Official Los Angeles Lakers 2011-2012 Season Thread

[JMT]

Yeah I'm a Laker fan. No I'm not one of those $#@!ing annoying bandwagon Laker fans who only roots for LA because Kobe Bryant plays for them. I sat through the years when Tony Campbell was our PG, Sedale Threatt played an integral role and Vlade Divac was the focus of the offense. I can vividly recall the 1st round matchup against Phoenix in 1993 when Charles Barkley had an offensive goaltending that wasn't called in the last 30 seconds of the 4th quarter of Game 5. If it had been the Lakers would've beaten the Suns and we would've never seen the Bulls beat them in the 1993 Finals. I hate those retarded bandwagon Bryant fans and their only use is in buying jerseys and other merchandise. I've been on board since the 86-87 season when I was 7 and I'm still here today.

I know a lot of you hate the Lakers more than satan, but $#@! it here's our thread. Unlike the other team threads, if you want to come here and post your dislike of the Purple and Gold feel free to do so. I have no problem listening to Mavs, Spurs and Rockets fans coming here to talk $#@! about my guys.

Tonight we knocked off a Rockets team who played their ass off. If The Black Mamba had decided to let Bynum do his thing against an undersized frontline, Bynum would've had the first 30/20 game of his career instead of having his first 20/20 game. I have respect for the Rockets fans out there. You're being asked to put an undersized frontline out there each night thanks to Herr Stern screwing you over. Those guys for Houston (Especially Scola) play their ass off and I respect them. They made tonight's game a dogfight for most of it, partially due to the Laker backcourt refusing to give Bynum the ball when he had position.

[T'Boo Ted Marshall]

I a longtime fan as well. Showtime days.
Anyway, IF Bynum can keep it up that helps tremendously. Kobe's hand and the lack of perimeter defense has me a bit concerned.
I liked Artest his first year, but he is doing much to contribute at this point.
I think they will bow out in the semis.

[JMT]

I a longtime fan as well. Showtime days.
Anyway, IF Bynum can keep it up that helps tremendously. Kobe's hand and the lack of perimeter defense has me a bit concerned.
I liked Artest his first year, but he is doing much to contribute at this point.
I think they will bow out in the semis.

Nice to see another Showtime-era fan. I ran across a guy around here a few years ago who is a huge Lakers from that's from LA. He said that back in the 80's he went to a concert and spent two or three hours backstage with Byron Scott talking about basketball and stuff like that. /csb.

If Bynum is healthy he needs the ball. That crap last night was ridiculous to watch. If he had been fed the ball he'd have at least had a 30/20 game. That was the most energized I've seen him since the 07-08 season. That pass he caught in mid-air and flicked over his shoulder for a reverse layup showed me his athleticism is back.

Artest will have his moments. He's kinda figured out though that he can still score on the block and Brown appears to have made him the focal point of the 2nd unit. He's at least playing hard right now and you can see that he feels much more comfortable on the offensive end than he ever did in the Triangle.

I don't have a whole lot of hope for a deep playoff run if Kobe is going to still demand the lion's share of the shots. If Bynum and Gasol get more touches I'd feel confident in saying we'll at least be in the West Finals. If things stay the same then you're probably right about not getting past the 2nd round.

[BigTimeBevo]

Bynum is playing like a beast but every time he jumps you just think he is going to come down and crumble to the floor. ARtest is officially playing old man basketball at this point of his career. Mcroberts was looking good off the bench before the toe injury. Pau still hasnt seemed to recover from the Shannon Brown saga. Kobe will be good Kobe some nights and bad some nights. That said they are still better than the Clippers/

[JMT]

Saw this coming tonight. If the 92 Dream Team were wearing Laker jerseys they'd get blown out in the Rose Garden. Every team has that one place they just can't win at and this is that place for LA.

Bynum still needs the ball more. I look forward to the inevitable blowup by him when he calls Bryant and Fisher out for not getting him the ball. Hopefully management takes Bynum's side when it happens.

