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Kobe Bryant shooting bricks lately

Kobe Bryant shooting bricks lately

Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Kobe Bryant is averaging 30.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.9 steals on 47.2% shooting (31.7% three-pointers) this season while playing with several hand injuries. Are the lingering finger issues starting to catch up with him?

With Pau Gasol out, Kobe has been in a bit of a mini-slump. Nothing shocking. No reason for alarm just yet. But worth paying attention to.

Right now in the third quarter of a Lakers-Bucks game, he’s shooting 2-of-17.

These are his shooting totals in recent games:

January 8 at Portland: 14-of-37.

January 6 at L.A. Clippers: 10-of-30.

January 5 vs Houston: 9-of-23.

January 3 vs Dallas: 6-of-12.

Obviously 6-of-12 is fine, but 12 field goal attempts suggests he really picked his spots.

Now, Gasol, clearly the best player on the team not named Bryant, has been out injured and hasn’t played since January 3.

So, is Kobe just tossing bricks because that’s just what happens sometimes?

Or because Gasol is out?

Or, are his hand injuries starting to catch up with him?

UPDATE: Jeff Eisenberg of the Press-Enterprise reports:

Bryant said after the game that his recent slump coincides with his decision to remove the hard metallic splint he’d been wearing to protect the fractured index finger on his shooting hand. He put the harder splint back on at halftime, sacrificing flexibility and touch to gain some extra protection.

“The finger felt pretty good so I tried to go without the splint,” Bryant said. “I have more range and movement in the finger without the splint, but I don’t have enough strength to shoot the ball. A lot of shots were going short.”

Keep an eye on Bryant these days, even more than usual.

Ron Artest injured at home

Ron Artest injured at home

Lakers Forward Ron Artest was injured last night at his home when he tripped over a box and fell down a flight of stairs, suffering an injury to his head and left elbow.

Artest received treatment at the emergency room at UCLA Medical Center, where he was released after undergoing a series of tests, including a CT scan.  He received stitches to the back of his head and to his elbow.

Artest did not accompany the team to Sacramento this morning and is not expected to play in tonight’s game against the Kings.  Artest will be examined today in Los Angeles by a neurologist and after that examination, an update will be given with an estimate as to when Artest will be able to rejoin the team.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Artest should try to stay away from dangerous places like home and stick to the safety of a basketball court.

Update: Ron Artest was examined today in Los Angeles by a neurologist.  Diagnosis from his examination showed that Artest did suffer a concussion in last night’s fall.  Artest’s condition has improved since last night; however, he will continue to see a neurologist on a daily basis until he is cleared to return.  He is definitely out for tonight’s game against the Kings at Sacramento and his status beyond that will be considered day-to-day.

Lakers sign Pau Gasol to contract extension

Lakers sign Pau Gasol to contract extension

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward/center Pau Gasol to a multi-year contract extension, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “Gasol officially signed a three-year extension worth up to $64.7 million, depending on the NBA salary-cap figures to be determined in 2011.”

According to ESPN.com, “The year-by-year breakdown of the extension: $18,714,150 in 2011-12, $19,000,000 in 2012-13 and $19,285,850 in 2013-14.”

Since being acquired by the Lakers on February 1, 2008 as part of a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, Gasol has helped Los Angeles to a 101-23 (.815) regular season record in games he has appeared in.  In the postseason, the Lakers have posted a 30-14 (.682) record with Gasol, winning the Western Conference in both trips to the playoffs since he joined the team as well as the franchise’s 15th NBA Championship in 2009.

Gasol, currently a reigning NBA Champion, FIBA World Champion (Tournament MVP) and European Champion (Tournament MVP), earned a silver medal with Spain at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, falling just shy of the gold against the United States.  Named the 2008 European Player of the Year, he earned All-NBA Third Team honors in 2009 as well as his second trip to the NBA All-Star game (2006, 2009).

“Over the past year and a half, Pau has quickly developed into one of the best all-around players in the NBA,” said Kupchak.  “The impact he has had on and off the court for the Lakers is significant, and we look forward to watching Pau continue as one of the best players in the league for years to come.”

“Coming to terms on an extension for Pau is another step for the organization in its goal of trying to keep the core of this team together for the foreseeable future,” continued Kupchak.  “The Buss family recognizes this opportunity and will continue to do whatever is possible to put the organization in position to contend for NBA championships.”

The fourth player in NBA history to go straight from Europe to the NBA and score 10,000 career points, Gasol concluded the 2008-09 season ranked among league leaders in points (25th/18.9), rebounds (8th/9.6), field goal percentage (5th/.567) and blocks (27th/1.00) while appearing in 81 games.

