The Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings, 94-89, on Sunday night in Las Vegas for their first exhibition victory in three tries. Pau Gasol scored 12 points and had six rebounds in 22 minutes, 10 seconds. Gasol and fellow 7-footer Andrew Bynum started together for the first time. Bynum had nine points and five rebounds in 22:18.

Here are a few postgame thoughts from Derek Fisher, who had eight points:
"I think we did some things better on the defensive end. Sacramento is a good passing team. They move the ball well. We had to key in on the defensive end. I think we did a better job. We still gave up a lot of penetration on screen-and-rolls. With so many different lineups and personnel changes going on, you can expect some mix-ups at times."

Coach Phil Jackson used Lamar Odom in a new role as the Lakers' sixth man. Odom had four points, nine rebounds and three assists in 21:40. Jackson seemed pleased, telling reporters after the game:
"He had initiative. He came off the bench, and I liked that. He came off the bench with six minutes to go in the first quarter and didn't get stiff sitting on the bench. He came out and played hard, and I liked that."

Odom had this to say about playing a reserve role:
"It's been such a long time, but it was cool. This just happens to be the third game. Whether I'm a starter or not, I'm going to feel a lot more comfortable every game we play, whether it be starting or coming off the bench."
FYI: Odom said the last time he played regularly as a backup was when he was in the ninth grade, playing on an AAU team in New York City. He and Ron Artest, now with the Houston Rockets, were reserves. Odom also said he was a substitute for a time while at Christ the King High School in Queens, N.Y.

The Lakers lost their second exhibition game, falling to the Clippers by 107-80 in Fresno two nights after losing to the Utah Jazz, 99-90, in Anaheim. The Lakers were outworked in dramatic fashion by the Clippers, who won a battle of the backups in the second half.
Other random thoughts after two exhibitions:
First, Lamar Odom hasn't been properly engaged in either game, but especially against the Clippers. He hasn't had the expected impact while trying out a new position as point guard. He did not score against the Clippers and took only one shot. He also had three rebounds and one assist in 16 minutes.
Second, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum haven't jelled. Of course, they have played something like nine minutes together and Gasol rightly suggested the pairing of the 7-footers is going to take a while.
Third, Trevor Ariza continues to make the case that he should remain a starter when the regular season begins Oct. 28. He didn't shoot all that well against the Clippers, going 3-for-9 while scoring 10 points in 23 minutes. But his energetic play, particularly defensively, sparked the Lakers to a brief run in the third quarter.

Phil Jackson made the trip to Fresno after missing Tuesday's exhibition opener in Anaheim because of swelling and soreness in his lower legs. The cause of the ailment remains something of a mystery, but Jackson arrived with the team for its game against the Clippers.

Just got done watching an excellent interview with Shaquille O'Neal on ESPN.

The Big Saguaro, or whatever he's going by these days, said that he's been reflecting on his time with the Lakers recently and come to some interesting new conclusions.

``I was fun the whole time. All that hoopla, being part of that little sitcom,'' O'Neal said. ``One day I just sat there and thought about it. You know how Phil does the psychological thing, and he never jumped in? Why Magic (Johnson) never jumped in? I think it was all done by design, and it actually worked.

``If I had to do it all over again, I would probably bring it up more, I would probably start more fights with him (Kobe Bryant). I was putting up great numbers, he was putting up great numbers, it made him all pissed off and he's one of those (guys) where when he gets pissed off, he can go on and score 80 points.

``I think we were the greatest one-two punch in the game, greatest little man, big man punch in the game. Period.''

Why then, did Shaq rip Kobe in that infamous freestyle rap over the summer?

``That was my bad, a bad thing to do,'' O'Neal said. ``I just threw his name in at the end, it was a bad move on my part.''

O'Neal said he called Kobe shortly after the video hit TMZ.com and apologized, Bryant accepted the apology and the two have put it behind them.

Sasha Vujacic (ankle) said that he wasn't sure if he'd accompany the team to Fresno for tonight's game. He took part in practice Wednesday, but said his ankle is still sore. ... Derek Fisher sat out a significant portion of Wednesday's practice, but was just being given some extra rest.