[JMT]

And I just heard Shaq call Bynum the best center in the league. Too bad the best center can't get his selfish-ass guards to give him the ball consistently.

[H34TX]

I guess Shaq hates DHoward - the "superman" thing w/ Orlando still bothering the Diesel

[JMT]

I guess Shaq hates DHoward - the "superman" thing w/ Orlando still bothering the Diesel

He probably still doesn't care for him much because of that, but when they went over to the court he explained why he likes Bynum. Bynum runs the floor and sets up shop in the center of the paint to get post position. Most centers, and Shaq is 100 percent correct about this, will run to a block and then get pushed off of the block and get the ball in a position that isn't an optimal place for them to score from. I think Shaq sees Bynum as being more like him than any other center in the NBA. To me that's why he's praising him. He probably is also pissed that Bynum isn't getting the ball from the guards. Same old stuff from his days in LA.

[T'Boo Ted Marshall]

Centers are always pissed about not getting the ball enough. They are the WR's or basketball.
I do wish the Paul trade would have gone through. Fisher's only redeeming qualities were hitting FT's and running the triangle.

[H34TX]

hate him or hate him, that 39pt game by Kobe - a league high - was something else. All that with a numbed up injected wrist; probably can't even feel the fingers. Freak.

[Hank Kingsley]

I don't like Kobe, but I respect his game. What he's done so far this season with a bum wrist is extremely impressive.

[H34TX]

and Kobe has 48pts tonight

[JMT]

I can't get mad about Bryant shooting as much as he did tonight. It was an impressive performance, even if it came against Shannon Brown and what's left of Grant Hill. That reverse alley-oop from Luke to #24 was nice. I haven't seen him look like that in a long time. 48 points is quite an achievement for a guy playing with the injury he has.

This team still has to figure out how to get better spacing on the floor in a regular offense. There's too many times where two or three guys wind up too close together and it causes a turnover more often than not. Bynum still needs to understand where to look to pass the ball when the double-team comes. He'll probably figure it out by mid-season. It'd help if his teammates would spread the floor better and give him better open targets. Hopefully Ettore Messina can figure out how to get this team to move better on offense. He's a revered figure in Europe, but this is his first chance to do something big in the NBA. This is where I miss the triangle. The triangle was beautiful to watch because of the passing and movement. This, so far, is not that much fun to watch. The Lakers are still the best team in the Pacific, but unlike most of the league that'd be happy being the best team in their respective division, that doesn't mean much in the Southland. To quote #24 from a couple of years ago, "We're real big on division championships around here"...

[JMT]

That was actually Barnes on the alley-oop. I don't like giving Walton credit for much of anything so I'm glad that it was Barnes instead of him...lol.

[H34TX]

Clips win the Battle Los Angeles but Kobe hits 40 for the 4th straight game. He was the oldest to hit 40 in 3 straight, not even MJ or Wilt did that, now he has it on 4 nights! On a bad wrist. And he's the #1 scorer in the NBA. Damn !

[JMT]

Individual accolades really mean very little when they come at the expense of the team. Our bigs continue to be ignored. It's why I haven't been excited about Bryant's scoring binge. Bynum and Gasol shoot at a 54 percent or so average between them yet THEY COMBINE to shoot the same amount of shots as Bryant. I eagerly await Bynum's media tirade where he asks for the ball or to be traded to a team that will give it to him. We aren't winning anything until Bryant decides to play team ball. We really need Deron Williams. If it costs us Bynum or Gasol I'm cool with that. He'd have reigned in Bryant and we'd have won tonight with him because he usually outplays Paul due to his overwhelming size advantage. We're a 2nd round team with this functional retard Fisher manning the point the rest of the season.

