After this morning’s shootaround Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and assistant coach Brian Shaw stayed to have a little halfcourt shooting contest. Check out the video above to see who won and what they had to say afterwards.
Archive for the 'Sasha Vujacic' Category
Sasha Vujacic plays better after coming on Lakers.com. That’s just how it’s been.
No, seriously, (check the archives).
That’s why we grabbed him after shootaround heading into Thursday evening’s game against the Phoenix Suns, in a game that might demand more minutes from the 6-7 Slovenian thanks in part to Leandro Barbosa’s presence (Vujacic is one of the few capable and willing to chase the Brazilian Blur).
Let’s make no promises, however, that we understand completely how the conversation went. The idle chatter, however, did produce an odd, random nickname that will soon be forgotten. Take a look:
For some players, the All-Star break is a welcome momentary pause for R&R, a chance to get away from the game and give the legs some rest.
For others, like Sasha Vujacic, the break is a more strategic hiatus from grueling games and practices used to rehabilitate specific injuries.
We forget that Vujacic essentially missed the entire preseason with his injured ankle, and that he’s been nursing a sprain on his other ankle since about a month ago.
Before the game, Vujacic talked about how much better he’s feeling, declaring his ankles “100 percent” in the process. Here’s what he had to say:
After Wednesday’s shootaround in Toronto, we brought our mini video camera up to Sasha Vujacic’s room to look on as Lakers assistant trainer Marco Nunez stretched the guard/forward’s hip flexor and other muscles.
It’s actually quite common for trainers to meet with players at various times of the day to ensure that their bodies are operating as effectively as possible come game time. Nunez offered the metaphor of a car, which constantly needs various kinds of maintenance like oil changes, new tires or what have you.
Here’s the video:
Best in the East?
Perfect 80 degree weather and the NFC Championship game (see: Kobe’s insistence that his Eagles t-shirt hang from his locker) didn’t keep the Lakers out of the gym on Sunday afternoon, not with LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers coming into town on Monday.
Cleveland is perhaps the last, if not the best, contender for the championship trophy that the L.A. has yet to play. After all, the purple and gold have already seen Boston, Orlando, San Antonio, New Orleans, Utah and Houston (and even Denver and Phoenix).
Why are the 31-7 Cavs so dangerous? The very obvious answer is LeBron’s 27.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.3 blocks and All-First Team defense.
“(James has) made some improvements, in terms of protecting the lane, getting out in passing lanes, but he’s his usual stellar self,” said Kobe Bryant after practice. “I’m a big fan of his … I think he’s terrific.”
Kobe conceded that LeBron’s Olympic experience probably helped spur his defense on this season, and also said that he will “definitely” guard James at times during Monday’s game.
But it’s anything but a one-man team in Cleveland … LeBron’s been boosted by the presence of Mo Williams - a free agent acquisition from Milwaukee - who has taken some of the ball-handling pressure off James, and is a terrific perimeter shooter.
“He’s a big help, a legitimate scoring threat,” said Kobe of Williams. “He’s a person you have to identify, and we played him last year when he was in Milwaukee and he gave us fits.”
Throw in some other smooth shooters like Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, Booby Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic, plus three bigs who play good defense - Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao - and your squad’s looking strong to quite strong.
On Monday, however, the Cavs will be without two starters: Ilgauskas, who’s been on the shelf with a bad ankle, and West, who broke his wrist against Chicago last week.
Walton Goes Through Full Practice, But Won’t Start
Luke Walton completed his first full practice since missing the last eight games due to his foot injury.
“You can run all day but until you’ve actually played defense, switched, gone over screens and rebounded, it’s not the same,” said Walton. “It felt great, it didn’t hurt at all.”
Though Walton was very effective against Cleveland last season, Phil Jackson will continue to start Vladimir Radmanovic.
“Last year, I thought Luke did a really good job on (James) when he played him,” said Jackson. “(But) he’s still feeling his way a little bit.”
