ESPN

The Lakers may be up 2-0 over Denver in the playoffs, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of issues rattling around in the head of the average Laker fan.

What becomes of Devin Ebanks once Metta World Peace returns from suspension? What can the Lakers do to prevent the Nuggets from replicating Game 2's track meet pace? And do LeBron James and Dwayne Wade owe Kobe a royalty check on every chase-down block?

The transcript is here.

A lot of factors can swing a playoff series. Individual and stylistic matchups. Home court advantage. Coaching. Unconsciously hot shooting. Injuries. Star power. And of course, experience. While oodles of "been there, done that" doesn't guarantee a championship (just ask the 2011 Los Angeles Lakers), it's never a bad thing to be well acquainted with the postseason. To a man, every player I've every spoken with has readily acknowledged the playoffs are an entirely different animal from the regular season. If you're not ready, that shift can be quite the eye-opener.

Over the last few years, we've grown accustomed to the Lakers as one of the NBA's more playoff-ready teams. In 2009, they won the title with a core one campaign removed from a trip to the Finals. In 2010, they repeated with an entire team -- save then-Ron Artest -- armed with at least one ring. 2011 may have ended with a whimper, but on paper, the Lakers' pedigree was perfect: A mix of reigning champions and seasoned veterans (Matt Barnes, Steve Blake) hungry to join the club.

This year, however, the roster composition is fairly different. Beyond the team being down to just four players with championship credentials (low by recent standards), they're not nearly as playoff-tested. In the "Pau" era, the only rotation player with essentially no playoff experience was Shannon Brown in 2009. This season, there are three. Ramon Sessions, Devin Ebanks and Jordan Hill all figure to play notable minutes, and all are making their postseason debuts this Sunday. (Oddly enough, Troy Murphy only has three minutes of playoff experience after 11 seasons, but at least he's a 11-year vet and his minutes will likely be sporadic.) Much is particularly expected of Sessions, but all will be asked to contribute on this elevated stage. There's no real way to comprehend what's in store for them beyond actually experiencing it. But that doesn't mean wisdom can't be imparted. With that in mind, I gathered perspective and memories from some of their teammates who've been there.

KOBE BRYANT
First playoff game: 4/25/97 vs. Portland, as a member of the Lakers

What felt immediately different in the playoffs?
"It's more physical. The game speeds up. The opposition really gets a chance to study your game and take away your strengths, so you have to make sure you have a well balanced attack. You have to make sure you think the game all the way through, because in the playoffs, things don't happen by accident. In the regular season, sometimes they do. In the postseason, they don't."

The Preparation
"Oh, man. I crammed so much. I knew every single play before they were running it. I was so hyped up, man! I studied the entire playbook, and Nick (Van Exel) and them were looking at me like I was crazy. 'What are you going?'

I was like, 'Isn't this what we're supposed to do?'

"Okay, young fella."

"Well, this is what I do."

Were there moments it paid off?
"It didn't really pay off much for me. I didn't play worth a s--- anyway." (laughs) I'm serious. But I learned a lot about the plays and different pro sets and from series to series, it was interesting to see how many teams essentially ran the same thing. So it was a good learning opportunity for me.

"If you don't do your preparation before Game 1, you don't know what adjustments are coming anyway. You have nothing to base if off of. For me, I did a great deal of studying, so I was able to watch from the bench, see what adjustments they made. See how they played Nick on screen/rolls. How they played Eddie (Jones') cuts. Shaq (O'Neal) in the post and all this stuff. So I learned a lot.

"They're small adjustments, but they're big adjustments. Sometimes the smallest moves give you the biggest returns."

Do you plan to talk with Sessions, Ebanks and Hill?
"Yeah, but the only message is to be fundamentally sound and minimize mistakes. That's really what it's about in every profession. In basketball, all it's about is minimizing your turnovers, controlling the glass, and controlling the tempo. And then everything else kind of gets into the execution of things."

