Los Angeles Laker Press Conference - 2008

[TrayWithAnA]

1. Season In Review

We were happy to get off to a strong start last season but hit a real skid towards the end of the season. It really showed that we backed into the playoffs as the Grizzles made quick work of us. We are doubling down on this unit and really hope for better results in the future. We'll be better as a coaching staff going into this season. It's the main thing we can do to help a clearly improving basketball team.

2. Acquisitions

In the offseason, we benefited from a really strong draft and selected O.J. Mayo as the best player available at 19. There is currently a bottleneck at the two wing positions, but we are hopeful that he can develop into a key bench player in the future.

Additionally, we moved the expiring contract of Jermaine O'Neal's for a less expiring contract with Shawn Marion. He is a much better tool to us than Jermaine and we think he adds an x-factor to our bench. After-all, Allen and Bryant will start the year at the SF and SG spots in the starting lineup.

3. Training Camp

We saw a lot of growth from our team in TC. While Allen and Smith earned our focus in free agency this year during last year's TC, Bogut has assured himself the 5-year super max next offseason. Off the top of my head, he has improved 100 points in two TCs. He is slowly become our star and the build has been well worth it.

4. Outlook

We have high hopes for this season. We know the Pacific is a monster, but don't sleep on our Lakers when doing your picks this season. We are going to compete night in and night out, and we are likely better than the other team on the floor. It's going to be a blast this season and we hope you all enjoy the ride.

5. Questions

....

[logpmess]

How do you see Reggie Evans fitting into your rotation with him as the absolute max at the rebounding ability?


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[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: Mike Conley appears to be slowly coming along as a NBA point guard. Are you confident that he can run the offense for a contender, or will we see Kobe at PG sooner rather than later?

[JNR]

GWR: You have an interesting situation coming up with Kobe expiring. Is that why you selected Mayo in the draft?

[TrayWithAnA]

How do you see Reggie Evans fitting into your rotation with him as the absolute max at the rebounding ability?


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He will be starting at the 4 and for right now getting limited minutes at the 5. His rebounding ability is just too good to ignore. Bogut and him averaged a double-double last year as our starting front court so we will continue that this season.


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[TrayWithAnA]

Random Reporter: Mike Conley appears to be slowly coming along as a NBA point guard. Are you confident that he can run the offense for a contender, or will we see Kobe at PG sooner rather than later?

Needless to say we were disappointed in his growth this TC, but he is strong enough in the PG categories that he'll start. The plan with Kobe is to have him start at SG and make him available at PG in a backup facility. Whether or not the league (errrr....system) arbitrarily assigns him as a PG even though he is a starting SG.

In summary, we don't view Kobe as a starting PG.


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[TrayWithAnA]

GWR: You have an interesting situation coming up with Kobe expiring. Is that why you selected Mayo in the draft?

We like wings here in Laker Land. If we see progress in our other wings, we'll pursue other options with Kobe. We expect that he will continue to lead this team regardless of his contract situation.


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[kucoach7]

Your roster is mostly composed of a lot of gritty defensive-minded players that love to get rebounds. You also have a lot of young talent. Can we expect to see some of that young talent traded for a splashy scorer to spark the offense?

[ballsohard]

Map out how you would beat the Kings , the clear favorite, in a series.

[NOLa.]

.....

NOLa. takes out a notepad and pen.

Sent via Morse code

[WigNosy]

Map out how you would beat the Kings , the clear favorite, in a series.

Bonus points for not mentioning the words "kneecap," "bounty," and "pay."

[TheSyndicate]

What's your playoff strategy?

You have shown in the past the ability to put together great regular seasons. How do you get to the next level?

[TrayWithAnA]

Your roster is mostly composed of a lot of gritty defensive-minded players that love to get rebounds. You also have a lot of young talent. Can we expect to see some of that young talent traded for a splashy scorer to spark the offense?

I'm not sure there are many moves that we would entertain at this point. Something to help the bench a little but we are optimistic about this core.


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[TrayWithAnA]

Map out how you would beat the Kings , the clear favorite, in a series.

Run. Pass. Shoot. Steal. Block. Rebound. Pray.


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[TrayWithAnA]

What's your playoff strategy?

You have shown in the past the ability to put together great regular seasons. How do you get to the next level?

Really hopeful that we can streamline the lineup to a 7 or 8 man rotation and then turn up the minutes a little for a few of the stars. I think a lot of teams are gonna struggle with Marion and Smith taking on their bench. We'll see a lot of scoring there.


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