The REFS and the magic strike again

Accountability, that's the word of the day. Sadly, I continue to watch Laker games and can't help but feel infuriated and ripped off by the 3 smallest assholes on the court. In case you didn't notice the title, I'm talking about the refs. WTF is going on that the referees feel the need to screw the Lakers over at nearly every chance they get?

Sure, being a ref is not the easiest job and there are always going to be missed calls and errors but it's getting to the point now where I dont even want to watch the games because I know that if the lakers don't completely destroy a team, the refs will probably destroy them.

There are always going to be those tough calls that could be easily and honestly missed but where is the consistency? One would think that since the lakers can be consistently victimized by bad calls throughout whole games that just as often they would get the benefit of some bad calls.

I hate to say it but I'm at the point where I would like to see the opposition get screwed by little whistle-blowing nazis every time they meet the Lakers.
All I'm really asking for is fairness and consistnecy. It's a sad day when myself, a die-hard Lakers fan could referee a Laker game more fairly.

Where's the accountability? I know that there are people whose jobs are to review all the calls made by all the refs but do they actually do anything? I've never once heard of a ref getting fired for suspicious, or neglegent conduct(obviously besides that moron Tim Donaghy, who was cought gambling on games that he worked)

Tim Donaghy is a prime example of what could possibly happen when some little jerk with a whistle has too much power. Was he just the tip of the iceberg? Who knows, but something is going on here. Maybe its just hatred for particular teams, maybe it's betting, or maybe there is some form of sydrome that seems to impair the vision of referees 4 feet away from a player like Pau Gasol getting hit on the arm by the huge hand of Dwight Howard. Now unless Dwight's hands (and ELBOS) are visible only by t.v. I'd say somone has one of those problems listed above. It is somewhat magical how that same ref that goes blind when the lakers had the ball can suddenly view the most minute of touches when Orlando had the ball.

I can't even count the amount of times I have seen Gasol or Kobe get hammered with no whistle only to send a player on the opposing team to the line for a weak foul or no foul at all.

The NBA needs to make some friggin changes. Maybe do like the NFL and give the coaches a few challenges to use when they see fit. Or some limited instant replay. I hate anything that slows down the game too much but I am sick and tired of seeing teams getting shafted by one or many bad calls.

I guess the Lakers just have to step their game up and stomp teams so badly that the refs can't determine the outcome. In the end, things will probably never change, unless it starts to loose money for the league. As I type this line, the replay airs on the news and is over as soon as it began, if only karma worked that fast.

I just hope that the Lakers and the refs do a better job when they meet Boston or whoever it might be in the Finals(I'm still pissed about games 1 and 2 last year).

Lamar Odom : Injury Update

It looks like there might be a silver lining in what appeared to be an ominous black cloud looming over the Lakers. Yet another Laker player suffured an injury during last nights 116-105 loss to the Hornets.

Lamar was examined today by the Lakers physician Dr. Steve Lombardo and MRI results show a bone bruise to the knee which is relatively good news as opposed to the previous inclination that it was a hyper-extension of the knee.

Lamar is listed as day to day and will not play in tonight's road game against the Warriors, who might prove to be a tough matchup for a back to back game considering their fast paced offense.

Hopefully the Lakers will do what they didn't last night and power the ball into Gasol and Bynum.

Analysis: Hornets prove to be worthy adversary for Lakers

By Dave McMenamin, NBA.com

LOS ANGELES -- The Hornets got their third shot to audition for the role of the Western Conference's supporting lead. This time, New Orleans came away with the part after a 116-105 victory over the Lakers on Tuesday night at Staples Center.

"I thought over there they probably felt that we couldn't beat them and I thought we had to try to prove a point to not only them, but to ourselves," Hornets coach Byron Scott said.
Not that you can blame Los Angeles for that arrogant line of thinking after it went into the Big Easy twice already this season and rode big early leads to two easy victories.

Counting those wins, L.A. was 19-1 against the West this season, having made quick work of Denver, Phoenix and Portland twice apiece and Dallas, Houston and Utah once each.
It was starting to look like the Lakers' only competition this season in the West would be the challenges that the 14 guys in purple and gold presented each other in practice.
Now they're 19-2 in the conference and maybe, just maybe, a worthy No. 2 has emerged.

