Ron Artest to the Lakers (Image: Zuma Press)

The Lakers needed to look for a new small forward after Trevor Ariza decided to ask for more money than Los Angeles wanted to pay. Although Ariza played great in the NBA playoffs, the Lakers obviously think he is expendable. Enter Ron Artest.

Last season with the Rockets, Artest averaged 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He shot 40.1% from the floor, 39.9% on three-pointers and 74.8% at the line.

Prior to being traded to the Rockets last year, Artest had previously played with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings. He entered the NBA in the 1999-2000 season as a first round draft pick out of St. John’s.

With the Lakers, Artest will likely start at small forward and give the team a tenacious defender, who can create his own shot, bang in the inside and shoot from the outside.

Post from: EveryJoe

Ron Artest to the Los Angeles Lakers?

Rookie Courtney Lee will likely get his shot at the Black Mamba in the beginning, provided Lee is in the starting lineup. Otherwise, when Mickael Pietrus is in the game, he will no doubt be regarded as the ‘Kobe Stopper’. How well he can stop Kobe is debatable, but my guess is Pietrus will do a better job than Ruben Patterson ever did.

Wouldn’t surprise me to see Hedo Turkoglu or J.J. Redick get some cracks at Kobe here and there, but it probably won’t end well for them.

Can Andrew Bynum step up his game against Superman?

If Bynum can, it could very well be a short series. An aggressive and interested Bynum could spell foul trouble for Dwight, and we all know while backup center Marcin Gortat can be decent in spurts, the Magic don’t have a prayer in the series unless Dwight is playing darn near 40-42 minutes a game.

LA’s offensive game plan?

Drive the ball to the hoop as much as possible. Instead of settling for jumpshots, post Pau and Andrew. Make Rashard and Dwight work on the defensive end. Get them out of the game and the Laker’s chances drastically improve.

Dwight wants some payback (Image: readmoretalkless.wordpress)

Orlando’s offensive game plan?

Besides shooting the three unconsciously? Force feed Dwight, keep him involved. If he gets doubled, that all the better because Turk, Lewis, Alston, Pietrus, Lee, and maybe Redick will be open to knock down their shots. The Magic must be cognizant of the abilities of Pietrus and Lewis to create on their own. Settling down the offense and running some isolations or post up sets for these two could prove to be a more dynamic and wiser attact than just the perimeter shot.  But this is the Orlando Magic I’m talking about, so the three ball might be just fine.

Oh, I almost forgot: get outta the way of Hedo in the fourth.

Who has the best closer?

Might not be as simple of an answer as you think.

Especially if Turk gets his proper pizza fix before the game.

Wildcards

1. Lamar Odom

2. His sugar highs/ lows

3. Shannon Brown/ SashaVujacic/ Jordan Farmar

4. Jameer Nelson (Is a rusty Jameer Nelson better than a healthy Anthony Johnson?)

5. J.J. Redick, will he play, and if he does, can he find his stroke?

Post from: EveryJoe

Inquiring Minds Want To Know: The Finals

Kobe Bryant on his way to the Finals? (Image: Newscom)

Down by eight points entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers played championship level basketball down the stretch to get the win. Kobe Bryant hit a number of big shots, Pau Gasol was a beat on the low block and Trevor Ariza got another late game steal. For the Nuggets, they limped to the finish line — committing dumb fouls and making mental mistakes along the way.

Kobe Bryant led the way for Los Angeles with 41 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. He hit 12-of-24 shots from the field, 2-for-5 from beyond the three-point line and 15-for-17 at the line. Pau Gasol had 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Trevor Ariza scored 16 points, pulled down four rebounds and swiped two steals.

For the Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony led the way with 21 points — but only three of those points came in the second half. Chauncey Billups had 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds but missed ten of his 15 shots from the field.

Game 4 will be played on Monday. If the Lakers take that contest, the series will be all but over.

Post from: EveryJoe

Lakers Take Game 3, Lead 2-1 over Nuggets

Apparently, the art of the chest bump hasn’t crossed the pond just yet. In the video below, you can see Sasha Vujacic attempting to chest bump his fellow Los Angeles Lakers teammate Trevor Ariza. The result is something that Sasha probably wishes wasn’t caught on tape. If you don’t catch the hilarity the first time, don’t worry because the video will repeat it a few times.

The Lakers are currently 7-0 and look like the team to beat. 70 wins would have sounded crazy coming into the season but now it looks like it could truly happen. Losing one game sounds difficult right now for the Lakers — much less 13.

Here is the Sasha Vujacic video of his unsuccessful chest bump with Trevor Ariza:

Post from: EveryJoe

Sasha Vujacic – Proof Euros Shouldn’t Chest Bump

The Lakers’ athletic training staff leased the $75,000 treadmill in order to help speed the recoveries of Bynum, Trevor Ariza (broken foot) and Chris Mihm (heel).

Bynum, Mihm and assistant coach Brian Shaw used the treadmill Tuesday.

They ran without the pounding they would normally experience on a regular treadmill or on the court, which gives their legs a break.

Now, how this treadmill keeps them from experiencing pounding, I don’t know. I haven’t seen any visual evidence of this type of treadmill technology existing. I seriously hope it’s just an elliptical machine and the Lakers are getting fleeced on this one.

Post from: EveryJoe

Andrew Bynum and his Treadmill-Of-Tomorrow