2010-11 Lakers Practice Report Archive

MAY 2011

Lakers Practice Report: 5/03/11
In the past two seasons, the Lakers haven't brought their A game every night, but they've finished the year with an A on their final report cards to accomplish the ultimate goal. Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson filled us in on the team's mindset after an opening loss to Dallas in the Western Semi's.

APRIL 2011

Lakers Practice Report: 4/25/11
One of the hardest things to do in sports is to step outside of that day's story or the last game and take a look at the bigger picture.

Lakers Practice Report: 4/18/11
After L.A.'s loss to New Orleans in Game 1 of the 2011 playoffs, Phil Jackson explained in simple terms what went wrong.

Lakers Practice Report: 4/11/11
Before L.A.'s 120-106 loss to Oklahoma City on Sunday, Phil Jackson warned that his team wasn't going to be able to find their rhythm from the 17-1 burst out of the All-Star break in a day.He was right. "I told these guys that we played (the right way) for 42 or 44 minutes, something like that, last night," said Jackson. "That's a good sign. We have signs that the ailing patient is starting to recover."

Lakers Practice Report: 4/04/11
During Sunday's loss to the Nuggets, the Lakers saw both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol leave the game with respective tweaks to their knees, which was naturally the main topic of conversation after Monday's practice even though Gasol returned to the game, and Phil Jackson said Bynum could have.

MARCH 2011

Lakers Practice Report: 3/30/11
Just two days away from April, things are a bit more interesting at the top of the Western Conference standings than they appeared to be even a week ago. The San Antonio Spurs, who have held a big lead out West for most of the season, have lost four straight times in the absence of Tim Duncan (sprained ankle) to see their lead shrink to 3.5 games over the Lakers and 4.5 over the Mavericks with a handful left to play.

Lakers Practice Report: 3/29/11
That the Lakers are playing terrific overall basketball right now isn't up for debate, not with the team winning 15-of-16 games out of the All-Star break and nine straight at home while having success at both ends of the floor.

Lakers Practice Report: 3/24/11
After missing two tight wins -- one a triple OT offensive showdown against Phoenix (139-137) and the other a defensive struggle against Portland (84-80) -- due to a two-game suspension, Andrew Bynum is just a bit impatient to return for Friday's game against the Clippers. Brevity defined answers in his post-practice media session (i.e. "I just got to rest my knees, watch the games, and that's really it"), his attention directed on Blake Griffin and Chris Kaman.

Lakers Practice Report: 3/03/11
From Feb. 5 to Feb. 11, it was clear that the Lakers had begun to ramp things up from a defensive standpoint, winning four straight road games at New Orleans, Memphis, Boston and New York while outscoring their opponents by an average of 9.5 points and holding all four below the 100-point threshold. All but the Hornets fell well below their field goal averages on the season.

Lakers Practice Report: 3/22/11
After Monday's practice in Los Angeles, Lamar Odom was asked if the way he plays is influenced at all by whether he's coming off the bench or starting, as he did on Sunday against Portland or will on Tuesday against Phoenix due to Andrew Bynum's two-game suspension. "Right now, at this point of the year, I swear it doesn't," he responded. "It's all about winning games. Going out there, doing what I have to do to help the team win. Rebound, run, assist, play hard, play smart. (I) can spark the team in so many different ways."

Lakers Practice Report: 3/16/11
If the fact that the playoffs are just around the corner weren't obvious enough by the fact that only 14 games remain on the Lakers calendar, we can consider how the team is playing. Since the All-Star break, the Lakers have gone on a tear through many of the league's best teams, defeating 10-of-11 opponents including San Antonio, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Portland and Atlanta, all of which came on the road. In the process, the Lakers have improved their record to 48-20 after heading into the break at 38-19, overtaking the Mavericks (47-20) for the two seed in the Western Conference with a Dallas loss at Portland on Tuesday night.