"We try to tell our guys it's not a statement game, it's just a game," Scott said. "If we win the game we're still second best in the West right now, if we lose the game we're still second best, so really there was no pressure."
Sure, if the Hornets lost they would still have the second-best record in the West, but an 0-3 mark instead of a 1-2 showing against the Lakers would put New Orleans light years away from L.A., if only from a psychological standpoint.

During a stoppage of play in the first quarter, Chris Paul chatted to Jason Segal of Forgetting Sarah Marshall fame and went on to play like he had forgotten all about those previous two home losses to the Lakers.
Paul's 32 points, 15 assists and zero turnovers and David West's career-high 40 points and 11 rebounds might have been the lines that sealed it. But to be the team that's going to take the Lakers toe-to-toe when the rest of the conference has looked like not-quite-ready-for-prime-time players, it takes more than two guys.

"Their two All-Stars are going to do what they have to do, but they have complementary players around them that allow them to do what they do," said Kobe Bryant after his 39-point effort went to waste because of the Hornets' 22-6 run to finish the game.

New Orleans is fully equipped to contend with L.A. -- or any other team in the conference. From the transcendent star in Paul who finished second to Bryant in last season's MVP race; to the All-Star sidekick in West, whose 15 points in the fourth managed to somehow out-sparkle Kobe's 20 in the third; to the token feisty defender and the oop-end of the best alley-oop going these days in Tyson Chandler; to the guys who make the Hornets the third most accurate team (39.1 percent) from three in Peja Stojakovic and Rasual Butler; to the savvy ring-wearing vets in James Posey and Antonio Daniels. The pieces are there. Sure, they are thin in the depth department with their bargain-basement back-up big men bunch of Melvin Ely, Sean Marks and Hilton Armstrong. But even the Lakers' talent pool isn't looking quite as bottomless as it used to.

The recent rash of injuries -- including Jordan Farmar's torn lateral meniscus in his left knee, Luke Walton's sesamoiditis in his right foot and Lamar Odom's hyper extended right knee -- have transformed the Lakers' Bench Mob into the Bench Maladies.

The Hornets might not have started the season as sharp as last year when they snuck up on the league to the tune of 56 wins (the second-best record in the conference) and lost an epic seven-game series with San Antonio in the second round of the playoffs, but Lakers coach Phil Jackson still thinks they're a group that his team has to watch out for.
"I'm anticipating them somewhere in the [conference] semis or in the conference [finals]," Jackson said.

Los Angeles (27-6) was put on notice by New Orleans (21-10) and there's one more team in the conference the Lakers have to worry about: those perennial Spurs.

San Antonio (23-11) takes the casting couch against L.A. on Jan. 14 and will get its first chance to be the team to write in another main character into the West's script for this season.
"We know we're going to be chasing them the rest of the year," West said.
Before Tuesday, it wasn't much of a chase. But the Hornets just made their scene-stealing debut and the Western Conference should be real interesting until the end credits.

Luke Walton to miss 2 weeks with foot injury

Luke Walton, the recently starting small forward for the Lakers is back out of the lineup with sesamoiditis, an inflamation of two smal bones behind the big toe.

Walton should be out for at least two weeks while former starter Vladimir Radmanovic gets the chance to remind Phil Jackson why he was picked to be the initial starter.

Although Vladimir did not start in last nights game against Portland , he came in following Ariza and scored 16 points in 18 minutes.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out Vlad's role in the starting line-up, he's there to stretch the floor for the 2 bigs and Kobe, but he really needs to display a consistent work ethic while on the floor, particularly on the defensive end. The guy can sometimes show some very tough and energized play and then seem to disappear.

I like that Ariza was the starter in last nights game despite the fact that I think he's a better fit coming off the bench because competetion usually breeds tougher and more determined play.

Lakers Back From Vacation Refs Still On Vacation

It Appears the Lakers are back from their vacation. Upon arrival their missing defense was regained from the airport lost and found. It had been a while since the Lakers had shown some real defensive tenacity. Maybe they have the same outlook on the season as past Laker teams that would loose games to crap teams but win against the contenders. Its a long season and you can't win them all, but it's a good practice to make defense a habit.

For the most part, the Lakers played a great game on Christmas. The handling of the Boston Celtics and the snapping of their 19 game winning streak was by far the best gift I received for the holidays.

I for one love the rivalry and am very happy to see it alive once again but as good as the Celtics are now I don't respect them like the Celtics of the Larry Bird days. They have turned into a team of crybabies, complaining on every call, including the ones where they are obviously guilty. This is nothing new to the NBA but for fucks sake just shut up and play. Maybe they have never heard the story of the boy who cried wolf, maybe they still think that after crying to the refs over every call they still have some credibility or maybe they follow the lead of their ever complaining coach Doc Rivers.

