Stay up to day with the latest news, updates, and press conferences from your Los Angeles Lakers.
Legendary hoops scribe Sam Smith, who covered Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan’s reign in Chicago while working for the Chicago Tribune, now writes exclusively for Bulls.com.
He joined us before the Bulls took on the Lakers on Thursday evening to talk about the trade scenarios he’s fond of igniting, his reflections on covering Phil Jackson and what about Kobe Bryant makes him think of Michael Jordan.
When the 2003-04 Pistons defeated the Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals, this was Detroit’s starting lineup: PG - Chauncey Billups; SG - Richard Hamilton; SF - Tayshaun Prince; PF - Rasheed Wallace; C - Ben Wallace
When the 2009-10 Pistons come to L.A., the lineup looks quite a bit different: PG - Rodney Stuckey; SG - Ben Gordon; SF - Jonas Jerebko; PF - Charlie Villanueva; C - Ben Wallace
Not only with the starters, but because General Manager Joe Dumars has retained only six players from the previous season, and Ben Wallace isn’t one of them. He was acquired in the offseason after spending the previous four seasons alternating between Cleveland and Chicago, and played his way into head coach John Kuester’s starting lineup. The other ‘04 holdovers - Hamilton and Prince - have been battling respective injuries and played in only four combined games (three for Prince) as Detroit has opened 5-5 (2-3 on the road).
To get an idea of what this crew of Pistons’ is about, we enlisted assistant coach Frank Hamblen.
Cleamons explained how Houston runs its offense in the absence of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest, explained why L.A. was able to keep point guards Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry out of the paint in Texas and detailed what the Lakers expect from Andrew Bynum, who is averaging nearly 21 points and 12 rebounds per game.
PHIL PREGAME
In his pregame press conference, Phil Jackson said that the Lakers will again look to hold down Aaron Brooks, keep the Rockets off the offensive glass and find ways to get the ball inside to Andrew Bynum, Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest. He added that the Rockets are a very good “hustle” team that can win games by outworking teams.
Finally, Jackson repeated some of the same Trevor Ariza answers he offered in Houston (essentially, that Ariza demonstrated scoring ability last season but the explanation for his 19.4 points per game was more about opportunity to take more shots) and that he expected the STAPLES Center crowd to react “very favorably” when Ariza was presented with his championship ring.
For the final of our 14 Western Conference previews, we dialed up Jason Quick of the Oregonian to talk about the Portland Trail Blazers.
Quick offered insight regarding Andre Miller’s affect on the team and Brandon Roy in particular, discussed whether or not Portland can get enough scoring on the low block from LaMarcus Aldrige - who shoots a lot of jumpers - and Greg Oden, offered his best guess at the Blazers’ crunch-time lineup and more.
Related: CLICK HERE to listen to any of the other Western previews.
We also learned from Phil Jackson that Pau Gasol (hamstring) would be inactive for the sixth straight game, while Andrew Bynum (elbow) would be active but would very likely miss his second-straight contest.
Jackson went on to discuss the contributions of D.J. Mbenga and Josh Powell, the two reserves charged with picking up the collective slack left by L.A.’s two regular starters. He seemed impressed with Mbenga’s play, which has come despite a nagging injury around his hip/groin area, and credited another hard working offseason for Powell’s continued improvement.
Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. at STAPLES Center.
On paper, the Memphis Grizzlies are among the most interesting of squads.
While they rank 7th in the NBA in scoring and have three players averaging at least 20 points (O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph), they are 30th (that’d be last) in the NBA in points allowed (115.2) and 29th in both opponent field goal percentage (50.5 percent), three-point percentage and assists per game. Translation: they don’t play good defense.
There’s a reason, after all, that Memphis is 1-4 on the season.
Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw put it like this: the Grizzlies play offense downhill and defense up hill.
Yet that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous, particularly in the likely absence of starting center Andrew Bynum (elbow) and power forward Pau Gasol (hamstring), both of whom are listed as doubtful.
For more on the matchup, check out our (above) pregame video with Shaw.
When the San Antonio Spurs added Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and rookie DeJuan Blair to their trio of All-Stars (you know, Tim Duncan - Tony Parker - Manu Ginobili), pundits around the NBA took notice.
Through three games, the Spurs have won two and lost one as not a single player is averaging 20 points or 30 minutes per game, making it difficult to predict how the team will play later in the season … Which is why we brought in Spurs radio man Bill Schoening, who let us know what was happening down in Texas.