Lakers Practice Report: 3/03/11
From Feb. 5 to Feb. 11, it was clear that the Lakers had begun to ramp things up from a defensive standpoint, winning four straight road games at New Orleans, Memphis, Boston and New York while outscoring their opponents by an average of 9.5 points and holding all four below the 100-point threshold. All but the Hornets fell well below their field goal averages on the season.

FEBRUARY 2011

Lakers Practice Report: 2/28/11
Lakers forward Matt Barnes is nearing a return after missing each of L.A.'s last 24 games since hurting his knee.

Lakers Practice Report: 2/24/11
No Lakers player has played more basketball in the last two seasons than Lamar Odom. Not only did L.A.'s utility man play in all 82 regular season games in 2009-10, every playoff game and all 57 games this season prior to the All-Star break, but Odom played a critical role in Team USA's gold-medal performance at the World Championships as the only Laker to play in the tournament.

Lakers Practice Report: 2/02/11
While Phil Jackson and his team say they're focused on the San Antonio Spurs, most of the media's attention after Wednesday's practice focused on an ESPN.com report from Marc Stein that Ron Artest wanted to be traded.

JANUARY 2011

Lakers Practice Report: 1/31/11
Jackson re-iterated his comment from his postgame session following the team's 109-96 loss to Boston that the Lakers would get things figured and sorted out by the time the playoffs start, with Lamar Odom saying that the team isn't too far away from getti

Lakers Practice Report: 1/27/11
The Lakers, in defeating the Utah Jazz by 29 points on Tuesday, did a good job of ignoring the fact that Utah came in on a four-game losing streak and focusing on playing their own game.

Lakers Practice Report: 1/24/11
When the Lakers went into Dallas last Wednesday, the Mavericks were playing their worst basketball of the season, losing six contests in a row capped by a blowout defeat at Detroit. Yet when L.A. came to town, the Mavs found a way to dig out their best effort, getting red hot from the perimeter in the second half to turn an early deficit into a 109-100 win.

Lakers Practice Report: 1/10/11
The Lakers have won four straight games, six in seven since the return of Andrew Bynum to the starting line up, and in the next six days, play against four teams that have a combined record of 45-102. First Cleveland (8-29, last in the NBA) on Tuesday, then at Golden State (15-22) on Wednesday, against New Jersey (10-27) on Friday at Staples and "at" the Clippers on Sunday.

Lakers Practice Report: 1/6/11
The Lakers, no doubt, are a better team than their still-just-fine 25-11 record shows. But perhaps there's a more simple way to gauge how the team is playing than to examine energy levels that can diverge from game to game, how well the ball is moving or whether or not the Lakers are getting back in transition.

Lakers Practice Report: 1/3/11
There are several things the Lakers could be doing better on the basketball court right now. Of that they're well aware."Better execution on both ends of the floor," began Derek Fisher. "More energy. More focus. Taking advantage of our size. Really moving the basketball ... We haven't stopped short of throwing out the things we feel like are holding us back right now, but we haven't been able to collectively put that together in the game."

DECEMBER 2010

Lakers Practice Report: 12/20/10
The Lakers returned from an 11-day trip through the Midwest and East Coast having won five of six games, about which coach Phil Jackson said he felt "OK," as that was what was expected. While Jackson was pleased with his second unit, he was generally less enamored with the starting five.

Lakers Practice Report: 12/06/10
Another day of practice in Laker Land brings with it, naturally, another update on Andrew Bynum and his knee. Bynum's presence on the court, or lack there of, remains the headline now that Pau Gasol's tight hamstring is feeling better, and Monday's session in El Segundo was easily the most positive collective response we've heard regarding Bynum's potential return.

NOVEMBER 2010

Lakers Practice Report: 11/04/10
After five games, the Lakers find themselves atop the of the NBA in scoring, averaging 113.8 points per game. Phil Jackson explained why he's pleased with his team offensively, as well as why the defense has been a step behind.

Lakers Practice Report: 11/01/10
"Fast" is an adjective that many are using to describe L.A.'s 3-0 start, which has it tied with Portland and New Orleans in the Western Conference, and leading the NBA in scoring (111 per game) with the second-best point differential in the league (+11.33). But Phil Jackson isn't one of those people.

