With the recent signing of Larry Turner, seems like the Lakers have another center on their hands. I am thinking this can mean that the Mitch Kupchak is preparing to unload of another center by the name of Andrew Bynum.
This acquisition seems odd, because that would make it that we have Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm, Andrew Bynum and now Larry Turner. That is four players playing the center position, not really smart when we need a lot of help in the power forward position.
I am thinking Mitch Kupchak is strategizing a way to trade one or more of those players for a much needed player of the likes of Jermaine Oneal.
Larry Turner can be a big body we need down the season, especially when Chris Mihm needs a rest at the beginning of quarters when we do not have an Andrew or Kwame on the roster.
We’ll see what happens by the beginning of the season or even mid-season.
Laker owner Jerry Buss’s daughter Jeannie Buss who is the VP of Business Operations for the Lakers as well, was on the local Los Angeles radio show “Loose Cannons” talking about the current Laker’s summer situation.
She talks about Kobe’s comments this summer about Jerry Buss and Laker management not doing anything to make the Laker’s a winning NBA team. She talks about how Kobe wants to be a winner and so does Phil, when asked if the Laker’s were a divided organization between Jeannie, Phil and Kobe where the other side is Jerry Buss, Mitch Kupchak and Laker management.
Jeannie says that Phil’s mindset during last season was that he was dreading and hurting a lot of it due to hip surgery before last season. Phil is happy to have Derek Fisher and Chris Mihm back on the roster this season. She went on to comment that she knew that Phil knew where Kobe was coming from during the media uproar during Kobe’s comments to the media this summer.
She talks about how Phil and her had an hour long conversation about basketball, where Phil shared a lot of his strategies for the upcoming season.
A lot of the talk was about her relationship with Phil, and how that dynamic works in the team and management chemistry. Nothing too much that helps us judge what’s gonna happen.
Here is the podcast from the AM570 “Loose Cannons” talk show appearance below:
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I was planning on watching a highly competitive FIBA international game with the best talent in the world. Team Venezuela was supposed to be latin american talent at its best giving Team USA a run for their money. But, it turned out to be a pick up game at the local YMCA getting a visit from the senior citizen center down the street.
It started off 7-0 Team USA and went downhill from there. (for Venezuela)
Kobe Bryant looked sharp. In this game you could really tell how the loss of 18 pounds through rigorous training and dieting has helped him increase his explosive quickness and defensive tenacity. Kobe was like butter on toast against the Venezuelan guards, playing very heavy man to man in the backcourt. Kobe had 14 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds.
The game was pretty boring, the second unit came in and relieved the pretty much all-star starters and Venezuela was behind the entire game.
I gotta say, Kobe looked lean and quick, definitely looking forward to seeing him play this season.
Final Score: Team USA 112-Venezuela 69, here is the box score.
EL SEGUNDO – The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent center Larry Turner, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
Turner, a 6-11 center from Tennessee State, averaged 5.8 points and 6.1 rebounds as a senior.
Here is a link to a Washington Post Article about Kobe. It talks about Kobe’s mention that he wants the focus this summer to be on Team USA, not him. The article points out how without Kobe last year Team USA finished third in Japan last year.
The article is a nice precursor to tonights game, USA versus Venezuela. Kobe’s first Team USA appearance.
This past weekend Kobe Bryant sat down with Jim Hill from CBS2 in Los Angeles to discuss some of the issues to date surrounding Kobe. I gave a precursor to the interview in my previous post.
Kobe speaks about his focus on Team USA and how is trying to avoid saying anything about the Lakers situation, due to it being “headline” news everytime he makes a comment. Jim Hill mentioned that there was an influx in letters to the editor at the LA Times with almost a unanimous message saying why there was so much negative Kobe press.
Jim gets into asking him about anything he would like to tell the fans in Los Angeles, and what are the next steps with the Lakers if there are any….he also reminisce with Kobe on how old he is and how time has flown since the time they first met.
Local Los Angeles sportscaster and frequent am570 guest Jim Hill was on the Loose Cannons radio show today. He was in Las Vegas during the Team USA camp this past weekend and got a quick conversation with Kobe Bryant.
