February 19th: Trade rumors continue. Orlando GM denies talking with the Lakers regarding Francis. Sam Smith, "Garnett has been a Lakers' Plan A or B for some time now"

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:38 am    Post subject: February 19th: Trade rumors continue. Orlando GM denies talking with the Lakers regarding Francis. Sam Smith, "Garnett has been a Lakers' Plan A or B for some time now"


Without trading, Lakers aren't going places

GM Kupchak needs to go West
Vincent Bonsignore , Staff writer

Remember the good old days when the trade deadline actually meant something to the Lakers?

Who can forget 1987 when Jerry West sent Frank Brickowski and $800,000 to San Antonio for center Mychal Thompson, whose defense on Kevin McHale was a decisive factor in the Lakers dethroning the hated Celtics for the NBA Championship later that year?

The Lakers' giddiness over prying Thompson from the Spurs was matched only by the Celtics dismay. Upon hearing about the trade - and what it took the Lakers to make it happen - Larry Bird told reporters he would have wrote a check to the Spurs himself had he known they were just looking to make a cash play.

Ah, the good old days.

The only similarities between this year's Lakers and the 1987 version is they wear the same colors and Jerry Buss still signs the checks.

In 1987, they were one player away from cementing the first back-to-back NBA championships since the Celtics in the late 1960s. This year, they're closer in record to the worst team in the league than they are to the best - and it's really not even that close.

The postseason is still within reach, but their dwindling lead over Utah for the final playoff spot in the West - it's down to one-half game - will vanish all together with a few more losses like the one against Atlanta right before the All-Star break.


Last edited by Phil on Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:13 pm; edited 2 times in total
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:43 am    Post subject:

Francis trade talks ongoing

BY JOHN DENTON
FLORIDA TODAY


ORLANDO - Orlando Magic assistant general manager Otis Smith said Saturday that while he's continuing trade talks involving point guard Steve Francis he's had no contact with the Los Angeles Lakers about a potential deal for Lamar Odom.

Smith said his efforts to move Francis are simply about being bettering a Magic team that limped into the NBA All-Star break at 19-32. Orlando lost six in a row before the break and 10 of 11.

Francis, who was suspended by the Magic in January for insubordination, has been mired in a deep offensive funk since trade rumors involving his name surfaced two weeks ago. Francis admitted that he was bothered by the talks, and said little would likely change until the Feb. 23 trade deadline comes and goes.

New York and Denver are the most prominent teams rumored to have interest in Francis. Rumors surfaced recently that the Lakers might be willing to deal Odom for the Magic guard.

"I'm still talking and looking into things every day, trying to make our team better," Smith said. "I can't say that we're close to anything right now. We'll keep working."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:46 am    Post subject:

They Are What They Are, and It Is What It Is

Hits and myths from the first half of the season: OK, let's start with the Lakers' disappointment that they underachieved.

They wish.


They did lose some they should have won but after Kobe Bryant goes for 55 in the second half to bring them back from 18 down against Toronto, you'd have to say they won some they should have lost too. To quote Chuck Daly: "You are what your record says you are. No better. No worse."

This is no underachievement. At 26-26, this is who the Lakers are.

Not that they've ever understood it. They were going to be an exciting, running team last season with coach Rudy Tomjanovich. When they collapsed, it was because they didn't have Vlade Divac and Brian Grant — but Phil Jackson was back to save the day.

Actually, this is who they were from the moment they traded Shaquille O'Neal. This is what a lose-lose decision looks like. Heads, you lose. Tails, you lose too.

O'Neal's decline shows it would have been a disaster to keep him if that meant losing Bryant. Nevertheless, if trading Shaq was the percentage move in the long run, the Lakers were on their own in the short and intermediate run.

Some things are hard to predict but these weren't:
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Phil
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:47 am    Post subject:

Advertising remains divided on Bryant's ability to pitch

By Charles Elmore

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 42 minutes.

That was the easy part. It took about 1.5 million minutes for Bryant to land his first TV commercial since the sexual-assault scandal that changed everything nearly three years ago.
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A new Nike shoe commercial has put Bryant in the role of TV pitchman for the first time since 2003. The advertisement deals directly with the idea that some fans (and players) have not forgiven Kobe, or didn't like him to start with. It aims to turn divided opinion about Bryant into a selling point.

"Love me or hate me, it's one or the other," Bryant says in the commercial. "Always has been. Hate my game, my swagger."

Bryant shoots free throws and runs drills as his voice narrates.

"Hate my fadeaway, my hunger," he says. "Hate that I'm a veteran. A champion. Hate that. Hate it with all your heart. And hate that I'm loved, for the exact same reasons."
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:52 am    Post subject:

TRADE WINDS & HOT AIR by Peter Vecsey

[snippet]

LAKERS: They can't guard anybody, as evinced by the Hawks running a layup line on them at Staples Center to close out the first half. They're sick about investing three years and $25 million in Kwame Brown. They see their playoff hopes flashing before their eyes. Yet I can't imagine them being remotely interested in acquiring Steve Francis for Lamar Odom, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel. Yeah, that's right, trade your best rebounder and second-best all-around player for a Kobe wannabe.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:56 am    Post subject:

Lakers trade rumor denied
Ross Siler, Staff writer

The Lakers have no interest in acquiring Orlando Magic guard Steve Francis, contrary to a report Saturday, a team source said.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:02 am    Post subject:

Inside the NBA - Lakers still bad with Kobe at helm
By Mike Tulumello, Tribune
February 19, 2006
Remember those stories and columns after Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Raptors, about how the Lakers’ decision to keep him over Shaquille O’Neal might have been the right one, after all? Forget them.

