The AP reports: Kobe Bryant had 16 points and eight rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 12 points and nine rebounds, and the Lakers spoiled the Clippers season opener with a 117-79 rout Wednesday night… Derek Fisher scored 15 in the victory, including going 3-of-6 as the Lakers finished 10-of-19 from 3-point range. Pau Gasol added 13 points, Jordan Farmar 15, and Trevor Ariza had 11 points and six rebounds. Chris Mims scored most of his 10 points during mop-up time… Baron Davis had 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting in his Clippers’ debut, with seven assists. Al Thornton scored 16, and Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas each had 11.
Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog
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Oct 28: Lakers 96, Blazers 76
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant had 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists Tuesday night, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 96-76 season-opening victory over the Portland Trail Blazers and spoiling rookie Greg Oden’s debut, which was cut short by another injury. Bryant orchestrated a well-balanced offense for the Lakers, who also played tenacious defense. Pau Gasol had all of his 15 points in the first half as Los Angeles moved in front to stay. Trevor Ariz added 11 points and Andrew Bynum, back after sitting out the last part of last season with a knee injury, had eight points and three rebounds… Travis Outlaw led Portland with 18 points and Rudy Fernandez had 16.
Shaq is The Big Shogun
The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: Shaquille O’Neal can talk the topic of supremacy, having climbed the NBA mountaintop four times and believing that he still sits above all centers. “Because I’ve done the most,” O’Neal said. “I’m not worried about guys winning dunk contests and doing stuff like that. You still have to outdo the shogun to become the shogun. When I leave, it’ll be because my time is up, not because someone is outplaying me or someone has done more than me. The only one who has even done close, and I don’t really consider him a center, is Mr. (Tim) Duncan. Any other center, the things that they have done, I invented.”
NBA opening night rosters
The NBA’s opening day rosters are official, and now posted on InsideHoops.com.
This evening was the deadline for NBA teams to trim their rosters down to 15 players or less.
The 2008-09 regular season starts Tuesday, October 28. InsideHoops is your online basketball home. We’re pumping out more content this season than ever.
Enjoy the season!
Lakers exercise option on Farmar
The Los Angeles Lakers have exercised a fourth year contract option for the 2009-10 season on Jordan Farmar, it was announced today. In accordance with the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the Lakers had until October 31 to exercise their option on Farmar. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
Selected by the Lakers with the 26th pick in the first round of the 2006 NBA draft, Farmar, a third year guard out of UCLA, averaged 9.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 20.6 minutes over 82 games last season (all career-highs).
A participant in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge during the 2007 and 2008 All-Star Weekends as well as the first player in league history to play in both an NBA and NBA Development League game in the same day, Farmar led the Lakers in scoring (12.3 ppg) and assists (3.4 apg) this preseason.
Lakers waive Coby Karl
The Los Angeles Lakers have waived free agent guard Coby Karl, it was announced today.
Karl, who was signed by the Lakers as an undrafted rookie free agent on July 30, 2007, appeared in 17 games last season, averaging 1.8 points and 0.8 rebounds in 4.2 minutes.
Karl also played in 17 games with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League last season where he averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 37.6 minutes while posting a .411 3-point field goal percentage. In the D-Fenders’ two playoff games, Karl averaged 13.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals in 37.0 minutes.
Karl, a 6-5 guard from Boise State, averaged 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior and was named First Team All-WAC. Karl’s 1,698 career points ranks third on Boise State’s all-time scoring list while leaving Boise State as the all-time leader in games played (127) and three-pointers made (266).
Jordan Farmar looked great in preseason
The Los Angeles Daily News (Elliot Teaford) report: Not to be overlooked was the play of backup guard Jordan Farmar, who ignited the second unit during the preseason. He has never lacked for confidence, dating to his days as a prep standout at Taft High of Woodland Hills and as a collegian at UCLA. But he raised his game to a new a level in October, prompting Odom to say of the 21-year-old Farmar, “At a young age, he’s found his niche.” The Lakers’ second unit, their so-called Bench Mob, was one of the best in the league last season. Coach Phil Jackson declined to stick with the status quo this season, however. He moved Odom to the bench, for instance.
Oct 24: Lakers 105, Thunder 94
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant, coming back from a knee injury, made a brief appearance at the start of Los Angeles’ final preseason game Friday night and appeared to be moving fine in the Lakers’ 105-94 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder… Los Angeles’ Andrew Bynum had 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks while playing 29 minutes in the final tuneup for both the Lakers (5-2) and the Thunder (1-6). Bynum was 10-of-15 from the floor. Jordan Farmar had 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting for Los Angeles… Rookie Russell Westbrook scored 23 for Oklahoma City, and Kevin Durant added 15.
Oct 23: Lakers 88, Bobcats 77
The AP reports: Pau Gasol scored 13 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 88-77 on Thursday night without the ailing Kobe Bryant… Adam Morrison scored 13 points for the Bobcats, who finished the preseason 0-7. The fifth-year team will open the regular season Oct. 30 at Cleveland under Larry Brown, who is coaching his ninth NBA team following the firing of Sam Vincent in April… Despite Jason Richardson’s 1-for-8 shooting in the first half and Charlotte’s 27.0 field goal percentage, the Lakers led only 36-30 at intermission.
Lakers waive two players
The Los Angeles Lakers have requested waivers on guard Joe Crawford and forward CJ Giles, it was announced today.
Selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Crawford, a 22 year-old native of Detroit, Michigan, played four seasons at the University of Kentucky, averaging 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 127 games (76 starts). In six preseason games with the Lakers, Crawford averaged 2.8 points in 7.3 minutes.
Giles, a 6-11 forward who finished his collegiate career at Oregon State after playing two seasons at Kansas, averaged 6.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in ten games last season for the Beavers. Giles played in four preseason games with the Lakers where he averaged 2.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.2 minutes.
The Lakers preseason roster now stands at 15.