Sasha Finds Shooting Touch
Phil Jackson liked what he saw from Sasha Vujacic at Sunday’s practice: “He was shooting the ball (well) and looks like he’s back in rhythm,” explained the coach.
“I’m glad he said that,” said Vujacic. “It’s definitely good to be back … I’m feeling good. (The Lakers training staff) has been huge in getting me ready to play, and I’m 100 percent right now.”
With Vujacic and Walton both feeling much better, L.A. finally has 13 players healthy, and is waiting only on Farmar to boast its full complement of players.
After this morning’s shootaround, it appeared that both Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton would play this evening.
As it turns out, Vujacic is on the active roster, while Walton will spend another game in street clothes.
In his regular pregame media session, Phil Jackson explained that although Walton could play if he had to, the Lakers would like to go through a full practice as he’s been out for the past two weeks.
In the locker room, Walton said that he’s finally pain free (clearly good news), and is targeting Monday’s game against Cleveland for his return.
Jackson added that he’s not sure how many Vujacic will play against Orlando, but intimated that it’s more likely for him to stay on the court for stretches of time (rather than going in and out) in order to keep his back loose.
The Lakers finally received some good news on the injury front after Friday’s shootaround.
Both Luke Walton and Sasha Vujacic are listed as “probable” after Vujacic missed L.A.’s two-game Texas trip with back spasms and Walton the last seven games with his injured foot.
Walton and Vujacic participated in shootaround Friday and appeared to be moving well, though there’s always the chance that either injury could flare up prior to the 7:30 p.m. tip.
In other news, Derek Fisher’s groin strain does not appear to be an issue, and he is expected to start. That leaves Jordan Farmar as the only player on the roster that will definitely not play.
A great deal of talent that surely would have played a key role in Tuesday’s Western Conference matchup between L.A. and Houston won’t even get onto the court … And it’s not just the Lakers that are hurting.
Houston will certainly be without Tracy McGrady, and most likely Ron Artest, while the Lakers will go forward without Sasha Vujacic (who remained in Los Angeles on Tuesday and is also doubtful for Wednesday’s game in San Antonio), Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton and, possibly, Lamar Odom.
Odom did participate in 3-on-3 drills on Monday and shootaround on Tuesday, and said that he’s feeling better since originally hyper-extending his knee. So while he’s the most likely to play, Odom will be a game-time decision. Surely LO’s ball-handling abilities could be used with the Lakers so paper-thin in the backcourt.
And, since Sun Yue could see more playing time than perhaps he’s ready for (Kobe and Fish, get ready for 40 minutes…), it’ll be particularly important for the Lakers to force-feed Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Not only is Bynum’s scoring up and Gasol due to come back strong from a poor shooting performance (remember last time Gasol struggled at home before exploding at Golden State for 33?), but Yao Ming is the Rockets’ only player big enough to stand alongside L.A.’s front line. That’s not a good thing for Houston, since Yao’s defense is nothing to write home about.
Check back before the game, when we’ll hopefully have some more news on Odom in particular.
We learned some good and bad news at Lakers practice on Monday:
The bad: Sasha Vujacic is suffering from back spasms after tweaking his back late in Sunday’s win over Miami. He will not make the trip to Houston with the team, but it’s the team’s hope that Vujacic will be able to make a separate flight either Tuesday or Wednesday prior to the team’s games against Houston and San Antonio, respectively.
The good: Lamar Odom played a game of 3-on-3 at full speed following Monday’s team workout. Odom, who looked to be moving quite well, hit several jumpers and even exploded for a left-handed dunk. In talking to reporters afterwards (video below), Odom said that he’s going to see how the knee feels on Tuesday at Houston, and will try to play if the pain level is tolerable. Since he can’t make his bone bruise any worse by playing, it’s mostly about pain management, and Odom’s wide variety of skills allows him to compensate better from movement or pain restrictions than many players. He remains listed at day-to-day, but recognizes that a team missing both Jordan Farmar and potentially Vujacic in the backcourt needs his ball-handling skills.
We’ll have more on both Sasha and Lamar from Houston tomorrow.
Video below the jump.
