Window Closing on Lakers Too!

Although we know Jerry Buss is the type that will do what is necessary money wise to keep the Lakers up as much as possible just looking at this group with the wear and tear Kobe, Gasol, Fisher and the rest are piling up the sands of time are almost as fleeting for them as for the C's. When the Blazers get healthy next year they will pose a formidable road block to the Fakers, as will the Nuggets, and look out for Oklahoma City. With Kevin Durant, Westbrook, and Georgetown's Jeff Green they should run Kobe and compnay ragged. The Fakers are notorious for wilting whenever games get physical. However, Durant is so talented and is improving so rapidly that he, no doubt, will be able to out finesse Kobe also. Kevin Durant is the brightest young offensive star in the game today. He reminds me of a combination of Bobby Dandridge, George Gervin, and Bernard King! AWESOME!-MD.

MD,

Bobby Dandridge; one of my favorites as a youngster. He was overshadowed playing with Jabbar and Robertson but was one of the most consistent and fluid wings around.

I agree that Portland is on the rise, I just hope they don't pick tonight to make too much of a statement.

On the Lakers aging, that's a fact, but they're in good shape right now.

I caught the Cav's vs. Lakers last night and thought to myself there is no team in the league right now capable of getting past either of these two in a playoff series.

Regards

NYCelt wrote:MD,

Bobby Dandridge; one of my favorites as a youngster. He was overshadowed playing with Jabbar and Robertson but was one of the most consistent and fluid wings around.

I agree that Portland is on the rise, I just hope they don't pick tonight to make too much of a statement.

On the Lakers aging, that's a fact, but they're in good shape right now.

I caught the Cav's vs. Lakers last night and thought to myself there is no team in the league right now capable of getting past either of these two in a playoff series.

Regards

NYCelt - If healthy, the Celtics can.

NYCelt wrote:MD,

Bobby Dandridge; one of my favorites as a youngster. He was overshadowed playing with Jabbar and Robertson but was one of the most consistent and fluid wings around.

I agree that Portland is on the rise, I just hope they don't pick tonight to make too much of a statement.

On the Lakers aging, that's a fact, but they're in good shape right now.

I caught the Cav's vs. Lakers last night and thought to myself there is no team in the league right now capable of getting past either of these two in a playoff series.

Regards

thanks MD and NYCelt ...
love your observations. i think it's true - were the plaoffs this week (and thankfully they're not), those two would be at the top of the league (although Williams loss would probably hurt the cavs in a series, don't you think?)

portland, for all their injuries, is doing surprisingly well, aren't they?

the Nuggets are something to be reckoned with against top tier teams. they seem to lose focus against lesser teams and have been caught playing down to the level of the opponents several times this year (like another, green team i could name ! ). but last year, you take away a couple of key Ariza playoff steals, they were giving the Lakers all they could handle ... they're probably a Big short, but we'll see.

love being reminded of Dandrige ... aggressive in his cut-across-the-lane move, then easily and consistently getting his jumper off so smooth from the middle of the lane - a wonderful player to watch go to work.

Michael in Denver...

steve3344 wrote:

NYCelt - If healthy, the Celtics can.

Steve,

As a Celtics fan, that's what I'm rooting for. As a basketball fan and realist, I know it will be difficult. Either way I'm hopeful.

Regards

[quote="bigpygme"]

NYCelt wrote:
...love being reminded of Dandrige ... aggressive in his cut-across-the-lane move, then easily and consistently getting his jumper off so smooth from the middle of the lane - a wonderful player to watch go to work.

Michael in Denver...

Michael,

Dandridge and the Bucks must've been one of the best teams ever assembled; for two years anyway. Jabbar, Dandridge, Robertson, McGlocklin and Allen were essentially one center and four guards, but were often the starting five. I think they may have been among the top 10 lineups ever put on the floor. I also think I just misspelled at least two of their names.

