SIBLING RIVALRY

Was fun seeing both the Gasol brothers

battling it out on the courts in Memphis.

Marc made 14 points for his team and

Pau made 17 for our Lakers. He is a bit

disgruntled about D'Antoni's plays that

evidently harbor upon a difference of

opinion to his. At any rate, we almost

had a tie game and was it ever fun to

see Jordan Farmar make those 3's!!

Wish we could have won but wasn't in

the cards. Score at games' end:108-103.

Was a good game with Indiana too.

One of our newcomers Kent Bazemore,

scored 23 points for us. Wesley Johnson

added another 15 points. Indiana has

the best record in the Eastern NBA 

conference. The ending score was: 118-98.

D'Antoni had wanted to obtain Nate McMillan,

former Seattle and Portland coach, to oversee

the Lakers defense. Instead, McMillan has

accepted an associate coaching position

with the Indiana Pacers. A larger salary for 

him. Coach D'Antoni envisioned McMillan 

implementing the Lakers' defensive concepts, 

a responsibility that eventually fell to Kurt Rambis. 

Right now, the Lakers rank 29th out of 30 

NBA teams in total defense following 105.9 points 

per game. Nick Young is eager to play again in

spite of his swelling with the injured bone bruise.

"I really want to play as I do not have all that

many games left" Young stated to the Daily News.

He also made a statement that he truly wants

to continue wearing the Lakers uniform.

Losing to Brooklyn was tough. Final score

was: 108-102. We played well but were hard

pressed, evidently, to become better engrossed.

Pau made 22 points and played a very good

game throughout and Nick Young played only

19 minutes but made 10 points all the same.

Knowing we are well out of the post-season 

picture but still hope to build some momentum; 

Especially so when and if Nick Young can manage

to play longer and without pain besides. Over all

apparently we need far more tension in playing.                                                         

Sure do hope that Chris Kaman's sore back heals.             

We play Sacramento at Staples on Friday Eve. 

Can we get it together fella's.?

BABS WELLS

AND THE WINNER IS?

We won! Beat the Boston Celtics on

Friday eve. 101-92. YES!!! Two new

players on our team now..Marshon

Brooks and Kent Bazemore. Are young

with long arms, intelligent and eager.

Glad to be part of the Lakers team.

The startling information today is the

shedding of our point guard, Steve

Blake. He now has been sent up to 

Golden State and we just hate to

see him leave us. A straight arrow

and a top notch player to boot. He

will be missed by so many of us too.

We wish him and his family all the

best just the same. Looking like our

Kobe might be out of commission for 

another 10 weeks or so we're told.

Pau made it back on the courts to

play and play he did. Great job.

Nick Young has been cleared to be

able to join the team to play on Sun.

Xavier Henry is still out with injury.

A birthday we see today of an older

Basketball player being a former

Hall of Famer, namely Julius Erving.

He is turning 64 today news tells us.

Steve Nash evidently is still harboring

some of his bad back issues to contend

with. He states that he just loves the

game and wants to get on out there

to be of help for the team as he

wants to give far more before he

must be content to live a long life

without it hopefully.

We miss his plays on the courts.

Pau is thrilled to be able to remain 

with the Lakers team for another year.

Earlier we did lose to Houston, score:

134-108. Dwight Howard was boo'ed

as he came out on to the floor but he

did not let that affect his playing.

Chris Kaman has been doing a super

job in his running and playing  for us.

Our other loss to OKC was not a fun

score to see. 107-102 but Robert

Sacre was certainly a great defender.

As a team, we really did put up a good

fight against the Thunder, in remaining

competitive. Injuries hurt yet we compete.

One year ago the camp out by Lake

Elizabeth that houses terminally ill

children and their families during the

warmer months, "The Painted Turtle",

had to close down due to fires. Now it

has had to clear the air for more pure

air to circulate around the entire camp.

The Lakers have played a large contributor

for this camp and we are happy to report

that it is looking quite like it will probably

be able to once again be in operation.

Some buildings have been restored and

the flora and fauna has returned as well.

So many volunteers helped to make all

of this happen and we proudly salute them.

Now on Sunday we play another game

and this time it is against Brooklyn at 6:00.

BABS WELLS

ST.VALENTINE'S DAY APPLAUSE

We were way ahead at the game played

on Thursday evening. Played against the best 

team in the league, Oklahoma City. Lakers, 

injured though, have been and are fighting for

a chance to show how much we truly do care.

Ahead at one time by 15 points and ahead

too at half time, we plunged on and did it

right. In fact, other than the very last 33.6

seconds it possibly might have become a

tie. OKC beat us by only 5 points. Ending

score 107-102. Proud of our players.

