OFFICIAL LAKERS 2009/2010 (57-25) 2009-2010 CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!

The Association on tonight. ESPN
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can't wait for sunday. even through all the ups and downs this season, i still have a good feeling about this squad.

lets get it lakeshow.
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This is pretty good. Ron seems like a real awesome dude to hang around.

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@ Phil looking like Indiana Jones
 

[h2]Bryant rested many injuries[/h2]

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Kobe Bryant returned to Lakers practice Friday after sitting out four of the last five games to rest his legs and to alleviate swelling in his right knee and discomfort in his fractured right index finger.

"I feel pretty good," Bryant said. "It was good to get up and down. We worked on quite a bit of things, went over quite a bit of things and this was one of the longest, hardest practices we've had all year.

[h4]Kobe Bryant[/h4][h5]#24 SG
Los Angeles Lakers[/h5]
2010 STATS
  • GM73
  • PPG27.0
  • RPG5.4
  • APG5.0
  • FG%.456
  • FT%.811

"My legs feel better. The ankle thing was kind of lingering a little bit, so that feels a lot better. Rest never hurts."

Bryant missed five games in February with a sprained ankle and strained tendon in his left leg after turning his left ankle against Philadelphia on Jan. 31 and later re-aggravated the injury on Feb. 3 when Lamar Odom accidentally stepped on Bryant's left foot in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Bryant was encouraged by Lakers coach Phil Jackson to sit out the final few regular season games to rest his legs so he would be fresh for the postseason. Bryant shot 21-for-70 (30 percent) in his last three games, with Jackson pointing out that Bryant's diminished leg strength was throwing off the trajectory of the shot attempts made by the 14-year veteran. Bryant averaged 27.0 points on 45.6 percent shooting on the season.

The time off seemed to have paid off on Friday.

[h4]More on the Lakers[/h4]
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For more news and notes on the Lakers, check out the Land O' Lakers blog from the Kamenetzky Brothers. Blog

"I think he feels very confident about what he can do," Jackson said. "He said he felt a lot better, he had a lot livelier legs. The proof is going to be in the pudding obviously and today was our hardest practice, so we'll see what it brings Sunday."

Bryant shot free throws on a side basket at the end of practice while the team ran wind sprints, sharpening his shot and saving his legs at the same time.

"I thought he shot the ball really well to start with, not so much later on," Jackson said about Friday's practice. "He might have tired a little bit, but he was right there."

Bryant said his twice surgically-repaired right knee felt "much improved" after the time off and after experimenting Wednesday with shooting without any protection on his fractured right index finger, Bryant has resumed taping it up.

"I just tried to strengthen [the finger] a little bit, tried to make it a little bit stronger," Bryant said. "The splint is still the same."

Known for assuming a reserved public persona when the playoffs come around, Bryant presented the same focused front he wore for much of the 2009 postseason, speaking in monotone and keeping his answers short and to the point.

Asked if his two daughters, 7-year-old Natalia and 3-year-old Gianna, were ready for their dad to go back to his "grumpy" playoff mode, Bryant revealed he wasn't the only one in his household looking forward to the Lakers first game of the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.

"They're as competitive as I am," Bryant said. "They know what time it is."

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com
 
^ It's been replaying all day. I'm sure you can catch it again if you check your listings for the ESPN channels. I've see it air on ESPN and ESPN Classic.
 
Updated: April 16, 2010, 8:33 PM ET

[h2]Jackson unsure why Durant is upset[/h2]

By Dave McMenamin
ESPNLosAngeles.com
Archive

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson's pockets may be a lot lighter after the league fined him $70,000 in the last two weeks for comments related to the NBA's officiating, but Jackson took a light-hearted approach when talking about the fines Friday at practice.

"You can't do that anymore in the NBA," Jackson said. "They don't allow you to do that. I guess it was last year, I wasn't aware that the rules have changed, but they tell me that last year they stopped letting coaches spin. You have to be very honest and straightforward and never have any spin with what you say.

"I think we can get to be robotic like that. You guys would probably enjoy us just having stock answers to give to you, 'Everybody played and they played hard.' Things like that."

Jackson's most recent $35,000 fee came as a result of his statement about Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, saying that the "referees are treating [Durant] like a superstar."

Before the Lakers' game against Sacramento on Tuesday, Jackson was asked about Durant, who led the league in scoring and free-throw attempts per game (10.2) in only his third season in the league.

"As far as the calls that he gets on the floor, I think a lot of the referees are treating him like a superstar; he gets to the line easy and often," Jackson said. "He's got the ability to create fouls. That's a big part of scoring, to get to the foul line."

Durant, informed of Jackson's comments Wednesday, said he felt "disrespected."

