Peace Wilson's Los Angeles Lakers fan blog

 Thank the basketball gods, Kobe found a better pinkie-taping arrangement.

After 2 games of anemic point production with his ring finger taped to the dislocated pinkie on his right hand, he and presumably the Lakers trainer, came up with tape support that separated the fingers, so he'd have a more natural touch again, despite the injury.

Result: 36 pts., 10 rebounds, and a Lakers victory, making for a 4-2 record, with 3 games remaining on this extended road trip.

Lakers were double-digit outscored by the Orlando Magic in the 1st quarter, returned the favor in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and were outscored by 7 in the 4th, with the net result being a 4-point victory.

Also quite notable was the great new Laker Pau Gasol's 30 pt., 9 rebound contribution, after a slight dip in production in the Lakers shoulda-won-this-one-too narrow loss to Atlanta the game before.

Continue reading "LAKERS OUT-ENSORCEL MAGIC, 117-113"

Much awaited Pau Gasol debut against New Jersey? Simply mah-velous!

Looked pretty sound on a few scores, boards, passes, right away. Had to sit a bit, early foul trouble.

Defensive game early against Nets, 47-47 at the half.

Kobe dislocated a lower pinkie joint, which may affect his shooting.

Pau's delivering nicely, even in his first game as a Laker, 20 pts./10 rebounds with 5+ mins. left in game.

93-83 Lakers, with 3+ mins. left.

Kobe had an off night shooting, maybe it's

Continue reading "PAU GASOL'S DEBUT A RESOUNDING SUCCESS"

The Lakers' rapturous Kobe-powered 121-101 win over the Raptors was no doubt fueled by the trade made for Pau Gasol -- aptly-named. With rock-steady veteran AND current season avgs. of 19 pts. and 9 rebounds, he is precisely the pow and gas the Lakers need to fill the void left by the injured absence of the newly-emergent Andrew Bynum.

I paid little attention to the Raptors game, knowing all along the Lakers would win, and enjoying the odd good news of a big-time trade overshadowing a winning road performance, one they really needed.

I'd never heard of Pau Gasol before. 7 ft. all-star center-forward, recently of the Memphis Grizzlies, by way of Barcelona.

Consensus is he has just the right numbers, he's still young, he's consistent, diverse, talented, with a good basketball IQ. And that he might actually give books to Phil Jackson, rather than automatically the other way around.

Continue reading "TRIUMPH OVER TORONTO TRUMPED BY PAU GASOL TRADE"

Well, the 3-game Lakers' slide came mercifully to a halt Tues. nite with win over Knicks.

The recent losses came against hi-quality opponents, and it didn't get any easier, tipping off grueling 9-game road trip against the perennially efficient Detroit Pistons.

Luke Walton adds to list of injured players who won't play.

Consensus is Odom needs to consistently play with the 22 pts./12 rebounds he produced against Knicks. In other words, more points, fewer assists.

So we'll keep an eye on the Odom-eter.

Fish swishes a long 2 first, 2-0.

Both teams fail to score for a few mins., till Kobe feeds Kwame, 4-0.

Pistons stave off a shut-out, ha ha, with a Billups slash and stash.

Oops, don't sneeze again, the Motor City Boyz just went on a 10-0 run; 10-4, Pistons.

Continue reading "PISTONS ESCAPE, LEAVE LAKERS WITH TOUGH ROAD LOSS"

Good to see that Kobe was back to modest pt. production, in the wake of Lakers good team effort defeating Nuggets, even with Ariza going down with injury for 2 mos., a la Bynum.

Another big test: on the road against defending champ San Antonio Spurs, Jan. 24:

Early team effort good. D-Fish, Kwame, Lamar, Kobe, smooth as a team, leading 17-10.

Mbenga had a tough spell as backup center. But still no doubt better than a firing squad in the Congo. Sidebar road to a 10-day contract.

Rone Turiaf closes 1st quarter strongly for Lakers, making 2 key free throws for 27-23 lead, AND getting back on defense to short-circuit attempted Spurs quick score.

Sasha and Farmar perform well in 2nd quarter, 41-33 lead.

Lakers struggle a few series late in 2nd quarter, but pull it together, finish strong, 54-45 at the half.

Continue reading "WHOLE LAKERS TEAM TAKES UP SLACK, BUT STILL SLACKS BEWILDERINGLY"

Really now, can't K Brown and Odom and Turiaf TOGETHER cover for the emergent young homegrown star Bynum, lately down in the knee?

One hates it when Kobe has to take the team back on his shoulders, when his quota's 50 instead of 30, since the last anybody checked, it was a team sport. S'up with those other guys? I guess it's a rhythm thing when there's a new Robert Parrish in the hole, and he goes down.

Bench play will help, D-Fish will help. A little more O from Kwame and Odom. Kobe shouldn't have to ratchet up 20 extra pts., just maybe 10.

Well, PhilJack knows Zen and the Art of Basketball Team Maintenance, of course, so look for the calibrations to keep a better balance, winning on the floor, while Bynum's knee heals. Eight weeks? Like, ouch.

Continue reading "HOW POINTS IN THE PAINT, WHERE BYNUM NOW AIN'T?"

It's getting more fun each outing to watch this year's Lakers. That bench just keeps the point waves comin' when the electric starters sit down. Third-best offense in the league, as of the middle of the 1/9 Lakers-Hornets game (eventually won by the Lakers, handily).

They're only slightly Second Water at the almost half-way point of the season, breathin' down the necks of perennial Western Conference First Waters, San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix. Over in the Eastern Conference, it remains to be seen if the record-class-of-their-own Celtics have Mavs-Warriors-style banana peel in their future.

Chalk the greater cohesion up to Zen Master Phil's continuing steady hand, the stabilizing, energizing return of D-Fish, and the powerful emergence of A Bynum under the deep sound tutelage of Maestro Kareem.

Continue reading "DEEPER LAKERS APPROACHING FIRST WATER"