Pau Gasol states that he'd rather remain

a Laker and we, his fans, heartily agree.

Kupchak, can you hear us in the throng?

Granted, it does seem certain that we will

miss the playoffs for only the 6th. time in

franchise history. Playing last evening, we

ranked 14th. in the Western Conference. 

There's far less certainty, however, 

on what the Lakers will do heading into the 

Feb. 20 trade deadline, which Kupchak 

described as "pretty quiet". He feels he has 

seen the Lakers compete lauding the 

injury-ravaged team's efforts and praising 

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni. It is clear the 

Lakers are gearing up for what Kupchak 

called a "really good draft". Steve Nash 

sat out during the game due to nerve 

irritation in his back and so Kendall

Marshall seamlessly started at point guard 

again and posted 12 points on 5-of-8

shooting and had nine assists. Still nursing

long term injuries for Kobe Bryant, Nick Young,

Jordan Farmar and Jodie Meeks, yet just for

this one night, our Lakers appeared capable

of overcoming the odds no matter how difficult.

Good going fella's and next Wednesday we

shall then see what takes place out on the court.

Babs Wells

STILL AT STAPLES

Not a good night last evening it seems. Although

yes, Steve Nash joined in playing with the team and

Chris Kaman did a good job making 25 points.

Sigh......it made 6 straight defeats at home though.

Coach D'Antoni had Shawne Williams playing as

power forward replacing Ryan Kelly. Upon that note,

we remember back to 1992-1993, the Lakers lost 6

consecutive games at the Forum in March of that

season. The 18-34 Lakers have been taken off

a nationally scheduled telecast for the 3rd 

time this season. Undermined all season long

by a run of injuries, the Lakers likely will miss

the post-season for only the 5th time since the

franchise relocated from Minneapolis to LA in 1960/61.

No amount of hoping and wishing can really make

bones heal faster or players be allowed to come on 

to the courts until their trainers and medical

staff give them the okay to do so. Even Kobe Bryant

has been side lined once again far longer than at

first we all thought. Jordan Farmar has also as well

as Xavier Henry and now even our tall Pau Gasol.

The uplifting personality player, our own Nick Young,

is also nursing an injury but gratefully Steve Blake

seems to be doing quite well with his previous injured

elbow, an injury usually dominated in game of tennis.

Gasol and Henry may be able to return to play after

the upcoming All-Star Weekend. A team can make

a maximum of 10 appearances on ESPN and TNT per

season, opening the possibility for ESPN, TNT and

the NBA to decide later to add a game that was not

originally planned. Nash has played only ten games

this season, leaving it possible that the Lakers could

benefit financially from his absence. Our losing score

Tuesday evening against Utah was 96-79. The upcoming

game is also being played at the Staples Center against 

Oklahoma City on Thursday evening at 7:30 Pacific time. 

Wonder how it'll go?

BABS WELLS

FACTS TO PONDER

David Stern has now stepped down from his post as

NBA Commissioner and passed the torch on to Adam

Silver. Adam joined the NBA in 1992 as special assistant.

David has been at the helm since 1984. He plans on

traveling with his wife and yet still maintaining a good

relationship with Adam. Any handover of power is not

to be taken lightly. It would be nice if the transition

could be rather simple, but simple it is not. No oath of

office will be handled as it was when David came aboard.

However as a privately held company, the NBA does

not have to deal with activist investors or manage 

quarterly earnings expectations. Its shareholders are

within the 30 franchise owners who make up the board

of governors and choose a commissioner by private

vote. Stern actually joined the NBA as general counsel

in 1978. The NBA commissioner's most public performance

comes every June in New York City during the player

draft. For the past 30 years, Stern has taken the podium,

usually at Madison Square Garden, to announce the

picks, shake hands and stand for pictures with the draftees.

David Stern is now moving away from the center of attention.

As a team known as the Lakers, we won two recent games

and happily even came close to winning again back at Staples 

Center in L.A. against the Chicago Bulls but alas it was not

to be. Winning in Cleveland and Philadelphia gave us some

needed euphoria so this last loss was hard to take,

especially so with our point guard Steve Nash agonizing

once again in pain. Hopefully it will not be long lasting.

Chris Kaman came into the game bent on doing well and

doing well, he did. He made 27 points and shot both left

and right. He is tall and a real asset for us on our team.

We play once again on Tuesday and perhaps with this

next game we can persist longer into to game to keep

our balance better and have a winning score. Hope so!

BABS WELLS

NOW LET THE FUN BEGIN

Losing is a bummer and we felt kinda low in

losing to Charlotte and then to Minnesota.

Snow abounded in the midwest but heated

souls trying ever so hard to break that losing 

streak showed through. However inside the 

Target Center, the Timberwolves proved their

worth and scored a win with: 109-99.