[H34TX]

Kobe is about as automatic as it gets and obviously he has to carr the scoring load. So I don't really blame the Mamba for his binges, it's needed just to keep the team in the game since no one else can do anything. They do need a guard and have for years, with the Bigs being unfairly blamed.

on a btw ---- when that guy hit the 65ft buzzer beater, Kobe was completely unaffected. Showed is arrogant self there, did not express any joy or congratulate teh teammate. Very uppity and snobbish.

[JMT]

That's where I differ. I don't think he has to carry the scoring load. I think he is doing this because there's no one on the roster or coaching staff that is reigning him in anymore. Phil was the only guy that was capable of making Bryant play within the team concept. This Laker team is not playing team basketball. Bryant shoots as much as he wants and whatever happens besides that is immaterial to him, or at least that's the appearance and impression he's giving. If you have two seven-footers as good as Bynum and Gasol and they are shooting the same amount of shots as Bryant combined, despite doing it at a much higher clip, well, you have problems.

I think the only solution is to trade one of them to get Williams so that we have an actual point guard that distributes the ball and keeps everyone involved. I grew up on the Showtime Lakers and this is the furtherest thing from that team that I've seen since Magic hung it up for the first time in 1991. This group looks nothing like a team to me and the upcoming schedule will probably reveal more flaws. We'll probably lose to both Miami and Orlando on the road and I'm not ruling out a loss to Dallas at home on Monday if Bryant decides to continue to be hellbent on scoring at the expense of the team getting better as a unit.

[T'Boo Ted Marshall]

We're a 2nd round team with this functional retard Fisher manning the point the rest of the season.

This. I knew not getting Paul to replace Fisher would hurt.
They have proved many times that Kobe being all the offense does not lead to rings.
Not sure who I would rather have between the bigs. Bynum can be a pouty baby that is injury prone, but Pau can be bullied around.
Trade both for Howard? Yes please.

[CBT]

Our bigs continue to be ignored.

If you have two seven-footers as good as Bynum and Gasol and they are shooting the same amount of shots as Bryant combined, despite doing it at a much higher clip, well, you have problems.

Exactly this. Kobe has been damn impressive, but the offense needs to go through the post if LAL wants to survive the season and make a push in the playoffs.

[JMT]

Really $#@!ty basketball being played by both teams tonight. I'm done watching this abortion of a game by two mediocre outfits.

[JMT]

Was on the phone with someone and we were talking about the game so I tuned in and watched the last three minutes of this $#@!fest.

LOL @ our functional retard of a PG hitting a three on Dirk, the only $#@!ing three the Purple and Gold hit all night, to win the game. Very reminiscient of the three Fish hit against Jameer Nelson in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals. Hilarious to see this Laker team that can't shoot straight be able to win a game while scoring 73 points. We need a real PG in the worst way or this team is completely screwed when it has to play the good teams in the NBA. We won't get to play a team with a 65 year old PG every night.

[TexArcher]

Been a Laker fan since the very early 80's. Grew up trying to imitate James Worthy's moves.

I hate to say it, but as currently constructed, I don't think this team has the depth to win the whole thing. After Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes, the bench is a disaster.

Now, if they can land Dwight Howard, everything changes immediately. I love Bynum's game, but I just don't trust him to stay healthy. Plus if the Lakers trade Bynum for Howard, that probably means more shots for Pau Gasol, which is what I think this team needs. There's no reason Kobe and Pau can't combine for 50 points a game and throw in another 17 or 18 from Dwight and you're 2/3 of the way to outscoring just about anybody with the way the Lakers can play D. Obviously Bynum can do a lot of what Howard does on defense and the glass and he's a better scorer, but if he goes down before the Lakers can trade him, it's all over. Big men with multiple injuries at a young age don't magically become durable as their career progresses.

Plus the Magic would almost certainly love to get out from under Hedo Turkoglu's ridiculous contract and he'd be a very nice addition to the Lakers' bench. So there it is: trade Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu. Orlando isn't going to get a better offer than that. Ship the trophy to Los Angeles a couple more times.

