Preseason: Lakers vs Warriors (10/18/13)

Hey guys check out Dancing Barry's review at Lakersground for this one:

Dancing Barry's Thoughts and Smiley Ratings

Some more development in this one, but it's still just preseason. Look for the Lakers to tighten up their rotations a little bit tonight as there are only 2 games left. They play the Jazz tonight at 7:30.

Preseason: Lakers vs Warriors (10/15/13)

Don't let the final score fool you, this was a successful preseason game. The Lakers lost 95-100 to the Warriors in their first game in Beijing, China. As Stu Lantz has been harping the keys to this preseason for the Lakers are to develop chemistry, define roles, and get out healthy. The Lakers have progressed nicely in all three factors so far. They were up 11 in the 4th and were resting their rotation players when Golden State subbed their starters back into the game. Naturally their starters had an easy time dispatching the Lakers' 3rs string.

Nightly Notables:

The Good:
-Kaman was killing it. He shot 7-7 and had his way with the Warriors. The two man game with Pau was working again. They are two intelligent players who really compliment each other.
-Swaggy P continues to impress. He scored 18 pts on 70% shooting. I'm also impressed by his ability to create shots for others, which is something he's not known for.
-Pau and Nash looked even more aggressive and comfortable out there
-Turnovers are not that high for preseason play.

The Bad:
-Farmer still wasn't active. He should play in the next game though.
-The Lakers couldn't stop David Lee. He had 31 pts and it didn't matter who guarded him.
-Fans had to get up at 4:30am to catch this one live lol.

The Lakers will play the Warriors again tomorrow at 4:30am from Shanghai. It should be fun to see how both teams experiment.

Preseason: Lakers vs Kings (10/10/13)

A tale of two halves? At halftime the Lakers were up 50-48, but they couldn't put the ball in the basket in the second half. They lost 104-86 to Kings Thursday night in Vegas.

The Lakers didn't play quality defense throughout the game. The players and coaches commented on that in the post game interviews. Perhaps the distractions of Vegas played a role? LOL, maybe. In the first half they were able to keep pace since the Lakers' starters and key role players were getting time on the court. Sacramento then pulled away when their bench outplayed the Lakers' bench.

Nightly Notables:

The Good:
-Pau is starting to look really good. His timing looked great and he was pretty dominant offensively in the minutes that he played. He shot 6-9 and had 13 pts with 5 rebs.
-Kaman looked good too. We saw more of the Gasol/Kaman combo. The first score of the game was a high/low lobe from Pau to Chris. This combination is earning minutes, which is a surprise to me.
-Swaggy P fulfilled his role as a scorer and has been thus far. The Lakers desperately need that go-to-guy who can make something out of nothing while Kobe is out. He had 17 points on 25 minutes and shot 6-13.

The Bad:
-Nash tweaked his ankle and only played 8 minutes. It appears to not be serious.
-Xavier Henry might be bothered by his wrist a little bit. He was only 1-5 but his aggressiveness was still there.
-The Lakers team defense left much to be desired. They allowed the Kings to shoot 53.7% from the field.

The Lakers next game will be in China against the Golden State Warriors. It will air at 4:30 AM Pacific Standard Time. My hat is off to anyone who wakes up in time for that lol!

Preseason: Lakers vs Nuggets (10/8/13)

The Lakers were back in Ontario, California on Tuesday for another preseason tune-up against the Nuggets. This time they beat the Nuggets 90-88. The game got ugly (77 free throws combined) in the second half when more of the 3rd stringers and camp invites got playing time. However the team showed improvement and is light years ahead of where they were at this same time last year. Chemistry was the word of the game as the announcers made reference to it several times. It was evident too. You can tell these guys like playing together and they enjoy being Lakers. Something that was definitely amiss from last season. Ball movement was crisp and the extra pass was made frequently. As a result the Lakers jumped out to a 21 point lead at one point. It's still just preseason but these are great building blocks heading into the games that matter.

Nightly Notables:

The Good:
-The Gasol/Kaman front court combo looked nice. Offensively they fit well together because both bigs can pass, shoot, and have a post game. The concerns were mostly on the defensive end because Kaman and Gasol are no spring chickens. However they did well on that end of the floor against one of the fastest teams in the league. This could be a promising combo for certain situations throughout the year.
-The Hill/Williams front court combo looked good too and gave a completely different feel from Gasol/Kaman. They defended with quick rotations and WIlliams strecthed the floor with his outside shooting. Definitely a got to lineup for a small ball scenarion.
-Nash and Blake showed the depth the Lakers have at PG now. It was a far cry from the 3rd stringers we had starting for us last playoffs (Duhon and Morris). Farmar will only solidify that rotation.

The Bad:
-Wes Johnson and Farmar sat out with minor injuries
-Kobe is still out
-Too many fouls. Need to play solid D without hacking

Another good tune-up. If this team keeps it up they could surprise some people. The chemistry is 1000 times better and the players and coaches are united since they all have something to prove.

