Now that it’s real
Now that the dreams have given all they had to lend
I want to know do I stay or do I go
And maybe try another time
And do I really have a hand in my forgetting ?
- Nico
After marinating in a 39-point loss (I swear I will stop mentioning it. It is just great motivation) for over four months, it is fantastic to taste something different.
Last night, the Lakers opened their 2008-09 season with a 20-point boatracing of the Portland Trailblazers, and as I thought, the Oden/Bynum matchup was a whole lot of nothing. Oden rolled his ankle in the second quarter and hit the showers with 0 points in 13 minutes of play (he did have one heck of a block, though).
So as game two of eighty-two approaches, the Lakers look to improve upon the schematics that they utilized last night. Lamar looked comfortable coming off the bench, Trevor looked to make a highlight every time he touched the ball, and with less than stellar performances from Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic, the Lakers have left much to be desired even with a more than satisfying opening night victory.
Please, I beg of you… Take this as a grain of salt. Don’t call your friends, “Hey! I just read on TLN that Lebron wants to be a Laker!” None of that. This is just a rumor. That is all.
Yahoo! Sports: Donnie Walsh, the Knicks GM, had heard for years about Wesley’s influence, but never met him. The two didn’t talk about James, sources say, but it was a chance for the Knicks president to be around one of the most influential people in James’ decision-making process. The Knicks are working hard to get under the salary cap in 2010.
With the Knicks, there are two teams a source familiar with James’ thinking says intrigue him: the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.
L.A. Times: In some parallel universe, where 82-game schedules and contract talks didn’t exist, Andrew Bynum would be entering his senior year at the University of Connecticut.
But he jumped from oblivion into the NBA draft a year before 17-year-olds were banned, and there he was Tuesday night, going up against Portland center Greg Oden.
It has been an interesting month, along with an interesting week for Bynum, who will find out in the next few days if he’s an $85-million player.
The Lakers have until Friday to give him an extension of up to five years, though there has been only minimal movement in talks.
Bynum’s agent, David Lee, still wants maximum money, if not a shade below, and the Lakers are offering a little more than $10 million a season over the life of the contract. Bynum makes $2.8 million this season in the last year of his contract.
If Friday comes and goes without any progress, Bynum becomes a restricted free agent next July, at which point the Lakers can match any offer sheet he signs.
L.A. Times: They will be one of the keys to the Lakers’ success this season.
Then again, the Lakers’ bench was a big part of their success last season.
In the season opener for the Lakers on Tuesday night, their reserves demonstrated just how important they will be in helping L.A. to a 96-76 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
Lamar Odom, coming off the bench after initially being upset about that role when it was first presented to him, produced nine points on three-for-six shooting, and seven rebounds.
Jordan Farmar directed the attack, handing out six assists, collecting six rebounds and scoring nine points.
Trevor Ariza was a force, scoring 11 points on four-for-seven shooting.
Sasha Vujacic, still rounding into shape after playing in just one exhibition while he recovered from a left ankle injury, had five points on two-for-eight shooting; he made his only three-pointer.
Welcome back, Lakers Nation! A great start to a promising Lakers season.
The Lakers took care of the young Blazers pretty easily tonight with a 96-76 win at Home. The two things that impressed me the most tonight were…
1) The Lakers depth — This team is deep… very deep. With Lamar, Ariza, and Farmar off the bench, this team doesn’t lose a beat. In fact, they might even be better than some of the starters on this team.
2) The defense. The Lakers were everywhere tonight, challenging shots, deflecting passes and blocking shots. The Blazers were held under 35% shooting tonight.
The Lakers really made the Blazers look young and inexperienced tonight. Every Laker did their part to lead us to this nice victory to begin the season. The much anticipated Bynum vs. Oden matchup became a dud, but there will be many more to look forward to.
Records:Lakers 0-0 Trailblazers 0-0 Offensive ratings:Lakers NA Trailblazers NA Defensive ratings:Lakers NA Trailblazers NA Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Vladimir Radmanovic, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum Trailblazers: Steve Blake, Brandon Roy, Nicholas Bantum, Lamarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden
Lakers notes: No better way to start off the season than with an old rival on the cusp of restarting said rivalry.
Off the court, the Lakers picked up the option on Jordan Farmar. That was the easy part, the harder part comes in the next couple of years as they figure out how much to pay him. But you don’t let an emerging starting PG walk away, so picking up his option year was obvious.
Not much else in terms of Lakers notes, as we just did the team preview. But if you want to read another good team preview, check out the one at SportsHubLA.
Bunch of the folks over at the Forums, seem to like the idea that our Machine won’t be sporting any green but personally, I think it’s just a bit silly. What are your thoughts on this? Sound-off!
Inside The Lakers: I’ve been meaning to write this for weeks but never found the right outlet and just can’t bear to keep it in the can any longer because it’s too funny. But the other day, a bunch of us reporter types were chatting with Sasha Vujacic after practice, mostly about the Lakers season, what they could do, what the expectations are for the team. Then we got into how last season ended and Sasha immediately got serious, proclaiming pretty resolutely that he’s taken a personal vow not to wear green, the Boston Celtics colors, this year.
Seriously, no green. Not a thread of it.
“I’m serious about it,” he said, very seriously. “No green.”
That’s because the Mad Scientist, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, still is in his laboratory tinkering with his formulas.
The team has played eight exhibition games and yet nothing is definitive.
The Lakers open the season tonight at Staples Center against the Portland Trail Blazers, and Monday, Jackson still wasn’t forthcoming about his starting lineup.
“No, I won’t say I’ve settled,” Jackson said, “but I have a good idea, a real good idea.”
With Jackson, it’s never good to assume, but the assumption is that Vladimir Radmanovic will start at small forward alongside Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant. The other assumption is that Lamar Odom will come off the bench.
After all, Radmanovic started the last six exhibition games and his outside shooting forces teams to extend their defense.
So, he was asked, does he expect to start tonight?
“Well, I haven’t been told differently,” Radmanovic said . “I’m expecting to start.”
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