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