In 16 games this season, Gasol is averaging 17.0 points on .543 shooting from the field, 12.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.75 blocked shots in 36.1 minutes.

Read NBA fan reaction and share your own opinion in this forum topic.

Lakers beat writers stranded in New York

A huge snowstorm struck the Northeast United States on Saturday, and as a result beat writers covering the Los Angeles Lakers were all unable to make it to Detroit for Sunday’s Lakers at Pistons game (6 p.m. ET start time).

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports (via blog):

Phil Jackson has cited the drain of travel distance to road cities being one reason why it’d be harder for the Lakers ever to go 72-10 the way the center-of-the-country Chicago Bulls did.

Well, here’s a reminder that cold-weather teams such as Chicago (and everyone else in the Eastern Conference who has to go more regularly to cold-weather cities) have travel issues brought on by snow and ice that the warm-weather Lakers rarely encounter.

The Lakers made it from Newark, N.J., to Detroit (or more accurately, they flew into Pontiac, Mich., to be closer to the arena in Auburn Hills) in the wee hours of Sunday morning despite an incredible snowstorm that began Saturday and grounded pretty much all commercial planes in the Northeast. It wasn’t an easy feat, and the club had booked hotel rooms in Newark for the night with the expectation that their plane might not be able to get in the air amid the still-descending snow.

None of the writers who travel separately from the team plane will make it to cover the Lakers-Detroit game, which is pretty much a historic development. Personally, I’ve never not been able to get to the next city because of weather.

I assume the reporters will still write game articles today, but from hotel rooms for a change.

Kobe Bryant breaks finger

Kobe Bryant broke a small bone in his finger on Friday. It remains to be seen what the outcome of the injury will be.

The AP reports:

Kobe Bryant scored 20 points while playing with a small break in his finger, and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up the generous portion of their schedule with their 11th straight victory, 104-92 over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.

Pau Gasol had 17 points and a career-high 20 rebounds for the defending champions, who improved the NBA’s best record to 18-3 while finishing a season-opening stretch with 17 of their first 21 games at home. Ron Artest scored 16 points and Lamar Odom added 13 for Los Angeles, which hasn’t lost since Nov. 15.

Yet the Lakers also got a scare when Bryant hurt the index finger on his right hand while reaching for a pass late in the first quarter. Bryant has an avulsion fracture, in which a small piece of bone tears away near a ligament or tendon.

”It’s pretty painful,” Bryant said. ”I just tried to play through it.”

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Bryant sustained an avulsion fracture in the index finger of his right hand but kept playing. The Lakers sustained a case of not taking the Timberwolves seriously but also kept playing on Friday, eventually winning their 11th consecutive game, 104-92.

An avulsion fracture occurs when a small fragment of bone is pulled off by a tendon, which apparently happened when Bryant took a slightly off-target entry pass from Jordan Farmar late in the first quarter.

He left briefly and returned for the start of the second quarter . . . sort of. He took one shot, passed the ball only with his left hand, and left near the quarter’s midpoint for X-rays down the hall from the locker room.

This is potentially a real problem. Bryant has already been playing hurt for a long time now, but this may be too much to tolerate. If Bryant has to miss time he should probably do it as immediately as possible and get it over with.

Nets hire Del Harris as assistant coach

The New Jersey Nets have named Del Harris as an assistant coach, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.  Harris joins Tom Barrise, John Loyer, Roy Rogers and Doug Overton as a member of Interim Head Coach Kiki Vandeweghe’s staff.

Harris, 72, joins the Nets following one season as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls were he helped first-year coach Vinny Del Negro reach the playoffs.

Prior to his time in Chicago, Harris was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks from 2000-08.  During that time, Harris worked closely with Vandeweghe and Nets point guard Devin Harris.  Harris brings 50+ years of coaching experience to the Nets including 30+ seasons in the NBA.  As a head coach, Harris amassed a career record of 556-457 (.549) in parts of 14 seasons with the Lakers, Bucks and Rockets, reaching the playoffs 11 times.  Harris received the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 1995 after guiding his Lakers to a 48-34 (.585) record, finishing third in the Pacific Division.

Harris also has international coaching experience as he coached Nets forward Yi Jianlian and Team China in the 2004 Olympics, where the team finished eighth out of a field of 12.  He also coached seven seasons in Puerto Rico’s National Superior League (1969-75), posting a 176-61 record and winning three national championships (1973-75).

