With a 13 point loss to the Bobcats and Kobe's anger management issues fresh in the minds of Laker Nation, here's some potentially good news.
Today, Lakers.com posted a video documenting Andrew Bynum's rehab process. If you don't have three minutes to blow on, basically, music video of a dude working out, here's a synopses:
"On Monday, Andrew continued to workout the knee through a series of of
weight-training exercises aimed at strengthening the area where the
injury occurred. The center also ran for several minutes on the team's
Alter-G treadmill that simulates low gravity situations. Since the
machine controls what percentage of body weight a player runs on, it is
less physically demanding for an athlete returning from an injury."
The knee has had 11 weeks of healing, and from the looks of thing in the video the recovery is going smoothly.
The high point of the video was finally getting to see this $75,000 treadmill that we've been hearing about for the past few months.
Also, after reports of Pau Gasol's return being pushed back to Wednesday, the LA Times is reporting:
"Center Pau Gasol might return Sunday against Washington after a pain-free day with his sprained left ankle.
He did some one-on-one drills Thursday with assistant coach Kurt Rambis
at the team's training facility. Some post moves still bothered him
when he made quick turns, but he felt "pretty good," he said. "I'll
just wait until probably Saturday to go through a full practice, see
how it feels."
Finally, Kwame Brown will make his return to Staples tonight. Kwame hasn't seen minutes in the Grizzlies' last four games, but when he does, he's good for anywhere from 0 to 8 points -- 8 being his high since the trade. On the other hand, Javaris Crittenton might be factor of sorts in this game. Since the trade, J-Critt's high is 22 points and he's seen increased playing time in the past couple of games. Regardless, I'm excited to see Crittenton ball again... AND, I'm more excited to see the greeting Kwame gets IF he manages to sneak into the game. Grizzlies at Lakers [Fox Sports]
[edit: 7:14pm] Well, when it rains it pours. Derek Fisher has been diagnosed with a partial tendon tear in his right foot.
"If this happened during the middle of the season or something like
that, he would probably rest for six to eight weeks in order to heal,"
Lakers spokesman John Black said. "It's a pain and inflammation thing.
If he can play, he'll be on anti-inflammatory and pain medication and
try to play through it."
So there we have it. Both members of the Lakers back-court are now "playing through pain."
Lakersfan19II and Hoffman already have this covered, so all I really have to say is:
"Los Angeles has acquired Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies in exchange for
Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and first-round picks in 2008 and 2010,
according to multiple published reports."
[edit: 2:26pm] It's Official. Press Release:
The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired forward Pau Gasol in a trade with
the Memphis Grizzlies, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch
Kupchak. The Lakers will also receive the Grizzlies second round draft
choice in 2010. In exchange Memphis will receive forward Kwame Brown,
guard Javaris Crittenton, guard Aaron McKie (who the Lakers signed
earlier today), the draft rights to Marc Gasol and first round picks in
2008 and 2010.
Gasol, a 7th year player out of Spain, is averaging 18.9 points, 8.8
rebounds and 1.44 blocked shots per game this season. The 27 year old
7’0” forward/center has career averages of 18.8 points and 8.6
rebounds. A 2006 NBA All-Star and 2001-02 NBA Rookie of the Year, Gasol
also won a gold medal with Spain at the 2006 FIBA World Championships
while being named tournament MVP.
“We’re extremely pleased to be able to make this trade.” said
Kupchak. “Pau is a proven player of all-star caliber in this league who
can score and rebound and he’s still a young player. We feel this move
strengthens our team in the short term as well as the long term.”
If you caught tonight's match-up between the Lakers and the Sixers while channel surfing through League Pass, or browsing through the night's scores online, you most likely registered the Lakers' 124-93 victory as nothing more than a huge win. Well, those following the game, or those lucky enough to have taken a look at the box score just may have noticed something special.
Andrew Bynum rebounded from his weak showing on Sunday; literally, pulling down 16 boards en route to 17 points. The big lead allowed for the bench mob to get some crucial playing time. Rookie, Javaris Crittenton shattered his season high, scoring 19 points in just 23 minutes, Jordan Farmar contributed with 16, and Trevor Ariza (robbed of his starting job) put up 11.
D-Fish tacked on 17, Kobe, along with Ronny Turiaf added 15 a piece. Turiaf, starting for the suspended Lamar Odom shined in the spotlight with the pressure on, adding five blocked shots to the mix and leaving my dad and I with validation of the "there's no need for Lamar Odom" theory.
However, the truly awesome element of tonight's box is the simple fact that, with 15 points, Kobe Bryant was tied as the fifth leading scorer for the team. Please don't take this as Kobe hating, because I do try to shy away from some of the more rudimentary aspects of blogging about the Lakers; rather, take this as a novelty... something that hasn't happened in my memory of Kobe as a super-star, and will likely never happen again... unless, of course the stars align as they did tonight; and I'm not talking about the star on the back of Lamar's head.
Phil Jackson finally agreed to that two-year extension that had been nagging at him for some time now. The move bothered me somewhat after Phil's demeanor over the past few games, but tonight's huge 127, 99 win over Denver sways my opinion quite a bit. Jackson set Thanksgiving as a deadline for his decision, and after a tough road trip through the East Coast, a coaching error in the final play of Sunday's contest with the Nets, and a sloppy win over one of the league's worst teams, we all figured something was going to give.
Jackson's decision surprised me... and almost angered me, but some six hours later, I see the light. I sometimes forget about the head the Jackson had on his shoulders. I sometimes forget that he commanded MJ and the Bulls to victory. I sometimes forget that he brought championship basketball back to LA. Sometimes Phil looks disinterested as a coach, but when he leads the Lakers to big wins; his presence is invaluable.
And a big win this was. Despite trailing by 17 at one point in the second quarter, The Lakers posted seven in double figures, including someone who came out of the woodwork to land a career high. Sasha Vujacic lit it up from the field, finishing with 22 points. Kobe (aptly enough) scored 24, Luke Walton came off the bench with 14, and Lamar Odom posted 12.
Andrew Bynum showed his stuff, snagging another double-double, with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers point guard tandem of D-Fish and Jordan Farmar put up 10 points respectively.
The best part to me, however was a result of the big lead... We finally got to see a lot more of the Bench Mob. The Lakers bench scored 63 points. That is HUGE.
We saw a lot of rookie, Javaris Crittenton, who scored seven points in five minutes.
We saw some more time out of newcomer Trevor Ariza, who laid some bricks at the line, missed a gimme, and impressed nobody.
SIDENOTES
Carmelo Anthony was ejected in the fourth quarter after nearly taking Sasha's dome off, in a play that resulted in a flagrant-two ruling after a video review.
Coby Karl scored 19 points in his first game with the Lakers' D-league affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
I'm a realistic observer of the vast world that surrounds the Los Angeles Lakers. You can thank Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, Cedric Ceballos, and Vlade Divac for making that possible. The greatest person of all time is Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn. There's no getting around that. Me? I'm eighteen years old and working my way to a journalism degree.
Press Release:
If you caught tonight's match-up between the Lakers and the Sixers while channel surfing through League Pass, or browsing through the night's scores online, you most likely registered the Lakers' 124-93 victory as nothing more than a huge win. Well, those following the game, or those lucky enough to have taken a look at the box score just may have noticed something special. 
points. Kobe (aptly enough) scored 24, Luke Walton came off the bench with 14, and Lamar Odom posted 12.