Now this is not just pointed at Boston, so many players are looking like over-sized babies every time they step on the court. To make matters worse some of the refs out in the league look more like bad parents than NBA officials.

I cant help but recall a recent game against Orlando. Its good to see that team finally headed in the right direction since the Shaq and Penny days. Ok back to the point, Im not going to name names but a certain large headed bald hater of a ref during that game called countless technical fouls against the Lakers for complaining on calls even when no complaining was apparent. And to be honest most of the time they complained it was an obvious bad call. Conversly Dwight Howard and some other members of that team complained on every call under the sun , including the ones which were right. The funny thing is, I can't recall a technical foul given to any of the Magic player for complaining.Honestly that type of b.s from that particular ref doesn't surprise me at all.

I suppose in the end Im just waisting my breath or fingers in this case, I know it's a tough and mostly thankless job of an official for any sport and your not going to get every call right but damn at least be consistent.

Lakers-Celtics just another game? Yeah, right

Broderick Turner-LA TIMES


All parties preferred to downplay the significance of Thursday's encounter between the Lakers and Boston Celtics.

It's just another game, they all claimed.

It doesn't mean much this time of the year, they all maintained.

It's the journey that counts, they all said.

That's what the Lakers and Celtics were selling, whether one was buying it or not.


"No, I don't think it's any more important for either team," Boston Coach Doc Rivers said. "I think it's a great game. It's a great game to have and whether you win or lose the game, you're going to learn something about the other team and you're going to try to put that into the next time you play them."

The Lakers defeated the Celtics, 92-83, at Staples Center, giving them the upper hand, at least until the two teams meet again Feb. 5 in Boston.

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson was given his opportunity to explain what the victory meant to his team.

"I don't know," Jackson said. "We'll have to see what happens after this. It's a good win. We know we wanted to win it. We knew we had the ability to do that."

Maybe revenge is too strong of a word, but the Lakers had to want to show the Celtics something.

The Celtics had defeated the Lakers in the NBA Finals last June, 4-2, dropping a 39-point loss on the Lakers in Game 6 in Boston, the second-most-lopsided clinching game in Finals history.

The Lakers blew a 24-point lead in Game 4 at home, allowing the Celtics to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

So why wouldn't Thursday's win have special meeting for the Lakers?

"We want to get them back in six games, in the NBA Finals," Lamar Odom said. "This was for the fans. It was a big game because they had a big-time streak going on and they are one of the best teams in the league. Other than that, it was just another game."

The Lakers ended Boston's 19-game winning streak, the longest in the NBA this season, but the Celtics (27-3) still have the best record in the league.

The Lakers won their third straight game, their 12th in a row at home, and improved to 24-5, the best record in the Western Conference.

"It's just a game we lost," Rivers said. "But other than that, it doesn't mean that much. You wanted to win the game. It would have been great to come in here and to win another game. Our guys feel comfortable in this building. And they still do. That hasn't changed. But we lost the game and you've got to give them all the credit."

The Lakers still have 53 regular-season games left, the next coming Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.

The Celtics still have 52 regular-season games left, the next tonight at Golden State.

Boston also has to contend with a tough Eastern Conference.

"Listen, we have to get through the East," Rivers said. "We have the Cavaliers. We have the Orlando Magic. We have the Detroit Pistons. We have to get through the East just to see them again the third time. If we play them the third time, then that will mean a lot. And they have to get through the West."

Because the Lakers and Celtics play two regular-season games, a third time would be Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

That's if both teams get there.

"For us, we're confident already, but we feel confident that we can play with the elite teams," Ariza said. "But it is just one game and we've got a gang more to go."

Andrew Bynum and the Lakers Have Fowl For Dinner Defeating Raptors 112-99

The Los Angeles Lakers are that much closer to the best season start in their long history. They are currently 14-1 after their 112-99 victory last night over the Toronto Raptors. If they can pull out wins in the next 3 games, they will take bragging rights for best start from the 2001-2002 Lakers team, although that team won a championship and this season still has a long way to go.
When I say if , it's not a very big if because their next 3 games are not exactly against the cream of the crop. In fact Indiana, Philly and Washington have together won only 1 more game than the Lakers have, so I look at this as more like a trip to the grocery store than a road trip.