Before entering the NBA ranks, Harris was the head coach of Earlham College from 1965-74 finishing with a 175-70 (.714) record.

The Plainfield, Indiana native attended Milligan College in Tennessee where he played four years of basketball with career averages of 18.0 points and 9.5 rebounds.

Carmelo Anthony scores 50

Friday night in Denver the Nuggets edged the New York Knicks 128-125 in a wild shootout that featured one member of the losing squad, Al Harrington, come off the bench to shoot 14-of-24 with four three pointers and 9-of-13 free throws for 41 points and 10 rebounds.

While Harrington’s individual scoring output would normally be the best in the league on any given NBA basketball night, it was second best in this game as Nuggets small forward Carmelo Anthony erupted for 50.

Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post reports:

carmelo anthony

As if turkey wasn’t enough, [Carmelo] Anthony gorged himself on a diet of open shots provided by New York. And he made them count. The Nuggets forward knocked down 17-of-28 shots to finish with a career-high 50 points.

“It feels good,” said Anthony, whose previous career high was 49 at Washington in 2008. “I have not been (to 50 points) a lot of times, and never got over that hump (in the NBA).”

Anthony had 10 in the first quarter, 14 in the second, 15 in the third and 11 in the fourth.

And a shot chart full of filled-in circles.

Anthony, so far, is having the best season of his career. MVP chants are becoming common in the Pepsi Center, and they revved up again in the fourth quarter when Anthony stepped to the free-throw line.

The AP reports:

With the game in the balance, the crowd chanting “MVP! MVP!” and Anthony’s sights set on an offensive milestone, the Nuggets forward sank a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining to finish off a career-high, 50-point performance and help Denver beat the New York Knicks 128-125 Friday night.

“They might have been the two toughest free throws I’ve shot in a while,” Anthony said. “We’ve got the game on the line, 50, you’re right there and you want to get it. If I didn’t say I wanted to get it, I’d be lying to you. I’m right there. But most importantly they were two big free throws.”

Matt Gagne of the New York Daily News reports:

“He’s got the total package right now,” Al Harrington said after the Knicks finished 0-3 on their West Coast swing and dropped to 3-13. “He’s hitting threes, he’s got a mid-range jumper, he can get to the free throw line whenever he wants to. Whenever you’re playing a guy like that, there’s nothing you can do. “I think our guys did a pretty good job, because if we didn’t, he would’ve had 70.”

Including Friday’s games, Melo leads the entire NBA in scoring with 30.9 points per game. Kevin Martin (Sacramento Kings), who is injured and has played in just five games this season, is at 30.6 ppg. Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) is at 30.1 ppg, followed by LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) with 29.4 ppg and Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) with 27.5 ppg.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Late bus delays Knicks in L.A.

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

The Knicks couldn’t beat the L.A. traffic or the world champion Lakers last night at Staples Center.

The night started with a bad omen when half the team — and coach Mike D’Antoni — showed up to Staples Center just 45 minutes before tip-off, nearly an hour late.

The team bus got caught in a massive traffic jam on the L.A. freeways and then the Lakers jammed them 100-90. Even worse, center Eddy Curry, after an ineffective first half, sat out the second half with a sore knee – an ailment that plagued him all last season. The Knicks, who play in Sacramento tonight, dropped to 3-11. Curry may not be available.

Kobe Bryant shot 14-of-20 against the Knicks, finishing with 34 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists (but 4 turnovers) and 3 steals. Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest each scored 17 (though Artest had 6 turnovers), and Pau Gasol added 11 points with 16 rebounds.

Lots of Knicks players struggled, including Wilson Chandler (5-of-20, 15 points), Chris Duhon (2-of-9) and Al Harrington (2-of-7).

Share your opinion on the InsideHoops New York Knicks forum.

Andrew Bynum putting up big stats

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports:

Andrew Bynum putting up big stats

Bynum had 25 points on nine-for-11 shooting in the Lakers’ 101-85 victory Sunday over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also had nine rebounds and made all seven of his free throws in almost 29 minutes.

Toronto forward-center Chris Bosh is the only player in the league averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, though Bynum is close to being there too.

He is now averaging 19.9 points and 11.2 rebounds.

Are the All-Star voters paying attention?

“I hope to make it,” Bynum said. “That’s really a goal I had coming into this season. I think I’m playing at the level I need to be playing. All I can do is get votes now. I’ve got to keep it up.”

I still consider Bynum more of a product of a great team system (and great teammates) than a go-to center, but he’s winning me over regularly lately.

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