Injuries!

Injuries seem to occur in spite of
wearing the power balance bracelets!
Lamar Odom is bothered by a sore shoulder
but is playing on the courts all the same. Kobe Bryant
has his bad knees - in fact almost bone on bone.
Coach Phil Jackson says that they have been
monitoring Kobe's knees since way before the
the last spring's flareup that resulted in fluid
being drained during the first round play-
off series. Again the subject was brought up too
before the Lakers faced the New Orleans Hornets
last Friday. That was due to the fact Kobe had
revealed the extent of his knee troubles but declined
to talk specifics when asked by local reporters.
And the Lakers began their second day without
Matt Barnes. Instead they called Devin Ebanks
(rookie forward) in from the Bakersfield Jam of the
D-League in hopes he could give us a few quality
minutes. Barnes tore the cartilage in his right knee
during the Lakers' victory at last Fridays' game.
Whether he is sidelined for a few weeks or for
a longer duration, the Lakers will try to make do
by giving more minutes to Ron Artest, their starting
small forward, backup Luke Walton & probably
Ebanks too. Ebanks averaged 16.5 points,
7.7 rebounds,1.7 assists and 1.5 steals in 27.7
minutes over six games after he joined
Bakersfield on Dec. 27th. He had averaged
2.9 points, 1.5 rebounds in 6.4 minutes over
12 games with the Lakers.
Having won the last four games with Sundays'
game playing the N.Y. Knicks and winning it
with score of 109-87 we are feeling a bit
more confident now and play in Staples Center
with Cleveland on Tuesday with a back to back
game on Wednesday playing away from home
with Golden State but again back home on Friday
playing against New Jersey so...yes, we do have
our work cut out for us..hopeful players injuries
will not start showing that we cannot pull these
upcoming games off..because I do think we can.
Babs Wells