Gasol Stars Against Bulls In Return

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 19, 2009
in In-Game and Post-Game
. Closed

58965453Kobe Bryant had a quick response for reporters when asked what L.A. missed most about Pau Gasol early in the 2009-10 season: “He’s one of the top players in the world.”

Top 15, yup. Top 10, maybe? Either way, he’s really good at basketball.

In an impressive 2008-09 campaign, Gasol earned third-team All-NBA honors, was the second-best player on the NBA champs and finally the MVP of the European Championships (definitely Top something).

But it’s not like the Lakers were bad with the Spaniard sidelined since October 13, missing the team’s first 11 regular season games while healing fully from a hamstring strain. L.A. occasionally looked terrific (e.g. vs. Phoenix) and sometimes the opposite of good (e.g. at Denver), but generally just found different ways to win eight times in 11 chances despite the proverbial target on the purple and gold jersey.

It ended up taking just over five weeks - 36 days to be exact - before Gasol made his season debut, on Thursday at STAPLES Center against the Chicago Bulls.

It took about 36 seconds for Gasol to remind us what we were missing.

58965571In his opening six-minute run with the starters, Gasol sank 4-of-5 shots from the field and two free throws for 10 points, grabbed four rebounds and ran the floor with no discernible hesitation.

That was just the start.

Prior to the game, Phil Jackson said he would be very happy if Gasol lasted 25 minute, but the seven-footer looked so good, Jackson left him on the floor for 35 minutes*. Gasol rewarded his coach with 24 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and a block on a typically efficient 9-of-15 (60 percent) from the field and 6-of-6 from the line.
*Another reason - Andrew Bynum jammed his right ankle in the third quarter, but does not expect to miss any time. He will practice on Saturday and play against OKC on Sunday.

Bryant, who just missed a triple-double with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, couldn’t have been happier to have his friend back in the fold.

“Having Pau back is huge,” said Kobe. “The game is so easy for him. It’s not like he’s in Memphis where he’s getting double- and triple-teamed. We spread the floor out for him extremely well and give him the ball in positions where he can be effective quickly, and with his talent, with this squad, it’s lights out for him.”

“He’s incredible,” added Lamar Odom, who went back to being arguably the league’s best bench player with Gasol’s return. “Incredible scorer, incredible touch, his size. The pressure he puts on the defense is incredible.”

Emphatic praise that at least the home crowd could agree with after gleefully cheering the return (standing ovation style) of so much basketball skill to the defending champs. Gasol, meanwhile, was simply glad to be out of his dress clothes.

“I’m just glad I could be out there,” he said. “I had a lot of fun playing again, playing with my teammates. We have such a great team that it’s a pleasure.”

Gasol explained that he wasn’t expecting to be as effective as he was, simply playing his game (it’s not that easy for everybody…). His conditioning, of course, wasn’t where he’d like it to be.

Pau Gasol“I was looking forward to the first time out and was glad it was a nationally televised game because the (time outs) were a little longer,” he conceded.

Yet Gasol scored on put-backs, lefty hooks, jumpers and fastbreak layups. He cleared defensive boards, filled the paint defensively and helped off his man as the Bulls struggled to get anything going inside, getting just 40 points in the paint for the game to 60 for L.A. In fairness, Gasol had a major matchup edge with 6-9 rookie Taj Gibson trying to guard him, but then again, Gasol almost always has an edge on opposing NBA power forwards.

“He’s really good,” said Jordan Farmar, glad to have yet another seven-foot option to feed. “Everybody knows it. He was kind of hesitant to do too much, but he did a great job. His touch is right there. He just has to get his wind back.”

Looking to help him out with that wind, Jackson said he’d hold practice on Saturday, one he’ll often cancel prior to another game on Sunday.

Nonetheless, how many players in the world could put up 24 and 13 just in the flow of their first game in a month and a half?

Ten, yup. Fifteen, maybe?

POSTGAME NUMBERS
0 Shots missed by Derek Fisher, who made all five of his attempts, including two three-pointers.

6 Lakers players in double figures on the night: Pau Gasol (24); Kobe Bryant (21); Ron Artest (15); Fisher (12); Andrew Bynum (11) and Lamar Odom (11).

7 Offensive rebounds for Gasol, half of L.A.’s 14. Joakim Noah, the league’s leading rebounder, grabbed five of Chicago’s 10 offensive window cleans.

8 Assists for Bryant to lead both teams. He added nine rebounds, second only to Gasol’s 13 on the Lakers and Noah’s 15 for Chicago.

24 L.A.’s biggest lead of the game, coming early in the fourth quarter on Jordan Farmar’s pull-up jumper.

60 Lakers points in the paint, a 20-point edge on the Bulls (40).

Podcast: Bulls.com’s Sam Smith

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 19, 2009
in Pre-Game and Preview
. Closed

Sam SmithLegendary hoops scribe Sam Smith, who covered Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan’s reign in Chicago while working for the Chicago Tribune, now writes exclusively for Bulls.com.