[alincoln]

There is an interesting article about 2012 Kobe on Grantland that basically argues he has reverted to post-Shaq pre-Gasol Kobe. His current usage rate for the 2011-2012 season would easily be the highest in NBA history if he maintains it beating his own record from 2005-2006.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...erson-interest

[JMT]

Been a Laker fan since the very early 80's. Grew up trying to imitate James Worthy's moves.

I hate to say it, but as currently constructed, I don't think this team has the depth to win the whole thing. After Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes, the bench is a disaster.

Now, if they can land Dwight Howard, everything changes immediately. I love Bynum's game, but I just don't trust him to stay healthy. Plus if the Lakers trade Bynum for Howard, that probably means more shots for Pau Gasol, which is what I think this team needs. There's no reason Kobe and Pau can't combine for 50 points a game and throw in another 17 or 18 from Dwight and you're 2/3 of the way to outscoring just about anybody with the way the Lakers can play D. Obviously Bynum can do a lot of what Howard does on defense and the glass and he's a better scorer, but if he goes down before the Lakers can trade him, it's all over. Big men with multiple injuries at a young age don't magically become durable as their career progresses.

Plus the Magic would almost certainly love to get out from under Hedo Turkoglu's ridiculous contract and he'd be a very nice addition to the Lakers' bench. So there it is: trade Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu. Orlando isn't going to get a better offer than that. Ship the trophy to Los Angeles a couple more times.

Glad to see another fan from the Showtime Era on here.

Your post makes a lot of sense. This team won't be going anywhere with the way it's currently put together. No bench, no one that can hit open threes, an inability to score for long stretches and no committment to keeping the game flowing through the post instead of the perimeter. It's really, really hard to watch most of the time.

If Bynum for Howard happens, I won't be too upset to see Bynum go, but only because of his injury history. I'd rather have a durable big man like Dwight where you know what you're getting night after night. I don't know that Kupchak, Dr. Buss and Jimmy are going to want to take on Turkoglu's contract. Orlando would have to take some of our garbage that we don't want. It's a precarious situation that Mitch is in right now and I'd hate to have to be him at the moment.

I kind of believe that if the opportunity to obtain Deron Williams arises, that Gasol would probably be the player we'd be losing. I like Pau and how unselfish he is, as well as not acting like a whiny $#@! like Odom did when he was sent back to LA, but if the Purple and Gold can get Williams and the cost is Gasol, they have to do that. Who knows what'll happen, but it should be interesting to see how this roster changes going forward.

[JMT]

There is an interesting article about 2012 Kobe on Grantland that basically argues he has reverted to post-Shaq pre-Gasol Kobe. His current usage rate for the 2011-2012 season would easily be the highest in NBA history if he maintains it beating his own record from 2005-2006.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...erson-interest

Sadly enough, the writer is right on a lot of points. The more #24 goes into Kobe-mode, the less enthused his teammates appear to be on the court. You can see the visible frustration with Bynum. Gasol hides his emotions better, but his quotes in the past about needing more touches lead me to believe that this style of basketball isn't that appealing to him either.

[JMT]

I was expecting to get blown out by Miami so I didn't really care about the outcome. We have no shooters, we have no point guard and we have nothing that resembles a cohesive offense and the biggest reason for that is not having a single player on the roster that can stretch the floor. This is probably the worst shooting Laker team of my lifetime. I've never seen anything quite like this group. The Laker teams that won 43, 39 and 33 games in the early 90's could shoot the ball better than this. It's pretty embarrassing watching our guards launch laughable three after laughable three that comes nowhere close to going in game after game. We might not make the 2nd round this year unless we trade for some shooters. Although he's not showing it right now, I'm hopeful that Mitch is looking at CJ Miles. He would help and so would OJ Mayo. Both guys are available and both would be better than what we're trotting out there on the perimeter outside of #24.