Regards

Anyone remember if Dandridge was in the 1974 Finals? That had to be one of the greatest Finals ever, with the central-casting Cowens-Kareem matchup, Hondo and Big O, the double-overtime game. It was the first chance for a championship since Russell retired. We kicked Knick ass to get there. Tommy's coaching was perfect. If it hadna been for Tommy's crappy leisure suits and funky hairstyles, it would have been a good time to be a Celtics fan.

tyroneshoelaces wrote:Anyone remember if Dandridge was in the 1974 Finals? That had to be one of the greatest Finals ever, with the central-casting Cowens-Kareem matchup, Hondo and Big O, the double-overtime game. It was the first chance for a championship since Russell retired. We kicked Knick ass to get there. Tommy's coaching was perfect. If it hadna been for Tommy's crappy leisure suits and funky hairstyles, it would have been a good time to be a Celtics fan.

tyrone,

Unfortunately, at the time, I didn't think his suits were all that crappy and his hairstyles all that funky.

At that time.

gyso

steve3344 wrote:

NYCelt wrote:MD,

Bobby Dandridge; one of my favorites as a youngster. He was overshadowed playing with Jabbar and Robertson but was one of the most consistent and fluid wings around.

I agree that Portland is on the rise, I just hope they don't pick tonight to make too much of a statement.

On the Lakers aging, that's a fact, but they're in good shape right now.

I caught the Cav's vs. Lakers last night and thought to myself there is no team in the league right now capable of getting past either of these two in a playoff series.

Regards

NYCelt - If healthy, the Celtics can.

as shown tonight we need alot of work too,will KG last rest of season? he was ragged as game wore on tonight,I'm not feeling it for us right now,pray I'm wrong.

http://www.twitvid.com/ABFE1

3. Excluded Items
The following is a list of items that players are not allowed to wear at any time while on team or league business:
Sleeveless shirts
Shorts
T-shirts, jerseys, or sports apparel (unless appropriate for the event (e.g., a basketball clinic), team-identified, and approved by the team)
Headgear of any kind while a player is sitting on the bench or in the stands at a game, during media interviews, or during a team or league event or appearance (unless appropriate for the event or appearance, team-identified, and approved by the team)
Chains, pendants, or medallions worn over the player's clothes
Sunglasses while indoors
Headphones (other than on the team bus or plane, or in the team locker room)

Always wondered how strict they were about the NBA player dress code. I guess not strict at all

NYCelt wrote:

bigpygme wrote:
...love being reminded of Dandrige ... aggressive in his cut-across-the-lane move, then easily and consistently getting his jumper off so smooth from the middle of the lane - a wonderful player to watch go to work.

Michael in Denver...

Michael,

Dandridge and the Bucks must've been one of the best teams ever assembled; for two years anyway. Jabbar, Dandridge, Robertson, McGlocklin and Allen were essentially one center and four guards, but were often the starting five. I think they may have been among the top 10 lineups ever put on the floor. I also think I just misspelled at least two of their names.

Regards

thanks for the reminder of the rest of the corps, NYCelt - i needed the help! (and i thought your spelling was fine, but it may be mine that's faulty ! )

Michael

they are clearly tough but damn sure nowhere near unbeatable. One and two so far on the trip.

Lakes lose to toronto.

Still al in all la and cleve look the toughest at this point.

jeb65 wrote:they are clearly tough but damn sure nowhere near unbeatable. One and two so far on the trip.

Lakes lose to toronto.

Still al in all la and cleve look the toughest at this point.

Here's the box score:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AqdqBpKFFsFS7oIZGI.afdI5nYcB?gid=2010012428

Kobe played over 40 minutes.

I didn't see the game but from the boxscore, Artest cost them the game: 5 points (on 2 for 8 shooting), and only 1 rebound in nearly 28 minutes. A few others did their job and had good games (Kobe, Bynum, Gasol, Farmar) but Artest was a virtual zero in the game. Odom was pretty much a no-show also with only 4 points and 6 rebounds. Fouls limited him to 16 1/2 minutes.

