Last year all over again for the Lakers? http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp...y?coll=la-headlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true LAKERS REPORT Lakers' Ariza goes out with a broken foot He is injured after coming down on Odom's foot at practice. A timetable for his return will be determined after he meets with specialist. By Mike Bresnahan Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 6:05 PM PST, January 20, 2008 As if the Lakers needed this to happen. Forward Trevor Ariza was diagnosed with a fractured bone in his right foot after hurting it Sunday at practice. Ariza will see foot specialist Kenneth Jung today, at which point a timetable for his return will be determined. It was unclear exactly how Ariza injured the fourth metatarsal in his foot, but he apparently came down on Lamar Odom's foot. "He got tangled up with Lamar," Coach Phil Jackson said a few minutes after Ariza left practice for X-rays at Centinela Hospital Medical Center. Ariza became a fixture on the Lakers' second unit after being acquired from Orlando in November. He was averaging 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18 minutes a game. Ariza, who also started three games, had been an active defender for the Lakers, who like his length and speed. The Lakers are without Andrew Bynum for at least seven more weeks and Chris Mihm for at least another week, although it will probably be longer than that until he returns. Denver center Marcus Camby was last season's NBA defensive player of the year, although Jackson said Kwame Brown would not be excluded from the Lakers' offense tonight against the Nuggets. Camby leads the league with 3.95 blocked shots a game and is second in rebounding with 14.3 a game. "It's not about his one-on-one defense. It's his team defense that Camby's renowned for," Jackson said. "We're definitely going to go in to Kwame against Camby. His size and his power against him is obviously a strength that we have." Brown had seven turnovers Thursday against Phoenix, four in the third quarter as fans began to heavily boo him. He missed numerous shots from close range, including a dunk, two layups and a hook shot. He finished with eight points and six rebounds and did not play in the fourth quarter. Jackson thought the Lakers looked fatigued against Phoenix, so he eased up on their practice routine over the weekend. The Lakers did not practice Friday, had a brief practice Saturday and a slightly longer one Sunday. Jackson said he was trying to "get these guys rejuvenated, get their legs live again. That's a big part of it."
Oh noes! Now Kobe will want another trade! Well here's to a speedy recovery, I kinda like the guy. Ok I take that back, I can't like a Laker, but I don't hate him as much as the rest.
Wow ... the Lakers have had real bad luck with injuries in the second half of seasons since Shaq left. Hopefully Lamar can take out Kobe next time (nothing career-threatening, of course ... just the season). We need all the help we can get.
Maybe that's a little too harsh.. but I think all he needs to do is keep on passing the ball to the ref and walking the ball inbound like it don't even matter. Sooner or later this will cause some aggravation on Kobe's part and maybe the team will implode.
thank you god.. I know this is messed up, but I hate the Lakers more than anything else.. more than the Jazz, more than the mavs.. I hope Odom takes out Luke Walton and his father as well..
When I saw the title I was thinking to myself "wouldn't that be something if Ariza landed on Odom's foot like Bynum".
That's a shame. You never want to see young up and coming players like Bynum and Ariza get hurt, even if it helps us in the standings. If we're not good enough to pass up healthy teams, then we have no business in the playoffs anyway and won't do jack there.
Dear fantasy gods What have I done wrong to deserve this? I promise I will never put any Lakers on my team ever again. They are both donzo.
So the Lakers win pretty easily over the Carmelo-less Nuggets. I just don't see the Lakers falling out of the playoff picture to help the Rockets. Even without Bynum and Ariza. And Kobe might be the MVP this year.
They have 14/17 on the road coming up, including 9 in a row in the East. If they can hold it together and not collapse, they should be OK. But if their team chemistry crumbles in a pile like last season, it could be brutal.