No, this post isn't going to be all about Andrew Bynum's shoes. But it was kind of funny when he came out after practice wearing size 18 Uggs slippers.

Bynum left the Honda Center Tuesday night without speaking to reporters. No big deal. He's only 20 years old, after all. But still, inquiring minds wanted to know how his first game since mid-January felt.

``It felt great. It was definitely fun just to get back out there and play,'' Bynum said. ``I still haven't gotten to play with Pau (who only played a few minutes Tuesday). I'm looking forward to that. But all I can say is that in practice, when we're together, we haven't lost a game. ''

Then he offered his thoughts on why Lakers coach Phil Jackson was calling his interactions on the court with Gasol ``clumsy.''

``It is a little confusing sometimes. You have a guy who played 5 all last season and I've been playing the 5 here the last three years, so we run to same block sometimes,'' Bynum said. ``We just need to talk about how we're going to do things, as far as giving each other space, not crowding each other, not posting up on top of each other.''

The Los Angeles Lakers waived free agent guard Dwayne Mitchell Wednesday afternoon.

Mitchell, a 6'5" 220-pound guard out of Louisiana Lafayette, was a member of the Lakers 2008 Summer-Pro League team in Las Vegas, where he averaged 6.7 points and 1.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes over six games.

Mitchell practiced with the team on Wednesday morning and said that he was feeling good again after being limited for a few days with some soreness in his knee.

The Lakers roster now stands at 18.

After skipping last night's exhibition game versus the Utah Jazz, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was back at the team's practice facility Wednesday and well enough to put the team through an extended practice. Jackson said that the cause of the swelling and soreness in his lower legs is still ``mysterious'' and didn't commit to attending tommorrow night's exhibition against the Clippers in Fresno. A decision on whether Jackson will accompany the team on its flight to Fresno will be made in the morning, according to Lakers spokesman John Black.

Jackson appeared to be in good spirits Wednesday. He sat on a large, foam pad for most of practice --which isn't uncommon -- but walked over to the team afterwards and addressed them on the court.

``He was messing with me, poking fun at me, like he always does,'' Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic said. ``I thought that was a good sign.''

So, how did Lamar Odom's trial run at point forward go Tuesday night? Apparently the Lakers won't be cutting him much slack as he adjusts to his new role (s).

``Fair to middlin, maybe even poor,'' assistant coach Kurt Rambis said after Tuesday's exhibition loss to the Utah Jazz. ``He didn't seem focused out there.''

When told of Rambis' assessment, Odom tried to laugh it off and seemed to take it in stride.

``It's the first game of the year, ain't nobody want to score a career high the first game of the year,'' he said. ``There's no need to be frustrated. He's my coach. Coach is always right.''

Teammate Kobe Bryant got a good chuckle too.

``Sheesh, it's one preseason game,'' Bryant said. ``(Lamar's) fine.''

Daily Breeze crime reporter Larry Altman just forwarded me the mug shot of the 34-year old El Segundo woman, Stacy Beshear, who has been charged with one misdemeanor count of stalking Lakers forward Luke Walton.

akers coach Phil Jackson did not accompany the team to Anaheim for it's exhibition opener against the Utah Jazz Thursday evening, due to soreness in his lower legs.

Assistant Kurt Rambis is coaching in his stead.

``We do not anticipate it's anything serious at all," team spokesman John Black said. "We felt, and he felt, it would be better for him to stay at home and watch the game on TV."

While Jackson isn't in the building, he did make one very important decision for Tuesday's game: Andrew Bynum is not in the starting lineup.

"The starting lineup was Phil's decision," Rambis said. "Andrew's had some good moments, but one of the things we've been trying to impress on him is that he has to extend those good moments. He has to be ready to play at both ends of the court at all times."

Just got back from Clippers practice and learned that new center Marcus Camby might not play in Thursday's exhibition game against the Lakers up in Fresno.

Coach Mike Dunleavy said he hadn't decided yet whether Camby, who missed most of last week with the flu, will play. But said it's possible Camby will sit out, or play very few minutes.