With all of our injuries this season, we're now only 2 games in the loss column behind L.A. And they've got a bunch more road games coming up. A big one with us in a week.

Artest has planter fascitus in both heels. I have had it and it is no joke and usually does not go away for a year or so.

jeb65 wrote:Artest has planter fascitus in both heels. I have had it and it is no joke and usually does not go away for a year or so.

Didn't know about Artest's condition but here is a piece about it I found in Monday's L.A. Daily News:

Lakers' Artest tweets about foot woes; Jackson blames the shoes
By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer
Updated: 01/24/2010 10:48:02 PM PST

TORONTO - Ron Artest revealed via Twitter he's been suffering from plantar fasciitis in both feet, which could cause him to sit out games if it continues.

Artest has been treating his feet with ice to ease the pain after games and practices.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he wished Artest would change his sneakers. Artest has been wearing a Chinese brand called Peak.

"I called his shoes concrete boots for about the last few months," Jackson said Sunday. "Those shoes look like they're made for the Hudson River. He stays with them and gets his feet worked on, but he does not move too quickly. It looks like he's clogging around out there."

Jackson also said: "We haven't had any conversation about sitting out, but if it continues, yeah, he may have to sit."

Plantar fasciitis is a common injury for basketball players, but Jackson said the right shoes could help a player avoid the debilitating pain that flares at the bottom of the foot between the heel and the toes. The pain sometimes lingers for months.

"It can be a chronic situation," Jackson said. "Chris Kaman (of the Clippers), I think, missed a large part of the season because of it."

Jackson recalled teammate Walt Frazier wore shoes by Puma while they were with the New York Knicks in the 1970s. Jackson tried them for a while, but said, "I never thought Pumas were all that comfortable a shoe."

"Frazier insisted on wearing Pumas back in the day and ended up with an arthritic toe (bringing an) end to his career," Jackson said. "I hate to pick a shoe out, but these are Peaks and I think they are a Chinese-made shoe. A couple of players wear them."

jeb65 wrote:Artest has planter fascitus in both heels. I have had it and it is no joke and usually does not go away for a year or so.

Jeb,

I know what you mean, I had it a couple of years ago. It seemed to come from a pair of basketball shoes I was wearing for our pickup games.

The best treatment I learned for it was standing on a tennis ball, which is placed under your arch. It hurts at first but stretches out the plantar muscle/tissue and helps get rid of the pain. I've also learned to buy basketball or running shoes with a really good arch.

Regards

Ny c

New shoes on a hard surface is what got me...full court outside in LA...over a year of pain and that was one heel.

Just tried to stretch. I rmember when it left I just couldnt believe it.

This was written even before the Lakers lost to Toronto last night:


Lakers not living up to high offensive standards

By NBA.com Jan 23, 11:51 am EST


Injuries to Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant have taken their toll on the Lakers' offense this season.

At 33-10, the Los Angeles Lakers have the best record in the NBA. Though there have been some bumps in the road, they've seemingly picked up where they left off in June.

But this Laker team is a little different than the one that won the 2009 NBA championship. They've taken another step forward defensively and currently rank as the third-best defensive team in the league and the second-best defensive team that Kobe Bryant has been a part of (behind the 1999-00 Lakers).

Conversely, this is one of the worst offensive teams that the Lakers have had during Bryant's career. They currently rank 10th in the league, scoring 105.9 points per 100 possessions, just 1.9 points above the league average. Three other Lakers teams have been worse relative to the league, but none have been ranked lower offensively.

When you think about how stacked with talent this Lakers team is, it can be hard to believe that they're worse offensively than teams like the Raptors, Blazers, or Grizzlies. You've got Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom running the vaunted triangle and you're barely a top 10 offense?

Of course, we're nitpicking here a little. The bottom line is that L.A. is currently in line to have home-court advantage through the Finals. And with Pau Gasol now healthy and Mo Williams now injured, they should be able to put more distance between themselves and the Cavaliers.