(Read full post)

Over the last week, Lakers headlines have been dominated by issues like Kobe Bryant's shin, otherworldly rebounding from Andrew Bynum, a string of quality performances from Metta World Peace, and the implications of a 20-point loss to Phoenix and a 14-point win over San Antonio, both with The Mamba wearing a well-tailored suit. Such talking points would always feel trenchant, and with the playoffs lurking, the urgency is magnified tenfold. In the meantime, another notable development has surfaced almost entirely absent of hype. Compared to the previously mentioned story lines, under-the-radar status for this trend is understandable, but it nonetheless shouldn't be mistaken as trivial.

Quietly and by any measuring stick, Steve Blake, who's suffered through a largely disappointing season, has played two very good games in a row.

From a statistical standpoint, his numbers are much improved. Over the last two games, he's averaged nine points (53.8 percent from the field/60 percent from deep), 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and .5 turnovers in 28.5 minutes. The stats aren't necessarily eye-popping, but they're perfectly fine from a backup point guard. And against the backdrop of his overall April splits (5.4 ppg, 41.4 FG, 41.2 3pt, 3.0 apg, 1.3 rpg, 1.1 TO), they're practically a revelation. While fellow reserve Matt Barnes has insisted the Lakers bench shouldn't be judged by scoring totals, this entire season has served as proof of how hamstrung the starters become without consistent support. In particular, Blake's cupboard has been bare. Nobody would reasonably expect a dude with a 6.9 ppg career-average to reinvent himself as a purple and gold James Harden, but some firepower off the pine is mandatory. For at least two games, Blake's brought a gun to a gunfight.

Blake's also managed to impact games beyond his numbers. In New Orleans, a pair of charges were drawn and he not only tracked down an otherwise certain turnover, but managed to huck the ball while airborne to Ramon Sessions. The possession ended with Barnes scoring at the rim, but Blake enabled the basket, even as the only principal who didn't enter the box score on the sequence. Against the Spurs, he prevented a fast break by hustling back on transition, squaring up Stephen Jackson and getting his mitts on the ball. Slowed by Blake, Jackson had to take the ball out, and the ensuing possession came up dry.

(Read full post)

After the second high profile "benching" in two games, today's chat room was hopping like the Easter bunny on a sugar rush.

Talking points included Andrew Bynum's attitude, whether Ramon Sessions is being properly utilized, and Steve Blake's recent skid. Plus, a Halloween 2012 suggestion for the K Bros!

Here is the link.

Ramon Sessions will make his first start for the Lakers on Friday night against the Blazers, but today's news isn't just about who is moving up in the rotation, but who is moving out.

Asked before the game whether the change might have an impact on playing time for Andrew Goudelock -- the logic being with Steve Blake playing again with the second unit, that group might need another guy able to create his own shot -- Mike Brown said it wouldn't.

"That's the first time this came up. I'm not sure you guys have noticed, but Goudelock has not played recently," he said.

We did, but that's neither here nor there. Goudelock, who averaged 13.2 minutes per game in February, played a total of two in L.A.'s most recent games in Houston and Dallas. Brown explained his reasoning, and it had nothing to do with the arrival of Sessions, or the rotation at point guard.

"[Goudelock] didn't [sit] because Ramon was here, he just hadn't played because I increased Metta [World Peace] and Matt Barnes' minutes and played those guys at the 2 and 3 together (Barnes at shooting guard, World Peace at small forward)," Brown said. "What I'm trying to do is it's getting down to stretch time. Goudelock has been good for us. He got some great experience. He needs to keep himself mentally and physically ready in case his number is called, but we're about to get busy right here. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it with some guys that have been to the dance before. Matt has been there, and Metta has been there. So we'll see."

At this point, Brown's not looking as far down his bench during games. "We're shrinking [the rotation] a little bit. We're shrinking it a little bit, (yeah)," he said.

For the Lakers, that translates into an 8.5 man rotation, with Barnes, Blake, and some combination of Troy Murphy and/or Josh McRoberts filling in behind Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum depending on performance and matchups. There's always a chance someone like Goudelock or Jordan Hill might steal minutes here or there, but broadly speaking, it looks like Brown has settled on his core group going forward.

