Catching Up With Jordan Farmar

Last season's first round draft pick, Jordan Farmar, talks about his goals for the season, what he's worked on in the summer, and his role. Check out the full interview here.

Excerpts:

"What are your goals for this season? Just to come in and contribute, to help the organization any way I can, doing whatever the coaching staff and the front office want me to do. Just play my role."

"What have you specifically worked on over the summer? A lot of catch and shoot and defensive stuff. In this offense, the triangle, you get a lot of opportunities to just catch and shoot, but you don't get a lot of time to play with the ball and do stuff off the dribble. So I've really been working on my shot, making it more consistent and more efficient. We'll see how it works out."

Catching Up With Luke Walton

5th year forward of the Los Angeles Lakers, Luke Walton, talks about his summer, his new contract that he signed, last season's ankle injury, how far he thinks the team can go this season, and more. You can check out here, and here for another interview.

Excerpts:

"Talk about your brief period as a free agent. It was nerve wracking. Even though it was short, it was the whole time period leading up to that. L.A. is where I wanted to stay, I made that clear to my agent, but we had backup plans with other teams. Meetings setup and stuff like that. My agent and Mitch called me that first day and we agreed on that offer that I felt was something I was satisfied with and something the Lakers were happy with then we might as well sign it and get it done as opposed to going and looking somewhere else.

I was actually in Las Vegas when I got the call at a good friend of mine’s bachelor party. We were all packing up, getting ready to get on a plane to fly back home when I talked to Mitch and my agent. We ended up cancelling our flights and staying for an extra night. It ended up being a pretty fun evening."

"If you guys stay healthy this year, how far can this team go? I think we can go all the way. I don't see why there's a reason we can't win a championship with the team we have now. He got [Derek Fisher] back, who is a very experienced point guard who has won before. We got young guys who have a lot more experience. We have the coaching staff that knows what to do. We have Kobe who is the best player in the league."

Catching Up With Javaris Crittenton

The 19th pick in the first round in the 2007 NBA Draft of the Los Angeles Lakers, Javaris Crittenton, talks about the similarities of his home of Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, the coaches, the transition to the NBA, what he's been working on, and other things in an interview here, and another one here.

Excerpts:

"What kind of things have you been doing off the court? Man, I’ve just been in the gym you know. I went to some of my teammates' houses, Andrew Bynum & Jordan Farmar, hanging out with those guys. I’ve been hanging out with Brian Cook, we did a commercial for Amare Stoudemire’s video game together. Hanging out with Kwame (Brown).

I’m just trying to get adjusted to my teammates and the city. I also had a little 'Welcome to LA' party, but that’s about it besides being in the gym and getting ready for training camp and the season. It’s a big season for me, it’s the NBA, there’s no room to take breaks like that."

"Are you looking forward to playing against him and practice and learning from him (Kobe)? Yeah, I'm a competitor. I compete with anybody. I'm looking forward to that. He's a great player - the best in the league in my opinion. I'm looking forward to competing against him and also playing with him."

Will Phil Jackson Sign An Extension?

Will Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson sign an extension? Will he still be here after this season is over? These have been the questions of people that are wondering about Phil Jackson's future with the Lakers. The main consideration of Jackson to return is about his health. He has had each hip replaced in the last two offseasons. He is still walking with a cane after his last hip replacement surgery.

Tex Winter, the triangle offense guru and Lakers assistant, says that Jackson is feeling a lot better. "He feels a lot better," Winter said. "He's much more animated this year than he was last year. He really came into the season last year not feeling very well. He is enjoying it now. He seems back to his old self." Winter thinks that the Lakers wouldn't necessarily have to be a championship contender for Jackson to sign an extension. "To a great extent, it depends on his health," Winter said.

According to Jackson himself, he told the media that he will decide within 4 weeks if he will sign an extension or not. Reasons from the article above that Jackson will sign the extension include him needing to scratch the competitive itch of coaching, staying for Jeanie Buss, and the possibility of winning a record 10th championship. Reasons that he will not sign the extension include his health, being able to spend more time with family, not needing the money, and his age. We will hopefully as soon as possible find out Jackson's decision.

October 11, 2007 Lakers vs. Golden State Recap

The Los Angeles Lakers didn't have the 21 point deficit at the end of the first quarter like in the first preseason game against the Golden State Warriors (it was a 3 point deficit in this game), but the Lakers ended up losing by more in the end with a 119-106 loss.

Luke Walton played after sitting out the first game, and Mo Evans sat this one with a hamstring injury that he sustained in the first game. The Lakers had good balance in scoring, with Derek Fisher and Vladimir Radmanovic each scoring 12 points, and Andrew Bynum, Kobe Bryant, and Chris Mihm each putting up 11 points.

Coby Karl played a lot better than the first game, and scored 9 points, all on three pointers. Andre Patterson did well in limited minutes, with 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in 5 minutes. Javaris Crittenton didn't do as well in his second game, scoring only 3 points, but had a nice dunk after splitting 2 defenders.