Past and Current

For games played Friday and Sunday, we'll re-cap somewhat.
Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, we won 112-95.
The bench was able to play and Matt Barnes goes 7-7
with score of 24 for L.A. Kevin Love, (Minn.) had a really "off"
night but gave credit to our team after games end. Lamar Odom
scored 11 points on 5-11 shooting & grabbed 8 rebounds.
Kobe Bryant scored 13 of his 23 points in the first half.
Pau Gasol scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half.
It was his league-leading 11th. double-double.
Ron Artest is considering making an attempt at the NFL
after his basketball career ends. He also is interested in
boxing he claims. Shannon Brown was asked about his
shooting techniques and says he worked out tirelessly
over the summer break and made the comment of "keep
shooting and never give up!". Sundays' game against
the Golden State Warriors we again won with the score
of: Lakers 117 and Warriors at 89. Pau Gasol made it
a perfect game making all 10 of his 10 shots and every
free throw 8 for 8 at the line. The Lakers led by as many
as 30 points in the first half. None of the Laker starters
played in the 4th. quarter. The bench got a good work out.
Over all, Kobe Bryant scored 20 points, Lamar Odom 15,
Shannon Brown 17. The Lakers were able to do what they
wanted early on so the team was able to get a little rest
Coach Phil Jackson predicts that hopefully we can get
Andrew Bynum back out on the courts after his knee
surgery and subsequent healing + therapy. Maybe even
by December 10th. playing against Chicago Bulls.
Correction needed..I earlier had said that Derek Fisher
had made so many 3 pointers against Phoenix which
was a wrong mention. Instead it was during Milwaukee
game and in fact, playing Phoenix there was no way
we could beat them that night. The Suns made 22
3 pointers..which was just one shy of the NBA record!
Hats off to them certainly & sorry for my blunder!
The Lakers have spoken to free agents Erick Dampier
and Jake Voskuhl about possibly signing on as
replacement for Theo Ratliff, who is expected to be out
at least a month after his knee surgery. And now a very
sad story to report...happened at our Lakers home base
in Staples Center. Taking pictures a family was way up
on the 3rd. story level in a "luxury box" when a 2 yr.
old lad somehow slipped and tumbled nearly 50 ft. down
from a glass safety barrier that varies in height. Apparently
the child went over the edge of one section and fell into the
seating below. The Garden Grove little tyke suffered severe
head trauma & was taken to a local hospital where he died.
Condolences sent out to the family in this sorry tragedy.
To lose a child is one of life's sorriest and saddest of all
the losses one can imagine. I personally have gone through
this myself..Lamar Odom (Laker) lost a 61/2 mo. old son
with sudden infant death syndrome in June 2006. He particularly
sent his passionate feelings of issuing his sympathy to the family.
Tonight is another game and another plea for victory.
We play in Staples again too. Bring on the Bulls!
Babs Wells

Two wins and two losses...

...Although we finally managed it all. First game lost was to Denver
Nuggets and of course we even wondered about it before
hand because the mile high city has thinner air to breathe.
Anyway, that game gave us courage to begin thinking about
Phoenix game coming up with the Suns. Steve Nash was
quick and fast, our players were not quite - so it would appear.
Another game to give away but not before Shannon Brown
made us proud with all of his 3 pointer shots!
Amazing!
Then came back to back games Tuesday being the first one
playing against Milwaukee on their home court. That game
we won easily and even the bench contributed as well.
Our score at games end was 118-107.
Injured and healing Andrew Bynum did not play for the
11th consecutive game after he underwent surgery.
Backup center, Theo Ratliff was out as well with his
arthroscopic knee surgery he just recently had.
Kobe Bryant led with a 31 point game on 10 for 24 shooting
plus 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Ron Artest scored 7 points in
only 17 minutes 30 seconds. The game against the Bucks
gave us all that breathing space that was sorely needed.
Wednesday's game did just that as we led the Detroit
Pistons by 26 points at one time in the game and we
won it with the score of 103-90.
Detroit had some bad luck when Hamilton was escorted
off the floor right at the start of the game with two technical
fouls against him. Mid way in the game an injury was also
a hard luck break against Detroit when McKade came down
hard on his ankle wrenching it and shoe slipped off his foot.
He tried walking it off eventually and did stand at the line
to attempt making 2 free throws but it was evident he
was in pain. Meanwhile our Laker team got back to business
and paved the way for another win and Kobe led lurching ahead.
Now we are to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday eve.
so we shall see how that game fares for our Lakers.
See you at Staples Center!
Babs Wells

November...Thanks giving month !

