To: Andrew
From: Mike
Subject: Ten things happening when you turned 21
1) Your team, the L.A. Lakers, was picked before the season by a majority of NBA general managers to win the title in June. Many were influenced in large part by your return to the team after last January’s knee injury.
2) The Philadelphia Phillies destroyed Tampa like Daniel vs. Cobra Kai in game four the night before your b-day to take a commanding 3-1 lead. Beast Cole Hamels is set to pitch game five at home. The last time a Philly team won a championship was in 1983 when Dr. J’s 76ers beat your Lakers.
3) Illinois Senator Barak Obama could become the nation’s first African American president just eight days after your birthday, should all recent polling prove accurate on November 4, 2008. This will be the first election in which you can vote for your candidate of choice.
4) One of Wall Street’s worst months in history is about to come to a close, but now’s a good time to buy some real estate, ‘Drew!
5) Pop star Christina Aguilera is debuting her new music video “Keeps Gettin’ Better” on the internet, not MTV. Music videos actually existed when you were born.
6) Kim Kardashian celebrated her 28th birthday just six days before your 21st, though she was mostly at the hospital caring for her boo Reggie Bush, who was recovering from minor surgery on his knee.
Continue reading ‘Bynum’s B-day: Time Stamp’
Yesterday in the Lakers-Kings running diary I mentioned my conversation with Lakers play-by-play radio voice Spero Dedes, who will be joining me frequently on Lakers.com throughout the season, particularly when we’re on the road.
On Sunday before the Lakers beat the Kings for their first preseason win, Spero and I discussed what Laker fans should know about the team heading into the season, how Dedes prepares for games as a broadcaster and which player he thinks can out dress him with regularity.
Team officials with the Lakers have confirmed that the team has agreed to general terms on a contract with point guard Sun Yue. The Lakers hope to finalize the terms and formally sign Sun soon. Per team policy, terms will not be released.
Earlier in the off-season, General Manager Mitch Kupchak had commented that the team hoped to be in contact with Sun about this upcoming season.
The Lakers drafted Sun Yue in the second round of the 2007 NBA draft at #40 based on his size and ball handling ability. Click here for an interview with Mitch Kupchak following the 2007 draft or you can watch Sun’s pre-draft workout from 2007.
Since that time, Sun, 22, has continued to play with his club team Beijing Aoshen and with the Chinese national team. The Chinese National team played in the 2007 Las Vegas Summer League and will participate in the upcoming Olympics, playing Team USA this Sunday.
This off-season the Lakers have also signed guard Dwayne Mitchell and drafted guard Joe Crawford, who remains unsigned.
Sun Yue would join Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Kobe Bryant, recently re-signed Sasha Vujacic and Coby Karl in the Lakers backcourt.
What Went Right:
• The Lakers played extremely well in spurts against the Celtics, storming back from 24 points in Game 2 to nearly steal a win in Boston and jumping out by the same margin in Game 4. However, the Lakers’ youthful roster was unable to sustain the momentum as evidenced by the Celtics’ historic Game 4 comeback.
• Aside from his outstanding 36 point Game 3 effort, Kobe struggled throughout parts of the Finals with Boston throwing two and sometimes, three defenders at the regular season MVP. Still, Bryant averaged a team-high 26 points on 41% from the floor.
• Sasha Vujacic came through with the biggest game of his young career in a must-win Game 3 at STAPLES Center, scoring 20 points and proving himself an X-factor in the Lakers’ first victory of the series. For the Finals, the guard averaged eight points per game–fifth best on the team.
• Jordan Farmar also came through during stretches of the Finals, compiling seven points per game on an impressive 48% shooting from the field, including 53% from beyond the arc. Moreover, Coach Jackson trusted the sophomore guard down the stretch of the final games of the series, utilizing a smaller lineup that featured Fisher at shooting guard and Bryant at small forward in place of the ineffective Radmanovic.
Continue reading ‘The Finals: What Went Right/Wrong’
What Went Right:
• For the first time all series, Odom and Gasol came through with big performances during the same game. Lamar finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Pau tallied 19 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. The pair’s clutch effort couldn’t have come at a better time with Kobe continuing to struggle from the field.
• Another Finals first: the purple and gold won the third quarter battle 24-18 and the second half overall by a 48-46 margin. However, the Lakers were up by as many as 19 points in the second quarter so Boston deserves credit for making another comeback to cut the deficit to just three at halftime.
• Once again, Boston’s bench outscored the Lakers’ reserves, 28-17, but unlike in Game 4, the Celtics were without a surprise breakout performer as was the case with James Posey in the previous game. This time around, it was the Lakers’ own Jordan Farmar who provided the game’s biggest bench spark, chipping in 11 timely points.
• L.A. did a great job of stopping the other members of the Celtics Big Three outside of Pierce, holding Garnett to just 13 points and Allen to 16. KG did grab a game-high 14 rebounds though.