I was working on something like this, but it turns out Zach Lowe of SI.com not only beat me to the punch, he picked cooler numbers to look at. The eyeball test shows how much better the Lakers have been offensively since the arrival of Ramon Sessions, so it's not all that surprising to see the math tells the same story.

The sample size is small (four games, 100 minutes) and certain numbers are unsustainable (Sessions isn't going to shoot 57 percent, as he's done in purple and gold, for the rest of the year), but early returns are very solid. Writes Lowe:

In the 100 minutes Sessions has played, the Lakers have scored 114 points per 100 possessions, a mark that would lead the league by a mile, according to NBA.com’s stats tool. The Lakers have been more efficient in just about every way possible during those 100 minutes, but two micro-trends stick out:

" They have shot many more three-pointers per minute with Sessions on the floor and made them at a very high rate. This is a great thing for a team that has been one of the two or three worst three-point-shooting teams all season, a damaging flaw that prevents the Lakers from spacing the floor and playing the kind of inside-outside game a team with such great post players should be able to play. The Lakers have attempted the equivalent of 20 threes per 48 minutes with Sessions manning the point, hitting 48 percent. In the 92 minutes Sessions has sat during those four games, the Lakers are still the Lakers, clanking away to the tune of 25 percent from deep on just 14.6 tries.

Some of this has to do with personnel. Sessions has spent half his minutes with Troy Murphy and only 12 minutes total with the Pau Gasol/Andrew Bynum duo. This helps explain not just the three-point tries, but also why the Lakers have gotten to the free-throw line much less often with Sessions playing. Sessions has also shared 91 of his 100 minutes with Matt Barnes, with whom he has immediately developed a nice chemistry, especially in transition. But part of this has to do with the simple fact that Sessions can, you know, run a pick-and-roll (usually with Gasol), get into the lane, draw defenders and make good passes....Bryant has shot more often and more accurately with Sessions on the court, per NBA.com. He has attempted 28 field goals per 48 minutes, a giant number that is nonetheless about equivalent to how often Bryant shot before the Sessions deal. But he has shot 46 percent with Sessions, compared to just 33 percent without him over four games and 43 percent for the season, and he has been deadly from three-point range with Sessions running things. Kobe has hit 6-of-10 from deep since the trade, and at least a few of those looks have been more open spot-up chances than he usually gets."

The impact of Sessions on the offense can be measured in other ways, too.

(Read full post)

Oh, the flurry of questions sparked by consecutive losses! Among the topics tossed our way were the ETA for Ramon Sessions being promoted to the first five, Sessions' and Kobe Bryant's crunch-time compatibility and the odds of Jordan Hill entering the rotation. Plus, Andrew Bynum's exceptionally classy, mature, and timely ejection.

The transcript can be read by clicking here.

Plenty to talk about after a 97-92 win for the Lakers over Minnesota, from the introduction of Ramon Sessions to the L.A. crowd to the end of the Derek Fisher era, and a lot of things in between. Thanks to a snafu with the house wireless (that's our guess, at least) tonight's interweb program was interrupted, and therefore had to be broadcast in two parts. Among the big topics of conversation:

• The debut of Sessions. What he brings to the table is incredibly easy to see, and includes things the Lakers have lacked for a while. The ability to penetrate and finish at the rim whether in isolation or off the pick and roll, and great straight ahead speed in the open floor. And as Kobe Bryant said after the game (video you'll see in the show), "He can score. He can score. He can obviously get into the paint."
• How Sessions will impact the team going forward.
• The relief players feel with the trade deadline having passed.
• Reaction to the Fisher trade. Kobe held his tongue (though how he said what he didn't say spoke volumes) but acknowledged how strange it was to take the floor without him, and lamented the championship DNA that went out the door with his fomer co-captain.