[JMT]

I'm getting a good laugh out of ESPN proclaiming this as some sort of monumental victory for the Heat because Wade didn't play. That's just hilarious. I'm a die-hard Laker fan and have been for a quarter century, but beating this team means so little. Anyone with half a $#@!ing brain knew that LA was going to get destroyed by the Heat. It's still fun to listen to ESPN say what a big win this is for Miami and how bad it is for LA. This Laker squad has broke 100 points just once in 15 games. That makes me want to cry a little on the inside. We're officially the "Slowtime Lakers" and we show no signs of being able to push the ball at all. Never thought I'd see the Lakers turn into the Spurs, but here we are.

[T'Boo Ted Marshall]

I think Battier would have been a great pickup.
I also think Artest forgot how to play basketball.

[H34TX]

i generally don't like off the court issues, but this one is off the charts. Kobe loses $75million + 3 Newport Beach mansions in the divorce! I don't like Kobe as a person, but I don't think I hate him that much to feel good about this downfall.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ba..._VUxbBhNW8vLYF

Did you know that Kobe Bryant owns three mansions in Newport Beach, alone? No? Let that swirl around for a second, and now learn that Kobe Bryant does not own three mansions in Newport Beach anymore. Those houses, and a princely $75 million sum, have been sent to Kobe's ex-wife Vanessa in the couple's divorce settlement.

[JMT]

He got what he deserved. He married a "Video Ho" and she stuck around long enough to take him to the cleaners. If the dumbass had listened to his dad he wouldn't be in this position. Joe knew best, but his son thought he knew better. Joe's been married for 35 years or so to Kobe's mom, who's really hot for her age so I can see why Jellybean has been faithful to her, and he knew that his son was screwing up marrying Vanessa. I don't feel bad for Kobe at all for what's happened to him.

[JMT]

Oh and this Laker team is done. It's too bad Don Meredith isn't around to sing "Turn out the lights, it's over" because this team has no shot at doing anything in the playoffs. It's time to blow things up. Bynum mailed it in against Orlando when they wouldn't pass him the ball before he got in foul trouble and Kobe has completely abandoned attempting to play team ball. This stuff is just terrible to watch. Our $#@!ing starting point guard averages 4.7 points more than a dead man. I actually think I'd prefer a dead man at the point over him right now. Fisher couldn't start for half the teams in the Big XII at this point.

[T'Boo Ted Marshall]

JMT, I agree with you. Last night was painful to watch.
I read a good article that states that Shaw should have rec'd the nod over Brown since he knows the triangle and the Lakers are built to run it. Then again you need some shooters and they really have none right now.
I did like to see that Deron Williams had the Lakers on his short list. Who do you think they would have to give up to get him?

[H34TX]

i don't hate Kobe that much to see his hard earned fortune disappear to uneducated skank. Happenned to Shaq and MJ, will happen to Lebron soon. Always follow the Jeter-TomBrady method, wait till later to get hitched.

[JMT]

JMT, I agree with you. Last night was painful to watch.
I read a good article that states that Shaw should have rec'd the nod over Brown since he knows the triangle and the Lakers are built to run it. Then again you need some shooters and they really have none right now.
I did like to see that Deron Williams had the Lakers on his short list. Who do you think they would have to give up to get him?

Shaw should've gotten the job, but that's on Jimmy Buss for wanting to get rid of almost everyone associated with Phil Jackson. Jimmy let Ronnie Lester, the assistant GM to Mitch who had been with the organization for a quarter century (Also played on one of the title teams.), go after last season. I found that move humorous because Ronnie was the one that scouted and prompted Mitch, Jimmy and Dr. Buss to select Bynum in the 2005 draft.

Right now I'm sure New Jersey is asking for Bynum, but it's Billy King running things there so it might wind up being Gasol. Bynum would seem to be their target though. We need an elite point guard so badly that I wouldn't be too upset if we traded Bynum for Williams.

[JMT]

$#@! Rudy Fernandez. What a $#@!sucking piece of $#@!. Take that bull$#@! to the pitch and get the hell off the basketball court with that. Vlade Divac is shaking his head in disgust at this ridiculous acting job.