But a look at the Lakers' 10 losses, two of them against those Cavs and seven against possible playoff opponents in the West, reveals that offense has certainly been a problem this season. They've failed to score a point per possession in seven of their 10 losses.

Less than 24 hours after his team shot just 39 percent from the field in Cleveland, Phil Jackson admitted that the offense is a concern, and pointed at shot selection as part of the problem.

"We've talked about that consistently over the last two or three weeks," Jackson said Friday. "We have people taking shots from positions they probably shouldn't take shots [from]. We're not executing quite the way we'd like to execute, in getting the ball in positions to where we're most comfortable."

A look at the Lakers' overall numbers shows regression in almost every key offensive category…

Lakers Key Offensive Stats, Last Two Seasons
Season OFF RAT RK EFG% RK OReb RT RK TO/Poss RK FTA/Poss RK 2008-09 109.8 3 0.513 6 0.294 3 13.8 5 26.1 14 2009-10 105.9 10 0.497 14 0.270 12 13.7 4 24.6 22
EFG% = Effective field-goal percentage = (FGM+(0.5*3PM))/FGA
OReb Rt = Percentage of available offensive rebounds obtained
TO/Poss = Turnovers per 100 possessions
FTA/Poss = Free throw attempts per 100 possessions

The only thing the Lakers are doing as well offensively as they did last season is take care of the ball. They're shooting worse, rebounding worse and not getting to the line as often.

Several factors come into play…

17 Games Without Gasol

When you're missing your second-best player for a good chunk of the season, your numbers will likely suffer. And the Lakers have been worse on both ends of the floor without Gasol, who has been out for two separate stretches with two separate hamstring injuries.

Gasol's presence has made a greater difference on the offensive end of the floor, where the Lakers are almost seven points per 100 possessions better in games that he has played. The Lakers' 108.6 rating when Gasol plays would rank them fourth in the league. Their 101.8 rating when he doesn't play would rank them 24th.

In games that Gasol has played, the Lakers have shot better, got to the line more often, and turned the ball over less.

Still, even with Gasol healthy, the Lakers' best lineups have not been as efficient offensively as they were last season.

Their most common lineup last year was also their second-best offensive lineup (of those that played at least 100 minutes together). The lineup of Derek Fisher, Bryant, Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom and Gasol scored a ridiculous 116.7 points per 100 possessions in 499 minutes last season. Replace Artest with Ariza and that lineup is scoring just 109.2 points per 100 possessions this season.

The Finger

Bryant suffered an avulsion fracture on his right index finger Dec. 11 against the Timberwolves. Understandably, he has shot considerably worse since the injury (43.0 percent) then he did before it (49.3 percent). Not so understandable is that Bryant has been taking more shots since his injury.

Kobe Bryant Per Game Stats, 2009-10
Time FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% Reb Ast Stl TO Pts Before injury 10.8 21.8 0.493 1.0 2.9 0.328 6.4 7.5 0.847 5.5 4.1 2.3 2.8 28.8 Since injury 10.3 23.9 0.430 1.5 4.9 0.313 5.9 7.3 0.814 4.9 4.9 1.3 3.1 28.0

The two extra shots per game are coming from long range, and Bryant admits that he doesn't want to risk getting hit on the hand by driving to the basket as much as he usually would. Unable to bend his finger, he also can't control the ball as well on a drive. And the Lakers are averaging more than eight fewer points in the paint since Bryant's injury.

But while Bryant's individual efficiency and the paint points have taken a big dip since his injury, the Lakers' offensive efficiency has been at the same level, in part because Gasol has played in 17 of the 23 games since Bryant broke his finger.

Still, if Bryant were shooting as well as he did before the injury, the Lakers would be scoring at least another point per game during that span.

The Glass

One critical area of decline for the Lakers is the offensive boards. Last season, they ranked third in the league by grabbing 29.4 percent of available offensive rebounds. This season, they rank 12th, grabbing just 27.0 percent.

