Archive for the 'Chris Mihm' Category

Lakers vs. Cavs Pre-Game

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Jeff Skibiski
on January 27, 2008
in Chris Mihm, DJ Mbenga, Injury News, Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson, Pre-Game and Vladimir Radmanovic
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Before today’s showdown against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Coach Phil Jackson finally had some good news to share on the injury front; injured forward Vladimir Radmanovic will suit up for today’s game. Jackson also said that Chris Mihm will travel with the team on their upcoming nine game road trip and will hopefully return to the floor sometime around the middle of that stretch.

Jackson said that the team has yet to sit down and decide whether or not they will renew replacement center DJ Mbenga’s 10 day contract that expires after this Tuesday’s game against the Knicks, but did praise Mbenga for his attentiveness in the limited time he’s been with the Lakers.

Looking ahead to today’s game and the always exciting battle between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, Jackson said that no matter how many years a player has been in the league, it’s still difficult at times to resist the urge to go mano-a-mano against certain players. However, Jackson said that while Kobe is still baited at times, his individual play comes with more of a team mindset now.

Lakers vs. Nuggets Pre-Game

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Jeff Skibiski
on January 21, 2008
in Chris Mihm, Injury News, Lamar Odom, Phil Jackson, Pre-Game, Trevor Ariza and Vladimir Radmanovic
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As the injuries continue to pile up for the Lakers–Trevor Ariza the latest casualty–Coach Jackson said that certain players’ roles are bound to change. “It’s going to be one of those things,” said Jackson. “We’re just going to have to work our way through this. Unfortunately for Trevor, he was playing really well.” In Ariza’s absence, Jackson said the team will likely have to rely on Lamar Odom more at small forward.

However, Jackson did supply some rare positive news on the injury front, revealing that Vladimir Radmanovic has been able to participate in more exercises on the floor in recent days. While he has not begun running yet, Jackson said he is making solid progress. Injured center Chris Mihm has also begun more strenuous exercises and may be ready to return when the Lakers embark on their nine game road trip starting in Detroit.

In looking ahead to tonight’s game, Jackson said, “This is a game that is absolutely needed because this is a small team.” With the undersized Najera playing behind Marcus Camby, the coach said that tonight would likely present a “situation in which Ronny can play some center and probably well.”

Jackson also said he expects Kwame Brown to recover from being booed throughout the Lakers’ loss to Phoenix last Thursday. According to Jackson, there will no doubt be a certain amount of anxiety for Kwame, but the team’s willingness to look for him inside will not change.

Radmanovic Sprains Ankle, Mihm to Miss 3-4 Weeks

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Ty Nowell
on January 3, 2008
in Chris Mihm, Injury News, Lamar Odom, Practice News and Vladimir Radmanovic
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Lakers Forward Vladimir Radmanovic twisted his ankle towards the end of practice today at the Toyota Sports Center.

The severity of the injury isn’t yet known, but Radmanovic is being listed as questionable for the game against the 76ers.

Phil Jackson didn’t seem overly worried about the injury. “He twisted it. I don’t know if it’s a sprain, we’ll see what that is… he walked off the court on his own, I think he’s going to be okay.”

Radmanovic’s injury leaves the Lakers front court even thinner than it already was after finding out that Center Chris Mihm is likely to miss 3-4 weeks due to inflammation in his surgically repaired ankle.

Lamar Odom is not available for Friday’s tilt against the Philadelphia 76ers due to an NBA imposed suspension stemming from his flagrant foul on Ray Allen Sunday night.

Practice News: 1/2/08

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Jeff Skibiski
on January 2, 2008
in Chris Mihm, Injury News, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Practice News
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Everyone practiced for the Lakers today as the team began to shake off the ill effects of Sunday night’s blowout loss to Boston.

The Lakers will be without forward Lamar Odom who was suspended for Friday’s game against the Sixers for his flagrant foul on Ray Allen. After practice today, Odom seemed to be taking the suspension in stride, reaffirming that he did not intentionally try to harm Allen. Lamar did say, however, that he was a bit peeved from a foul he deemed exceptionally hard by James Posey on the previous trip down the floor. Although the team will certainly miss his all-around play, Kobe said that he appreciated Odom’s tenacity and toughness on the floor.

INJURY UPDATE: Center Chris Mihm received sonorex treatment on his right ankle for a condition known as Retro-Calcaneal Bursitis–the inflammation of the bursa at the back of the heel bone. Mihm will undergo the treatment three times for a period of one week.