Also, the Clippers first-round draft choice Eric Gordon is unlikely to play. Gordon sprained his ankle last week and is expected to be limited the rest of this week.

Derek Fisher has picked up more than a few tricks in his 12 seasons in the league. How to take charges without completely selling out his body, how to draw fouls or lead a team. But this summer he picked something new up.

After the Lakers long, deep playoff run, and with his odometer sitting at age 34, Fisher knew he needed a different approach to his offseason training. Going full-out, six days a week was going to be pushing it.

Instead, he went hard four days a week, then rested and recovered the other three. The results were fantastic.

``It was actually probably my best summer, if not the best in terms of how my body felt overall,'' Fisher said. ``I didn't feel weak or run down or anything.

``The biggest difference is the way I approached my training. I used to feel like I had to go hard, 5-6 days a week. Now I just make it four days and take three days off.

``I try to convince Phil to approach my usage in practice that way, to practice a few days then have a few days off, but it's not quite working that way yet.''

Here's a sneak peek at a story, written by the Daily Breeze's crime reporter Larry Altman on Luke Walton's stalker.

An El Segundo woman who believed she was supposed to marry Los Angeles
Lakers forward Luke Walton has been charged with stalking him at his
Manhattan Beach home and at basketball practice.

Stacy Elizabeth Beshear, a 34-year-old woman who is 6 feet, 210 pounds, was
arrested Sept. 18, Manhattan Beach police Sgt. Steve Tobias said Monday.

Walton filed a report late last year that Beshear was harassing him in
November and December.

"He reported that the woman was using a Sharpie marker and writing on his
car," Tobias said. "She was following him. She'd park in front of his home
and wait for him to leave and return. She told him that, 'You are supposed
to be the person I marry.'"

At that time, he received no threats.

That changed on Sept. 15, Tobias said.

Beshear followed Walton to the house of fellow Laker Jordan Farmar and
pulled up next to him. She simulated making a gun with her hand and moved
her thumb as if she was cocking the weapon, Tobias said.

"She had made other gestures including extending her middle finger," Tobias
said. "He had indicated that she had a very serious and angry look on her
face when she was doing this."

The District Attorney's Office's Stalking and Threat Assessment Team charged
Beshear with one misdemeanor count of stalking. Beshear, who was released on
bail, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 19 and is scheduled to return to Torrance
court on Nov. 6 for trial.

Beshear's family members said she had no comment.

Walton told the Orange County Register in an article published Monday that
Beshear parked outside his home for hours and hours, even in the middle of
the night. He would drive out and see her, worried that she would break into
his house and steal his dog.

"When she pulled up to my house and started yelling at me after she fired a
fake gun at me, I couldn't help but to start yelling back at her," Walton
said. "She was in my driveway. But when we were interacting, I could tell by
the stuff she was saying that she's not all there in the head - which makes
me feel bad for her. At the same time, most people who go on killing sprees
are people who aren't all there in the head."

Walton said "she told me that we belong together.

"And then she started flipping out about all sorts of stuff. She said she
wanted to move to San Diego, but people wouldn't let her. I was like, 'What
people?' She's like, 'The people! The people in the universe! They won't let
me move, because they say you and I are supposed to be together.' I was
like, 'Oh, wow. She's crazy.'"

Great story in today's Orange County Register on a 34-year old El Segundo woman who has been stalking Luke Walton for over a year.

Luke tells how the woman went from eager fan waiting for an autograph outside of the team's practice facility to obsessed stalker who'd follow him from practice, sit for hours outside of his Manhattan Beach home, and at one point, pointed her finger in the shape of a gun and mimicked a shooting motion.

That's when Luke knew he needed to take action so he called the police and filed a temporary restraining order. A court date is set for next month.

``It's bananas," Walton told the Register. "I'll be going to sleep at night and just randomly look out the window. Just to check. Just because. She has been out there at 12:30, 1:30 in the morning. She would park outside my house for hours and hours.