He joined us before the Bulls took on the Lakers on Thursday evening to talk about the trade scenarios he’s fond of igniting, his reflections on covering Phil Jackson and what about Kobe Bryant makes him think of Michael Jordan.

 
icon for podpress  Sam Smith Podcast [7:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Video: Lakers vs. Bulls Pregame

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 19, 2009
in Pre-Game and Preview
. Closed

Assistant coach Brian Shaw joined us to discuss Chicago’s slow offensive start to the season, the health of Derrick Rose, integrating Pau Gasol back into the Lakers and more.

Walton Undergoes Back Procedure

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 19, 2009
in Injury News and Luke Walton
. Closed

Luke Walton underwent a facet rhizotomy - a procedure designed to shut off pain signals that nerves send to the brain through a needle injection into the back - on Thursday morning performed by Dr. Michael Port.

The procedure does not change the timing of Walton’s recovery, as the Lakers forward is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks. According to team sources, Walton is in a considerable amount of discomfort and will be away from the team for a few days while recovering.

CLICK HERE TO READ WALTON’S INITIAL REACTION TO THE INJURY

Luke Walton Injury Interview

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 18, 2009
in Injury News and Luke Walton
. Closed

Luke WaltonBefore the third quarter of L.A.’s win over Detroit on Tuesday, Lakers forward Luke Walton talked to beat reporters about his sore lower back, which is expected to keep him out of action for at least six weeks.

On how it happened:
Walton: It was similar to what happened in the preseason, and I came back and it was feeling great. Then I felt a little bit of stiffness in the back, and it got worse and worse every day. There was a little pinch sensation in that back area, which I guess is a pinched nerve, and they said to pretty much shut it down and get all the swelling out of there. Hopefully this time will be the end of it when I come back.

On if he’ll be back by the first of the year:
Walton: I want to be back as soon as possible. Last time they wanted me out longer, but as soon as the back started feeling good I was begging them to let me start playing again, and they did. Obviously that was a mistake, I guess I wasn’t ready yet. But it’s frustrating to have to sit here and watch all the games; I was feeling good out on the court and having fun, but once the back goes it makes it really hard to play at this level when you can’t really move, cut and play defense the way you would like to. I’m going to let them tell me when to play this time, because last time I think I rushed it a little too quickly.

On when he first hurt it:
Walton: If I had a schedule in front of me I could tell you … but it was probably about a week that it’s been pretty bad.

On if he can do rehab:
Walton: Right now we’ve shut it down to where I’m not doing anything, until I can take the anti-inflammatories, work with (L.A.’s training staff), get the swelling down and depending on how bad it is get an injection or something like that. And then once it’s feeling better, do a couple hours of rehab every day on getting everything else strong so that when I come back, hopefully it will be ready to handle what it takes to play an NBA season.

On how long before he can resume rehabilitation exercises:
Walton: It all depends on once the low back feels better, once the muscles aren’t grabbing me every time. I can’t bend over and tie my shoe right now, that’s how tight the muscles are in the back. So once that all starts feeling better, everything’s calmed down, then we’re going to hit the rehab extremely hard.

Pau Gasol & Tennis Pro Sam Querrey

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 18, 2009
in Miscellaneous and Pau Gasol
. Closed

Pau Gasol - Sam QueeryPau Gasol can make even the very tall look average, as he does here with 6-6 American tennis pro Sam Querrey.

Querrey, a native of Thousand Oaks, California, currently lives in Santa Monica and was pictured with Pau (a friend of Rafael Nadal’s) at Tuesday’s Lakers - Pistons game.

The third ranked American player, Querrey reached a career-high ATP rank of #22, achieved on August 31, 2009. He also is the owner of the most consecutive aces award since the ATP began keeping those statistics, with 10.

Speaking of aces … I have a feeling Gasol would be able to drop a few bombs into the service box.

Kobe Closing in on Kareem

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 18, 2009
in Kobe Bryant
. Closed

Kobe Bryant - Kareem Abdul-JabbarWith Kobe Bryant’s blistering scoring start to the 2009-10 season, he’s now only 16 points away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second on the Lakers all-time scoring list.

Bryant, who has hit the 40-point mark four times already in his first 11 games to equal the four total times he hit that plateau last season, is leading the league with a 31.0 points per game average.

The 2009 Finals MVP has scored 24,161 points in his Lakers career, while Abdul-Jabbar’s Lakers mark stands at 24,176. After Kareem, Bryant has Jerry West and his 25,192 points to look forward to. While No. 24’s scoring average could take a slight dip while his assists rise with the return of Pau Gasol, Bryant would potentially surpass the Logo in early February.

Abdul-Jabbar, the league’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points, notched 14,211 points in his first six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. Mr. Clutch ranks 14th on the list, and Bryant 16th.

Third Time’s A Charm

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 17, 2009
in In-Game and Post-Game
. Closed

58946119Since the acquisition of Pau Gasol on February 1, 2008, the Lakers had yet to lose three consecutive games.

They’d lost two-straight on eight different occasions, but never thrice.

