NEXT GAME? MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

We  lost big time against the Dallas Mavericks.

Final score being: 140-106. Seemed like it

went on forever with our team getting the

shaft but even so, the starters for both

teams sat out the final quarter and even our

Kobe unfortunately muses about retiring

in 2016 so therefore no story book ending.

We did really look defeated, true but the younger

players had great faith that upcoming games

would show their worth far more. In fact, Kobe

believes that Nick Young should be 6th. man

of the year. Bryant likes Nick's chances this

season for reasons beyond the fact that 

Crawford has since moved into the Clippers'

starting lineup. Bryant gushed how Young has

morphed from an isolation scorer toward

a catch-and-shoot player who does not

require much dribbling to create his shot.

The Lakers' find Young's personality endearing.

Sunday's game against the Denver Nuggets

started off well and in fact, even tied up.

In overtime, however, ending score was:

Denver 101 and Lakers' 94. Good game.

Kobe Bryant once spent part of his teenage

years studying every move Michael Jordan

made. He was hopeful that eventually he

could emulate him. Though it will hardly

end the debate that has encompassed Bryant's

19 year career, he has emulated Jordan's

game enough to surpass him in one category

that defined both of the players' skill sets.

Bryant entered the Lakers' game on Sunday

against the Denver Nuggets only 246 points

shy of surpassing Jordan for third place on the 

NBA's all-time scoring list. Speaking of Sunday's

game, the Nuggets missed 15 of 38 free throws

and the Lakers missed nine of 34. Los Angeles

has lost five games by seven points or fewer. 

Now on this coming Wednesday eve. we will

be facing the Memphis Grizzlies and that will be

a very tough team to beat. They beat the Clippers

last night and Marc Gasol really did well. He is

the brother of former Pau Gasol of the Lakers.

Another bit of news has hit us all, I believe.

No, not in the basketball playing corner, but yet

a person of worth that we all have known about

for a mighty long time. A legend of film, theater

and comedy in nearly equal measure, Mike Nichols

has died of a fatal heart attack at age 83.

He was instrumental for allowing us so many

varied and enjoyable hours of pleasure with his

films, plays and comedy that it is noteworthy to

mention. Married to television journalist Diane

 Sawyer since 1988, he leaves her and 3 children

plus four grandchildren behind. R.I.P. Mike.

BABS WELLS

SO FAR ROAD GAMES ARE GREAT!!!!

Well, Atlanta and Texas, here we come!

We certainly did, and win we did too!

Atlanta's game final score was:114-109.

Kobe scored 28 points and the Lakers held

on for just their second win this season.

The locker room that has been solemn most 

of this season was a lot more raucous

this time.Jeremy Lin exclaimed that so far

it has been pretty rough but now it is

beginning to look a whole lot better.

Bryant's biggest shot came with only

1:11 remaining on the clock when he

backed in against Thabo Sefolosha

and made a fade away jumper despite

being fouled. Bryant slapped hands with a

fan on the front row and completed the

three-point play, giving the Lakers a 108-102

lead. Kobe exclaimed that even though so

far it indeed has been pretty rough, he still

finds beauty in the process. Carlos Boozer

added 20 points, Nick Young even had 17

points for his first game of the season.

Then on to Houston.  Lin was traded this

past off-season to the Lakers in a salary

dump. Byron Scott has said that Lin is doing

well and he is expecting him to even do 

better as time goes on.  Lin has averaged double 

digits in six of the past seven games as the

Lakers' starting point guard. But he also played

two other games this month where he did not

make a field goal. Scott believes Lin picks up

his dribble too much and has not consistently

 defended but he is young and is still learning.

This second road trip winning game gives us

hope. the final score in the Houston game was

98-92. Kobe made 28 points and had 10 of 20

shooting which featured both hot & cold stretches.

The Lakers' absorbed that with Jordan Hill's

emerging mid range game of:(16 points on 7 of

12 shooting) and Nick Young's high volume

shooting (16 points on 6 of 15 shooting).

The man of the hour was Wesley Johnson.