Now to get back to last nights victory over the CRaptors. Pau , Kobe , and Bynum all had great games out of the starters. Pau scored a team high with 24 points. Big Drew came to play with 18 points and 10 rebounds while mr. consistent, Kobe hit 23 points and 7 assists with his eyes closed.

Lamar had a very quiet 3 point 6 assist game despite the Lakers being +19 with him on the floor and Trevor Ariza had a great game with 14 on 6-10 shooting.

The Laker defense wasn't bad overall , keeping the Raps barely under 100, but there were a few lapses. It would have been nice to see the Lakers hold the Raptors sans Jermaine O'Neal to around 85-90.

The lakers did a great job on Chris Bosh, limiting the MVP campaigning forward to 12 points but Toronto had some nice balance with 6 players scoring double digits. The most notable was Anthony Parker, brother of WNBA star Candace Parker, who had 19 points on 6-12 shooting including 4-6 from the the 3 point line.

The Lakers haven't had a very tough schedule to start and have been toying with teams by stepping up the intensity in the second half, but to me that's a sign of complacency. Sure with the ease at which they have been beating teams some complacency is inevitable but it's always safer to make defense a habit rather than a necessity to break the game open in the 3rd or 4th quarter.

We all know that this Laker team has dynasty potential , but I am anxious to see how they take to the tougher schedule that begins later this month.

Lakers Defeat Mavs 114-107

The Lakers ended the Dallas Maverick's five game winning streak to bring their record to 13-1, which is the second best Lakers start in history behind the champion 2001-2002 team that won 16 of their first 17 games(although they went 17-12 in the next 19 games).

My time is limited at the moment so heres the post game wrap up

POST-GAME NUMBERS From Lakers.com
36% - is the Lakers field goal percentage to end the first half of the game. Their offense got off to a slow start shooting 19 out of 52 to end the half. They created easier scoring opportunities in the second half and finished the night shooting 49 %.
25 - points from the Bench Mob, who struggled early in the game and scored their lowest points of the season. Even thought it might not have been their best game of the season, they were a big part of a comeback rally in the fourth quarter and kept the momentum going for the win. They had been averaging 48 points per game going into tonight's contest.
15 - points from Trevor Ariza, who was huge in the win tonight. All of his points came from the second half of the game while also managing to grab 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.
13 - fourth quarter points for Kobe Bryant who had been struggling from the field. He made critical shots in the game and secured the win for the Lakers.
+9 - Lakers out rebounded the Dallas Mavericks 45-36. Their offensive rebounds gave the Lakers second chance opportunities to help a rally in the second half of the game and come out with a W.

Lakers Roll Over Nets To Improve 12-1

By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer-Daily News

The Lakers were imperfect winners again Tuesday night.

Say what you will about their recent method of operation, their consistently inconsistent play and their obvious lack of rhythm, the bottom line was that they routed the New Jersey Nets, 120-93, at Staples Center for their 12th victory in 13 games.

What's more, the Lakers have won five consecutive since suffering their lone defeat of the season, a 106-95 loss to Detroit on Nov. 14, a game that in hindsight was as close to flawless as the Pistons have played this season.

Lately, the Lakers' victories have lacked the sort of resounding nature that some of their early-season wins did, but the results have been winning, nevertheless.

They are four wins away from matching the club record for the best start in Lakers history, a 16-1 mark in 2001-02, when they won their last NBA title.

They certainly reverted to their earlier form Tuesday, taking their biggest win from the Nets since New Jersey joined the NBA as one of four ABA refugees in 1976.

Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting. He also had eight rebounds and three assists. Jordan Farmar added 18 points in a reserve role, Andrew Bynum had 15 points and six rebounds and Lamar Odom had 13 points.

Oh yeah, and Kobe Bryant scored a season-low 12 points on 5-for-17 shooting.

Of the Lakers' starters, only Bynum played in the fourth quarter.

"It's a good sign, a healthy sign," Lakers coach
Phil Jackson said of winning big without getting much offense from Bryant, who averages a team-leading 23.7 points. "But we want Kobe to shoot the ball well and have good games, obviously. That's the focal point of our offense. We want him to be the threat that everyone has to overplay and be concerned with because that makes everyone else have an easier game."

In the end, holding Bryant well below his average only got the Nets so far. The Lakers toyed with them during the third quarter, turning a tight game into a runaway.