Freaky Friday at Lakers Practice

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Jeff Skibiski
on December 7, 2007
in Chris Mihm, Injury News, Kobe Bryant, Luke Walton and Practice News
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Once the media was invited in for the final few minutes of today’s practice, Lakers players began falling one by one. In a bizarre ten minute stretch, Crittenton, Turiaf and Walton all suffered what appeared to be minor injuries. Javaris slipped near the basket during the team’s scrimmage, undercutting Ronny and sending him to the ground. Both players seemed fine after a few minutes though.

Walton also appeared to hurt his ankle or somewhere nearby, walking gingerly off the court to an adjacent trainer’s table. He still managed to get a few jokes in with Bryant and Mihm though so hopefully it isn’t anything too serious.

Coach Jackson described today’s practice as “sloppy.” Luckily, the Lakers only play one game in the next six nights so they’ll have plenty of time to clean up the mess.

Monday Injury Updates

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Ty Nowell
on December 3, 2007
in Chris Mihm, Injury News and Practice News
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Ronny Turiaf did not practice today and will not travel with the team today when they fly to Minnesota. Turiaf left last night’s game in the fourth quarter after taking an elbow from Magic Center Dwight Howard.

“We’ll see what the evaluation is tomorrow and he’ll join us in Denver if he’s okay,” said Phil Jackson.

Chris Mihm sat out practice due to inflammation in his foot.

Jackson added, “We’re just kind of holding back with both those guys. We only had ten guys out there today and it was a pretty short group.”

Kwame Brown remains injured after sustaining a moderate sprain of his left knee and ankle against Chicago on November 18th and is expected to remain in LA as the team hits the road.

Lakers Today: 12/02/07

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Ty Nowell
on December 2, 2007
in Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm and Lakers Today
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The spotlight will fall squarely on Andrew Bynum tonight as Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic roll into STAPLES Center. The first overall pick from the 2004 draft has blossomed into one of the most dominate big men in the league in just his 4th season–much the same way the Lakers hope Bynum will continue to progress.

Bynum is second in the league in dunks this season with 34. Howard leads the league with 81. That’s quite a disparity.

“He’s a beast now, pretty much like the new Shaq,” Bynum said of Howard. “If he gets anything by that restricted area [near the basket], you’re in trouble.”

Bynum and Howard are friends off the court (there was talk last summer of Drew heading back east to work with Howard), but tonight’s matchup should tell us a lot about where Bynum is in his development process.

Lakers rookie guard Javaris Crittenton is also very familiar with Howard. The two were teammates at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy and won a state title together.

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Bynum will be primarily responsible for Howard tonight. Kwame Brown is still on the shelf with ankle and knee injuries and Chris Mihm still trying to find his way after missing the majority of two seasons.

Mihm has found the recovery process to be as lengthy as advertised.

“I’d like it to feel 100 percent and not be something I have to worry about on a daily basis, but it’s not that way right now,” Mihm said.

“Whenever I talk to my doctors and my rehab people, they say I’m right on schedule. It’s a process.”

It’s simply taking longer than Mihm would like.

When you watch the games you can see Mihm getting to the right spots and making the smart plays, but his athleticism just isn’t there yet. It’s been tough for him to get the same kind of lift he had before his injury and his game hasn’t adjusted to it.

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Orlando went out and spent a lot of money on Rashard Lewis this summer. So far Lewis has been okay, but not max-deal good.

‘There will be some nights when I’m going to struggle, some nights when Turk [Hedo Turkoglu] is going to struggle and some nights when Dwight [Howard] is going to struggle,’ Lewis said. ‘The great players come out of their slump and continue to play regardless of what people are saying. I’m not worried about it at all.

‘It’s happened to me before. And I’ve gotten out of it.’

And how do you do that?

Lewis smiled and shrugged.

‘Keep shooting. Don’t think about it. Don’t hesitate. Because if you stop shooting the ball, then you really put yourself in a slump.’

Lakers at Celtics Post-Game

Published
by
Ty Nowell
on November 23, 2007
in Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm, Jordan Farmar, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Phil Jackson, Post-Game and Vladimir Radmanovic
. 0 Comments

The Lakers were tied with the Celtics for sixty-two seconds and trailed for the other 46:58 (by as much as 22 at one point).

LA trailed by 18 at the half and wasn’t able to put together a run that would cut the deficit to less than nine in the second half. With 5:02 left in the game Celtics Guard Ray Allen, a career 88% free throw shooter, missed two from the stripe and allowed the Lakers to cut the lead to nine after a Jordan Farmar three pointer.

“We got in down to nine with just under three minutes left. Yeah, we were in the game then. But we still didn’t have the momentum that I would like to see,” Phil Jackson said. “But that was probably the only time between the beginning of the first six minutes and the end of the game that we felt like we were in the game.”

Jackson also cited poor defense and an inability to execute the offense as reasons for the loss. The Lakers shot poorly the majority of the game, but had many easy chances around the basket that they couldn’t capitalize on.