In the final minute of the game, he really

lived up to his vow that he would be playing 

like a wild man and grabbed a rebound off 

Bryant's missed 3-pointer and thus made

two free throws, finally swiping the ball

from James Harden at half court. He converted

on a lay-up, drew a foul on Harden & made

the final shot. We were all on the edge of

our seats. Now, next game will take place

on Friday against the Mavericks at 5:30.

Can hardly wait!

BABS WELLS

AND NOW ON TO ATLANTA

Even with our Kobe's ill health, he managed to

make 44 baskets last night at Staples Center

against Golden State. Our Lakers team has not

been up to snuff so far this season either. They 

now have lost 7 of their 8 games played.

We all were in high hopes that Nick Young 

would be playing but evidently it was not to be.

Hill and J.Lin, Boozer and Clarkson all helped to

give us hope playing so hard and trying to get

our scores up some. Glad those flu-like symptoms

finally left our Kobe but he still looked rather wan.

The upcoming road trip will prove interesting to

watch. During last night's game half-time, there

was a tribute played for Hall of Famer, Elgin Baylor.

He, earlier, ushered the NBA into Los Angeles

with Jerry West and Tommy Hawkins. Baylor

had just celebrated his 80th. Birthday two 

months ago. Shaquille O'Neal and some of his

immediate family were also there. Shaq was

one of nine players to have his number retired

by the Lakers along with Baylor, as was West.

West is now a Warriors executive board member.

Getting back to Jordan Clarkson, Coach Byron

Scott believes he will become a very valued player.

Clarkson scored 28 points Saturday with the

D-Fenders, the Lakers Development League

affiliate. Scott likes Clarkson's aggressiveness,

and called him a "gym rat" and "workaholic".

He envisions him excelling both as a shooting

and point guard. Both Lin and Young have yet

to prove their worth but with upcoming games

we can all watch and enjoy seeing these young

players molding right before our very eyes.

Keep a hopeful attitude for these next road games.

BABS WELLS

Listen Up!

All too often folks tend to criticize instead of finding the

best in a situation, or in a situation that you are seeing.

This might be the case right now with our NBA Lakers.

Coach Byron Scott is telling us that he still feels certain

his form of rebuilding will work, & informs us of the

possibilities. Granted, the Lakers right now aren't  

resembling the team he played with during the Showtime

Era. But, he has become accustomed to rebuilding

projects. One of the most significant tasks happened

which went beyond the basketball court. Scott's tenure

with the former New Orleans Hornets (2004-09) co-

incided with Hurricane Katrina striking the region in August

2005. That prompted Scott and his family to evacuate to 

Houston shortly beforehand. That is why the New Orleans

franchise played part time in Oklahoma City during the

2005-07 seasons. Under Scott's watch, New Orleans 

finished in the top 10 in total defense. Now today the

New Orleans team is named the Pelicans and they 

made the NBA playoffs in Scott's third and fourth

seasons, including the 2008 Western Conference semi-

finals. But Scott's first season in 2004-05 ended with 

an 18-64 record before the franchise selected Chris

Paul, fourth overall in that year's draft.

How similar did New Orleans's initial rebuilding

compare to this current Laker's team? Quite a bit,

but even then they did not have a number 24. There is 

the big difference with having a guy we can throw

the ball to at the end of games to keep it close.

Scott made the great statement "I always focus

on the good times"...and, like Scott, I believe each

one of us fans ought to do the very same.

Granted, we have only won one game out of the last

seven games played, but looking ahead of us  

we know we will improve and win other games.

So, it is with this positive attitude we plod on. 

The Memphis Grizzlie game we lost by only 5.

Ending score: 107-102. In the New Orleans

Pellicans game we lost by 7 points: Score:109-102.

News that Lakers player Wayne Ellington's father 

was found fatally shot on Sunday in Philadelphia. 

We all will have our own feelings realizing Wayne 

will need some time to recover and we sadly 

understand this fact.

It is looking favorable that Nick Young will be

returning to play soon..perhaps even in the very

next game. Friday Lakers will play the Spurs.

Babs Wells

TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!!

