Andrew Bynum talked about his matchup with Kendrick Perkins in the paint, avoiding early foul trouble and bringing a level of physicality to the game that was lacking in last year’s NBA Finals.
Here’s ‘Drew:
Archive for the 'Players' Category
Looking for additional quickness, depth and smooth skin in the backcourt, the Lakers signed newborn Hayden Simone Powell on Tuesday evening at 10:37 p.m. in New Orleans.
Hayden’s listed measurements are (an athletic) 7.1 pounds and 19 3/4 inches. It wasn’t all smooth sailing at first, however, as the Lakers had to throw in a few crates of Gerber’s Apple Sauce to ensure that Hayden would make a hand print on the contract.
Proud father Josh Powell, who already boasts a talented young daughter, Patience, with his wife Lauren, couldn’t be happier to welcome Hayden into the organization.
“I’m very proud I have two wonderful, beautiful girls,” said Powell.
Josh is just a tad bigger than his new daughter at 6-9, 240 pounds, but it’s already clear that his athletic instincts have been passed on.
“Sure, Hayden might be on the small side of the league, but she’s extremely agile,” said a source close to the team. “I don’t think anyone in the NBA can match up with Hayden size wise, though Nate Robinson may come the closest.”
“Yeah, I mean, I can’t think of any reason why L.A. doesn’t make that acquisition,” added Lakers radio voice Spero Dedes. “I think I speak for everybody when I say that we’re all excited to see how Phil Jackson employs Hayden into the rotation.”
Lauren, Hayden and Patience will hang out in New Orleans to gloat over L.A.’s 100-87 win for a few days, while Josh will return to join his teammates in Los Angeles heading into the Christmas Day game against Boston.
Welcome to the family, Hayden!
Get ready for an understatement: Josh Powell has a lot on his mind … And Chris Paul driving into the paint during Tuesday evening’s game in New Orleans isn’t even close to the top of his thought list.
Let’s just say that Powell has something a bit more personal happening … He and his wife Lauren are expecting their second daughter tonight.
“I’m almost speechless,” an excited Powell told me before the game. “Her name will be Hayden Simone, and if she doesn’t come during the game, then after the game for sure.”
His wife Lauren, who’s from New Orleans, is in the hospital with family right now; the Powell’s first daughter, Patience, will soon be welcoming a new baby sister.
“That’s your family, so that’s always your biggest concern,” Josh continued. “But I’m (at the arena) because I want to support the team and I understand the mission that we have this year. I want to show my dedication towards my team, and then get to the hospital as soon as possible.”
Congrats in advance, Josh!
Powell will stay with his family in New Orleans tonight, and return to Los Angeles on Wednesday to rejoin the team.
According to Lakers spokesman John Black, Jordan Farmar will have surgery on Wednesday to repair the torn lateral meniscus in his left knee. Dr. Clarence Shields of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group will perform the surgery.
Upon the conclusion of the surgery, the Lakers will issue a release with an estimated time for Farmar’s return.
“My family will (be there), my brother’s on the team, so it will be interesting … It will be special.”
- Pau Gasol on returning to Memphis
Indeed.
Before coming to the Lakers in a February 2008 trade that included the rights to his younger brother Marc, Pau Gasol put together an excellent career in Memphis, where L.A.’s set to play on Monday night.
Let’s take a quick look back:
Pau as a Grizzly
Gasol was the city’s best basketball player ever since he entered the league as the No. 3 overall pick in 
2001, when his 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.06 blocks and 2.7 assists through 82 games earned him Rookie of the Year honors - not to mention emboldened NBA GMs to take more risks on international players. He subsequently led Memphis to three playoff appearances, though the Grizzlies were never able to win a game in the postseason. In a deep Western Conference in which Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Webber and others occupied the forward slots, Gasol made just one appearance, in 2006, despite averaging around 18 points, eight boards, four dimes and a few blocks each year.
Family Matters More
But as much as Gasol’s looking forward to paying his respects to a fan base that he grew to love in his many years in Memphis, it might be even more special to face his kid brother on an NBA court for the first time … Particularly with his Memphis-dwelling parents Marisa and Agusti in the crowd.
Marisa and Agusti (who both played second-division basketball in Spain) couldn’t watch their boys* go at it too often back in Barcelona, because Pau is four years older than his little brother and the two generally opted instead for shooting drills while growing up. While the competition has picked up in the last three years, especially with the Spanish National Team, Pau didn’t make it seem like the two brothers went at each other like a young Michael Jordan and older brother Larry in the back of their North Carolina home or anything.
*Pau and Marc have another younger brother named Adria, who’s 15 and also plays hoops.
“(We’re) different kind of players, (with) different bodies,” he said. “Very skilled. (Marc)’s a bit more of a banger - he’s got a better body to do that.”
The differences in Pau (7-0, 250) and Marc’s (7-1, listed at 265) games show up quite clearly on the stat sheet this season:
Pau 17.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, 0.4 spg, 1.0 bpg, 55.9% FGs, 77.6% FTs, 35.2 mpg
Marc 10.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.6 spg (got him!), 1.1 bpg, 52.8 FG%, 73.3 FT%, 28.8 mpg
To be fair, even though Marc’s just getting started and has been a pleasant surprise, the numbers alone show that he’s not comparable to big brother, even when Pau was a 20-year-old Rookie of the Year.
