Here's what Andrew Bynum said during an interview after Tuesday's victory over the Toronto Raptors: "Right now I think what it is is people are looking forward to the playoffs, but that really doesn't work. You start needing to send the message right now that when people see us in the playoffs they are a little discouraged. Right now when everyone plays us they are confident and want to knock off the champions. We need to start changing that now."

Here's the list of Kobe Bryant's six game-winning jumpers this season:

Toronto, March 9 at Staples Center.
Final score: 109-107.
The situation: The Lakers and Raptors were tied at 107.
The shot: a fadeaway jumper from along the right baseline.
The defenders: Antoine Wright and Andrea Bargnani.
The time: 1.9 seconds remaining.

Memphis, Feb. 23 at FedEx Forum.
Final score: 99-98.
The situation: The Lakers trailed the Grizzlies, 98-96.
The shot: a 3-pointer from the right wing.
The defender: Rudy Gay.
The time: 4.3 seconds remaining.

Boston, Jan. 31 at TD Garden.
Final score: 90-89.
The situation: The Lakers trailed the Celtics, 89-88.
The shot: a jumper from just above the free throw line.
The defender: Ray Allen.
The time: 7.3 seconds remaining.

Sacramento, Jan. 1 at Staples Center.
Final score: 109-108.
The situation: The Lakers trailed the Kings, 108-106.
The shot: a 3-pointer from the left wing.
The defender: wide open.
The time: at the final buzzer.

Milwaukee, Dec. 16 at Bradley Center.
Final score: 107-106 (OT).
The situation: The Lakers trailed the Bucks, 106-105.
The shot: a jumper just to the left of the free throw line.
The defender: Charlie Bell.
The time: at the final buzzer.

Miami, Dec. 4 at Staples Center.
Final score: 108-107.
The situation: The Lakers trailed the Heat, 107-105.
The shot: a 3-pointer off the glass from just left of straight away.
The defender: Dwyane Wade.
The time: at the final buzzer.

FYI: Bryant also has missed a potential 3-point game-winner Jan. 24 at Toronto and a jumper March 7 that would have sent the Lakers' game at Orlando to overtime.

The folks at LakerNation.com caught up with Roland Lazenby to discuss his new book, “Jerry West: The Life and Legend of a Basketball Icon.”

The author met the basketball star as a young boy, planting a fascination with West that would grow over the next 40 years.

“My old man took me to the Southern Conference tournament when I was 6 to see the great Jerry West, then the star at West Virginia University. I don’t remember much about it except that everyone kept telling me we were going to see Jerry West. I didn’t know who that was, but the way they said it I thought it must have been the Easter Bunny or something.”

Check out it out.

Blogger talks basketball with Lazenby is a post from: Lakers blog

LOS ANGELES
Phil Jackson spoke before Tuesday’s game about how the Lakers tend to squander their fast starts, giving back all the good they do in the first quarters.

He mentioned it again after the game since the Lakers played well the first quarter and then let Toronto back into the game by being outscored, 34-21, in the second quarter. Only two of the Lakers’ points came in the paint.

“There’s a period of a time when it looked like we would play it right in the first quarter, but we came out and spoiled it in the second quarter,” said Jackson.

Andrew Bynum, who helped snapped the Lakers out of their funk with a 11 points in the third quarter, said in TV interview that the team is playing with an air of overconfidence and tend to get lackadaisical in their play.

“Right now…people (teammates) are looking forward to the playoffs but that’s not really what you want to be doing right now,” Bynum said. “You need to start sending messages now, so when people (opponents) see us in the playoffs, they’re a little discouraged.

“We definitely need to change that because right now everyone is confident and they want to knock off the champions.”

The Lakers have 17 regular-season games to get that turned around. Is it enough time?

MORE LAKERS NEWS

Lakers’ blasé attitude quickly needs to change is a post from: Lakers blog

LOS ANGELES
Lamar Odom no longer takes pictures with fans late at night. In public, the Lakers forward doesn’t put his arm around anyone other than his teammates or wife.

Welcome to Hollywood, Lamar.

He now watches what he says, where he goes and probably the food he eats because he knows that somewhere a camera could be lurking or tabloid writer waiting to scoop up even the tiniest bit of gossip.

Welcome to Hollywood, Lamar.

Odom recently got a feel for what it’s like to be married to a celebrity when two tabloid magazines printed stories about the Kardashian sisters and the men in their lives. One was titled “Toxic Love” and the other “Humiliated by Their Men.”

Welcome to Hollywood, Lamar.

“It’s funny (but) not in a good way,” said Odom. “Yeah, (it’s annoying) kind of the whole thing. People, especially in that world, they will say what they want. I don’t pay too much attention to it, either does she.
Matter of fact, we were together yesterday, hanging out. Slept in the same bed.”

Still, Odom finds himself a bit more wary since his whirlwind romance/wedding to reality star Khloe Kardashian.

“I guess to a lot of people it’s entertaining,” he said. “It might entertain you, but I don’t pay too much attention to it. When I got married, I knew what I signed up for.”

While one story said the couple was on the verge of divorce, the other claimed that Odom married Khloe to further his off-court pursuits, such as his clothing line and endorsements. Odom laughed at that notion.

“I made a good living playing basketball and I wouldn’t have to date someone or marry someone to make it better,” Odom said. “I’ve done pretty well for myself. That’s too bad that people say stuff like that.

“I don’t think she’s hurt by it, either. I love my wife.”

Odom finds himself in a new world is a post from: Lakers blog

Guess Orlando’s Matt Barnes caught up with all the NBA news and a little Nickelodeon on Wednesday morning, taking exception to Lamar Odom’s postgame comments.

Odom said he didn’t appreciate how Barnes acted during the Lakers’ loss to the Magic on Sunday and warned that the Lakers would not tolerate that kind of behavior in the future.

To which Barnes responded on Twitter:

Morning yall up early w/ the babies watchn Dora. Seems Lamar can’t keep my name out his mouth maby I need 2 put my sons (poopy) diaper n it

Matt_Barnes22

Bring on the Twitter wars.

Barnes takes notice of Odom’s warning is a post from: Lakers blog

Kobe Bryant called the Lakers’ victory over Toronto “garbage,” and that wasn’t nearly the juiciest quote uttered in that locker room Tuesday night.

Derek Fisher’s private halftime speech and Lamar Odom’s public postgame rant, recapped in my latest column, were both fascinating on a night when the Lakers learned a little bit more about themselves and their season.

Here’s a little more from Fisher and Odom in their postgame comments with reporters …

Fisher: “Definitely, I think across our locker room, we feel that we’re not playing at the level that we’re capable of playing. Not that we’re going to be perfect every night or we’re going to win every game, but we’re just not playing really good basketball. I don’t know exactly why. I think you could point to a number of different things, but I think we’re all confident and optimistic that we can figure it out, and we’re going to stay the course. We’re not going to hold our heads down because things aren’t going our way right now.”

Odom: “We got so much power here offensively, but win an ugly game, 84-79. They (opponents) don’t deserve to score 100 points on us. … What’s crazy about it is that it’s giving these teams a quiet confidence where they think they can beat us and they start talking and carrying on and getting extra animated, even when they come here (to Staples Center).”

More theory from Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom is a post from: Lakers blog