And yes, Laker team. coach Phil Jackson
and all of our fans are mighty thankful
right now..Every single game..all 8
of these first seasons' games Lakers
came out the winners. Even last evening
tackling the timberwolves of Minnesota
(my homestate). They won 99-94.
We are mighty proud of each of these players.
Kobe Bryant led the way, making 33 points.
Minnesota lost with its' team being at: 1-7.
In fact, we have defeated Minnesota 12 times
now in a row. In last nights game, Pau
Gasol had 18 points and Lamar Odom
scored 15 points. The Minnesota team
is being coached, by the way, by former
Lakers assistant coach, Kurt Rambis.
The Portland game last Sunday was
a fast paced one and a winning game.
The Lakers though, made it look so easy.
Routing the Portland Trail Blazers,
the Western Conference Challengers,
winning by 121-96, gave us all much
confidence in their endurance and
in their rhythm on the floor.
Pau Gasol recorded the Lakers second
triple- double in the past three games:
scoring 20 points & grabbing 14 rebounds
+ ten assists in 33 minutes of the game.
He made 9 of 13 shots & both free throws
he attempted en route to his fourth career
triple-double. So now we travel to Denver.
The thinner air in Denver could pose a problem.
For what it is worth, The Lakers have lost
3 consecutive games with Denver..its' elevation
being 5,280 ft. + lost 2009 series with the Nuggets
3-1. Kobe Bryant showed his worth with the
Nuggets before however by making a jump shot then
going on to make a 3 pointer and lastly a 3 point play.
And so it would seem we are very much aware of
our opponent for this upcoming game with Denver.
Fly away for Colorado play..Tuesday night.
Babs Wells

Another win!

It was so much fun watching our Laker Pau Gasol and his brother Marc playing basketball on the same court against each other. Yes, we did win the game against Memphis 124-105 but the willingness for the two brothers to become so competitive was a joy to see. We also found out during this time frame that Kobe Bryant is really considering getting in on the London Olympic games in 2012 in Team USA. Lamar Odom has expressed his interest in this as well. We will be watching this play out as time goes by. The game played in Sacramento was just as much fun to watch as each former game has been with our Lakers winning against the Kings making that final score: 112-100. This then made our team winners at 5-0. Kobe's knee seemed to have been just fine as he indicated all along it really was. Andrew Bynum is still mending but is doing extremely well with his practices and should be back on the courts by Thanksgiving, we are all hoping. Lamar, Pau, Brown and Blake have stepped in to assure us the game is still on track but we do miss Andrew out there. He in fact has graduated from running on a tread mill to running on a track but is still not quite ready to be running out there on a basketball court. Being patient, building up his endurance and strength is what counts. Our win Friday night over Toronto was a hard won game, score at its ending:108-103. We were really good at the start but better at the finish. The Raptors gave us a run for our money. The Lakers though, are two time defending NBA Champions,knowing how to meet a challenge and overcome it. They had a sell-out crowd of 18,997 in the stands.. their sixth win of this new season. Pau scored 30 points, Kobe scored 23 points (remember another Toronto game where he actually scored 81 points?!!) Steve Blake scored 14 points and Shannon Brown had 12..so all in all, the unified team outscored the Raptors Friday at Staple Center. Now we are to take on Portland Sunday at 6:30. We are poised and ready, so put your glasses on Jack Nicholson and lets' watch the game! Babs Wells

Publish Post

October..goodbye!
Lakers have first 3 games in our regular season,
and now we begin our fall line-up with games scheduled
Tuesday at home against Memphis, Wednesday up
north against Sacramento and then back home
for Sunday's game against Toronto.
We seem to have some good bench players
this season. Ratliff, Barnes, Blake and Ebanks. And
Brown is our player that flies up to do the slam dunks.
Andrew Bynum is still out with knee injury and is healing
but expected back by Thanksgiving. Luke is out too
with hamstring soreness - although more than likely
will come back to play either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Kobe Bryant was asked about his knee after
Sundays game and jokingly told the reporter
that he is 100 % perfect (not so but close).
Motivation and preparedness are the two most
wanted connections for any player and it would
appear so far we have shown this to be our
mantra. Barring any more devastating injuries,
it looks right now as if our rhythm is with us
and our goals are clear. All on the same page
is actually a bit unusual for both starters
and bench to have going for them but it would
appear as though that just might be the case
for us...at least right now it does, certainly.
Another 9 month season to play, we are doing
what is required and doing it well to win games.
Pau gave us some thrills Halloween night with
his baskets made one right after the other, finally
making 26 points, Kobe made 20 points, Odom
made 16 points and Derek made 14 points so
these players running down the court knowing
what is expected of them at the basket is what
counts and allows us to win. Rested & eager legs
right now and hopefully not tired ones very soon
either, we have won 3-0 so far in this new season.
Odom talks about "picking the scab" but his analogy
may be only a reference to his ability when needed.
At any rate, we look forward to a wonderful new season.
Babs Wells