Continue reading ‘The Finals Game 5: What Went Right/Wrong’
What Went Right:
• While the Lakers were on the wrong end of the largest NBA Finals comeback since at least the 1970-71 season, they still deserve credit for building a 24 point lead in the first place, with the team’s offense and defense working in tandem for the first time in the series’ four games.
• Odom finally showed the tenacity the Lakers had been waiting for all series…for 24 minutes anyway. Lamar was a force to be reckoned with in the first half of the game, winding up with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds.
• Thanks to a dominating first half on the boards, the purple and gold came away with a rare 41-40 overall rebounding edge against Boston highlighted by 10 boards a piece for Odom and Gasol. L.A. also came away with the edge in assists, dishing out eight more than the Celtics, 23-15.
• Derek Fisher finally emerged from his Finals slump, successfully making 4-5 shots for a total of 13 points. The veteran guard was one of five Lakers starters to reach double figures in a balanced scoring effort for L.A.
Continue reading ‘The Finals Game 4: What Went Right/Wrong’
What Went Right:
• Kobe had his best shooting night of the series so far, making 12-20 shots en route to a game-high 36 points. Moreover, the MVP came through when it mattered most, making critical buckets in the final three minutes of the game to seal the victory for the Lakers.
• While Bryant’s effort was important, Boston Coach Doc Rivers said that Sasha’s 20 point outburst was the key to the game. Vujacic was similarly clutch too, making the biggest three pointer of his life with just under two minutes to go to create some distance from the Celtics.
• The Lakers played stellar defense on Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, holding the star duo to a combined 8-35 shooting and 19 points. After the game, Coach Jackson singled out Kobe for his defense on Pierce in particular, holding the forward to a series low six points.
• After dishing out 16 assists in Game 2, Rajon Rondo suffered an injured ankle that is threatening his status for tonight’s Game 4. In Game 3, the young Celtics guard only scored eight points to go along with four assists and wasn’t much of a factor on offense.
Continue reading ‘The Finals Game 3: What Went Right/Wrong’
What Went Right:
• The Lakers embarked on a furious fourth quarter rally, cutting what was once a 24 point deficit to just two points in the final two minutes. However, after fouling Paul Pierce on the ensuing possession, the purple and gold were unable to seal the deal.
• After being badly outrebounded by 13 in Game 1, the Lakers did a much better job on the boards in Game 2, muscling down 36 rebounds compared to 37 for the Celtics. Pau got his usual 10 boards, but it was Radmanovic who surprised on Sunday with 10 of his own.
• Kobe was still hindered by Boston’s superb defense, but he had a much better effort in Game 2 after a dismal 9-26 shooting night in Game 1, chipping in 30 points (11-23 shooting) in Game 2 to fuel L.A.’s near monumental comeback.
• Although he didn’t impact the game much after Boston’s defense closed in on him in the second quarter, Gasol’s stat line for Game 2 still shows that he had a solid night, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Continue reading ‘The Finals Game 2: What Went Right/Wrong’
What Went Right:
• Derek Fisher showed improvement from his disappointing series against the Spurs, tallying 15 points while making 4-9 shots from the field.
• As been the case for most of the post-season, Ray Allen struggled to find his shot, only making five of 13 field goals. However, he made some big shots down the stretch, absolving him of his poor shooting night.
• Despite shooting just 42% from the field, the good news for the Lakers is that Boston wasn’t able to do much better, matching the poor shooting number. The difference? The Celtics shot 35 free throws, nailing 28.
• The Lakers successfully weathered Boston’s early adrenaline onslaught, leading their rivals by five going into the locker room at halftime. Unfortunately, by the end of the third quarter, the Celtics flipped the script and pulled ahead by four.
• While the offense wasn’t always crisp in Game 1, the purple and gold can’t blame turnovers for their problems as they only gave it away eight times.
Continue reading ‘The Finals Game 1: What Went Right/Wrong’
While the Celtics hold the edge over the Lakers in overall Finals matchups by an 8-2 margin, the Lakers have far and away been the more dominant team over the past two plus decades, winning four titles and only missing the playoffs twice. Lakers.com gives you a special edition of our Since We Saw Them Last, chronicling the defining moments and changes endured by L.A.’s biggest rival since they last faced Boston in the 1987 NBA Finals.
The Lakers second NBA Finals victory over the Celtics in the 1987-1988 NBA Finals officially began the downfall of a once glorious Boston team. With Larry Bird bowing out to injury just six games into the 1988-89 season, the Celtics were forced to play through an uncharacteristic 42 win season.
Although the Celtics improved in the following two seasons, buoyed by the addition of rookie guard Dee Brown and the return of Brian Shaw, they were eliminated prematurely in the playoffs both seasons, first by New York and then by Detroit in 1991.
Despite serious injuries to Bird and Kevin McHale, the Celtics won their division the following year, but again were unable to come through in the playoffs, losing to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Continue reading ‘NBA Finals Since We Saw Them Last: Celtics’