"Because it's taking away from what I do," Durant told the Oklahoman. "That's part of my game, getting to the free-throw line and being aggressive. If you say that I get superstar calls or I get babied by the refs, that's just taking away from how I play. That's disrespectful to me."

On Friday, Jackson said he had not heard Durant's response but was unaware what could have prompted Durant to have a negative reaction because Jackson "was just straightforward and honest about the game."

"I really didn't know what he was upset about," Jackson said. "It really wasn't that upsetting. He shot the most free throws in the league; he made the most free throws in the league. He shot the most shots in the league; he made the most shots in the league. I voted for him on the All-Star team; he made the All-Star team. We know he's a great player, congratulations."

When Durant's comments were paraphrased to Jackson, explaining how Durant was upset about the insinuation of receiving favorable calls based on superstar status rather than based on merit, Jackson said, "Good. I mean, whatever."

Jackson was fined earlier in the month for comments after a game against San Antonio. He said the "referees turned against us" after technical fouls were drawn by Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant. He also called out veteran official Bennett Salvatore by name and said, "With Bennett you don't know what you're going to get."

Jackson, who was paid $12 million to coach the Lakers this season, was asked if the fines could be a tax write-off at the end of his media session Friday.

"Certainly," Jackson quipped. "That's a gift to the NBA charities.

"NBA Cares, they really care a lot about me. ... I got to get out of here before I start something else."

Lakers forward Pau Gasol was not aware of his coach's comments, or the ensuing fine.

"35 g's, huh?" Gasol said. "Nice. Big money."

Gasol, a teammate of Durant's on the Western Conference All-Star team in Dallas, also discussed Oklahoma City's star.

"Durant, he's been playing really well," Gasol said. "He gets a lot of credit for what he's doing and the referees treat him already like a superstar in, what is it, his third year in the league? But he's playing hard. I don't know if he gets extra calls or not. We're going to try to limit his touches and limit his free throws.

"We're not trying to play mind games here, we're just trying to play harder and play better and be the better team."

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com.


Phil

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Dam, Kobe tired from practice his 1st day back...

The end may be approaching faster than we thought...
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Filled out the bracket, but it's far from complete.

I've mentioned before that I have a few sports superstitions, and 1 of them is that if I predict/talk about my team winning, they're destined to lose. Like all my superstitions, this isn't based on a presumptin; it's happened too many times for me to ignore. So I don't guarantee victory for my teams... which means I can't complete an NBA playoff bracket.
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Aside from the Lakers region of the bracket, though, I have the Hawks in the Finals, beating the Cavs in the Conference C'hip.

Not looking at it right now, but I think I have Magic over Bobcats, Heat past Celtics, Cavs over Bulls, and the Hawks over the Deer. Western: DEN over the Jazz, Diggler over Big Fundamental, PHX over whatever 6 Blazers will be suited up for the series, and... someone will win the Lakers/Thunder series. 80

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Wow...Kobe shot 45% for the season. Pretty good considering he went most of it with the broken finger. It was just the last few games that he really stunk it up. Had to be fatigue.

Hopefully the Lakeshow and win another chip. It's nerve wrecking time....
 
Originally Posted by NobleKane

Originally Posted by mosk33toe

Originally Posted by CarlofromdaPI

Originally Posted by MrONegative

http://i44.tinypic.com/fk0diw.jpg src="http://i44.tinypic.com/fk0diw.jpg" width=879>



CAVs in 6. Lakers won't even make the Finals.
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Fill your brackets out at NBA.com
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This guy is so proud of his bracket hes been posting it everywhere
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i thought i was the only one who noticed this
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Aint my fault there was a thread for every game
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but yea, just tryin to get people to the NT Brackets

but nah I'm startin to think Bynum might not choke.
 
[h1]
[h1]Kobe Bryant to Remove Finger Splint?[/h1][h2]
[/h2]
In an effort to improve his ghastly shooting percentage of late, the OC Register speculates that Bryant might face the Thunder without the splint on his broken finger “Kobe Bryant has been doing his practice shooting recently without the usual splint for his fractured right index finger, and he is considering ditching the support for the postseason, which begins Sunday. It’s no coincidence that Bryant’s experimentation comes right before the serious part of the championship defense. While working on his shooting before the Lakers’ game Wednesday night, he was not wearing the splint … Bryant shot 5 of 23, 8 of 24 and 8 of 23 from the field in his last three regular-season games. In the game before that, he shot 2 of 6 from the free-throw line. Bryant has said in the past that the splint compensates for lack of strength in the finger, which he can’t fully straighten because of the injury and gets tired easily from use. If Bryant’s finger is strong enough to go without any brace now, another concern would be whether it would be strong enough to deal with being hit in game action without splinted support. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a general interview with the team’s Web site that he has noticed Bryant without the brace on his finger but didn’t know Bryant’s plans.
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[/h1]
 
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