The Lakers Nation

First off, I know losing in the NBA Finals was painful for all of us. But, who really expected us to be here in October? For now lets just say the journey has begun, not ended. With that said, we do have some roster moves that we need to figure out for the off-season.

Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf will be restricted free agents this Summer. Trevor Ariza and Chris Mihm have player options. D.J. Mbenga, Ira Newble, and Coby Karl will all be unrestricted free agents. Plus, there is the looming extension that Andrew Bynum will need. There is also the draft, but Joe Crawford will most likely come to training camp with us and be cut or see very little playing time.

Let’s start with our own free agents. For all I care, Mbenga, Newble (don’t even know why we signed him in the first place), and Coby Karl can all walk; they just take up roster spots. Chris Mihm exercised his player option since no one else is going to pay him $2.5 million. That’s okay since I think once he gets consistent playing time, he can be a nice big man off the bench. Ariza also exercised his player option, which is awesome. Once healthy and in playing shape and rhythm, I expect to see the Ariza who once flew over Grant Hill on Christmas.

Continue reading ‘What to do with the Roster?’

When Kobe Bryant went to Las Vegas over the summer to compete in the qualifying tournament of the Americas for the USA Olympic team, he looked like he was in great shape and declared he was going to focus on his defense with this team. Unlike with the Lakers, Kobe would not have to put all of his energy into the offensive side of the ball, since he had the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and etc. to help out with the scoring. So Kobe took it upon himself to ask the coaching staff if he could guard the opposing team’s best player every single game.

Kobe’s defense had fallen off over the past few years as was seen last season when other team’s stars would put up big point totals on him (look at Michael Redd’s 45 points or Gilbert Arenas’ 60 points last season at home). This caused Kobe to rededicate himself to get his defense back to NBA All-Defensive team style. Even though Kobe had been put on these teams in years past, it was more out of respect then for his actual play.

Continue reading ‘Kobe: New Defensive Prowess’

Let’s be honest with ourselves, Lamar Odom has not turned into the All-Star we all wanted him to be and has had constant pressure on himself to be Kobe’s “Scottie Pippen”. But, with the trade of Pau Gasol and the emergence of Andrew Bynum, Lamar can finally relax and let the game come to him. He is now at best the 3rd option and has shown he is more relaxed in Gasol’s first few games with the Lakers.

There have been many fans saying that Odom should be traded because once Bynum comes back he will not be comfortable at the small forward position mainly because Odom is not a perimeter shooter and his rebounding will drop because he will not be playing down on the block.

Also, there have been questions as to what he will do when he has to guard the opponent’s 3 man who is quicker than him. I have heard all of the criticism and questions and believe that Lamar Odom will be fine when he moves over to the 3 position.

Continue reading ‘Lamar Odom: Why He Will Work At The 3′