PART 1:


PART 2:

Ask a hundred Lakers fans to list the ways the Lakers can improve themselves before the postseason, and most will start with a trade. Getting a gettable, non-elite-but-damn-helpful piece, like Ramon Sessions and/or Michael Beasley to shore up the point and frontcourt, respectively, or flipping a prime chip like Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum for elite-level talent. Something where the Lakers use assets to get assets.

Others, though far fewer than a month ago, would look to a street free agent like Gilbert Arenas.

There is one more way: For guys already on the roster to pick up their production. As much as it might give folks the heebie-jeebies to put their eggs in his basket, the best candidate (thanks both to his skill set and abysmal early-season performance) is Metta World Peace. It's not really a question of his defensive prowess, though obviously he can make a major impact on that end. The Lakers are already an elite-level team in the half court, rated third in points per possession by Synergy (.817). Where they break down is in transition (1.14 ppp, 21st in the NBA), in part because of their two 7-footers but more thanks to an offense that, for much of the year, has turned the ball over, launched awkward shots and fueled the other team's break.

A major offender was World Peace, who showed up to camp out of shape, made only two of his first 27 3-pointers and shot a shocking 27.5 percent from the floor during a December in which he averaged only 3.6 points a game. February didn't start with a bang, either, with just four points a night on 23 percent shooting through the six-game Grammy trip.

That's a special kind of bad.

Slowly, though, as Metta has rounded into form less round, his play has improved. Sunday's 17-point outburst against the Heat was his best game of the year, but not totally out of the blue. Over his past five games, he's averaged 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals, shooting 50 percent overall (18-for-36) and 47 percent from downtown (8-for-17). A small sample size, no doubt, but real production nonetheless. Combined with an uptick in his defensive consistency, the return of some of that old Ron Artest style swagger, and claims to be healthier than he's been in a while, the past week or two has been good enough reason to at least entertain the idea MWP can be a positive contributor the rest of the way.

Optimism under heavy guard, so to speak.

(Read full post)

Nothing like a game against the Suns to help Kobe Bryant break out of his shooting slump. As he typically does, Kobe torched Phoenix Friday night (38 points, 14-of-25 from the floor), leading the Lakers to a 12 point win at Staples.

There were other things to like -- Matt Barnes continued his run of good play off the bench, posting 17 points and seven rebounds in 23:35 of burn -- and a few things less appealing, but in the end the Lakers earned their 18th win of the season, with another game against the Suns coming Sunday in the desert.

Among the talking points from tonight's show...

• Kobe's big night, and why the Suns popped up on the schedule at the perfect time.
• Bench production. Steve Blake may not post huge numbers, but ask Barnes about the weather, and he'll tell you how happy he is to have Blake back.
• Alvin Gentry called the Lakers a dangerous playoff team. Mike Brown and Bryant agreed. Are they right?

Inside the show are postgame clips from Mike Brown, and click below for more from Brown, Pau Gasol, and Barnes.

(Read full post)

The middle two quarters may have been the ugliest I've ever seen, as the Hawks and Lakers combined -- combined! -- for 59 points. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol couldn't buy a bucket, and collectively the teams seemed determined to punish fans for shelling out their hard earned money for something as frivilous as basketball tickets.

But in the end, the Lakers got it together, going on a run to finish the third and pulling away down the stretch. Here are five takeaways...

1. Matt Barnes had some hop.

The Lakers are not a swift, dynamic bunch. Barnes is one of the few guys on the roster who makes things happen with movement, and Tuesday he absolutely energized the team (to whatever degree this game had energy) doing the stuff he does best. Slicing through the lane, he converted a nice pass from Bryant into points, then later got up the floor and, like the standout wide receiver he once was, hauled in a long bomb from Steve Blake for an easy deuce. Even on the ball, not generally his strength, Barnes found ways to produce. In the first half, with the shot clock running down, he put the ball on the floor from the top of the key, then wrapped a nice pass to Troy Murphy for a corner 3.

Throughout the game, Barnes was constantly moving towards the rim, running the wing, and aggressively closing on perimeter shooters. He finished with seven points and five rebounds, plus one assist, steal, and block each.