That’s a fact talked about throughout the week by reporters around L.A.’s practice facility …but L.A. had actually already won the next game after dropping two without Gasol twice, first against Dallas and then Washington in March of 2008 when the Spaniard was out with a sprained ankle.

Thanks to the 100th 40-point performance of Kobe Bryant’s outstanding career on Tuesday at STAPLES Center against Detroit, you can make that three times.

Gasol still in dress clothes due to a hamstring strain (yet looking to return in L.A.’s next game, on Thursday), the Lakers utilized pre-groin-tweak-looking Kobe and some swarming team defense to burst to a 25-point lead after three quarters. Detroit managed to cut to just seven late in the fourth before ultimately falling by 13 when Bryant swished a 28-foot three to get to his 40 (he’s good) on the final shot of the game. Guess the groin was OK?

“I wanted to come out and have a good game and have people stop asking about it,” he said.

Forty points surely did the trick, and led by No. 24, the purple and gold can still make the claim that you may get ‘em once, and maybe even twice, but definitely not three straight times.

58945900“(Losing) two in a row means something,” Phil Jackson had said after Monday’s practice. “One game is really a bump in the road for this team and they feel it. Two is an embarrassment. Three we don’t even want to think about.”

They won’t have to think about it, at least until the next two-game losing streak, which happened four times in 2008-09.

“Some of that is just talent and some of it is resiliency of the team that comes back,” said Jackson. “They were embarrassed with the losses and they want to feel good about themselves so they worked hard to change that.”

The tide of this one turned with L.A.’s first substitution late in the first quarter, when Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown checked in to match Detroit’s small lineup and produced a collective 11 points, two assists and two steals during a stretch that saw a 17-10 Pistons lead morph into a 48-36 Lakers edge with three minutes left in the second quarter (57-42 at the half).

“You’ve got to credit them,” said Pistons head coach John Kuester. “They played awfully hard, they were the aggressors.”

This was a welcome sight for the Lakers, whose bench struggled just as Bryant did in the team’s previous two games. Yet like the bench, Bryant turned things around in immediately after missing his first four shots by sinking eight of his next 10 for a game-high 21 points at the break, then converted 6-of-8 in the third to push L.A.’s lead to 88-63.

58944803“We played a couple of good periods in this game tonight and we sustained the effort at the end,” said Jackson. “I was pleased with the ball movement and the way we played in the first course of the game.”

The Pistons refused to quit, however, chipping away at L.A.’s lead first with a 9-0 run to start the quarter before getting it to seven with 1:55 remaining by outworking the Lakers second unit, drawing Jackson’s disdain. But it was too little, too late on this night.

L.A. has a chance to start a winning streak when the Chicago Bulls come to town, and perhaps more importantly, they expect to get their 7-foot power forward back in the process.

Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
1,049 Career coaching wins for Phil Jackson, pushing him past Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown for 5th on the NBA’s all-time coaching list.

65 Points scored by the Lakers in the second and third quarters, to 41 from Detroit. Kobe Bryant had 27 in that mid-game stretch.

44 Career double-doubles for Andrew Bynum heading into this season. Thus far in 2009-10, he already has eight double-doubles in nine games after posting 17 and 12 against Detroit.

24 Points off the bench for Pistons backup guard Will Bynum, who helped Detroit close the gap to seven points late in the fourth as Jackson put Bryant back into the game.

12 Edge on the glass for the Lakers, including a 25-15 margin in the first half.

8 Of lots of things for Lamar Odom, including eight rebounds, assists and points in 29 minutes.

New-Look Pistons in L.A.

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on November 17, 2009
in Pre-Game and Preview
. Closed

Ben Gordon - Will Bynum - DetroitWhen the 2003-04 Pistons defeated the Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals, this was Detroit’s starting lineup: PG - Chauncey Billups; SG - Richard Hamilton; SF - Tayshaun Prince; PF - Rasheed Wallace; C - Ben Wallace

When the 2009-10 Pistons come to L.A., the lineup looks quite a bit different: PG - Rodney Stuckey; SG - Ben Gordon; SF - Jonas Jerebko; PF - Charlie Villanueva; C - Ben Wallace

Not only with the starters, but because General Manager Joe Dumars has retained only six players from the previous season, and Ben Wallace isn’t one of them. He was acquired in the offseason after spending the previous four seasons alternating between Cleveland and Chicago, and played his way into head coach John Kuester’s starting lineup. The other ‘04 holdovers - Hamilton and Prince - have been battling respective injuries and played in only four combined games (three for Prince) as Detroit has opened 5-5 (2-3 on the road).

To get an idea of what this crew of Pistons’ is about, we enlisted assistant coach Frank Hamblen.

Luke Walton Injury Update

Published
by
Ty Nowell
on November 16, 2009
in Injury News and Luke Walton
. Closed

58901338Lakers forward Luke Walton, who did not play in last night’s game against the Rockets, was today was diagnosed with a pinched nerve and is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks.

Here’s the release from the Lakers PR staff:
Lakers forward Luke Walton was examined today by back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins and has been diagnosed with a pinched nerve. Walton is expected to be out a minimum of six weeks.