Archive for the 'Off-Season' Category

Lakers Top 10 Moments

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 23, 2009
in Miscellaneous and Off-Season
. Closed

ts_0809top10_02Over the past two weeks, we’ve been posting the Top 10 Moments of L.A.’s 2008-09 Championship season.

Each moment features a written summary and the NBA’s video feed from that game; there are worse things, of course, for Lakers fans than reliving the title-garnering journey.

The most recent moment we posted was No. 2 - “Fisher For Three … Twice,” - which is a moment that has already dug its way into Lakers lore.

The rest of the moments can be viewed by CLICKING HERE, while Moment No. 1 will go up on Thursday afternoon.

Walton Workout Video

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 22, 2009
in Luke Walton and Off-Season
. Closed

Training camp may be two weeks away for the 2009-10 Lakers, but several of the players have been in El Segundo to get a jump on the process, particularly in the past few weeks.

Last week, Lakers Director of Athletic Performance/Player Development and strength coach Chip Schaefer walked us through a player-by-player update of each player.

This week, he invited us into the training room – video camera in hand – to follow along with forward Luke Walton’s circuit-style workout.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Gasol Wins EuroBasket Title, MVP Honors

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 20, 2009
in Off-Season and Pau Gasol
. Closed

Pau Gasol and SpainIf winning his first NBA Championship weren’t enough for one summer, Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol added a EuroBasket title for his native Spain, earning MVP honors in the process.

Prior to EuroBasket - a Euro tournament that not only declares the continent’s best team but also qualifies its top performers for the World Championships - Gasol injured a finger, forcing him to sit out through much of August. Yet he quickly proved the finger not to be an issue by leading all players with 18.7 points and 2.2 blocks per game in the tournament, while finishing second with 8.2 rebounds and a 64.4 percent mark from the field.

MVP, indeed.

Gasol’s performance in the final game, an 85-63 drubbing of Serbia, was consistent with his production throughout as he led Spain with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. He even out-rebounded Serbia 8-7 by himself in the first half, helping the Spaniards win their first European championship after six second-place finishes.

“It was a great game, and obviously we won the final that we lost twice before this year, so I’m extremely happy and it’s an unforgettable day for us,” Gasol said as reported by the associated press. “We just worked so hard to win this championship and I’m just super proud of my teammates.”

The decisive victory over Serbia was particularly sweet since Spain had opened the tournament with a 66-57 loss to the Serbs. The Spaniards also dropped an early game to Turkey, but much like the Lakers, Spain played their best when they had to, winning their final five games by an average of 21.2 points.

Spain’s run to the championship included an easy 18-point victory over Greece in the semifinals, a 86-66 quarterfinal win over Tony Parker’s French side, a big victory over Poland and a besting of Lithuania.

Next on Gasol’s list: defense of the NBA title. After all, Lakers training camp is just a couple weeks away.

Pau, Spain Smash France, Advance to Semis

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 17, 2009
in Off-Season and Pau Gasol
. Closed

gasol_spain_fistSo much for an injured finger.

For the second straight night in EuroBasket 2009, Pau Gasol looked to be in midseason NBA form, leading the Spaniards with 28 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in an impressive 86-66 victory over previously undefeated France.

With the win, Spain not only advances to face the winner of Turkey and Greece on Saturday in the EuroBasket semifinals, but it earns an automatic berth in the 2010 World Championships after guaranteeing themselves a Top 6 EuroBasket finish.

Throughout the game, a France squad featuring NBA players Tony Parker, Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw and Nicolas Batum had no answer for Gasol, who routinely had his way around the rim with an array of touch shots, layups and dunks. Gasol also showed some of his 2008-09 playoffs defensive form behind three blocks of Turiaf, causing consistent problems in the paint for France.

Teammate Rudy Fernandez, whose alley-oop pass to Gasol late in the fourth was the game’s final dagger, added 16 points for the Spaniards, while No. 5 overall draft pick Ricky Rubio contributed eight points, four assists and four rebounds. Pau’s brother Marc chipped in six points and five boards in the victory, while Juan Carlos Navarro added 11 points and four dimes.

Parker managed just six points, three assists and a rebound in limited minutes for the French, who were led by 12 points and four boards from Turiaf and nine points with six boards from Diaw.

Spain’s victory came a night after their 90-68 victory over Poland, in which Gasol scored 20 points to go with five rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

Several Lakers Gather for Wednesday Workout

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 16, 2009
in Adam Morrison, Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell, Luke Walton, Off-Season, Ron Artest, Sasha Vujacic and Shannon Brown
. Closed

Training camp is still a few weeks away for the Lakers, yet several of the players gathered in El Segundo on Wednesday afternoon to shoot, lift and play some pick up ball.

As Shannon Brown explained in the above @Lakers Twitvid, he was joined by Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic, Ron Artest, Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell and Adam Morrison in addition to some D-Leaguers (to round out a 5-on-5 run).

Prior to the full-court action, some of the players went through lifting and general strenghtening activities with Lakers Director of Athletic Performance Chip Schaefer (Walton and Brown specifically), others got some shots up (Vujacic and Farmar) while others worked with assistant coach Brian Shaw and advance scout/assistant coach Rasheed Hazzard on running L.A.’s offense (Artest and Brown).

“It’s just good to get back in here,” said Walton. “I think we’re all excited about the coming season and eager to get ready to go.”