"I would drive out, and I would see her peeking through. It would suck, because I know I'm leaving my home, and I know she's still there. What am I supposed to do? Is she planning on breaking in? Am I going to come home one day and she's sleeping in my bed? Is she going to steal my dog?''

It's early still. Way too early to tell anything, though the potential is certainly there. Players coming off the court practically drool over what this year's Lakers team could develop into.

At one point durring Saturday's scrimmage, the Lakers went with a lineup of Kobe Bryant (6-foot-6), Trevor Ariza (6-foot-8), Lamar Odom (6-10), Pau Gasol (7-0) and Andrew Bynum (7-0)

``When we had our arms out, you couldn't even see the paint,'' Bryant said before Monday morning's practice. ``There's just so much length.''

Still, it's far from a finished product, and before anyone starts talking about potential or Twin Towers or a return trip the NBA Finals, coach Phil Jackson laid out a word of caution.

When asked how the Bynum and Gasol pairing has worked out thus far, Jackson seemed less than impressed.

``It depends on how they work together,'' he said. ``Right now they're very clumsy, they're not working well together. We've got a group that played together very well last year, there's some things we have to discuss and see how long we drag this out and how quickly we can facilitate it. Because I think we have the ability to play exceptionally well if we use all our skill and all our talented players.''

Now, whether that was an honest evaluation, an attempt to motivate Gasol and/or Bynum, something in between or a little bit of both is hard to determine. It is Phil Jackson after all, as much a media master as the Zen Master.

The first public peek at how the new dynamics are playing out comes Tuesday night in a preseason game against Utah at the Honda Center.

Jackson said Bryant would likely play about half the game, Gasol a bit less than that, and 15 players would dress.

Chris Mihm talks about regaining his game after three surgeries on his right ankle that forced him to sit out all but 82 games over the last three seasons. The 7-footer is locked in a battle with DJ Mbenga for playing time as the backup center behind Andrew Bynum.

Phil Jackson gave three-fifths of his starting lineup a break from today's morning workout. Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol sat on the sidelines while their teammates went through the first of two practices. Jackson is determined to give Bryant and Gasol, in particular, extra rest after their hectic summers with their respective Olympic teams.
Bryant and Team USA defeated Gasol and Spain for the gold medal in Beijing.
In addition, Sun Yue (mono) started the morning practice, but had to sit down after participating in the first few drills. Sasha Vujacic (sprained left ankle) returned to practice after sitting out for three days. Sunday marks the end of two-a-day practices.

He's quieter. A lot quieter.

And he's not big on dancing along the sidelines, or pounding his chest.

But as far as energy, rebounding, hustle and defense, the Lakers may just have found a pretty good replacement for Ronny Turiaf in the form of free agent forward Josh Powell.

Even coach Phil Jackson, who has never had much of a taste for bursts of excessive praise, seems impressed with the way the 6-foot-9 former Clipper has played during the first week of training camp.

``He seems to have an idea of what we're trying to do even though he's been here (this week). He seems relatively comfortable playing in our offense,'' Jackson said this week. ``He's creating a lot of problems with our big guys. They know they've got a tiger down there after the rebound.''

Powell says he's just playing the way he always has, and tried to downplay the comparisons to Turiaf, but outside of their personalities (Turiaf is one of the league's loudest characters, Powell is decidedly more reserved), the similarities are striking ... from their style of play, jersey number (No. 21) to their hair styles.

``I just try to work hard defensively, to rebound, hustle and do all the little things that make a different,'' Powell said. ``I'm not trying to be Ronny (who signed a four-year, $17 million contract with Golden State in the offseason). Ronny's in a different area code now, a different place. I'm here and I'm just trying to be me.''

One thing that's helped Powell make the quick transition is his familiarity with the triangle offense. He made a point of brushing up on it over the summer, sitting down with game tapes and studying them.

``I've been trying to get a feel of what's needed from me,'' Powell said. ``It's been going good. I think I'm picking it up quickly.''

Powell signed a partially-guaranteed contract in the offseason.

Rookie guard Sun Yue made his first appearance at training camp Friday morning. Yue has been sidelined after being diagnosed with mononucleosis last week.