2. So did Metta World Peace.

Maybe he should pop off at the coach more often?

Whatever the cause, MWP was very active tonight, not just defensively, where he spent a lot of time against Joe Johnson with very positive effects, but also on the other end. He closed the first half with a 3-pointer from the right corner that the Hawks, to put it mildly, let him take. (Had they simply left the floor before the horn, World Peace wouldn't have been more open.) The second half brought another triple, and even a thunderous drive through the paint, capped by a dunk. Then he dunked again! One-dunk MWP games are a rarity these days. Double dunk games generally arrive at the arena saddled up on a unicorn.

He finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

World Peace's days as a premier player are gone, but it makes a significant difference for the Lakers when he's not a liability. When he's actually a positive influence, it's even better.

POSTGAME UPDATE: Apparently, World Peace switched from high tops to low tops at halftime. Perhaps that explains his burst in the third and fourth quarters. Less weight keeping him down.

(Read full post)

It wasn't easy (when is it easy in Boston?) but as they did in Denver against a high quality Nuggets team, the Los Angeles Lakers again dug deep to beat a heretofore hot Boston Celtics squad Thursday night in overtime.

With the win, the Lakers now have a great shot at finishing the trip at a strong 4-2. Here are five takeaways:

1. The big three were big.


Kobe Bryant was a catalyst for his teammates early, moving the ball well and providing opportunities around the floor. When he did start shooting, Bryant made each of his first four attempts, and after a lull in the middle of the game got things going. In the third, he beat Ray Allen (and others) on a wicked step through in the paint, then canned a couple J's off the mid-post against Allen. Later, he made a nice one-dribble move on Mickael Pietrus. Overall, he finished 11-of-24 for 27 points, along with four assists and five boards. Against a Boston team that loves to bait opponents into low percentage plays, Bryant played a very controlled game.

He certainly pulled his weight, but when support was needed or the shots didn't fall, Bryant was picked up by the other two members of L.A.'s triumvirate.

Pau Gasol was huge, playing an excellent floor game providing all the scoring, facilitating and rebounding the Lakers need from him. On the night he was officially left off this season's All-Star team, Gasol turned in one of his best games of the season. He put the ball on the floor effectively, showed some good footwork in the post, and made some excellent passes as well. Then there were three key second-half putbacks, including one that tied the game at 82 with only 8.2 seconds remaining. Save a couple truly horrible decisions early, leading to turnovers and opportunities for the home team, Gasol was on point.

Defensively, Gasol was big against Kevin Garnett, who basically disappeared as the game went on, then saved the game by blocking Allen at the buzzer on what would have been a game-winning putback off a Paul Pierce miss. Gasol finished with 25 points (12-for-20), plus 14 rebounds, three dimes and that one massive swat.

Andrew Bynum struggled from the floor, making only six of his 15 shots, but he was a beast on the boards (17) and produced three huge plays on the offensive glass. The first two produced and-1 opportunities at the end of the first half off a miss from Bryant, then again in the fourth off a corner 3-pointer from Gasol. In OT, Bynum tipped in a Bryant miss to give the Lakers a late lead. Add in three blocks, and you get the sort of game people want from Bynum, in which he doesn't let problems putting the ball in the hoop prevent him from working hard in other areas.

Games like this point more to problems with the rest of the roster than they do the Lakers' big three. Asking more against a high-end team like Boston simply isn't realistic. On Thursday night, it was just enough to get it done.

(Read full post)

Per Dave McMenamin, Steve Blake was medically cleared to participate in Wednesday's practice and will be a game-time decision for Thursday's game against the Celtics. A return to action basically coincides with the timetable for recovery from a fracture near his ribs.

"I've just been patient with it, trying to let it heal," Blake said during Wednesday's practice. "I really had no preconception of when I was coming back. I didn't know if it was going to be sooner or later. I really had no idea. To me, it's on time...[Practice] felt good. My rhythm is a little off, but that will come with time. Hopefully whenever I do play, I'll be ready to play and able to contribute."

