Extra points to whomever comes up with the best nickname for Drew Gooden's goatee.

But just to let everyone know, the Lakers will be donating $100,000 in relief of the 2008 Wildlife fires.  Also, the proceeds from the Staples Center in-arena silent auctions over the duration of the next six November games (tonight's included) will accompany this donation.  Plus, those in attendance during tonight's game can- for a minimum five dollar donation- head down to the court after the action and get some face time and autographs with the Laker Girls.  All for a good cause, the latter two sources being funneled through the Lakers Youth Foundation.  For information about tonight's Laker Girl offering, go to the concourse level behind section 112.

Also, an exchange between a writer and Phil Jackson in regards to Vlad Radmanovic's starting status:

I've seen about seven seconds of Chicago basketball this season, so my reservoir of pregame thoughts before tonight's tilt is extremely shallow.  Not to say there isn't anything interesting to watch for tonight.  First, the Bulls have waived someone named Demetris Nichols- no reaction yet from Vegas- and second, Staples gets a look at #1 pick Derrick Rose, who has been pretty damn good so far this season. 

It ought to be a fun game, but one with advantages for the home team.  LA has far more size, and while Chicago is stacked with talent on the wings and in the backcourt (including the dreaded "penetrating guard"), the Lakers aren't devoid of talent there, either.  Overall, it's a nice opportunity for them to bounce back, especially defensively against a team that attacks from outside in.

BK 

Hey folks.  So the Facebook page for the blog is ready to go.  Click here to find it.  If that doesn't work, do a search on Facebook for Kamenetzky Brothers, and go from there.  The goal here is to help those of you in our incredibly vibrant blog community communicate better with each other, swap emails, build friendships, etc.  We'll try to post blog news there, as well as any other cool stuff we can find. 

Friend up the page!

BK

(P.S.- As a courtesy to us- and at the risk of being presumptuous- if you could hold off on friend requests to our personal pages, we'd appreciate it.  Not that we don't like you, but the hope is our page centering around the blogs could get pretty big, and as some Facebookers have their personal pages set to notify them of changes with anyone in their friend network, Andy and I don't want to bog down our non-blog friends with info from people they've never heard of.  Thanks.  BK)

Since purple and gold fanship often runs higher on enthusiasm than perspective, another 24 hours without a Day-twah loss redemption opportunity might have driven the Laker Nation to unpleasant actions.  Thus, tonight's hootenanny against the Bulls serves as much public health service as "sports entertainment."  Not to mention a chance to make up for the Pistons loss by improving upon certain specifics that caused it.  Allen Iverson ran amok and unfettered last Friday, and it'll be up to Derek Fisher (and sometimes Jordan Farmar) to remain as aware of Derrick Rose's whereabouts as he is the atrocities in Darfur.  And while MJ's former club may not meet the standards of his salad days, they exhibit enough rough and tumble to meet Kobe's definition.

OTHER NEWS

• undefined may remember certain elements of the threepeat era differently than Phil and Kobe.
• Mark Cuban may be the only NBA owner accused of insider trading (just what the league needed on the heels of Tim Donaghy, right?), but he's hardly the only one in need of a reality check.
• Does the Knicks' improved start justify the treatment of Starbury?  Mercifully for all parties, a buyout may be in the cards.
• Jax extended in the Bay Area. Stack wants to be dealt outta Big D, which may work out fine, since the team could be in deck shuffling mode.
• Because what would the day be without yet another "LBJ in New York?" article?   

Our good friend Ross Siler, who used to cover the Lakers for the Daily News and now is on the Jazz beat (very John Coltrane) once said covering the Lakers is like experiencing 82 Super Bowls a year, where rationality occasionally goes the way of these technologies.  With the deservedly high expectations for the '08-'09 purple and gold, this year won't be any different, but since our local hardwood heroes had to attend a mandatory Player's Association meeting after practice Monday afternoon in El Segundo, there wasn't a whole lot of fresh dish served this afternoon.  That meant more talk of Detroit.  How can the Lakers bounce back from the loss? What they can learn?  What went wrong?  Where do they go from here?

I get the impression that the team finds this "What now?" breathlessness a little silly.  "That's what you guys do," Kobe said with a smile, referencing the assembled talking/writing heads.  "That's what makes the season exciting.  You have these runs where it looks like you're unbeatable, you might go 82-0, then you lose one and you're fighting for the eighth seed." 

As for the Lakers, they take it Bonnie Franklin style. 

Ain't much happened in Lakerland since Friday's loss to Detroit and the "Soft-Gate" rebirth.  For what it's worth, Forum Gold and Blue supports the K Brothers' take that "toughness" is more "fall back explanation" than "legit game analysis" when breaking down this recent defeat.  A November loss rarely if ever "defines" a team, particularly one that TNT's Kenny Smith compares favorably to the squad that earned him a pair of rings.  Unlike, say, the neighbors living next door to the Lakers.

That doesn't mean adjustments aren't in order and in the case of one of the big men whose grit has been questioned, Andrew Bynum may not buy talk of him being a mamby pamby, but he's still dead set on upping his aggressiveness around the rim.  His old buddy Kwame Brown can be thanked for a wake up call of sorts.  The Lakers may feature the Magic Johnson endorsed "Best player in the L," but that shouldn't prevent more weapons from being utilized.