[TexArcher]

Holy $#@!, that is amazing. Rocky and Apollo came closer to hitting each other. What a gigantic $#@!.

[JMT]

$#@! THOSE GUYS.

[Soul Glo]

that's $#@!ing ridiculous

[Long Rod Von Hugendong]

Tough loss to the Knicks tonight. We just got caught up in the Linsanity.

[H34TX]

just wanted to drop by and say that Steve Blake is a pussy

[JMT]

just wanted to drop by and say that Steve Blake is a pussy

So is Derek Fisher. $#@! the both of them. $#@! Fisher more though. I'd rather have whatever player is starting at the point for Bakersfield over him. Coach Brown is going to have to do the merciful thing and take Old Yeller out back and shoot him.

Nothing against Lin though. I was watching the game at the gym tonight and he was on fire. I usually don't look for silver linings after a loss as comical as this one, but hopefully Mitch is trying to put together a deal to get us an NBA point guard right now. How the franchise that employed the greatest point guard of all-time, and now has to trot out what we do at the position, is completely freaking unacceptable.

[JMT]

I don't think tonight is going to end well for the Purple and Gold. I hope it does, but we are a terrible road team. If I were a fan of any team that was hosting the Lakers, I'd be embarrassed to lose to these clowns who are currently suiting up for the Purple and Gold.

[T'Boo Ted Marshall]

Coach Brown is going to have to do the merciful thing and take Old Yeller out back and shoot him

This irks me even more that the Paul trade didn't go down.

This season is them just going through the motions to get a higher draft pick and maybe pick up Howard. They've mailed it in, but nobody has told Kobe that. He mad.

[JMT]

Boring game for the most part. If Bryant and Fisher hadn't have killed our momentum in the 2nd quarter we'd have probably gone into halftime up by 10-12 points. Dallas isn't very good and we still aren't either. At least Bynum and Gasol played well again. They're fun to watch when Bryant gets them the ball instead of jacking up contested jumpers. I just shook my head in disgust when Bryant took three straight shots in a row down the stretch and it resulted in two terrible shots and a traveling violation. That guy is so concerned about his stats that he'll force shots instead of letting his two seven-footers do their job, a job that both are pretty good at.

[H34TX]

DFish - remarkably good shape for his age, obviously not an all-star player but as in the mold of Robert Horry has hit some HUGE shots over the career. I can't really disrespect him too much, hit a big shot or two against the Mavs this month. He's a certifiable winner and a champ so I'll always respect him - sort of the same way I'll always respect Mario Elie. Some guys are major clutch, a precious intangible.

[T'Boo Ted Marshall]

I guess that is the tough position Brown is in. When they play a team with a good guard, Fisher has really nothing he can bring to the table. Before he could run the triangle, but now that they aren't running that what does he offer?
I've loved DFish for a long time as a stone cold killer at the end of games, but at this point he is a liability.
Really thought Blake would help out as well, but he has disappointed.

[JMT]

I guess that is the tough position Brown is in. When they play a team with a good guard, Fisher has really nothing he can bring to the table. Before he could run the triangle, but now that they aren't running that what does he offer?
I've loved DFish for a long time as a stone cold killer at the end of games, but at this point he is a liability.
Really thought Blake would help out as well, but he has disappointed.

Our point guards are awful. I don't blame Mike Brown for this. He inherited garbage and he's doing the best he can. Fisher just has to be sent to the bench, somewhere near Luke, and he needs to stay there. He's a complete embarrassment to the Purple and Gold at this point. Blake just doesn't have it. He killed the Lakers everytime they played, but he's done nothing since he joined us. We need a point guard badly, but I don't think anyone is lining up to help us rectify the situation.

[T'Boo Ted Marshall]

Come on man.
21 point lead blown to the friggin Wizards?

[H34TX]

Kobe can dominate DWade then go 9-31 against the Wiz, after losing to Detroit