Derek Fisher wants the Lakers to play with urgency

The 13-year veteran guard knows the Lakers have a chance to win a championship this season and he wants his teammates to understand that.

Derek Fisher always has been a calm, steady influence for the Lakers. He has been a rock for his younger teammates, a coach on the floor and a friend for Kobe Bryant in his times of need. That hasn't changed, but Fisher senses the gravity of what's at stake and that is to win an NBA championship sooner rather than later and that has changed his way of dealing with his teammates.

"It used to be 100% calm and pretty chill," Fisher, 34, said after practice today. "I guess in my old age, it's dwindled down to about me being 75 to 80% calm and chill. But I mix in 20 to 25% of a little fire in there just to let guys know that this is important and that this is our job . . . and we've got to take it seriously. I try to make sure that I keep that on our minds." He spent his first eight years in the NBA with the Lakers before playing two years with Golden State and one season with Utah.

Fisher re-joined the Lakers a year ago as an elder statesman who has learned during his 13-year career how to become a leader.

"I feel like as a team we have a great opportunity," Fisher said. "I feel like individually I can help the team take advantage of the opportunity and I feel great about this time in my career, I really do."

Fisher was an integral part of the Lakers team that won three consecutive...read full article

Lakers probably will start season with 15 on roster

Early in training camp, the Lakers considered carrying just 13 players, but now it appears DJ Mbenga has earned a roster spot and that rookie guard Joe Crawford will get the nod over Coby Karl.

All indications are that the Lakers will open the season with 15 players, the maximum allowed by the NBA. Early in training camp, the Lakers considered carrying 13 players, which would have given the team flexibility to pick up another player or two during the regular season. But now it appears, based on their play in training camp, that backup center DJ Mbenga has earned a roster spot and that rookie guard Joe Crawford will get the nod over Coby Karl, who made the team last season as an undrafted rookie free agent.

Guards Brandon Heath and forward C. J.Giles also are pushing for a spot that may be hard to come by.

The Lakers already have 13 players under contract who are assured of making the team.

Crawford was drafted out of Kentucky in the second round by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the NBA draft. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard has to make the team for his contract to be guaranteed.

"It's definitely more pressure coming in not guaranteed," Crawford said. "You don't know what these guys [the Lakers' coaching staff] are thinking every day. You just have to stay confident. You're going to have some bad days, but you have to be strong and...read full story

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson sets priorities beyond winning in exhibition play

He sees it as a time to give young players a chance, tinker with lineups, challenge some veterans and see which players will round out the end of the bench this season.

The Lakers are 1-2 in exhibition play, not that Phil Jackson is worried about it. The Lakers coach has had one winning exhibition season in eight prior attempts with the Lakers, and he didn't exactly fret when asked if this would be a winning one. "I haven't really thought about that," he said recently.

After all, this is a time for the young ones, not the veterans, in Jackson's mind. It's a time to tinker with lineups, zing 6-foot-10 ball-handling forwards about not being in shape and see which players will round out the end of the bench.

"We always know that our game is going to take a little longer time to gel than most other teams," he said. "We do have most of our veterans back, but this is a time for us to play some younger players that we want to look it. Until the last of the exhibition games, I won't be playing the regulars in heavy minutes."

Jackson was 16-24 in exhibition games in his first tour with the Lakers and, after going 6-2 in 2005-06 in his first year back, the club went 4-4 and 3-4 the last two seasons.

Jackson, however, is not giving the team much time off, despite almost a week passing between games before the Lakers play Regal FC Barcelona on Saturday at Staples Center.

"There's a possible day off in a couple weeks -- the Sunday before the season starts," Jackson said.

The players have to comply, like it or not.

"We've had a couple long practices already," Kobe Bryant said. "It's an opportunity...read full article

Pau Gasol sees Andrew Bynum as a complement

The duo of seven-footers hope that in time they can dominate the paint together.