The original conventional wisdom, that the Lakers messed up big time, still reigns.

The Lakers are finding out they are a bad team with a great player. They might go .500 and make the playoffs but nothing more. Everyone will want to meet them in the postseason.

The Lakers headed into the break with seven losses in their past 10 games, capped by a loss at home to the Hawks, who had lost 23 in a row on the road to Western Conference teams.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:05 am    Post subject:

All-Star Weekend: The Kobe Show? Bryant could challenge Chamberlain's record
By Steve Luhm
The Salt Lake Tribune


Kobe Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer, says he's not thinking about the All-Star Game scoring record. (Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press )
HOUSTON - A month ago, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against a defense that was actually trying to stop him.
This season, Bryant averages 35 points a game despite being the focus of every opposing team.
That's why tonight's NBA All-Star Game at the Toyota Center could turn into something special.
Clearly, Bryant has the confidence and the ability to break Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star scoring record of 42 points.
But will he?
"Nah," Bryant says. "I'm not even thinking about that. I'll just go play - play and compete and let it all hang out. . . . I don't go for any [records]."
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:06 am    Post subject:

Game Isn't Always All for Show
# There have been memorable moments with Jordan, Johnson and Bryant, but it has been a few years since last interesting one.

By Mark Heisler, Times Staff Writer

HOUSTON — It's not true that nothing memorable happens in the All-Star game, officially the centerpiece of the NBA's three-day showcase and marketing extravaganza.

It is true that nothing has recently, however.

The last two, in Denver and Los Angeles, were generic. The 2003 game in Atlanta wasn't memorable but it had a story line with Michael Jordan (presumably) making his final appearance.

The last interesting one was in 2001 in Washington when Larry Brown played four guards with Dikembe Mutombo as the East came from 20 points behind in the fourth quarter. The East won, 111-110, and most valuable player Allen Iverson signaled a new era, saying he didn't want to accept the trophy before they brought up "my coach."
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:08 am    Post subject:

BRYANT FOCUSED FOR GAME

By GEORGE WILLIS
PHOTO ON TEAR: The stars all seemed to be aligned for Kobe Bryant (driving for reverse dunk against Hawks' Jason Smith) as he continues to enjoy a spectacular winter season, including some praise from long-time enemy Shaquille O'Neal.
Photo: AP

February 19, 2006 -- HOUSTON — Kobe Bryant has called this the second season of his career.

He and Shaquille O'Neal seem to have called a truce in their highly public spat, the dark cloud from a sexual assault charge in 2003 has settled, he's getting along with Phil Jackson, who once called him "uncoachable," and the sales of his No. 8 Lakers jersey are on the rise.

"I've had a chance to train and get my mind right and focus on the season," said Bryant, who has averaged 35 points per game, the most since Michael Jordan's 37.1 in 1986-87. "It's like my rookie year all over again."

Bryant, 27, will play in his eighth All-Star Game. The MVP of the 2002 All-Star Game received 2,271,631 fan votes, second to hometown and global favorite Yao Ming of the Rockets (2,342,738).

Plus, the buzz is still lingering from the 81 Bryant scored against the Raptors on Jan. 22, the most since Wilt Chamberlain tallied 100 points 44 years ago against the Knicks.

Bryant, 27, may not have much help on the Lakers, who are 26-26, he'll have plenty tonight. He'll be joined in the West's starting lineup by Ming, Tim Duncan of the Spurs, Steve Nash of the Suns and the Rockets' Tracy McGrady.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:11 am    Post subject:

Bryant working overtime to get back on top again
Posted: Feb. 18, 2006


Garry D. Howard
E-MAIL


Houston - Still, he remains unflappable.

Two seasons removed from a public vilification, Kobe Bryant is working overtime to reconstruct what was once a flawless reputation.

But it will take more than complete exoneration in his public rape case; it will take more than purchasing a multimillion-dollar ring for his young bride, Vanessa; it will take more than new sneaker commercials; it will take more than an 81-point performance against the not-that-bad Toronto Raptors; and it will take much more than his infectious smile and superior basketball skills.

As the temperature dipped into the 50s outside the Hilton Americas-Houston during the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend on Friday afternoon, the heat was being applied to Bryant, who was being inundated with dozens of questions by a throng of media.

Earlier, on the other side of the ballroom, former NBA superstar and current Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler offered his opinion on what is clearly the rebirth of the game's most dynamic player.

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And "The Glide," who knows a thing or two about a pristine reputation, was very specific.

"With Kobe, the problems he had tarnished his reputation," Drexler said. "He was a golden child without any previous (negative) history ever in high school or the NBA.

"He was a good citizen, a nice guy. When (the rape allegation) happened, it tarnished his image, especially commercially. But Kobe still has always been a very nice guy. He's come back in a nice way.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:10 pm    Post subject:

The mystery of Kevin Garnett
BY SAM SMITH
Chicago Tribune

[Snippet]

Garnett has been a Lakers' Plan A or B for some time now after Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire re-signed. Boston, Seattle, Indiana, Golden State and the Bulls are some of the teams reportedly hanging back just in case Garnett ever came on the trade market.
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