Kobe Bryant led the way with 28-points, but only shot 43% from the floor. Vladimir Radmanovic logged his fifth consecutive double digit scoring effort, scoring 18-points on 7-12 shooting. Vladi remained hot from three-point land, making 3 of 6 and upping his season season average to 52% (24/46) from deep.

Lamar Odom struggled for the second consecutive game, scoring only four points on two of seven shooting. Lamar has only made one of his fourteen shots from behind the arc this season.

The Celtics big three of Pierce, Allen, & Garnett combined for 59-points, but it was Center Kendrick Perkins who killed the Lakers tonight. Perkins averages less than seven points a game, but matched that total in the first quarter, and finished with a season high 21 and was a plus-30.

Center Andrew Bynum was in foul trouble throughout much of the game, only playing 26 minutes. Chris Mihm logged 14 minutes, but was largely ineffective. Kwame Brown, who was injured last Sunday against the Bulls, continues to be missed on the defensive end.

The Lakers will spend the night in Boston tonight and use Saturday as a travel day before meeting the New Jersey Nets on Sunday night at STAPLES Center. They’ll have to wait till December 30th to get revenge on the Celtics.

Lakers vs. Bucks Pre-Game

Published
by
Jeff Skibiski
on November 21, 2007
in Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm, Pre-Game and Trevor Ariza
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After last night’s slaughtering of the Pacers, the Lakers need to come out equally focused for tonight’s game versus the Milwaukee Bucks. Many times, young teams like the Lakers tend to get overconfident after they come out of the gates winning seven of 10 games.

The Lakers must be especially careful though as the Bucks are on a three game win streak of their own, including an impressive, confidence-building victory over division rival Cleveland last night. As always, the Lakers are faced with the difficult task of stopping All-Star Bucks guard Michael Redd who has lit up L.A. in the past.

On the Lakers end, Bynum and Mihm will go against Andrew Bogut at center, a player who is known almost exclusively for his offensive skills. In other words, the chances of Bynum continuing his streak of productive games are pretty high.

The Lakers will also get their first look at newly acquired forward Trevor Ariza who passed his physical and will be in uniform for the team tonight. On the opposite end of the floor, L.A. will get its first look at much talked about Bucks rookie Yi Jianlian who has showed flashes of brilliance for Milwaukee in their nine games thus far.

Like the Lakers, the Bucks are a balanced squad who present scoring threats at almost every position. But, if L.A. can hold Redd in check and continue to get exceptional results from its bench, the Lakers should be able to extend their four game win streak and avenge the two losses they suffered last year at the hands of the Bucks.

Lakers Today: 11/20/07

Published
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Ty Nowell
on November 20, 2007
in Chris Mihm, Jordan Farmar, Kobe Bryant and Lakers Today
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A shiny 6-3 record is a nice thing to have with ya as you head out for a three game road trip. The Lakers left early Monday in preparation for their game tonight against the Indiana Pacers.

Center Kwame Brown remained in LA nursing his sprained left MCL. The team will miss his defense tonight against Pacers big man Jermaine O’Neal. O’Neal hasn’t been himself thus far this season as he recovers from off-season knee surgery and a new up-tempo offense.

“I look at where we’re at right now and where I’m at physically, I’m on schedule to get back to where I need to be,” he said. “Obviously, I need to score some more points, get some more rebounds, block some more shots but we’re only 10 games in and we kind of game myself a 10-game cushion to get my rhythm going, get my cardio going. I’m really looking forward to (Tuesday’s) game to really pick it up on the offensive end of the floor.”

Pacers Head Coach Jim O’Brien won’t be sleeping on Kobe.

“He’s the best player in the world,” Indiana Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said. “If he’s interested in scoring, he’s going to score. Defensively, he showed for USA Basketball this summer that he’s one of the great shutdown guys in the world — certainly in our league.”

Bryant has been held under 20-points the last two games, which is extremely out of character for him. The emergence of the “Bench Mob” has taken some of the responsibility off of Bryant’s shoulders. The second unit eclipsed their own 67-point outing against the Suns with a 73-point effort against the Bulls on Sunday night, the most since the heyday of Showtime.

Jordan Farmar continues to lead the charge for the bench players.

“I’m definitely just more a part of it,” Farmar said. “The ball is in my hands a lot so that’s what it may seem like, and I’m making a lot of decisions. But nothing happens if they don’t help me defensively, if we don’t make the rotations, if I make the extra pass and they don’t knock the shots down. We’re just having fun.”

Andrew Bynum has also had a strong season while playing on the second unit and it is likely that Chris Mihm will get the starting nod in Brown’s absence.