“I think the metabolism is different,” Pau explained. “But Marc’s been solid, and he’s a really hard worker with a lot of fight.”
Pau said that his brother tries to take advantage of the opportunities he gets offensively - which are limited - but sticks mostly to hustling, boarding, blocking shots and just fitting in. What he didn’t mention is that O.J. Mayo takes 16.3 shots a game, and Rudy Gay 16.8, which is 43 percent of the entire team’s shots just between the two of them. Marc does manage to put up about seven shots per game, mostly of the put-back variety off his 57 offensive rebounds, and clearly isn’t the focal point of the team’s offense as his brother was.
“He’s helping them be a better team,” said the elder Gasol. “He was the best part of the trade … People didn’t really know, but last year he had a great year and broke all the records in Spain … He’s a great player and he’s going to continue to prove that to people.”
Surely we can’t get mad at Pau for praising his little brother, who has without question been better for Memphis than many people expected.
But let’s be honest … There’s only one great Gasol.
Lakers guard Jordan Farmar suffered an injury to his left knee in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game in Miami.
Farmar had an MRI on Saturday in Orlando, which showed a tear of the lateral meniscus in his left knee. He will fly back to L.A. on Sunday where he will undergo examination by team doctors on Monday.
The team will issue an update at that time.
An hour before tipoff here in Miami, here are three quick topics for you to nibble on leading into the running diary:
A) Lamar on Miami.
B) Phil on low tops and the game.
Lamar Talk
Business first - Odom said he’s feeling better than he was last game (when he threw up during the win over the Knicks) but is still a little bit stuffed up.
Odom’s a big fan of the MIA: “It was my transformation from a boy to a man when I was in Miami, so for that reason (my year here) was special to me.” Lamar, who keeps an offseason home in Pinecrest, loves coming to Miami as he gets a relaxing reprise in his place of living.
Back in 2003-04, Odom spent his only season with the Heat and averaged 17.1 points, 9.7 boards and 4.1 assists plus 1.1 steals in one of his best statistical seasons as a pro. The next season, of course, he came over (with Caron Butler and Brian Grant) to the Lakers for Shaquille O’Neal. He kept it pretty simple when asked about this year’s Heat team: “They’ve played well this year, and they’re definitely playing hard,” he said. “They have a tremendous player in Dwyane Wade, some people who really understand their roles and a player in Michael Beasley who’s going to be one of the top scorers in the game in three or four years.”
Phil Jackson Pregame
Jackson added that he doesn’t think low tops - or high tops - really prevent ankle injuries, though taping might help “somewhat.”
More on Kobe’s Shoes
Finally, it’s not just Kobe who’s going to be wearing his new Nike Zoom Kobe IVs; you can expect his teammate like Trevor Ariza to be sporting them as well.
Pau Gasol, who missed Tuesday’s win over New York due to strep throat, took part in L.A.’s shootaround Friday morning in Miami. Lakers head coach Phil Jackson said he expects Gasol to play in the nationally televised contest against the Heat.
The game can be viewed on KCAL HD or ESPN, and can be listened to on AM 570 KLAC at 8 p.m. eastern.
After missing Tuesday evening’s win over the Knicks, Lakers forward Pau Gasol is listed as day-to-day with strep throat. He will be going on the team’s road trip which commences Thursday leading into Friday night’s game against the Miami Heat, but whether or not he’ll play is to be determined.
Indeed, after Wednesday’s practice, Phil Jackson said he “had no idea” if Gasol would be ready for the Heat.
As the Lakers brace for a four-game trip through Miami, Orlando, Memphis and New Orleans, Bryant’s ready to see three of his Team USA fellow gold medal winners: Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.
Accordingly, we asked him a few questions about Wade and Howard in particular heading into the first of two back-to-back games Friday and Saturday.
Here’s a link to the video: KOBE VIDEO
Kobe explained that he didn’t really know Wade before the summer in Vegas and the Olympics, but learned this about Flash: “He’s just a good person. An overall good person. He works extremely hard, and it’s fun being around him. I really respect him and how hard he works. We share similar work ethics … When I got up in the morning to lift weights, he’d be there as well, and we’d wind up lifting together. We’re pretty much on the same program, so a lot of stuff we did we did together.”
The only question is, whom do you think demanded the final set? Wade did his thing in 2006, but couldn’t you see Kobe demanding to go last so that he could put the bar up one more time than D-Wade? I do.
As for Howard, who missed the first two games of his career on Saturday and Monday with inflammation in his knee*, Bryant had this to say: “He’s just fun loving, but LeBron’s the same way. To have those two on a team, if kept everybody loose … (Howard)’s such a charismatic young player, and he enjoys talking to the press and goofing off a little bit, but he’s actually pretty quiet around us.”
*The Orlando Sentinel reported that Howard’s expected to play with a brace on Thursday against San Antonio.
In other news, Bryant said that he doesn’t expect the trip to “be a problem” due to L.A.’s depth. Finally, when prompted about Pau Gasol’s All-Star chances, Bryant was quite clear: “I don’t even think that’s a question. I don’t think that’s a doubt. If you count Tim Duncan as a center, he’s probably one of the two best forwards in the game with Kevin Garnett.”
The team takes off for Miami on Thursday morning, and we’ll be there as always to make sure you don’t miss a beat.