OCTOBER 2010

Lakers Practice Report: 11/01/10
"Fast" is an adjective that many are using to describe L.A.'s 3-0 start, which has it tied with Portland and New Orleans in the Western Conference, and leading the NBA in scoring (111 per game) with the second-best point differential in the league (+11.33). But Phil Jackson isn't one of those people.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/27/10
Prior to L.A.'s narrow win over Houston on Ring Night, Phil Jackson worried about how his team would fare if either Lamar Odom or Pau Gasol got into early foul trouble. That very scenario played out early Tuesday night and was countered in various ways.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/24/10
Mercifully for all those eagerly awaiting the commencement of L.A.'s quest for a three-peat, Sunday marked the second-to-last practice into Tuesday's season opener against Houston.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/20/10
Since Phil Jackson covered pretty much everything you needed to know from Wednesday's practice, we just typed out his words, adding any extra details of interest in italics if necessary...

Lakers Practice Report: 10/18/10
Just a week ago, it was notable news around the Lakers practice facility that Kobe Bryant went through a full practice with the team, with no setbacks on his surgically repaired right knee.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/15/10
With a productive week of practice in the books, the Lakers enter this weekend's STAPLES Center Shootout with an eye on taking the next step towards readiness for the regular season, now only 11 days away (Oct. 26).

Lakers Practice Report: 10/14/10
Lost -- at least a little bit -- amidst the daily Kobe Bryant Knee Watch (KBKW) in Los Angeles has been the steady play of Shannon Brown, who has been the primary beneficiary of additional minutes in practice and games while L.A.'s best player continues to make his way back from offseason knee surgery.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/12/10
During Tuesday's pre-flight-to-Vegas practice, we took a closer look at Kobe Bryant's progress with his knee, conducted a 1-on-1 video with Shannon Brown and heard from Phil Jackson and Matt Barnes.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/11/10
Considering their lack of practice time and games thus far, it's not breaking news that Phil Jackson said he doesn't think the Lakers are ready to play games that count just yet.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/09/10
No question, the Lakers appreciated the unique experience offered by a seven-day trek through London and Barcelona, during which the team lost two preseason games, conducted several clinics for European kids and saw things many players had never witnessed before.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/06/10
The Lakers completed their second team function in Catalonia by hosting an NBA Cares Clinic on Wednesday with a group of Barcelona youngsters at the Palau Sant Jordi stadium located up in the city's hills near the Mediterranean Sea.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/03/10
With Kobe Bryant practicing sporadically and Andrew Bynum on the shelf for a few more weeks, it's always nice for the Lakers to have another All-Star on the floor to pick up the slack.

Lakers Practice Report: 10/02/10
You can't get much farther south than the Crystal Practice Sports Centre and still be in London, but that's where the Lakers concluded their first full-speed practice in Europe on Saturday morning.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Lakers Practice Report: 09/30/10
On the injury front, the following players did not practice: Kobe Bryant (knee); Derek Fisher (for rest purposes); and Theo Ratliff (same as Fisher). Phil Jackson did say that he'd like to have Kobe play about 16 minutes of a 40 minute game in Europe, and Bryant said his knee felt good. Meanwhile, Matt Barnes and Luke Walton started but did not finish practice, as both suffered minor hamstring strains on their left and right legs, respectively.

Lakers Practice Report: 09/28/10
While all seems to be well on the Lakers front four days into training camp, with Kobe Bryant (knee) scrimmaging for the first time Monday night, Luke Walton (back) playing well with no limitations and Steve Blake (ankle) showing no signs of soreness from an ankle tweak, Phil Jackson still has a few tweaks in mind.

Lakers Practice Report: 09/27/10
In round-up style, here's all the latest from Lakers practice on Monday, including updates on Steve Blake's ankle and his quick study of the Triangle, Kobe Bryant potentially practicing for the first time, Luke Walton's healthy start to camp and the acclimation of the new players.

2009-10 Practice Report Archive