The Lakers broke open the game by outscoring the Nets, 34-22, in the pivotal third quarter. They did it by shooting 59.1 percent (13 for 22) and limiting New Jersey to 26.1 percent shooting (6 for 23) in the quarter.

"It just shows you their balance," New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank said of the Lakers. "I think that's the greatness of the Lakers. You know, Kobe is one of the elite players in this league, but they have so much around him."

The Lakers went inside to Gasol and Bynum early and often, hoping to take advantage of the inexperience of Brook Lopez and Li Jianlian. Gasol and Bynum more than made up for Bryant's shooting struggles - he would miss eight of his first nine.

Still, despite 16 points from Gasol and 11 from Bynum, the Lakers led by just two, 56-54, at halftime. The Nets, like the Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and Chicago Bulls, weren't rolling over and playing dead in the first half.

The Lakers made their break in the third quarter, however.

Unlike some recent games, the Lakers would not let down in the fourth quarter. Their lead grew to 29 points late in the game. Moreover, they outscored the Nets by a whopping 64-39 in the second half.

Farmar sparked the Lakers' second unit with 12 points after halftime, leading the reserves to a 56-19 edge over the Nets' backups.

"I thought we came out and played a stellar second half," Jackson said. "The first half was like feeling each other out. We had trouble stopping their penetration and they shot the ball well. The second half, we got our defense in order.

"Our emphasis tonight was an inside game. They have a lot of young players. I thought both (Gasol) and Andrew would be players we could feature as far as getting the ball inside. (Gasol) hit outside shots as well. He had a fine game."

Devin Harris led the Nets with 24 points. As expected, the Lakers had heaps of trouble guarding Harris, who had 16 points and five assists in the first half.

http://elliot.teaford@dailybreeze.com

Funny video - The Machine Break Down

A funny video from TheLakersNation.com of Sasha called Machine Break Down. Dont worry Sasha this season the refs wont be enough to save Boston.

Sacramento Kings Still Ruled By The Lakers

It's no surprise that the Lakers have added yet another victory to the list after tonights 118-108 win over the Queens of Sac-town.

The Lakers won but it wasn't pretty and King's managed to score 108 points on 53% shooting even without their best scorer K-Mart(Kevin Martin). The Lakers lacked some of that defensive enthusiasm that they have shown to start the season while holding teams to under 100 points.

In addition to their lacking defense they had too many turnovers at 17. On the bright side there were 8 of 9 players in double figures(all five starters plus Odom, Farmar, and Ariza).

In the end all that really matters is winning, but hopefully this lethargic defense doesn't rear its head more often since not all teams are bad like the Kings.

Kobe scored his usual 24 points in nearly 34 minutes, and Gasol scored 16 in the same amount of minutes.

Vlad, sporting the protective shades after getting his eye poked in the previous game was 4-5 from the three point line with 12 points.

Bynum shot well and had 15 points but had 6 turnovers as well. In his defense though he does seem to get mauled quite frequently while in the paint.

Ariza had a nice game with 11 points and 5 assists, also 3 steals but that shouldn't surprise anyone.

Lamar looked good with 14 points and three assists shooting 7-9 in 34 minutes.

For the Queens, Salmons had 24 and brown had 21. Brad Miller was held to 6 points despite being on the floor longer than anyone with 36 minutes.

On another subject the Detroit pissed ons got spanked by the Timberwolves 80- 106 and no thats not a typo.

Next game is on Tuesday vs. the Nets, who shouldn't put up too much of a fight. Just looking at the shedule and noticing the Lakers dont face any tough teams for a while. If they don't choke a 25-1 start to the season is quite feasible.