Preseason: Lakers vs. Nuggets (10/6/13)

In contrast to yesterday's game, today's game was sloppy. The Lakers lost 88-97. Since it's preseason, the loss is not as important as the way the team plays. There were some good things shown this game, but overall it was ugly. There too many offensive fouls and missed shots.

Nightly Notables:

The Good:

-Nash and Pau looked healthy. They did have a little rust, as expected, but they moved well 

-Xavier Henry and Nick YounYoung picked up where they left off last night

-Chemistry appears to be developing on the bench which should carry over onto the court. The one thing's lots of guys have in common is that they have a lot to prove

The Bad:

-Tons if misses in makeable shots

-Lots of turnovers due to illegal screens

-Injuries (minor) to Wesley Johnson and Xavier Henry

Of the players fighting for a roster spot, Henry, Williams, and Johnson-Odom impressed the most tonight. Landry missed his first 6 threes (3 of them airballs), but then made his final 3 in a row. Strange night for him.

The Lakers will play again Tuesday night against Denver again. It'll be fun to see who else stands out and if the team can get into a rythym offensively.

Preseason: Lakers vs Warriors (10/5/13)

In their first preseason game of the year, the Lakers got the victory 104-95 over the Warriors. These are only exhibition games, and the Lakers were without Nash, Gasol, and Bryant, but the action was still fun to watch. It's interesting to see the young players expand their games and the hopefuls try to make the roster.

Nightly Notables:

The Good:
-Xavier Henry went off for 29 pts. He's a slasher who consistently got into the lane tonight. His 3 ball was working tonight too. Good game overall
-Jordan Farmar showed why the Lakers picked him up. He's a speedy guard who can make plays. He had a nice behind the head pass in the first half.
-Swaggy P (Nick Young) was a scoring machine in the first half. He had 17pts on 4-9 shooting. The Lakers will definitely lean on him throughout the year to provide instant offense.
-Kaman also had a solid game. He should be an excellent back up center

The Bad:
-Rebounding seems to be a weakness so far. Maybe that will change with Pau and Kobe in the lineup.
-As expected, lots of turnovers in the first game.
-Wesley Johnson has been a standout in camp but he had an awful game. Not much impact on D or O.

The Lakers have already gotten off to a better start than last year (they went 0-8).They'll be in action again tonight the Denver Nuggets.

OFFSEASON: Training Camp (09/09/13)

Can you believe it? Training camp is just a few weeks away!  With the Lakers' media day officially scheduled for September 28th, it won't be long before we see the purple and gold take the court again.  You're going to see some new names and new faces as we head into the 2013-2014 season.

With the departure of Dwight Howard, the Lakers have bought fully into providing head coach Mike D'antoni the players that fit his style of basketball.  The only caveat is they did not sign any players to long term deals or big money contracts.  This is to preserve cap space for the next off season when they can completely rebuild the team from the ground up.

Here is the Lakers roster as it stands today:

Point Guards: Steve Nash, Jordan Farmar, Steve Blake
Shooting Guards: Kobe Bryant, Nick Young, Xavier Henry, Jodie Meeks
Small Forwards: Wes Johnson, Shawne Williams
Power Forwards: Jordan Hill, Ryan Kelly, Elias Harris
Centers: Pau Gasol, Chris Kaman, Robert Sacre

Some of those names you might recognize and others you may not.  I've covered Farmar, Young, Kaman, and Johnson in the last entry so this time I'll focus on the latest additions.  In general the new players added are young and athletic.  That doesn't always translate to being good players, but it is a solid foundation for players in an up-tempo offense.  Also keep in mind that some of these names will change either through trades or simply being cut from the team.  Training camp is essentially tryouts after all.

Shawne Williams- 6'9" forward who played for D'antoni on the Knicks where he had 1 solid year shooting 3 pointers (40.1%).  Had questionable character issues.

Elias Harris- 6'8" forward from Germany.  Athletic.  His game is similar to Earl Clark's from what I hear.  A scrappy hustle player who can hit open shots. Will be a rookie.

Ryan Kelly- 6'11" forward who is known as a shooter.  Has good defensive fundamentals but lacks footspeed.  Will be a rookie.

Xavier Henry- 6'6" guard who played on the Pelicans last year. He's 22 with tons of room to grow.  Unfortunately he hasn't shown much at this point or he wouldn't be available for this cheap.

Before training camp the Lakers will add several other players for the team to scrimmage against.  Then we'll start seeing them play some pre-season games.  This team is going to be much quicker than last year's.  And with all of the players finally on the same page the offense will flow much smoother too.  The biggest question marks will be that of health and the quality of defense the team will play.  I think this team has the potential to surprise people based on the chemistry aspect alone, but we'll see.

We'll get into that more in the next entry when we get some practice reports.  Until next time...