Pau did not remain with the team though as he

nursed a sore groin. Kobe remained home

too and Hill and Meeks were not among the

players but Steve Nash was and he was very

much in demand out there on the floor.

We see he remained on the bench some but

played way longer than earlier anticipated.

Nash had some very encouraging words to

say about his trip up to Canada and about

his work with trainer Celebrini. He feels so

confident in his efforts to get well with the

enthusiasm Celebrini showed him and yet

he is trying hard to not hurry his wellness.

Nash tells us, "His trainer has an incredible talent

for recognizing balances and improper

movements. He's able to clean up your

movements so that you can be as efficient

athletically as is possible." Nash and Celebrini

both endorsed the star guard lying on his

back when he is not playing out on the court.

Former coach Mike Brown, back again with

the Cleveland team, found our Lakers in

a winning situation. Steve Blake back once

again helping us with his three's and Jordan

Farmar doing his level best for us to give us

that winning streak and yes!! WE WON ! 

At one point we were so far ahead it looked

like a done deal but the Cleveland team had

some surprises up their sleeves for us and

we had to re-assess our strategies.  The Cavaliers

were on top of us but we pulled through with

doing the best that our team could do and

we won, 119-108. On Friday we will be in

Philadelphia (Another stormy place) to play

at the Wells Fargo Center. Being Nick Young

suffered with a twisted left knee, he will be

having an MRI done and Jordan Hill stayed

out of Cleveland game due to a neck strain

but is expected to be playing in Friday's game.

Robert Sacre picked up his 6th. foul with only

3:31 left in Cleveland game, He remained in the game

because of an interesting twist in the NBA rulebook.

All NBA teams have to field  5 healthy players. So

Sacre stayed in the game, aware he would pick up

a technical foul for each ensuing foul he collected.

And so, seems we're victorious for now.Onward we

go to Pennsylvania to play Friday's game.

BABS WELLS

POINT GUARDS ALERT

Even with Kendall Marshall giving us some

relief for point guard, the game was waning.

Granted, coach D'Antoni has not allowed

negativity to enter often in the locker room.

The call to "Just play hard" is noted and

even with points made, the game at 48

minutes seems far too great a task for so

many of our players. Very soon, we will

be getting our point guards back to play.

Losing to Indiana with score of:104-92

was difficult to swallow, certainly. Losing

Kobe Bryant for such a lengthy time out

is nasty and then Steve Blake, Steve Nash,

Xavier Henry and Jordan Farmar as well,

has cost us games as we all realize, yet

so much credit still goes for those on the

floor. Pau Gasol has astonished us all

each and every game he has played

Even with upper respiratory problems

and other grievances, he has stuck it out.

His points made are in the 20's.... often.

And Kendall Marshall has proven to us

that he is far more than just a stop-gap

player. As the team's only point guard,

the last 12 games, Marshall has averaged

12 points and 11.5 assists per game and

has logged almost 40 minutes a game over

14 games. Not a slacker, he takes pride in

his playing and always is trying hard to win.

Nash turns 40 this coming Feb. 7th. & has

appeared in only 56 of the Lakers 128

regular season's games since they acquired

him from the Phoenix Suns during the 2012

off season. Nash states this is the hardest thing

he has ever had to deal with during his

entire career. He says that hopefully after

he is able to come back to the courts to play

that perhaps then he will arise to become a

better person. Brandishing a groin sprain,

Pau has continued to play but has had to

learn to compensate, while Jodie Meeks

was complaining about having a sore right foot.

Loss of our last two games played at Staples

gives us worry  of course but this next game

will take place in my home state of Minnesota.

Mighty cold there too. Just spoke with an old

friend in Alexandria, MN this very morning and

the temp. right then was only 10 degrees. Oh boy!

We will be indoors however, at the Target Center

for Tuesday evenings game leaving the Bobcats

behind but try our efforts against chilly Minnesota.

Another point of interest today is that we have lost

another great Basketball player. Hall of Famer, Tom

Gola. He played back in 1954 and held the NCAA

title. In fact it still holds the Division 1 record for

career rebounds and helped the Philadelphia

Warriors win the 1956 NBA Championship. He died

last Sunday at the age of 81. Tom had led to the

1952 NIT title + a runner-up finish in the 1955 NCAA

Tournament that set the career rebounds with 2,201

and scored 2,461 points. The late UCLA Coach,

John Wooden called Gola the "greatest all-round

basketball player ever". This 5-time NBA All-Star

was a player that always concentrated on defense

and that, my readers is well worth noting in my

personal opinion. We should take heed re:defense.

BABS WELLS