OTHER NEWS

• Mark Cuban still believes the Jason Kidd trade was a positive for Dallas and Starbury would be a terrific addition.  And those opinions don't even represent his most questionable judgment.
• Kevin Durant is digging life in the OKC.
• Cash rules everything around the Denver Nuggets.
• It's never too early (or hasty) to speculate LBJ's 2010 home.
• Nick Collison is the NBA's King of Sweat. 
• They've got MJ, Larry Brown and a mega-successful businessman at the helm.  So why are the Bobcats still crappy?

The Lakers took Saturday off, and with little hard news out there (Mark Heisler has a little more on Shaq/Kobe, and in case you missed this interesting interview with O'Neal earlier in the week, here you go), it's a perfect time for a Sedale Threatt Sunday.  Enjoy this clip featuring an all time Laker great.

BK

If you made a list of things that could break down over the course of a basketball game, most of them happened to the Lakers Friday night at Staples in their 106-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons.  LA's undefeated run to the start of the '08-'09 season came to an end in a flurry of bad shots, defensive breakdowns, personal fouls, and a double-double from Kwame Brown (a particularly satisfying moment for the former Laker, who was booed every time he touched the ball).  Detroit was successful in getting defensive penetration, creating good looks from all over the floor that the red-hot Pistons generally converted.  Meanwhile, the Lakers couldn't find cord to save their lives, particularly in the early going (41% from the field in the first half, 32% in a first quarter in which they fell behind by seven).  LA's shooting, a concern of Phil Jackson's throughout the first few games of a young campaign, was off the mark again. 

A loss?  Not a problem.  What will scare Lakers fans, though, is the how.  The Eastern Conference Pistons broke down LA's defense, and pushed them around on the block-- more than enough to create a sense of deja vu (and set up today's QOTD), writes the LAT's Bill Plaschke.  Which begs the (aforementioned) question:  How much did last night's loss concern you?  After a good night's sleep, did you shake it off, or is it lingering like a 2:30 am run to Benito's?

It was a long shot for sure, an 82-0 campaign for the purple and gold, but aren't the biggest dreams also the most pure?  The most worthy? 

Hopefully not, because the Lakers were treated to a healthy dose of reality Friday night at Staples, finding themselves on the wrong end of a final score for the first time in the 2008-09 season, losing 106-95 to the Pistons.  It took eight games, but the Lakers were finally outplayed from start to finish.  No second half comeback, no fourth quarter push.  Detroit came out hot (making their first six shots) and stayed that way, shooting 56% in the first half.  Some of that was porous Lakers D- Allen Iverson and his back court compatriots might as well have been toasting marshmallows over an open fire for all the time they spent camped in the lane- some of it was red hot shooting.  By the time Rasheed Wallace hit a miracle rainbow three off the backboard with Pau Gasol's gangly arm in his face as the shot clock expired- did I mention it drew glass?- with just under five minutes left in the third, it was pretty clear this wasn't going to end well for the locals. 

It wasn't pretty, but in some ways it was inevitable.  The hope, of course, is that the Lakers prove nights like this will come few and far between.   Click below for the breakdown.

Hey folks.  Still playing around with the most efficient way to do these, maximizing usability but still making the thing readable while allowing us to clear comments and still actually watch the game at the same time. So tonight, we're going old school home game live blog.  Feel free to weigh in, either in the comments or at kambrothers@yahoo.com.  We can't promise anything, but we're always open to your opinion.

Anyway, you're not gonna believe this, but Kwame got booed in the pregame introductions.  Go figure. 

BK with the first quarter. 

FIRST QUARTER:

11:00- Think the Lakers have the scouting report on Kwame?  On the offensive end, they pressure him with the ball and force a TO, then pull him away from the basket on defense and run the screen and roll with Bynum for the hoop.

he os come back and score on Detroit's next trip though.  This despite getting booed every time he touches the ball. Can't say I blame people, but at the same time, he's a nice guy.  Oh well.

9:22- Lakers off to a slow start offensively, and Detroit is on fire.  Iverson hits another three, and the Pistons are up 10-2.

This week's edition, with special guest (and newest LAT colleague!) Broderick Turner.

Regarding the game:

• I'm excited to see in person how the dynamic of Rip Hamilton and AI works.  Iverson and 'Melo was a bomb, and what I've seen from the new arrangement in Detroit shows it'll take a while for Hamilton and Iverson to get themselves on the same page.  Still, both are incredibly active players, Iverson with the ball, Hamilton away from it, and if it clicks, the combo could be fun to watch.
• I think we all know the formula, but just in case:  Kwame Brown is the anti-Sundance Kid.  He is not better when he moves.
• The Pistons have some good depth in Amir Johnson, Rodney Stuckey (expected to play), Will Bynum, Jason Maxiell,and Arron Afflalo.  They're physical, young and move well.  The matchup of second units is always an intriguing one with the Lakers, and the Pistons should provide LA's reserves one of their better challenges. 
• The Pistons move the ball and themselves well, they have a penetrating guard, and can knock down shots from outside.  Thus defensive discipline is a high priority for the Lakers.  In the fourth quarter Wednesday night, we saw what happens when there isn't appropriate attention to detail.  Iverson isn't the distributor that CP3 is, but is still plenty dangerous. 

BK