Tony McLeod's NBA Basketball fan blog

Does wins in Boston and Cleveland mean that the Lakers are a complete different team than last year? I wish it did, but I am not ready to make that step quite yet. I think they are slightly different and a little more tougher, but not a completely different team. Lamar Odom stepped up in both games, if he can continue that then it will be a giant step for the Lakers. He needs to continue playing like this even when/if Andrew Bynum comes back. My opinion they should keep Odom in the starting lineup and move him to the small forward. Yes the Lakers will lose some outside shooting but their overall height will be more than any team could compete with if they put Odom, Pau Gasol, and Bynum on the front line. It is an idea that I do not think Coach Phil Jackson wants to put out there, but one I

Continue reading "New Lakers Team? Odom to Remain a Starter?"

The Los Angeles Lakers have sent Vladimir Radmonovic to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown. I am not a huge fan of the trade. I like Vlad's game and with Bynum out we need all the height we can get, Vlad is 6'10 and can play the 3 or the 4 position. The obvious benefit is that this summer the Lakers will have more cap room to resign Trevor Ariza and possibly Lamar Odom as well if he takes a bit of a discount. I don't see much playing time for Morrison or Brown with the team, whereas I believe Vlad could have still helped. I thought at first this may be a pre-cursor to another deal but it looks like Morrison and Brown will stay.

 Another big part of this deal is now Sasha Vujacic will probably get more minutes where the Lakers go with the lineup that has Kobe playing the small forward position. It was a very succesful lineup at the end of last season. Plus with Bynum out that presents more opportunities for that lineup as well.

Continue reading "Lakers Send Vlad to Charlotte"

The Lakers travel to Boston tonight to take on the Celtics in Boston for the first time since... well... all Lakers fans know where I am going. It was a game Laker nation had marked on the schedule as soon as it came out. This time we thought we would have Andrew Bynum with us, but that's not the case. I am not going to say the Lakers have no chance tonight, even without Bynum the Lakers can win this game. This is a good mental toughness test for a key group of Lakers. Starting with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, this is their chance to step up in a big game. I know it is just regular season, but this is still a huge game for the Lakers morale. A couple of other Lakers can step up to the plate tonight. Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic have been inconsistent so far this season. If both play well

Continue reading "Lakers-Celtics"

Andrew Bynum has left tonight's game against the Grizzlies with a right knee injury after Kobe Bryant fell on his knee. X-Rays are negative but an MRI is scheduled for tomorrow in New York. This would cause a serious blow to the Lakers championship hopes if Bynum is out a while. He was just starting to hit his stride this season. In my opinion no Bynum means no championship. Let's hope he is ok!

Continue reading "Bynum Goes Down with Knee Injury"

Five straight double-doubles from the Lakers big man, and no I'm not talking about Pau Gasol. Lakers center Andrew Bynum looks to be over coming any mental blocks left over from last year's injury. Over his last five games Bynum is averaging 26 points and nearly 14 rebounds, including a career high 42 point game against this Clippers. If Bynum keeps this up it will be a great help for the Lakers in their mission of winning the NBA championship. This type of play takes even more pressure off of Lamar Odom and gives the Lakers another presence inside. Let's hope he can keep this play up, it will be a joy to watch.

Continue reading "If Bynum Keeps this up... Lookout!"

Unexpectedly Jordan Farmar made his return from injury to help spark the Lakers to a 99-85 victory over the San Antonio Spurs today. In a matchup of the top two teams in the Western Conference Farmar dropped in 14 points in his return. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 22, Trevor Ariza had 17, Pau Gasol 16, and Andrew Bynum 15 in a balanced effort. Bynum provided another strong all around game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks. The Lakers held the Spurs to just 37.5% shooting from the field.

Continue reading "Farmar Returns with a Bang"

42 points, then 23 points, a typical back to back for Kobe Bryant, only this time it wasn't Kobe leading the Lakers in scoring. It was young center Andrew Bynum. Obviously you do not want to get over excited about two games, but hopefully this is a sign of something from young Bynum. Today will tell more when he goes up against Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs. Even though Bynum's big games came against low ranked teams, if he can build some confidence from these games and carry it on, it will make the Lakers that much better.

Flying under the radar the past two games has been Lamar Odom, he has also put together some solid gamesm posting 19 and 16 points respectively. He admitted in one of the local Los Angeles papers that he is starting to fully understand his role as the sixth man. If the Lakers can keep these two guys going on a consistent basis, watch out!

Continue reading "Bynum Picking it up, LO too?"

I have an idea for tonight's game between the Lakers and the Cavs, instead of spending all night comparing Kobe and LeBron, let's just sit back and enjoy watching the two best players in the NBA play. All we are going to hear is comparisons tonight and it is going to get tiring. Being a basketball fan you just want to watch the game without all of that. Do I have an opinion on the Kobe vs. LeBron debate? Yes of course I do, I think everyone does, but I will keep it to myself. Along with D. Wade these are the most dynamic scorers we have in the game today. Team USA brought them together as friends when in the past there was not much communication between the two stars. This should be an exciting game tonight, so everyone just sit back, relax, and as T.O. says "Get ya popcorn ready!&quo

Continue reading "Kobe vs. LeBron"

Well after a rough computer transition I am finally back. I'll start with last nights game against the Pacers. It was a defensive battle... not so much, the score was 68-66 at halftime. The Lakers ended up winning 121-119 on Kobe's game winner with 3 seconds left. Kobe had one of his best overall stat lines of the year with 36 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds. The Lakers got a rough stretch coming up on their schedule, hopefully Lamar Odom will be back for these games, he is listed as day to day with a bone bruise in his knee. Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar have also been out. Right now in my opinion Cleveland looks like the best team in the NBA. They beat Boston by 15 last night at home. I am not saying they look the best just because they beat Boston, but they have been the most consist

Continue reading "Finally Back... Kobe Game Winner"

Everyone knows 82 wins is not possible, well everyone except a few of my friends who called after every win claiming it was. Now that we finally got that out of the way the Lakers will look to get back in the W column on Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls. Rookie Derrick Rose has proved he is the real deal as one of the top scorers for Chicago. The Lakers should have a height advantage at almost every position and need to take advantage on the inside. They lost to the Pistons for a few reasons, their defensive effort wasn't as good as it has been all year, Kobe had an off shooting night, and let's be honest the Pistons seemed to make nearly everything they threw up, evidenced by Rasheed Wallace banking in a three pointer as the shot clock expired with a hand in his face from 25 feet away. T

Continue reading "Lakers look to get back on track"