It wasn't a demand -- not like the ones Shaquille O'Neal once made. Rather, it was a point of emphasis by Pau Gasol. Gasol is 7 feet and 250 pounds and Andrew Bynum is 7 feet and 285 pounds, a duo that will form a Twin Towers for the Lakers that can be devastating, but only if the Lakers utilize them in the low post.

"We have to play like we have two seven-footers that dominate the paint. That's how you take advantage. If you don't do that, then you might as well not have it," Gasol said.

When O'Neal played for the Lakers, he demanded the basketball and let it be known that if the big dog wasn't fed, he wouldn't guard the porch, which was code that O'Neal wouldn't play defense if he didn't get the ball on offense.

Gasol isn't saying that.

Gasol and Bynum each take high-percentage shots, are good passers and can make life easier on their teammates with an inside-out game.

The two started for the first time together in the exhibition season Sunday night and had some...read full story

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Phil Jackson Practice Notes

The Lakers practiced for three plus hours today, but Phil didn’t think that it was that hard of a practice. Although none of the three hours were spent in film study, the team spent a substantial amount of time working on defensive sets, which meant a lot of standing around and teaching. Overall, Jackson was happy with the practice, “Sometimes when they go that long they don’t finish as strong as you like, but it was okay.”

Vladimir Radmanovic is a starter for “right now,” according to Jackson. “We play really well with him out there on the floor. As long as you play well, coaches are addicted to that kind of stuff.” That doesn’t guarantee Vladi the starting spot when the Lakers next lace them up against Regal FC Barcelona on Saturday, but it is a nice vote of confidence for the big man from Serbia.

Phil liked how aggressive Lamar Odom was when he entered Sunday’s game. What he wasn’t as fond of was Lamar taking a couple of three pointers as soon as he entered the game. This isn’t a slight on Odom’s long-range game as much as it’s just Phil wanting to see only a few designated gunners taking the shots from deep.

Phil intimated that there would be a roster cut at some point this week. No indication on who or when, but the decision will be based on how practice goes the next couple days and the overall health of the team.

The Andrew Bynum/Pau Gasol experiment seems to be heading in the right direction. “They’re playing pretty well together,” Jackson said. “It’s still a work in progress.” Phil mentioned that Pau is still learning a lot of the organizational intricacies and automatics of playing the wing spot as opposed to the center position. The advantages of these two figuring out how to play with each other has been discussed ad nausea, but Jackson brought up transition defense as something that could be a disadvantage of the twin tower setup. Both will have to realize when it’s best for them to go to the boards and when it’s best to retreat.

Phil Jackson mixes lineup, trying to find right match

Lakers coach has run Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza and Vladimir Radmanovic in and out of lineup in exhibitions, and he isn't done experimenting.  It's as if Lakers Coach Phil Jackson has become this mad scientist, relishing entering his laboratory to experiment with his test subjects.

Subject No. 1 is Lamar Odom, who started the Lakers' first two exhibitions but came off the bench in Sunday night's win over the Sacramento Kings. Subject No. 2 is Andrew Bynum, who came off the bench in the first two games but started against the Kings. His other subjects are Trevor Ariza and Vladimir Radmanovic. Ariza started the first two games but was a reserve Sunday. Radmanovic came off the bench the first two games but started against the Kings.

"I'm alternating a few guys out there together, see how they play," Jackson said.  Only Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol have started all three games. "Phil is still playing with the lineup," Bryant said. "It's tough to really know what that lineup is going to look like, or what we want to be while he...read full article

Lakers beat Kings in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Pau Gasol had 12 points and six rebounds to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 94-89 in exhibition play Sunday night.

Kobe Bryant scored nine points in 25 minutes on 4-of-12 shooting for the Lakers (1-2), Andrew Bynum had nine points, five rebounds and three blocks, and Vladimir Radmanovic also finished with nine points and had seven rebounds.

Jason Thompson led the Kings (1-2) with 15 points and also had eight rebounds. John Salmons added 11 points, and Brad Miller had 10.

