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Phil Jackson ‘Embarrassed’ After Bobcats Rout Lakers

February 14, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson was so upset he spoke to reporters for 5 seconds and then walked away. Kobe Bryant sneaked out of the locker room before addressing the press at all.

A once promising road trip has quickly turned sour for the two-time defending champions, although they probably should have seen their most lopsided loss of the season coming.

The Charlotte Bobcats somehow own them.

Gerald Wallace had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Gerald Henderson added 18 points and helped slow Bryant, and the Bobcats cruised to a 109-89 victory on Monday night to extend one of the more unusual one-sided matchups in the NBA.

The Bobcats have won eight of the past 10 meetings. The Lakers, 5-8 all-time against the NBA’s newest team, hold a losing record against only one other club — the Boston Celtics.

 

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Lakers Topple Knicks in Gradual Return to Champion Form

February 12, 2011   Robert Karpeles   No comments

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Phil JacksonNEW YORK — Going up the elevator for perhaps the last time ever as an opposing coach at Madison Square Garden, Phil Jackson said he was thinking that it didn’t smell like elephants.

Jackson, who said this will be his last season, was referring to the Barnum and Bailey Circus that takes place at MSG each spring.

Although he was joking, it was coincidental that Jackson mentioned elephants, since that is exactly the way, up until the last four games, that his team has played like at times this season: slow, fat, lethargic, lazy and any other adjectives used to describe an elephant.

That is until the last four games, where the Lakers have all of a sudden begun to jell, playing with more passion, focus, energy, and any other adjectives used to describe a champion. And most importantly, the Lakers have slowly addressed the issues that have plagued them all season. They continued their hot streak, routing the Knicks 113-96 Friday night.

“For four games we have been consistent and we have to make it continue,” Pau Gasol said. ” We are turning it up. We got more confidence in what we are doing. We’re more active out there and the attitude is better. Still got a long way to go but we’re getting there.”

 

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Ron Artest Reflects on Phil Jackson, Mental Health and More

February 02, 2011   Sam Amick   No comments

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LOS ANGELES — There’s no fear or loathing on this campaign trail.

There’s Ron Artest in a child-like state, sprinting to and fro on the beach on a sunny Saturday afternoon in January. And rest assured, no one is enjoying this mental health initiative more than the lead spokesman himself.

This isn’t a public relations gimmick, though. This is the starting small forward of the NBA‘s defending champions hanging out with nearly 20 of his favorite Twitter followers, a blissful man of the Tweeple playing barefoot quarterback in a game of two-hand touch football that kicked off an hour late because, well, the basketball job still takes precedence and the Zen Master kept the Lake Show late at this day’s practice.

 

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Kobe Bryant: Players No Longer Control Their Own Destiny

January 20, 2011   Chris Tomasson   No comments

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Kobe BryantDENVER — Kobe Bryant played the role of basketball historian Thursday.

When asked about star players in the NBA now being able to dictate where they might play, the Lakers star guard scoffed at the notion. He said free agency is nothing like it was when he broke into the NBA in 1996-97, the same season in which the Lakers signed center Shaquille O’Neal as a free agent.

“How is he controlling his destiny?” Bryant said when asked whether Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony is able to control his destiny on where he might be dealt by the Feb. 24 trade deadline. “No, you’re seeing the power of the league controlling the players and not having the freedom to be able to move wherever they want. Free agency isn’t free agency anymore. It’s just not. It’s the reverse.

“It’s not the same. Free agency is not free agency. Players go other places, you take a significant pay cut to go play someplace else. You get less years and all sorts of stuff. It’s not the same as free agency like when Shaquille was a free agent. … That was true free agency. You could go to whatever team of your choice and have a similar contract and similar structure.”

 

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Ron Artest, Lakers Moving Forward Despite Imperfections

January 12, 2011   Sam Amick   No comments

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OAKLAND, Calif. — When Ron Artest raised his angry right hand to the throat of the unsuspecting Shawne Williams in the first quarter on Sunday, it was a trip back to a place no one wants to go.

The edge. The look. The unpredictability.

The Lakers small forward who had buried a layup in traffic and been bumped by the New York Knicks forward en route to the free throw line looked ready to crush Williams’ Adam’s apple with a Darth Vader-like death grip, thus exiting this Zen-ish place in which he has flourished for some time now. But Artest — whose takedown of Amar’e Stoudemire two quarters later was a continuation of the aggressive play for which he was once known — stopped just in time to avoid the wrath of Emperor Stern.

 

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Lakers Embarrass Cavs, 112-57, in Remarkable Defensive Performance

January 11, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

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Los Angeles LakersLOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers humiliated the Cleveland Cavaliers while sending them to their 11th straight loss, rolling to a 112-57 victory on Tuesday night in their best defensive performance in the shot clock era.

Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum each scored 15 points, while Pau Gasol had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown also scored 13 points for the defending NBA champion Lakers, who led the league’s worst team by 32 points at halftime on their way to winning their fifth in a row.

Reserves Alonzo Gee scored 12 points and Ramon Sessions 10. Cleveland’s point total was a record low by a Lakers opponent. The Cavs shot 30 percent, were outscored 52-28 in the paint and committed 19 turnovers in losing for the 21st time in their last 22 games. They fell to 8-30 overall, 3-18 on the road and 1-5 against the Western Conference.

 

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Lakers’ Barnes Will Have Knee Surgery

January 09, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

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Matt BarnesLOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Barnes will have surgery Tuesday to repair torn cartilage in his right knee, an injury expected to sideline him for several weeks.

The Lakers announced the date of Barnes’ surgery Sunday night while hosting the New York Knicks. Team doctor Steve Lombardo will perform the surgery in Los Angeles.

The Lakers won’t project a timetable for their backup swingman’s recovery until after the surgery.

Barnes was hurt Friday night in a victory over New Orleans when he came down awkwardly on his leg while battling Jarrett Jack for a rebound. An MRI on Saturday revealed a torn lateral meniscus.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson isn’t worried about filling the minutes provided by Barnes, who has become a key reserve after signing with Los Angeles for less than his probable market value last summer to chase his first championship.

 

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Kobe Bryant: ‘I Have Very Little Cartilage Under My Right Knee Cap’

January 07, 2011   FanHouse Staff   No comments

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Kobe BryantA very prominent NBA columnist had an axe to grind with one of the greatest basketball players in the world.

The writer, Peter Vecsey of the New York Post, wanted to know why the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant hadn’t practiced all season up until after the Lakers Christmas defeat against the Heat, a question he thought the Los Angeles local press should have called him out on. Bryant spoke with Vecsey earlier this week, who answered his question.

Note: Lakers fans beware, Bryant’s answer may be shocking and not suitable for Lakers fans under 13.

So, Kobe, why weren’t you practicing all season?

“Because I have very little cartilage under my right knee cap, it’s almost bone-on-bone,” said the 32-year-old Bryant to the Post.

In order to minimize the wear and tear, Bryant, coach Phil Jackson and the Lakers decided to have Kobe sit out during practices this season.

But Kobe said the Lakers’ (25-11) woeful play in the first 30 games or so of the season made him feel like there was a need for him in practice and since Christmas Day, he hasn’t missed one.

 

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Lakers: NBA’s Best Reality Show

January 06, 2011   Brett Pollakoff   No comments

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PHOENIX — Lamar Odom and Phil Jackson spent the majority of their pregame time with the media on Wednesday discussing Odom’s new reality television show, and whether or not it might be something that would be a distraction to the team once the filming gets started. Only time will tell, but for the majority of the Lakers 99-95 victory over the Suns, the team appeared to be more focused and dialed in than it’s looked in quite some time.

It was L.A.’s second straight victory, which these days means progress — but not to Phil Jackson of course.

“Oh, we’re a powerhouse now,” Jackson said afterward, with a feigned sense of triumph just dripping off of those words. With the wins coming on consecutive nights against the 11-24 Pistons and now the 14-19 Suns, and considering how far below expectations the Lakers have been performing since the end of December, you can perhaps understand Jackson’s lack of enthusiasm. But he did concede a few bright spots.

“I liked the start of the game, I liked the way the bench came off both in the first period and the third period,” Jackson said. “They gave us a real bump right off the bench.”

 

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Lamar Odom: New Reality Show Won’t Be Distraction

January 05, 2011   Brett Pollakoff   No comments

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PHOENIX — The Lakers haven’t exactly been playing like the two-time defending champs lately. The team has won just three of its last seven games, and the last win against a team that was any good came all the way back on Nov. 23, at home against the Chicago Bulls. The last thing that L.A. would appear to need is another distraction.

Lamar Odom‘s new deal to appear in a reality television show with his wife Khloe Kardashian would appear to be a prime candidate, especially since filming is expected to commence in “early 2011″ — presumably right in the middle of the Lakers season. But neither Odom nor Lakers head coach Phil Jackson seems to believe that will be the case.

“Lamar usually doesn’t get distracted by things that are outside (basketball),” Jackson said, before his Lakers faced the Suns on Wednesday. “I know the Kardashians will be very careful with what they do.”

Odom spoke extensively on the subject before the game as well, and said that he’d had a discussion about the endeavor with Jackson and Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak. But ultimately, the decision was his.

 

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