2010 Kobe Basketball Academy
December 15, 2009
Enrollment is now open for the 2010 Kobe Basketball Academy. Spots are limited so register now. For more information click on Kobe Academy!Continue reading
Jazz defeat the Lakers 102-94
December 13, 2009
The (18-3) Los Angeles Lakers, currently on an 11-game winning streak embark on a 5-game 9-day road trip starting tonight facing the (13-9) Utah Jazz in the first of three back-to-back games.
All five Lakers' starters scored in double figures, but it wasn't enough. Kobe Bryant had 16 points, but he was just seven-for-24 shooting from the field. Bryant tried to play through a stomach ache, but it was clear that it bothered him.
In the third, the Lakers tightened up the defense, holding Utah to 21 points, but then the offense went cold. 18 points in the third, 23 in the fourth. That wasn't enough to make up the deficit. Kobe Bryant, fighting a bug and his first night playing with a splint on his right index finger to protect the avulsion fracture he suffered last night against the Wolves, struggled on both ends. Offensively, he was limited to 16 points on 7-24 shooting. Meanwhile, he was a step slow defensively, getting burned by the Jazz when he played off his man to do the "center field" thing.
Ron Artest played a pretty strong game (16 points, putting him over 10,000 for his career). Derek Fisher was 6-8 from the floor, but had to sit in the second half with foul trouble. Pau Gasol had his second straight 20 rebound game, but Andrew Bynum only had four in thirty minutes of burn. Overall, not a robust performance from the purple and gold.
The game against the Jazz in Salt Lake was the first of a five-game trip for the Lakers. The Lakers will return home tonight, practice Monday and head to Chicago that afternoon.
- LA Times - Lakers.comContinue readingZoom Kobe V Launch
December 10, 2009
BEAVERTON, Ore. (December 8, 2009) – Nike (NYSE: NKE) and Kobe Bryant today announced the debut of the Nike Zoom Kobe V, the brand’s lowest-profile and lightest basketball shoe to date. Bryant challenged Nike to make his signature shoe even lighter and lower than the Nike Zoom Kobe IV he debuted during his 2008-2009 championship season. Nike responded with the Nike Zoom Kobe V, which features a 10 mm forefoot profile and weighs 10.6 ounces – one ounce lighter than the Nike Zoom Kobe IV.
“I wanted to push the envelope with a shoe that meets the demands of my style of play,” Bryant said. “The Kobe V is lighter, lower and more stable. Nike has done it again.”
Different sports, similar demands
The initial inspiration for Kobe’s low-profile shoe came from an unexpected place: the soccer field. “I watch a lot of soccer and have seen how the best footballers in the world make sharp cuts at top speed in lightweight, low-cut footwear,” Bryant said. “The demands they make on their feet and ankles aren’t that different from what I’m doing on the court, yet nobody assumes they should play in high tops.”
With Bryant’s observation as inspiration, the Nike Sports Research Lab conducted hundreds of hours of testing to create a low-profile shoe that did not compromise stability or lockdown. By modifying the medial arch and sculpting the external heel counter, Nike researchers created a shoe with exceptional performance that moves with the foot and allows for multi-directional cutting. An enhanced outrigger provides lateral stability, while the de-coupled heel maximizes contact surface. The shoe also features a glass/carbon fiber weave shank plate for mid-foot control and rigidity.
“The journey from a high-top to a low-top basketball shoe is far more complex than simply cutting off the ankle collar, as we demonstrated with the Nike Zoom Kobe IV,” said Matt Nurse, Senior Researcher with the Nike Sports Research Lab. “With the Kobe V we constructed an even lighter-weight support system that provides superior, one-to-one lockdown while moving with the foot, not against it.”
Click here for the Nike Press Release.
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Lakers 10th straight win!
December 10, 2009
The Lakers defeated the Jazz, 101-77, tonight at Staples Center, by holding Utah to six points in the final 12 minutes with great defense. Andrew Bynum scored 14 points for Los Angeles, which forced two shot clock violations by the Jazz during that fourth quarter stretch while getting eight points from Jordan Farmar
The Laker got contributions from everyone tonight. Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, Pau Gasol had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers rolled off another double-double with 19 consecutive points in the fourth quarter of their 10th straight victory.
Los Angeles' winning streak is its longest in a single season since winning 10 straight in February 2008. The Lakers are one game away from completing an undefeated six-game homestand, which concludes Friday with a visit from Minnesota.
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