He gave some key insights on his discussion with Kobe Bryant and his current situation with the Los Angeles Lakers. He gave the idea that Kobe was content with where he was at, and he has found refuge with the current team USA ‘all-stars’ and is solely focused on getting in shape and representing the USA in the FIBA tournament and then moving on and playing the regular NBA season.
Jim Hill also commented on how there were so many negative articles and topics on Kobe, and the reason being is that so many journalist just can’t get an interview with him — therefore they go bashing him like our good friend aka “the douche” TJ Simers.
Jim Hill will have a television interview tonight on KCAL 9 @ 10:45 p.m. Here is the podcast audio, enjoy:
Jim Hill segment is at the end of the podcast…
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TJ Simers was on his Roggins & Simers Squared radio show in Los Angeles this morning reacting to the feedback to the article he had in the LA Times where he was attacking Kobe Bryant and pressuring him like the paparazzi to answer the same old questions.
Here is the podcast, you can forward to the 29 minute mark to here him continue bashing Kobe Bryant:
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If you’re a Laker fan that would love to be in beautiful Hawaii and see your favorite basketball team get ready for the regular season, than this is the purchase for you. Or even better, this is the ideal gift someone can give you. When it comes down to costs, the total comes to around $1300. You get to see the October 9th & 11th Laker preseason games, where they play the promising Golden State Warriors both times.
Here’s a complete list of the amenities and perks you get while you are on this vacation:
• Tickets for October 9 & 11 Lakers games
• Laker Girls special appearance & autograph signing
• Lakers T-shirt, tote bag, hat & pin
• Lakers insider’s “chalk talk” hosted by Stu Lantz
• Round-trip airfare from LAX
• 4 nights at the Sheraton Waikiki
• Fresh flower lei greeting
• Round-trip hotel transfers
• Arrival reception with beverages & light hors d’oeuvres
• Round-trip transfers on game day
If you feel like you need a quick Laker fix before you get to the daily post summer grind here’s the linkto get this Laker getaway.
Kobe Bryant is finally healthy enough to participate in the United States Mens Basketball Team Olympic run. Last year Kobe was having knee surgery when Team USA was playing their qualifying games against the worlds elite. Everyone is excited, from the chairman Jerry Colangelo to head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Even the players are happy to have Kobe in the squad.
Coach Krzyzewski was quoted on espn saying, “Kobe’s as good a player as there is on the planet, and he’s a very team-oriented player, I think he’s as good defensively as he is offensively, so that’s a nice thing to have.” When you get that much praise from your head coach you have to be positive. Kobe has been showing up to the mini camps early and energetic, he is really excited to play for the United States at this level. This is really one of the things he is missing from his career accomplishments. He has the 3 championships, he was the peoples champ when it came to the MVP candidate, and he got his 2 scoring titles. A gold medal would really be icing on the cake. It would make him very well rounded, as far as a career. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Larry Bird all got their gold medals while having legendary careers. Now Kobe has the opportunity to be in that same class.
About Kobe’s attitude despite the summer hoopla regarding Mitch Kupchaks lower than average job as Lakers general manager. Jerry Colangelo was quoted saying, “He’s just focused, committed, excited. His presence makes a big difference, it really does. Put it this way: I think his intent is to make up for the times that he wasn’t here.”
Kobe wants it, he wants that gold medal bad. And he doesn’t let what’s going on in LA get to him. When TJ Simers asked him about the current situation with the Lakers, Kobe simply replied, “talk to Mitch.”
He is focused, focused on his first Team USA appearance on August 22nd, one day before his 29th birthday on the 23rd.
Video of Kobe Bryant working out during a Team USA basketball camp
Laker owner Jerry Buss’s daughter Jeannie Buss who is the VP of Business Operations for the Lakers as well, was on the local Los Angeles radio show “
I was planning on watching a highly competitive 
Kobe speaks about his focus on Team USA and how is trying to avoid saying anything about the Lakers situation, due to it being “headline” news everytime he makes a comment. Jim Hill mentioned that there was an influx in letters to the editor at the LA Times with almost a unanimous message saying why there was so much negative Kobe press.
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