It won’t be long, since the first preseason game is only three weeks away on October 7 against Golden State.

Spain Beats Poland, Advances to EuroBasket Final 8

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 16, 2009
in Off-Season and Pau Gasol
. Closed

Needing a win to advance to the Final 8 in EuroBasket 2009, Spain easily handled host Poland with a 90-68 victory that sends Pau Gasol and his squad into the quarterfinals against undefeated France (5-0).

As reported on EuroBasket.org, L.A.’s power forward had another outstanding all-around game in scoring 20 points, grabbing five rebounds, tossing three assists and swatting three shots. Gasol and teammate Juan Carlos Navarro, formerly of the Memphis Grizzlies, combined for 19 of Spain’s 23 first quarter points, including the first seven from Gasol.

EuroBasket.org recorded Gasol’s postgame comments:

“We had a good performance today,” Gasol said afterwards. “We are growing as a team and we are very much alive in the tournament. It will be a tough game against France but we have to go through them to get anything done here. We very much look forward to it.”

The game against France will take place on Thursday evening.

Lakers Second-Round Pick Signs in Spain

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 15, 2009
in Off-Season
. Closed

Lakers second-round pick Chinemelu Elonu signed a two-year contract with the Spanish team CAI Zaragoza.

As such, Elonu will not appear at Lakers training camp this season, though the Texas A&M product does have an opt-out clause in his contract after the first season and the Lakers will retain his NBA rights.

At the Las Vegas Summer League in July, Elonu averaged 8.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, including 16 points and eight boards in L.A.’s final game.

Gasol, Spain Defeat Lithuania 84-70

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 14, 2009
in Off-Season and Pau Gasol
. Closed

Pau GasolThroughout L.A.’s 2008-09 campaign, Lakers fans grew accustomed to the elite offensive efficiency of Pau Gasol, who routinely went 9-for-11 (like in Game 3 of the Finals), 8-for-12 (like Game 6 of the Western Finals) or even 12-for-13 (like against Dallas in March).

On Monday evening in Poland, Gasol was at it again, though this time for his National Team, leading Spain to an 84-70 victory with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting alongside eight rebounds and three blocks.

For full details of Spain’s win, which puts the team in good position to advance to the Final 8 of EuroBasket 2009 (a win against Poland on Wednesday would ensure as much), you can head to Eurobasket.org:

Spain recovered from a slow start to cruise past Lithuania 84-70 in Group F of the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round. The win saw the world champions improve to 3-2 and boosted their chances of reaching the last eight of the competition. Meanwhile, Lithuania dropped to 0-4 and are assured of missing out on the Quarter-Final stages for the first time since 2001. Afterwards, Spain head coach Sergio Scariola was very happy with his team’s performance.

Scariola praised star player Pau Gasol for his performance: “Pau was very important defensively for us. He made one big step forward in terms of intensity and aggressiveness. The team took advantage of this.”

The win came at a key time, as Spain had lost to Hedo Turkoglu’s Turkish squad 63-60 on Saturday. Their tilt against Poland is set to tip off at 6:15 in Lodz, Poland.

Spain Squeaks By Slovenia

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 9, 2009
in Off-Season and Pau Gasol
. Closed

Pau GasolPau Gasol and his Spanish teammates built a 13-point lead heading into the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s EuroBasket showdown with Slovenia, but found themselves in overtime after a furious rally and buzzer-beating jumper that mandated an extra period.

Enter Gasol, who first converted a tough and-1 near the rim and second grabbed an offensive board and stuck it back for five-straight OT points that gave Spain some breathing room. Ultimately, the Spaniards were able to hold on for a 90-84 victory that propelled them into Eurobasket’s next round.

A day after posting 27 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over Great Britain, Gasol’s finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal against a scrambling Slovenian defense that loaded up down low, though his contributions were certainly timely.

Former NBA player Juan Carlos Navarro led Spain with 21 points, while Portland’s Rudy Fernandez added 19.

Spain had previously lost to Serbia but beaten Great Britain, while Slovenia had beaten both, meaning both teams finished at 2-1 in their group. It’s presumed that Spain’s victory over Slovenia would render them the group winners as both advance to the subsequent round.

Gasol Responds in Spanish Win

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on September 8, 2009
in Off-Season and Pau Gasol
. Closed

After a tough first game back from his finger injury in Spain’s opening loss to Serbia, Pau Gasol was back to his dominant self in a 27-point, 11-rebound performance that led Spain to a 84-76 victory over Great Britain as the Spaniards avoided elimination from EuroBasket 2009.

Eurobasket.org described what ended up being a surprisingly close game:

Great Britain used a 12-0 run in the first 3:28 of the fourth quarter to take their first lead, 68-66, on Mike Lenzly’s right corner three-pointer. They went up by as many as four, 73-69, when Jarrett Hart hit a long bomb of his own. Spain answered right back. Rudy Fernandez stepped into the passing lane for a steal and breakaway dunk before Pau Gasol hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with just over three minutes left to edge Spain back in front 74-73. Spain didn’t trail again after that as Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro sealed the game.

After scoring just nine points and missing all but 1-of-8 free throws in Spain’s Game 1 loss to Serbia, Gasol made 5-of-6 shots from the field, 2-of-2 from three and 11-of-18 free throws to lead the way.

That’s the Pau Lakers fans know.