Yup, we did it up proud! Won Sunday's game

at Staples Center against the Charlotte Hornets.

Both Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin each scored

21 points with ending score being: 107-92.

Carlos Boozer made 16 points, Jordan Hill

made 12 points, Ed Davis 10 points and Wayne

Ellington made 9 points. They really did a super

job finally with their 6th game into this new

season. Now Charles Barkley can end his

self inflicted fasting and sit down to a good

meal.  Purple and gold streamers fell from

the rafters and Randy Newman's "I love

L.A." blared over the loudspeakers. The 

Lakers awarded their fans with free tacos 

for holding an opponent under 100 points for 

the first time all season. Smiles on many faces!

There was a sell-out crowd down at Staples.

In fact, 18,997 seats sold out. Well, that is 

ONE, coach Byron Scott declared but now on to 

Memphis on Tuesday so hopeful for another win!

The Lakers played their first five games in seven

nights, including two back to back games and

all against play-off-caliber opponents. Namely:

Houston, Phoenix twice, Clippers and Golden

State. So you see, our Lakers took 6 games

before some appealing developments emerged.

It was noted today that former NBA player

Ernie Vandeweghe, age 86, has died.

He played for the N.Y. Knicks in 1949-56.

He was father of former NBA Star Kiki

Vandeweghe plus he was once the

Lakers Team physician. In High School

he played baseball, football and basketball

at Oceanside High School. May he R.I.P.

Now to look forward to our next road game!

Babs Wells

MAYBE NEXT SUNDAY??

Kobe Bryant scored 39 points and we

still lost the game. It's now is 0-5.

We have younger legs out there on

the courts and we have enthusiasm

and we have our Kobe Bryant, yet

it still seems to not be enough to win.

Wonder how this is making our new

coach Byron Scott feel. He too has

been a Laker so it poses right now

to be a problem all the way around.

When we do play this coming Sunday,

when we play at 6:30 against the 

Charlotte Hornets. We still have time to 

strategize before this upcoming game at 

Staples Center. Yes, they do seem eager 

to go and are itching to win. With the days 

off we have had and watching video's for plays,

but because of heavier workload,

Scott did not have his players practice

this last Wednesday, yet Bryant did

manage to get in a 30 minute shooting

session. That was before even starting

the film session

Lakers forward Ryan Kelly sat out on

Thursday's practice after his right

hamstring tightened up during the team's

loss Tuesday against Phoenix. Kelly

played only seven minutes in his season

debut after nursing hamstring issues.

Rookie Julius Randle says that he is fine

after his broken leg , now in recovery.

In what marked his first public comments

since his injury, Randle called his setback 

just part of God's plan. Yes, he says, it is

indeed tough to not be able to get out there 

and play but now it looks as if he can watch

and perhaps become an extreme student

of the game. It looks as it he will be walking

using a crutch within the next six weeks.

And so, we the fans, look forward now

to next Sunday's game with high hopes.

BABS WELLS

TWO L.A. TEAMS

Another game and another loss for

our Lakers however this one was

far easier to swallow.  Bryant scored

21 points, Jordan Hill, 13. Jeremy Lin

had 17 points and nine assists.

Wesley Johnson (starting forward)

0-for-5 in the first half, made a 3

on his first shot of the third quarter

and Hill put the Lakers ahead 62-61

on a layup with 10:01 left in the period

after they trailed by 15 points with

less than 4 minutes to go in the first.

Bryant helped Chris Paul to his feet

after knocking him down in the second quarter.

The Lakers Band made a rare appearance 

on the court to play the National Anthem.

Team president Jeanie Buss high-fived

each of them as they walked off.

The Clippers have never won an NBA

Championship. Lakers coach Byron Scott

alluded to that when one asked Scott if he

considers the hallway neighbors a rivalry

ahead of their game at Staples Center.

He replied that he really did not fear them

to become a rivalry yet as he still feels

the biggest rivalry to be the Boston Celtics.

They have 17 banners & we have 16.

Still, our 3rd. game attempt ended at a

loss with the score reading: 118-111.

Maybe next game we'll have better luck.

Babs Wells