And, of course, he gave us his (courtside) take on Manu Ginobili’s bat incident. Here’s the audio:
To Phil Jackson, the key to Wednesday night’s game in Houston is anything but complicated.
“Energy,” he explained in a word. “Just simply being able to recover and come out there and lay it down in a 48-minutes game.”
It’s not about recognizing Houston’s scheme - the Lakers got an extended look in the Western Conference Semis - or X’s and O’s at either end of the floor. Just effort.
The Lakers know that won’t be easy after a tough overtime game in Oklahoma City, particularly against a Houston team that is both playing very well would like nothing more than to “Beat L.A.” (as the Toyota Center crowd will frequently remind them).
Key for the Lakers will be the play of their bench, which produced just six points in limited action against the Thunder. Meanwhile, Ron Artest played 47 minutes, Lamar Odom 43, Andrew Bynum nearly 49, Kobe Bryant 46 and Derek Fisher 35.
Heavy, to quite heavy.
Of course, the absence of Pau Gasol - who is not expected to miss much more time - has a major affect on the bench with Odom stepping into his starting slot. As such, Jackson isn’t worried about the pine.
“They’ll get it back,” he said after the OKC win. “We have to dedicate some real minutes to them. Right now they are just patching it up and filling the gaps, and without Pau it’s real difficult because we don’t have someone to anchor that group out there that has the ability to be a go-to person in a situation where they need some settling down.”
Moments later, Bryant agreed with his head coach.
“It’s not a concern,” Kobe offered. “We’ll pick them up. There have been times that (the starter’s) rhythm was off and they came in and made big contributions … We just try to pick each other up so that when the playoffs come around the bench and the starters are clicking.”
On the other hand, boding well for L.A.’s bench is that two players - Jordan Farmar and Josh Powell - had their respective best games against the Rockets last year; Jackson and his staff are hoping that one or both are able to channel that towards Wednesday’s game, which could change the game’s story entirely.
The forecast in Oklahoma City calls for clear skies and sun all week, but Kevin Durant and Co. are hoping for some thunder and lightning - at least inside the Ford Center.
The Thunder have opened their season with two wins in three games, beating the Kings and Pistons before falling to the Trail Blazers, led by 22 points a game from Durant heading into Tuesday’s showdown with the Lakers.
We spent several minutes getting the inside perspective on OKC with their radio play-by-play man Matt Pinto last week (CLICK HERE TO LISTEN) and have added a few numbers breaking down the former SuperSonics:
THUNDER BY THE NUMBERS:
4 Thunder players to bypass college. Three are international players (Serbia’s Nenad Krstic, Switzerland’s Thabo Sefolosha and Congo’s Serge Ibaka), while Shaun Livingston came out of Peoria Central HS in Illinois.
Note: The Lakers have five players with no college experience: Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum (high school); Pau Gasol (Spain), Sasha Vujacic (Slovenia) and D.J. Mbenga (Belgium).
5 NBA players to score at least 20 points a game in their second NBA season: Kevin Durant (25.3, 2008-09); LeBron James (27.2, 2004-05); Vince Carter (29.3, 1993-94); Shaquille O’Neal (29.3, 1993-94); David Robinson (25.6, 1990-91).
5 Rookies averaging at least 15 points, four rebounds and four assists since 2000-01: OKC’s Russell Westbrook (2008-09), Brandon Roy (2006-07), Chris Paul (2005-06), LeBron James (2003-04) and Dwyane Wade (2003-04).
11 Technical fouls whistled on the Thunder last season, the fewest in the NBA. This season, they’ve yet to receive a tech.
12 Thunder rank in rebounding through three games, though the Lakers are tied for seventh (Portland).
14.3 Shooting percentage by Kevin Durant in a horrid third game of the season (83-74 loss to Portland), in which he made only 3-of-21 field goals. Durant, a career 45 percent shooter, said he had never, ever shot that poorly in a game.
19 Games out of their 23 wins last season in which the Thunder outrebounded their opponent.
25 years, 130 days The average age of the Thunder, making them the 2nd youngest team in the NBA (Golden State). OKC’s starters are even younger (23 years, 179 days), while the league average is 26 years and 329 days. San Antonio is the league’s oldest team with an average of 29 years and 73 days.
27 Thunder rank in steals, nearly as far away as you can get from the league-leading Lakers.
28 Thunder rank in scoring through three games. The Lakers are 16th.
90 Through three games, the Thunder are the only team in the NBA yet to allow 90 points. While the Lakers scored just 80 points in their lone loss to Dallas, they put up 99 against the Clippers and 118 versus Atlanta.
FROM LAKERS.com
