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Lakers guard Steve Blake was examined today by Dr. Steven Yoon and had an MRI exam.
The exam confirmed that Blake still has an abdominal strain. As a result, he will be out at least another two weeks.
Blake was originally diagnosed with the abdominal strain on November 12 and has missed the last eight games with the injury.
The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned rookie forward/center Robert Sacre to the D-Fenders, it was announced today.
Sacre, a 7-0 forward/center out of Gonzaga, was selected by the Lakers in the second round (60th overall pick) in the 2012 NBA draft. Sacre finished his career with the Bulldogs ranked second all-time in school history in career blocks (186) while averaging 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 135 games. As a senior, Sacre was named the 2012 WCC Defensive Player of the Year as well as an All-WCC First-Team honoree while averaging 11.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.
Sacre, assigned to the D-Fenders for the second time after participating in practice with the team yesterday, has appeared in eight games for the Lakers this season, totaling two points, two rebounds, one assist and two blocks in 19 minutes. Sacre will be available for the D-Fenders season opener tonight at home versus Idaho.
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Bryant is shooting 51 percent overall so far this season (his previous career best was 46.9 percent in 2001-02), 41.5 percent from the 3-point line (his previous career best was 38.3 percent in 2002-03) and 87.4 percent from the foul line (his previous career best was 86.8 percent in 2006-07). He also has shot 50 percent or better in 10 of the Lakers’ 14 games, so his accuracy has been consistent. And with 17.1 percent of the season in the books, the sample size has grown to the point that this can’t be just an aberration.
So, where does the credit go? How does Bryant jump from shooting just 43 percent overall last season — his worst shooting mark since his second season in the league, back in 1997-98 — to his best marksmanship as a 34-year-old?
“I think the system has a lot to do with it,” Bryant said Monday. “The floor is spaced out a little bit more. I can penetrate to the basket and get to the free throw line a lot more.”
He is averaging 7.92 free throw attempts per game this season, up from 7.77 a game last season. The improvement isn’t dramatic in that category, but Bryant seems to have adopted the mental standpoint that slashing opportunities are there for him whenever he wants them, whereas last season, he would have Andrew Bynum and his defenders clogging up the paint.
— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles
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Shaw won three championships as a Lakers player under Jackson and was part of two more on Jackson’s coaching staff from 2005 to ‘11. Shaw returns to Staples Center on Tuesday as the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers, the right-hand man of coach Frank Vogel.
Shaw didn’t get a phone call from the Lakers after they fired Brown on Nov. 9.
“I’m in a good situation here in Indy, a situation where I have a job,” he said. “After how things ended for all of us in L.A. at the end of that last season I was there, there’s no reason for me to get my hopes up about anything because if that was the case, something different would have probably been done initially.”
Shaw interviewed to replace Jackson after the 2010-11 season. He found out he didn’t get the job after seeing media reports of Brown’s hiring.
— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times
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Former pro basketball player Devean George is proposing a 45-unit affordable apartment project just two blocks from where he grew up in north Minneapolis. Plans for the proposed Commons @ Penn Avenue project call for combining larger units with 4,500 square feet of commercial space for community services at the southwest corner of Penn Avenue North and Golden Valley Road.
“I just want to give back. I believe that I can help. I want to be able to be a resource,” George told Finance & Commerce on Monday. “We’re focusing on families. The majority of the units are two and three bedrooms.”
North Minneapolis remains a challenging environment for developers. According to city of Minneapolis statistics, there are currently 454 vacant lots and 435 vacant buildings in north Minneapolis.
— Reported by Burl Gilyard of Finance-Commerce.com
There’s no one more eager for Steve Nash’s return than Kobe Bryant.
The reasons are obvious.
“I won’t have to bring the ball up as much. I like facilitating, but I like to score a lot more,” Bryant said. “When he comes back, he’ll make my life a lot easier.”
It remains unclear when that will happen.
The Lakers plan to re-evaluate Nash’s fractured left leg sometime today.
Nash has yet to perform any running exercises. The guard also recently expressed doubts he’d play when the Lakers (7-7) host the Indiana Pacers (6-8) on Tuesday at Staples Center. It’s possible Bryant could find some relief since Steve Blake might play against Indiana after a lower abdominal strain kept him out for the past seven games.
— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News
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The Los Angeles Lakers had talked about bringing Showtime back to the franchise when they hired Mike D’Antoni to implement his fast and flashy offense.
The curtains are still waiting to be raised on that act.
Kobe Bryant scored an efficient 38 points but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol struggled inside, and the lethargic Lakers lost 113-97 to the struggling Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night to snap a three-game winning streak.
”If we’re going to play Showtime, my God, they just closed the whole theatre on us,” D’Antoni said. ”Showtime, are you kidding? It was Muppet Time.”
Marcus Thornton scored 23 points and Tyreke Evans had 18 to pace Kings, who had lost five straight games. Jason Thompson added 13 points and 10 rebounds to help Sacramento run away in the fourth quarter and cement the latest Lakers setback…
Bryant finished 11-of-20 shooting and Jodie Meeks had 15 points off the bench as D’Antoni lost for the first time on the Lakers bench. A night after beating Brooklyn in Los Angeles, the Lakers might’ve been bad enough to give D’Antoni a headache to go with the pain still throbbing in his surgically replaced knee.
— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press
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Gerald Wallace is rapidly becoming a cult hero amongst Nets fans, and here’s a cool example of why.
With the game on the line Tuesday night and Kobe Bryant at the charity stripe, Wallace began jawing with the Laker great.
What was Wallace talking about?
“I was trying to get him to close his eyes to shoot.”
— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News
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The Lakers forward went on a Twitter rant on Tuesday night about the flopping Nets, referencing two flops by Gerald Wallace and one by Reggie Evans.
Here’s World Peace’s timeline:
“what was the best flop tonight? out of the three?i am so happy the nba charges $5000 per flop……”
“the two gerad wallace flops were crazy..lol i am on the court like”what in the world”!!! it is crazy because i am still strong but quicker.”
— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Blog)
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Dwight Howard lost a lot of friends and supporters during his curious ride out of Orlando. But if one of those severed relationships was with Deron Williams, Howard – the man who wanted to please everybody — doesn’t care.
“It’s my life so if he’s upset because I made a decision for me, so be it,” Howard said. “If he doesn’t want to be friends because I’m on another team, then so be it. There’s no need to smooth things over.”
The two All-Stars plotted to play together in Brooklyn, but Howard essentially killed that possibility by waiving his right to become a free agent last March. Howard has said the decision was based on his desire to keep everybody happy, even though it forfeited his opportunity to sign with the Nets in the summer.
Instead, Howard was dealt in August from the Magic to the Lakers, who host the Nets on Tuesday. The center declined to discuss his desire to play in Brooklyn and whether it’s still alive.
— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Blog)