fingernail finish, the come from behind in the 4X100 by Lezac. The second week was all about the American track and field team failing to come through and the Jamaican team, led by Usain Bolt, blowing past the competition.

Continue reading "Dream Team Vs. Redeem Team"

 

Pau Gasol is seven feet tall but he just got taller in my eyes.

Gasol and his teammates on Spain's Olympic team was put in an embarassing position this week of having to explain why they agreed to pose for an advertisement that reflected a racist tone.

Continue reading "GASOL GETS THE BIG PICTURE"

I say they need aggressiveness. As previously mentioned in this blog, Pau Gasol was a warrior. Sure, he’s not capable of out-muscling guys like Garnett or Duncan for rebounds. But he went in there and battled. Each of the bigs he faced shot horribly. All of them.

Continue reading "Don't hit the Panic Button"

Okay, here’s the deal. The Lakers have looked pretty bad in these finals. Sure, a great deal can be attributed to the “help.”  Odom was nonexistent in the first few games. The guards have had a couple great moments, but never all at the same time and for the most part they’ve been playing poorly. The SF position has been a complete disadvantage, Walton and Vlad Rad have been horrible and Paul Pierce has been brilliant. 

Continue reading "It’s “Show” Time"

They say that Lamar Odom is struggling through nerves and that Pau Gasol is playing soft.

On the flip, Celtics fans, after last night’s horrific game, will tell you that all the Cs need is for KG and Pierce and Allen to play well all at the same time. That KG ain’t going to shoot a woeful 6 for 21 or that PP isn’t going to build a house out of bricks every night.

Continue reading "Good or Not?"

But Pau Gasol? Lamar Odom? Those guys were getting hammered, absolutely hammered with the body, slapped on the forearms, elbowed and such and got one freethrow between them. On the flipside, Odom had 5 fouls. KG? 1.

Continue reading "No Complaining…Just the FACTS."

I’m tired of all the flashbacks and reminiscing going on in the NBA due to the Celtics/Lakers matchup set for tomorrow evening. All the montages and interviews and whatnot are making me noxious (thanks NBA for giving us a whole week before game 1).

Continue reading "85-86 Celtics? 08 Lakers Win IMO..."

Pow!

Everybody’s talking about Pau’s monster game. ESPN’s JA Adande is reminding folks about the legacy of Lakers’ big men. A 36-point, 16-rebound, 8-assist, 3-block game will get people to notice. Kobe dropped 32 but shot a putrid 9-26. After the game, #24 talked about how he was the decoy and how the Lakers have a vicious 1-2 punch.

Continue reading "Pow! Kobe's Dilemma"

Andrew Bynum has reportedly been working out with Chris Mihm and could run through full practice as early as this week. This is great news. Also great news is the recent play of Lamar Odom. As discussed last week in this blog, Odom has finally started to play with a fire and confidence that has been sorely lacking from his all-around game. He’s shooting 86 percent in his last two games. He’s found a great rhythm playing with both Kobe and especially Gasol and has become deadly efficient.

Continue reading "Bringing Bynum Off the Bench"

He finally did it. He finally put all those massive talents together and played up to his potential. Imagine if he plays like this the rest of the way. The Lakers won’t need Andrew Bynum back. Lamar Odom put together a doozy of a game, against a Mavericks club that was shooting the lights out despite pretty solid defense by the Purple and Gold. Odom made 12-14 shots, totaling 31 points. Pulled down ten boards, dished 5 assists, blocked 2 shots and threw in a steal to cap off his night. Plus he made two of the best plays of the game with a fake pass, layup that made Dirk look foolish, followed by a quick scoop pass to Pau for an and-one. Not only was his offense up to snuff, despite giving up 27 points to Dirk, Lamar made the key stop on the Big German with a about 30 seconds left. He played perfect defense. I mean, Diggler still shot a scorching 13-19, but Odom was in his grill on most of them. Dirk was just hot. I knew Lamar was feeling it. In the past, he would always look to Kobe to set the tone, or to make sure he was running the right plays. Tonight, he took the ball himself, juked, spun, shimmied, dropped dimes, battled for loose balls, dove to the basket for putbacks (he dunked Kobe’s missed layup at the end of the game when Kobe got fouled) and ice-manned the ball in the hoop all night. It was beautiful and extremely exciting to watch. Odom, for the first time I’ve ever seen him play, looked like he wanted the ball in his hands at the end of the game.

Continue reading "What We’ve Been Waiting For…"

rn conference has been busy for weeks now.  Teams saw what the Lakers did when they traded for Pau Gasol and felt that they had to try and one up the Lakers.  The Phoenix Suns went out and took a huge chance by trading for Shaquille O’Neal and the Mavericks traded away half their team to acquire Jason Kidd.  With the trading deadline this week I would not be surprised if western conference teams are not done playing deal or no deal.  With the number one seed and the number nine seed being separated by a mere four and a half games, every thing is going to be magnified for the next two months.  Every single game is going to matter and a three game losing streak, for anyone, could have that team on the verge of missing the playoffs.  After months of boring basketball the west is here to save us.

Continue reading "The NBA, Where Only the Second Half ..."

When Pau Gasol was gift-wrapped by the Memphis Grizzlies to the L.A. Lakers, one Western Conference GM said, "Are you f***ing kidding me?" As for my reaction? I say, "CHAMPIONSHIP!"

Continue reading "Gasol makes the Lakers the team to beat"

So long Kwame. I wrote fondly of you not three weeks ago. Then you went ahead and stunk it up so horribly that it was impossible to defend you. I still believe you have value, and if you want to come back to the Lakers next year and take, hmm, maybe a ¼ of what you made this year, then we would love to have you back. I still believe in your ability to play great, grounded defense. I still believe in that body, if not for those small hands. You could still help us win a championship. So don’t take this trade too hard. And try and forget those boo birds, though I’m sure you will one day when you are 75 years old, suddenly sit up in your bed covered in sweat, waking from a dream where you are still missing layups, still dropping easy passes, and hear the deafening echoes of screaming from the crowds, your home crowd, as they tear you a new one. But try to forget. 

Continue reading "See, Positivity Works"