Thursday, October 31, 2013

WIN ONE, LOSE ONE

Staples Center last Tuesday evening
hosted both L.A. teams for the start
of the brand new season. L.A. Clippers
and L.A. Lakers. No, no Kobe so far
but Steve NashPau GasolChris Kaman,
Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar certainly
did mighty well and the team led us to a
victory. Score: 116-103.
Pretty good showing for our first game
this new season. Coach D'Antoni was proud.
Back to back games are harder to do + to fit 
in with energy and stamina. Our Laker boys
showed some lethargy out there on the court.
Playing Golden State Warriors  by 19 at
the half, 33 at the end of the third quarter &
35 early in the fourth. at Oracle Arena. Steve
Nash sat out so this point guard did not play.
With heavy hearts we have to concede that
we were not able to pull off another win and
the ending score was: 125-94.
Friday, back again at Staples, we will be
taking on The San Antonio Spurs. I have a
strong feeling that we ought to seriously watch
a new young player, Xavier Henry. At 22, he
is one I do believe to be reckoned with.
Best of luck now for the upcoming Friday game!
BABS WELLS

Sunday, October 27, 2013

AMONGST OUR MEANDERINGS, WE SAY GOODBYE


Former coach, NBA Hall of Famer and player for the
Boston Celtics, Lakers Coach Bill Sharman at 87
has passed away. Having won 4 NBA titles during an 
11-season career as a shooting guard in Boston,
he was widely considered one the the greatest shooters
of his era and is still ranked as one of the NBA's best
free-throw shooters. An NBA record, which was in having 
a 33-game winning streak, the longest in pro-sports
history. The Lakers went 2 months without losing a 
game during his debut season, setting a record for
winning so many consecutive games before playoffs.
Sharman died last Friday at his Redando Beach home. 

Kobe Bryant (shooting guard),Shawne Williams (Forward),
Steve Nash (point guard), Nick Young (guard), and Pau
Gasol (center) along with coach Mike D'Antoni, are
all along with the rest of us, looking forward to this
coming Tuesday's new season game against the Clippers.
Kobe is still recuperating from his injury but is on the
sidelines in full form responding well with his long term
increased activity. Steve Nash is 39 and even
with several past injuries, is so looking forward to playing.
For the first time since helping the Lakers to three
consecutive NBA Finals appearances & 2 league
titles, Gasol will become the team's focal point once
again in the post. His increased role coupled with
improved health, should lift Pau's performance.
Lakers forward Chris Kaman, missed his second
pre-season game because of a stomach virus,
though he is expected to return to practice today.
Steve Blake (shooting guard) Young (small forward)
Shawnee Williams (power forward) and Pau (center)
will field the starting lineup on opening night.
We, of course, wish them well and please stay healthy!
Babs Wells

Thursday, October 24, 2013

READY..SET..GO !!!

Our Lakers won their last game that was played  
Tuesday @ Staples Center against the Utah Jazz. 
Score:108-94. Next, before the new season, they 
again will be playing Utah this coming Friday evening 
at Honda Center. Great picture in today's Daily Newspaper
with Pau Gasol and Steve Nash high-five'ing each
other after the first 1/2 of the game. Nash has stayed
limited in training camp in hopes of avoiding last
season's nightmare. Then, he missed a combined
32 games because of a fractured left leg, sore back
and hamstring issues. He has since healed those
injuries, however, he missed the majority of a pre-
season game two weeks ago because of a sore
left ankle. He has averaged 3.5 points on 42.9
percent shooting and 3.71 assists in 16.7 minutes
through six pre-season games. Kobe Bryant is
still healing his left Achilles tendon and some 
of the reserves have had injuries of one nature or
another besides. Jordan Farmar, Jodie Meeks,
Wesley Johnson and Jordan Hill, as each logged 
double digit minutes and combined for 59 points
in the game on Tuesday but D'Antoni, (coach) is
still watching them carefully and wants to field
a 10- man rotation.Such a move would give the
Lakers added depth after D'Antoni mostly played
8 players last season so the team's top-heavy
lineup could scrape into the playoffs.
Steve Nash, Pau Gasol and Nick Young only
are assured of starting spots, so the possibilities
appear limitless. The new season begins 10/29.
Robert Sacre is another player under contract.
This leaves the Lakers' with plenty of money to
throw at the free agent market. This also leaves
the Lakers' roster with plenty to prove, knowing every
good or bad performance could determine the
size and length of their next contract..and so, we
all begin speculating and waiting with bated
breath for our Lakers' to take their rightful places.
May God Bless "My boys"..this writer states
as I feel I perhaps have the right of saying. being
I just passed yet another Birthday yesterday (83)!
Babs Wells