HOT LAKERS ECLIPSE THE suns

The Los Angeles Lakers got the job done against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, hopefully continuing a new winning streak with their second victory since the loss to Detroit a few games back. The Lakers did many thing well in the victory over the Suns but I was most impressed with the lack of turnovers. The Lakers only gave up the ball 3 times in the first half and finished the game with a mere 7 turnovers. The defense held up well and kept the Suns to 92 by making Phoenix settle for tough shots away from the paint.
Kobe didn't have a particularly great game but managed to rack up his season average of 24 points in 32 minutes on 8-23 shooting. Gasol had a low scoring night with only 4 points but had 9 assists and nine rebounds with the Lakers being +21 while he was in the game. Radmanovic was dangerous from downtown shooting 5 for 5 from the 3 and finishing with 15 points.
The bench mob did its job and brought 43 points to the party led by Lamar Odom and my fellow Taft High alumni Jordan Farmar (in case your wondering of course im jealous, but who wouldn't be).
As for team stats the Lakers finished with 42-90(46.7%) field goals made, 10-21 from the 3(47.6%),11-14 (78.6%) free throws made, 6 steals, 41 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
Amare had a lackluster performance despite a 21 point night in 38 minutes. Shaq was more efficient going 6-12 for 15 points. Steve Nash had 10 assists but only 8 points in a game where i felt he should have been more proactive in the shooting department. The Lakers held the Suns to shooting 44.2% and 33.3% from behind the 3 point line,as well as forcing 15 turnovers and showing Phoenix fans what a real team looks like.
Lamar Odom said it best during a huddle when he said "home cookings always good but there's nothing like roadkill."

Lakers hang on to defeat F.C. Barcelona in preseason play

The Los Angeles lakers defeated the Spanish club team F.C. Barcelona 108-104 in last nights pre-season friendly at Staple's Center.

The Laker victory comes as part of a four team two day tournament called the Shootout that is continued later this evening @ 4:30 when F.C. Barcelona takes on the Clippers and of course @ 7:30 when the Lakers take on the Toronto Raptors for first place tourney bragging rights.

Kobe Bryant posted a team-high 28 points and six steals while the starting front court duo of Bynum and Gasol each added 13 points in the victory over Pau's former team.

The game was mostly in control by the Lakers with the lead growing to 21 points in the second quarter, but in typical L.A. fashion the Lakers let their sizeable lead dwindle to just 4 points with just under 50 seconds remaining.

F.C. Barcelona was included in the 4 team tournament when the Golden State Warriors dropped out to play in the NBA China Games at the request of the league, according to Jeanie Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president of business operations.

With the other teams in the league already having set their exhibition schedules, the Lakers had to look for an international opponent, Buss said.

A possible problem with scheduling an exhibition opponent for the Shootout Tournament ends up being a blessing in disguise as players from another land got the chance to play on a challenging and unfamiliar stage.

This match up came as a treat to fans as well, who do not usually get the chance to see international club teams battle it out with their hometown favorites.

Magic Johnson calls talk show hosts' accusation 'stupid'

L.A. Times -October 11, 2008

Expressions of outrage and regret were issued Friday after a pair of Minneapolis talk-show hosts said that Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson "faked AIDS."

Johnson revealed in 1991 that he had contracted the HIV virus, but it has never turned into AIDS.

"We can't have people out here making false statements and putting out bad information, because this battle is too big when it comes to HIV and AIDS," Johnson told the Associated Press in a telephone interview, later declining to do further interviews.

"I poured my life into it and a lot of other people have poured their life into it, into getting out the right information so people can protect themselves and know what HIV and AIDS is all about."

Johnson called the remarks "stupid," but when asked if he thought the KTLK-FM hosts, Chris Baker and Langdon Perry, should be fired, Johnson said, "I would rather they educate their audience."

Johnson is not cured although doctors have said the HIV virus is now in a dormant state in his bloodstream.

Fisher: Defense is main concern for Lakers

Daily News

It's not difficult to figure out what the Lakers need to improve to take the next step this season and become NBA champions.

At least, not in the mind of veteran guard Derek Fisher.

"We have to defend a whole lot better," Fisher said. "We want a team that when we have to get stops to finish a game or finish a quarter, we get them.

"We just weren't able to lock teams down. I can't remember a lot of games where we were down eight or 10 points and kept them from scoring the rest of the game and stole the game at the end. It was more like we were close and then we went on an offensive spurt where we were able to win the game."

In fact, the lasting image of the Lakers in the NBA Finals in June was of a team that seemed incapable of preventing the Boston Celtics from charging to the basket for layups and dunks.

Fisher said he believes that must change this season.

"Defense first, is the biggest thing," he said.

The Lakers are banking on the return of Andrew Bynum, who suffered a season-ending kneecap injury Jan. 13, to help them patrol the paint. They also hope the pairing of Bynum and fellow 7-footer Pau Gasol makes them intimidating.

Certainly, a front line of Bynum, Gasol and the 6-foot-10 Lamar Odom at "small" forward would give the Lakers a great deal more for opponents to consider. Coach Phil Jackson has even experimented with Odom at guard.

But Lakers observers believe Jackson will return Odom to a forward spot when the regular season begins Oct.28.