It's only two games into the regular season, and Lakers Coach Phil Jackson has already assigned the team's bench a nickname. They're "Renegades."
"I gave it to them," Jackson said Saturday after practice at the Lakers' facility in El Segundo. "They're getting a sense of how to play together."
That includes Steve Blake, Shannon Brown and Matt Barnes, a trio KCAL-9's Stu Lantz and a few L.A. Times Lakers blog readers described as "Killer B's." Beyond this settling a long debate or perhaps furthering it within this corner of the blogosphere, it's not so much important what nickname Jackson has assigned the reserves so much as that his willingness to do it so early in the season shows his satisfaction with the team's overall play. Jackson limited Saturday's practice solely to the reserves, a unit he says will feature more unspecified playing time from Devin Ebanks and Sasha Vujacic possibly as early as Sunday against the Golden State Warriors.
Dictionary.com defines "renegade" as a "person who deserts a party or cause for another," hardly a quality trait you'd want to have in a teammate. But the Lakers see it differently.
"When you think of renegade, you think of someone who's almost mean, but going out there and getting the job done," Brown said. "They're fierce. They don't play many games, but they're close knit together. They won't let nobody mess with them."
Read more: http://lakersblog.latimes.com/
The Renegades or the Killer B's, however you wanna call them, have been fantastic for the Lakers. It's only been two games, but if this is what we're gonna be seeing from them in the future, our outlook is very good. I love the hustle and intensity that Barnes gives, crashing the boards, and always thinking each shot is a missed shot. He's also a streaky shooter who can get hot at any moment. Blake's decision making, shooting, and passing have been excellent and is a welcome back-up to Fisher, who is really hurting the Lakers more than helping them. I love Fisher, but I just question his play on the court. Brown... what an improvement from the outside. I mean, before his thumb injury last season, he was on point as well, but this new-look Brown has better decision making than before, and it's great to see that he worked on his game this off-season.
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