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

SOMEONE UNHAPPY??

Abdul-Jabbar (Kareem) says that our former Laker,
Dwight Howard, has taken an attitude of un-ease
over some remarks Kareem has made. It seems that
quite a disgruntled Howard has become miffed over
these remarks when, in fact, it would appear that the
remarks were actually for his own good. The former Lakers'
Center who won 5 of his 6 NBA titles during the Showtime
Era, appeared earlier this month on ESPN'S First Take
and said that Howard's"basketball IQ  is not up to speed"
Howard scoffed to reporters about the criticism and
argued some of that was merely due to leaving the Lakers.
Kareem later said in an interview "I do not know how
to speak Chinese but that doesn't make me stupid. However
in that particular area, though..I am ignorant. I know very
little Chinese..but in the area of playing basketball at the
highest level, Dwight Howard has things to learn...so in
those terms he needs to learn many aspects of the
game but that is not making him "Stupid."
In his lone season playing with the Lakers, Howard averaged 17 
points on 57.8% shooting and a league leading 12.4 rebounds
per game. Howard also experienced adversity through his
annoyance with Kobe Bryant's leadership style. Howard had
some testy exchanges with Steve Nash over passes and
defensive rotations. All in all, it would seem profitable to
us all, that Dwight did have some issues and left our team
for another and as adults, we ought to wait it all out and
see how well he pursues his chosen profession with Houston.
Babs Wells  

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

CELEBRITY STATUS


Just in case some of you out there are not aware
of our Lakers Star Kobe Bryant's popularity in
China, you ought to have read this mornings' 
paper. Seems he did not even join in
with his fellow players in going to view the
China Wall while in China as it would have
caused a horrendous traffic jam with all of
the fans and crowds that would be seeking
Kobe's autograph. In fact, since first hosting 
a clinic in China in 1998, Bryant has visited
China each summer for the past 8 years.
His latest stop marks the second trip
he has made to the country this year. That
gives him a platform to promote more than
just the NBA Global Games, which will
boast a league-record 12 teams playing
10 games in 10 cities spanning 7 countries.
Bryant also hosted two meet-and-greet 
events Sunday in Beijing, one sponsored
by Nike and the other run by the Soong Ching
Ling Foundation, a charity sanctioned by
the Chinese government. This charity raises 
money within the country earmarked for
education and health programs. Bryant will
also participate in other events this week.
He will attend another Nike-sponsored
event on Wednesday and participate
on Thursday in the NBA Cares basketball
clinic for the Special Olympics as well as a
fan appreciation event. It is very evident
that so many of the Chinese people appreciate
and respect so many of the things that our
Kobe has done and/or been a part of there.
For a look back in history, there was a young
fellow that was a forerunner of basketball 
that led in Oklahoma and was tall for that day.
Bob Kurland, called "The Big Man", was 6 ft.
101/2 " and was dubbed by those that ridiculed
him "Glandular goon". Playing for the "Hall of
Fame" coach Hank Iba, he took Oklahoma A&M
(now called Oklahoma State) to NCAA tournament
championships in 1945 and 1946. We now have
lost him. He died on September 28th at age 88.
So, now with our Kobe's "rock star" status in
China, we'll watch a game being played there 
tomorrow morning, channel 262 at 4:30AM 
Pacific time, shown on Time Warner.
Babs Wells