Los Angeles built its largest advantage at 84-72 with 5:25 left. The Kings cut it 92-89 with 36 seconds to go, but got no closer.

Lamar Odom shows a positive side to Lakers

Despite a reserve role, he says he won't be 'detrimental' as Lakers win exhibition, 94-89.

LAS VEGAS -- Lamar Odom wasn't a starter for the first time since ninth grade, but he seemed at peace with it, if not apologetic for his recent anti-establishment attitude. Odom had four points and nine rebounds as a reserve in the Lakers' 94-89 exhibition victory Sunday against Sacramento. He also offered up an intriguing interview beforehand. He had been on opposite poles of Coach Phil Jackson for weeks, publicly questioning him at the team's annual media day, but an olive branch was extended Sunday night.

"That was like my alter-ago talking," Odom said of last month's outburst. "Seriously. That's Odom. Not Lamar. I'm being dead serious. I'm a good locker-room dude. I don't want to be detrimental to the team, especially, like, how this is a championship-caliber team."

It's been an unusual block of time for a player considered one of the friendliest on the team, if not the league. A year ago, he shelled out about $40,000 during training camp to feed teammates every day in Honolulu -- morning, noon and night. Now, he feels he's getting shelled on all sides . . . in a contract year, no less...read full article

Lakers' Lamar Odom practices mainly with second unit

Coach Phil Jackson says the veteran forward'would really helps us' as a sixth man.

It was only one practice, with a slew of them still remaining before the regular season, but Lamar Odom was not on the starting unit for most of Saturday's session.

Odom played primarily with the second string before being shifted to the first unit toward the end of practice. "We're having Lamar come in and play off the bench so that he can start thinking about how he can help the team and what he can do when he does that," Coach Phil Jackson said. "But I don't know if I'll experiment with it in a game yet."

The answer could be gleaned as soon as tonight when the Lakers play Sacramento in Las Vegas.

Odom has not been sharp in the team's first two exhibitions, averaging 1.5 points, two assists, four rebounds and 2.5 turnovers.

Jackson recently said Odom appeared to be playing a game...read full article

Kobe Jersey #1 in Europe, Gasol #3

First it was China, now it’s Europe.

After being the top selling jersey in China for two years, Kobe Bryant can truly claim to be a global brand as it was announced that his #24 is also the best selling jersey in Europe.

Bryant’s global appeal was also on display throughout the 2008 Beijing Olympics as he garnered huge cheers during the opening ceremonies and was mobbed at every event he attended.

Fellow Lakers star Pau Gasol has the most popular jersey among players hailing from Europe and is third overall. Before coming to the Lakers Gasol’s jersey was the seventh most popular in his native continent.

The full list of popular jerseys is after the jump.

Top 10 Most Popular NBA Jerseys in Europe:
1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
2. Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
3. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
4. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs
6. Allen Iverson, Denver Nuggets
7. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
8. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
9. Marco Belinelli, Golden State Warriors
10. Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors

Lakers' Lamar Odom doesn't get points for performance

Phil Jackson says that the veteran 'looks like he's either curling or doing some other kind of sport. He's not playing basketball.

The Lamar Odom experiment trudges along, slowly and shakily.  The Lakers' most versatile player had more fouls (five) than points or assists as a primary ball-handler on offense and small forward on defense in Tuesday's exhibition game against Utah.  Odom was in the starting lineup, a point of contention for him because Coach Phil Jackson suggested he might come off the bench, but his stats were insignificant other than the fouls.  In 20 minutes, Odom had three points, five rebounds and three assists.  Assistant coach Kurt Rambis said Odom's game was "fair to middling, maybe poor," and that Odom "didn't seem focused out there."

Jackson took it a step further.  "I just got through telling him that this is really basketball now," Jackson said Wednesday. "He looks like he's either curling or doing some other kind of sport. He's not playing basketball.

"The first shot he took was a three-pointer in the middle of the third quarter? That was pretty interesting."

Jackson was non-committal when asked...read full article