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Archive for the 'Training Camp' Category

Rosen: Training camp is time to change… or else

Published by Shane Bien on October 10, 2007 in Articles and Training Camp. 2 Comments

Charley Rosen lists players that need to make a change during camp. One of the guys listed is our very own Andrew Bynum.

Fox Sports: Andrew Bynum must demonstrate that the Lakers’ decision not to trade him was the correct one. Also, Bynum must do whatever he can to gain the respect of the team’s most important player, Kobe Bryant.

What specific steps must Bynum take in order to accomplish these goals?

Get serious about improving his footwork. Develop his awareness, anticipation and reaction time on defense. And, above all, work his butt off.

Quick Camp Notes (Day 6)

Published by Kam Pashai on October 8, 2007 in Articles and Training Camp. 3 Comments

Here are some quick notes from Day 6 of training camp…

OC Register: Although he was walking without a limp Sunday, Ronny Turiaf is scheduled for an MRI on a right knee he hurt in a scrimmage Saturday night.

Bryant returned to practice after a day and a half resting his right knee.

Jackson praised the camp play of Jordan Farmar and Vladimir Radmanovic so far.

Bryant sits out practice with sore knee

Published by Kam Pashai on October 7, 2007 in Articles and Training Camp. 1 Comment

kobeday5.jpgESPN: Kobe Bryant and Luke Walton sat out the Lakers’ morning workout Saturday as they recovered from minor injuries. Bryant rested a sore right knee, while Walton has a strained right hamstring. Coach Phil Jackson said he expected Bryant to participate in the evening practice, but Walton, Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown would not.

“Some of it’s preventative, some of it’s the two-a-days and the attrition from it,” Jackson said.

Walton said he felt a “tug” while running during practice Friday. He expects to return to workouts as early as Monday.

“It’s just one of those things where it’s only going to be a couple days, but you just can’t rush it because it could turn into something a lot worse,” he said.

Two years ago in Honolulu, Walton strained his left hamstring late in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ preseason game against the Golden State Warriors and missed a few weeks of the regular season.

Jackson said he was “seriously considering” starting Ronny Turiaf because of his high energy and shot-blocking ability.

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Newell likes what he sees in Bynum

Published by Kam Pashai on October 7, 2007 in Articles and Training Camp. 20 Comments

Andrew Bynum

Pete Newell is arguably one of the greatest ‘big man’ coaches of all time. Good to know he’s taking a liking to Andrew. Lets just hope he’s right.

LA Times: Andrew Bynum will turn 20 in three weeks, a young 7-footer asked to grow up quickly . . . again.

Last season could be described only as an experience, a torrid start dissolving into a frigid ending, complete with a total of two points in the Lakers’ last two playoff games.

In case things couldn’t get worse, the infamous amateur video with Kobe Bryant surfaced midsummer, a reminder that at least one player didn’t think much of the team’s 10th pick in the 2005 draft.

In Bynum’s corner, however, is one of the original big men, proprietor of the internationally known Big Man Camp.

If they’re 7 feet tall and claim to have even a dollop of basketball ability, Pete Newell has seen them over the last 30 years — from Bill Walton to Hakeem Olajuwon to Shaquille O’Neal. Now 92, Newell has taken a keen interest in Bynum, who has attended two of his camps.

Newell saw what any Lakers fan saw of Bynum last season — strong beginning, horrific finale — with further detailed observations from his trained eye.

Continue reading ‘Newell likes what he sees in Bynum’

Turiaf might start

Published by Kam Pashai on October 5, 2007 in Training Camp. 9 Comments

Looks like Ronny has a shot at starting this season. I don’t know if I’m all for this or not. Luke seems to make things run smoothly out there; Odom at the 3 didn’t really work out that great for us either.

Ronny TuriafPE: He has been called the Lakers’ “silent warrior,” even though Coach Phil Jackson says Ronny Turiaf is “an outspoken guy.”

But it’s that warrior mentality, that energy and effort and defensive intensity that had Jackson saying after practice Friday that Turiaf has positioned himself to have a bigger role.

“I plan on starting him,” Jackson said. “I really am seriously considering starting him. Those positions are so wide open. He’s a guy that can bring energy to the game, the kind of start we need to have with a physical front. He’s a guy that can block some shots.”

It had been assumed that Luke Walton would start at small forward and Lamar Odom at power forward, just like last season. But Jackson is toying with the idea of bringing Walton off the bench.

Jackson was asked if he had told Walton about his plans.

“No,” Jackson responded.

Is Walton OK with that?

“He’s OK with it,” Jackson said, laughing.

Continue reading ‘Turiaf might start’

Walton, Fisher injured at training camp

Published by Kam Pashai on October 5, 2007 in Training Camp. 12 Comments

Okay, the season has NOW officially started!

ESPN: Luke Walton and Derek Fisher sustained minor injuries Friday during the Los Angeles Lakers’ training camp.

Walton strained his right hamstring and is listed as day-to-day. Fisher received a deep one-inch gash to the forehead when he took an elbow from center Larry Turner.

Walton sat out the remainder of the workout, while Fisher did not require stitches and returned. Kobe Bryant didn’t participate in the final minutes of practice as he iced his left knee.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said injuries during camp are inevitable.

“They’re going to happen,” he said. “Guys are getting in shape and in the process they’ve got tight muscles and things get stretched, pulled, etc.

“We think we’ve got this early enough so we have avoided anything that’s a long-term injury, but we’ll wait and see,” he said.

Jackson said he’s aware some players are more susceptible to injuries than others.

“We do know who the toilet tissue paper players are. We make a note of that. Right now we have a few of them,” he said.

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Notes on Coby Karl… Impressive

Published by Jim Murdoc on October 3, 2007 in Training Camp. 6 Comments

Will get a look of him in pre-season, please start already…

L.A. Times: The player with the most impressive touch through two days of training camp is quite possibly Coby Karl, an undrafted free-agent guard out of Boise State.

“He might be one of our best shooters on the team already,” Jackson said. “He’s got a great stroke.”

Karl, the son of Denver coach George Karl, does not have a guaranteed contract, but the Lakers could change that at any time because they have only 14 players under contract, one shy of the league maximum.

Training Camp: Day 1 Recap

Published by Kam Pashai on October 2, 2007 in Training Camp. 7 Comments

Kobe at Training Camp

LA Times: The Lakers began training camp in a dim high school gym, but tucked away in a corner, under a series of championship banners for high-school kayaking and paddling, General Manager Mitch Kupchak offered a season outlook that was comparatively bright.

A few minutes before boarding the unusual Lakers team bus — stenciled on the side: “Polynesian Adventure Tours” — Kupchak said that unsuccessful attempts to land a big name to go alongside Kobe Bryant were not disappointments, and, furthermore, the Lakers might be better than anticipated.

The Lakers aren’t on anybody’s short list to win the NBA title, which was duly, if not defensively, noted by Kupchak, entering his eighth season since taking over for Jerry West.

“We think this team, if they stay healthy, is a very talented team,” he said crisply. “Expectations aren’t very high. That’s OK with me. All I keep on reading is that we’re not a very good team. So if that’s what everybody thinks, then fine. It’s up to us to prove them wrong.”

Continue reading ‘Training Camp: Day 1′