Sunday, October 13, 2013

OFF TO CHINA AND GREAT WALL

After a 13-hour flight to China, the Lakers
have quite an agenda already scheduled.
Today their plans include seeing the famed
Great Wall. There will be two exhibition games
against The Golden State Warriors;  
in Beijing on Tuesday and in Shanghai October 18th
The fans go absolutely wild over our Kobe Bryant there.
They have been witness to various NBA
sanctioned events so they cheer our star on.
Once the Lakers return October 19th
(Saturday), they will have two more
pre-season games and 7 more practices
before the teams' season opener Oct 29th.
The Lakers trainer, Gary Vitti, advised the
team on how to handle flights to and from
China. To avoid dehydration, drink water
instead of caffeine or alcoholic beverages.
To prevent leg stiffness, walk about on and
off down the aisles. Upon arrival, avoid taking
a nap since it would delay adjusting to the 15
hour  time difference. Chris Kaman, who played
for the German national team in 2008 Beijing
Olympics, also offered some tips. He said to
not eat things from street vendors. And, as it is
not a free country, just remember they make
the rules and can call you out or put you in
a bad situation at any time, so just remember
that. Steve Blake, interests in politics and in
visiting interesting historical sights, says he
is extremely curious about this China visit.
Steve Nash made the remark that taking such
a long trip together and traveling so far, can
really bring the whole team closer together.
He claims that with such a good group, they
ought to do very well all along this trip.
And speaking of Nash, he is already being
troubled by a sore left ankle. With turning 40
in February, he is very much aware of his
own body so often these days, seemingly
to turn on him and he has to care for
the aches and pains so that they will not
destroy his playing this coming Oct 29th.
Having missed 32 games total last
season, it is with some apprehension for
playing with the team with a far better
bod even with fewer minutes on the courts.
Nash focused this off-season on improving
what he called his "postural stability" and
"Movement patterns". So as he performed
his series of dribbles and jumpers, he also
monitored each step he took to avoid 
making any awkward twists that could put
additional pressure on his sensitive spine.
We wish him well later this month during
the plays in our 2013 new season.
Babs Wells 

Friday, October 11, 2013

AND SOON ON TO CHINA????

The game last evening in Las Vegas was fun to
watch, wasn't it though? Sorry Steve Nash had a
slight problem and left for the sidelines. Nice seeing
how Pau Gasol is taking charge much more these
days and appears to be in great shape. Nice too
having Kobe Bryant around even if not in uniform
to play quite yet. China absolutely loves him so
it ought to be a blast when our Lakers land there.
As to Pau, this is his last year under contract.
He will be making $19.9 million with another
chance to prolong his stay with this franchise
he loves and remain with the Lakers team.
The Lakers only have three players under contract..
beyond next season, including Steve Nash, Robert
Sacre and Nick Young. That leaves the Lakers with
plenty of purchasing power to attract high profile
free agents, possibly including LeBron James and
Carmelo Anthony. Of course the Lakers also want to
resign Kobe Bryant, whose $30.5 million contract
expires after this season. We are most hopeful that
Steve Nash's ankle mends soon and we get him to
be back out on the courts to play barring no more
injuries. He missed 32 games last season, for reasons
including a fractured left leg and a persisting hamstring
and back issues.Through two pre-season games, Nash had
averaged two points and 5.5 assists in 21.9 minutes.
Persisting injuries to Wesley Johnson (strained left foot) 
and Jordan Farmar (strained right calf) kept them out
of the recent lineup. Lakers forward Jordan Hill has a
sore right knee but he still did play against the Kings.
Now for the excitement of seeing our team play for the
remainder of the pre-season games. Take care kids!
Babs Wells