You might think that Gasol's absence has a lot to do with such a discrepancy. But they've actually rebounded better offensively in the games without Gasol (27.3 percent) than they have in the games he's played (26..

The offensive rebounding issues are uniform across the Lakers' frontline. Bynum and Odom are grabbing fewer offensive rebounds per minute and Artest is not grabbing as many as Ariza did. Fewer offensive rebounds means fewer opportunities to score. And the Lakers are averaging 0.9 fewer second-chance points than they did last season.

Artest vs. Ariza

Artest must be credited for the Lakers' defensive improvement, but he's been a little less efficient offensively than Trevor Ariza was last season. Artest is shooting better from 3-point range than Ariza did, but worse from the free throw line and much worse from 2-point range. He's also turning the ball over more often.

D-Fish's D-Cline

Sometimes, it just comes down to making shots. And Derek Fisher just hasn't been making them this season. He's shooting just 37 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range, down from 42 and 40 percent last season.

Jordan Farmar's numbers aren't much better, but the Lakers' best offensive lineup this season has teamed him with Bryant, Artest, Odom and Gasol. They've played just 30 minutes together this season, but have scored 137.6 points per 100 possessions. Replace Gasol with Bynum and the Lakers have still been better offensively with Farmar than with Fisher (still in limited minutes).

—-

The Lakers' improved defense has helped make up for their offensive issues. But while they're at the top of the standings, they're behind the Cavs and Celtics in point differential. And having played just 17 road games through Friday, the second half of their schedule will be more difficult than the first. Holding on to the best record overall will not be easy if they maintain their current level of play.

great re-post, Steve. strikes me that Fisher's reported decline is almost (but not quite) parallel to House's decline in efficiency this year. course, House is not a starter, but we had counted on him for producing offense for the 2nd unit and at times for the 1st unit as well, and that's just not going as well this year.
a shame, i say, because i've been (and am) a big fan of Eddie's super-quick release - just hope to see him put together a string here at some point and regain some accuracy and what must be some erosion in confidence, too.

also seems the writers of the article really play down the trade-off of Artest for Ariza, when the offensive numbers they cite would suggest (to me) that the Lakers have suffered a more substantial jolt in scoring than they suggest ...

thanks for the article - important to keep up with how they're faring on the west coast. Know Thine Enemy !!!

Michael in Denver

Outstanding post by Steve.

The Lakers "big 3" of Bryant, Gasol and Artest are hurting.

Bryant's issues are adding up. There's "the finger" and now his back is hurting. What he needs is rest. Big time. But he's played 40+ minutes the last 4 straight games. This is bad coaching by Phil Jackson. He's letting his star player's admittedly admirable competitive spirit jeopardize the team's chances of repeating as champions by not putting his foot down and demanding that Bryant look at the bigger picture. Makes Doc look better, with the way he's managed KG's competitive spirit, doesn't it?

Gasol's pains could be alleviated if he is NOT an all-star. The 3-4 days rest would do him good. Still, a few days rest or playing less minutes isn't going to ever get him to 100%. He's playing MORE mpg this season, in the fewer games he's been able to play, than his career mpg. Another example of Phil Jackson either not having a backbone when it comes to his starters OR having ZERO confidence in his bench to effectively pick up minutes made available by sitting Gasol down more.

Artest has had injury problems for the last half of his career. I remarked on that when they signed him and got shouted down by Laker trolls at BDC. He hasn't played more than 70 games in a season in the past 6 seasons and he's played in 39 games out of 44 so far this season. That puts him on track for about 70-72 if not for these heel problems. The cure for plantar fasciitis is rest. Changing your shoes can help too. Phil Jackson is telling Artest to change his shoes (he currently wears some POS from China) but Ron-Ron, ever the coachable listener, hasn't switched yet.

The Lakers have a 3 game lead on Denver and a 4 game lead on Dallas. Is Jackson hoping to build up an insurmountable lead now and coast the last month or two of the season to rest his starters and build up his bench play?

bob