Obviously, Blake's potential availability is a big deal. Not that the bench ran like a Swiss watch with him in the lineup, but he was nonetheless the best second unit play-maker, and by a long shot. That the reserves have struggled to do much in Blake's absence beyond feed the ball to Andrew Bynum or watch Andrew Goudelock generate his own looks is no coincidence, nor terribly surprising. With Blake back, the second unit offense will hopefully run a little smoother, and he'll hopefully add a few buckets to the mix.

In the meantime, I assume Goudelock will assume two-guard duties, allowing him to operate more of a pure scorer, rather than outside his comfort zone as a quasi-point guard. I also imagine Mike Brown will give more minutes to Goudelock than Jason Kapono as a reserve shooting guard, which will hopefully help limit Kobe Bryant minutes. For that matter, Blake on hand should also mean equal Derek Fisher's minutes reduced, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Blake and Fisher can also finish games together with Kobe at small forward in games where Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes aren't offering much, which has been too often these days.

Considering the glaring limitations of the Lakers roster, any options gained are a welcome development.

Here are your 10 additional things to take away from the Lakers' 93-89 road win against the Denver Nuggets on Friday ...

Every game on this Lakers trip figured to be important, what with the purple and gold embarking on this six-game challenge with a measly 2-7 road record and an overall record that would place them in the bottom half of teams to make the postseason if the playoffs started today.

And so the fourth quarter of the tip-off game for the trip became a battle of will, as the Lakers ignored their 3-7 record in the last 10 games at Pepsi Center and were the last team standing against one of the squads that rests above them in the standings.

"It’s good to get a win. We just kind of found a way to grind it out, stick with it; we relied on our defense, and defense got us a win in a tough environment," said Lakers coach Mike Brown. "I give my guys credit for finding a way to win."

The Lakers saw their eight-point lead with 7:10 remaining dwindle to just one less than three minutes later, but they never fell behind.

As ugly as it looked, L.A. outrebounded 14-7 in the final frame, including hauling in three offensive rebounds to the Nuggets' zero. Coming into the trip, Kobe Bryant called the offensive glass the Lakers' Achilles' heel.

"You got to go get the ball. You got to go get the ball," Bryant said. "We’re not shooting the ball particularly well from 3, so as a result, we got to go crash the glass. We’re a pretty good offensive rebounding team when we put our minds to it."

The road continues with tough games in Utah, Philadelphia and Boston and ends in New York and Toronto. The Lakers' Grammy trip has been a litmus test in years past. When they went a combined 6-14 from 2004 to 2007, nobody deemed them a championship contender. When they went 18-5 from 2007 to 2010, they made it to three straight NBA Finals.

The season hardly started out the way the Lakers had planned, but if the Denver win sparks a successful road trip, the season really takes on another tone.

"I keep telling everybody we’re going to be fine," Bryant said. "This is the start of the year and it’s tough to kind of get out on the road. We had some very tough opponents to start the season with on the road. It’s kind of getting used to everything with no practices. We’re going to be A-OK."

After a win like Friday, it's easier to believe him.

(Read full post)

Before Tuesday's practice, Mike Brown was asked repeatedly about the flagging offense and attempts to create consistent production. He talked about "searching." Searching for good combinations, searching for effective plays, searching for ways to better generate positive momentum.

In the process, he noted one of the major challenges.

"I'm playing a young guy at a pretty important spot, just out of college," Brown said of rookie point guard Darius Morris, taken last summer with the 41st pick in the draft.

"We're relying on him to do a lot out on the floor, as your point guard. Not necessarily to score, but to get guys in the right spot at the right time, and it's not like he can only play five minutes or we can move him along slowly. You've got to play, and you've got to run this team, and you've got to make sure that we're right while you're out there. And then on top of that, I'm trying to figure out the right guys to put around him, and/or put with the second unit, and also what to run," he said.

Quite a laundry list. Thus far Morris has been (understandably) overmatched and the team has suffered with him on the floor.

(Read full post)