Monday, October 7, 2013

PRE-SEASON GAMES, ETC



Last evening I watched the Denver Nuggets
beat our Lakers team by 9 points. I see
that Pau made some pretty good shots
though and in the first 1/2 we were ahead.
Good seeing Steve Nash running down
the floor once again. Seems Kobe is not
in the country right now. Having some 
medical procedure done in Germany . Nothing
serious. This time it is a treatment beyond
the rehabbing for his left Achilles tendon.
Bryant's agent, Rob Pelinka states that
it is somewhat similar to what he had done
on his right knee and left ankle and is
called Orthokine, which involves removing
blood from an affected area and spinning it into a 
centrifuge to isolate platelets. They are then
injected into the injured area to stimulate
tissue repair. Yahoo! Sports first reported on the
procedure. And back again to Steve Nash, who
is from Canada but moved to the states 21 years ago.
He has had a remarkable NBA career. This 39 year old 
point guard is now the oldest player in the NBA.
He is now into his 18th NBA season playing.
He appears completely healthy, after injuries essentially
scuttled his debut season with the Lakers, but even
with possibly less minutes per game to play on the
courts he continues to fight back father time. Yes,
he will remain cautious playing and granted, he will
be getting in some rest time per game too. As to
Pau Gasol, he had not performed many basket-ball
related drills this off season and sat out the scrimmage
portion when the Lakers had 2 training sessions but
he merely wanted to avoid extra pounding on his knees.
Such fun all the same watching these 7 exhibition
games on T.V. Wishing the camera angles were better.
This past years' training camp went well under coach
D'Antoni and the Lakers appeared to be happy campers.
Babs Wells

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

TRAINING CAMP

Pau Gasol, finally healthier, is looking forward to be the Lakers' man
in the middle once again. Both Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum
being gone from our team, allows him his eagerness. He is a dominate
player and one of the top players in the league. His preference is to
be more inside in order to be more productive. Pau is such a good 
offensive center plus a very big guy that seems to be able to play almost 
any position. With Kobe Bryant sidelined indefinitely, it is clear that we 
will be leaning more on Pau who rarely complained when the coach
made changes. This four time All Star big man loves the franchise
in a way Howard never seemed to understand and now the Lakers
are returning that love. If he is healthy, Mitch Kupchuck says he 
will be the focal point of our play in the paint. He will be able to post
up. He is not going to have to really share that much space so a lot
of what he did last year was merely an adjustment and deferring.
Granted he had to contend with injuries which is not all that
surprising for a big man in his 30's, but they are also the product
of Gasol's heavy workload during the Lakers' three straight seasons
with NBA finals trips after he arrived in 2008. As to a contract for
him, it seems nothing has yet been decided on a contract extension.
Although Kobe Bryant has been globetrotting comfortably on his
surgically repaired Achilles tendon, he is still uncertain when he 
will be joining the Lakers on their practice court from a hugely
disappointing season for the 16-time champion franchise.
He states that his goal is to play some but being smart about it.
He will pace it the right way and just see how it goes with his
strength thing now. They finished seventh in the Western
Conference and were swept out of the first round by Atlanta.
Injuries limited Steve Nash and Pau Gasol as well as the damage
done to Bryant, who is still recovering from his injury in April.
Health can really cripple a team and that is what took place last
year. Bryant, all the same, is very aggressive with his recovery.
So this 35 year old Kobe is entering his final year of his contract
with high hopes. Now on to the training camp and we do realize
they will have some competition. The reasons go beyond wanting
to rectify last season's first-round loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers have plenty of positions to iron out. Steve Blake and
Jordan Farmar will compete for back-up point guard. Young and
Johnson are fighting for a starters role. The Lakers' training camp
roster also features 7 players either with non-guaranteed or
partially guaranteed deals, including: 
Shawne Williams (partial), Elias Harris (partial), 
Xavier Henry (non-guarantee), Ryan Kelly (non-guarantee), 
and Marcus Landry (non-guarantee). 
That is about all to report here today for you.
Babs Wells