Guarding

The time was right for Trey Burke. The Michigan star made it official Sunday: He's leaving the Wolverines to enter the NBA draft. The move came as no surprise after Burke was voted the Associated Press national player of the year and led Michigan to the NCAA title game as a sophomore. Burke also considered going to the NBA a year ago, but he came back for another season. Now he departs with his stock seemingly peaking. "I just felt like this was the best opportunity for me," Burke said.

The White Mamba. The Blake Mamba. Whatever nickname you could conjure for Steve Blake on Sunday night worked. The Lakers guard scored 18 points in his first 18 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs, actually surpassing the nearly point-a-minute pace Kobe Bryant had produced two days before his torn left Achilles' tendon appeared to rupture his team's season. "Man, it's almost you don't even think anymore," Blake said of a stretch in which he made seven of his first eight shots.

The Lakers re-signed guard Andrew Goudelock on Sunday. The 24-year-old, 6-foot-2 combo guard was originally drafted by the Lakers in 2011 with the 46th overall pick. Goudelock was in the team's locker room before the Lakers' game against the San Antonio Spurs. "I got here early, around three," said Goudelock. "We went over some basic things but they said most of it is just playing. If you don't shoot, [Coach Mike D'Antoni] gets mad -- that's right up my alley. " The Lakers cut Goudelock before the season.

Battling 12-foot seas and 30-mph winds, the Coast Guard plucked four people from a life raft near Big Sur on Saturday afternoon, officials said. The four were rescued shortly after the tug boat they were on suddenly sank, said Coast Guard Lt. Mark Leahey. The boat, Delta Captain, went down so quickly that the four crew members didn't have time to don their cold water immersion gear before getting into their raft. The wind and waves added to their peril as the boat drifted in the Pacific Ocean.

TV cameramen yelled and cursed at each other as dozens of reporters scrambled to get an interview with Gary Vitti. It's never a good sign if the longtime Lakers trainer is the target of a media crush, but somebody had to provide medical details Saturday of the hard news: Kobe Bryant is sidelined six to nine months because of a torn left Achilles' tendon. NBA teams begin playing around Oct. 31, meaning Bryant theoretically could be back in time for the start of next season. "I think that's a realistic goal for him," Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said.

Steve Nash will miss a sixth consecutive game because of hip and hamstring soreness, Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni said Friday morning after the team's shoot-around. “He's getting closer, obviously,” D'Antoni said. “There's not many games left. Hopefully for Sunday, but we don't know yet.” The Lakers have two games remaining after Friday's meeting with Golden State at Staples Center. They play San Antonio on Sunday and Houston on Wednesday, also at home. The Lakers (42-37)

Los Angeles police are searching for the assailant who killed a security guard outside a strip mall in Panorama City Thursday night. Police said the guard was shot about 10 p.m. in the 15000 block of Roscoe Boulevard. The victim was described as a 48-year-old male who had patrolled the mini mall for 12 years, KTLA reported. The man was found on the pavement and pronounced dead at the scene. The guard was armed but still had his gun in his holster when he was discovered, a relative told KTLA.

A security guard was shot and killed near a liquor store in a Panorama City strip mall, Los Angeles police said Thursday night. The guard was gunned down shortly before 10 p.m. in the 15000 block of Roscoe Boulevard, Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department told The Times. It was not immediately known what sparked the violence. Homicide detectives were en route to the crime scene late Thursday. Since January 2007, at least 15 homicides have been reported in Panorama City, according to a Times Homicide Report database . Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call (877)

Theodore Roosevelt was appalled by the lack of firearms training within the constabulary when he was appointed president of the New York City Police Department Board of Supervisors, a rank now known as police commissioner. He would, I suspect, be equally appalled by a National Rifle Assn.-funded study released last week that recommended putting guns in every school in America. Upon becoming New York's top cop in 1895, Roosevelt recognized the danger of large numbers of undertrained officers carrying firearms in crowded urban environments.

Good thing NBA games are only 48 minutes long. Kobe Bryant would try to play 49. He's 34 years old, ignoring bone spurs in his left foot and recently coming off a severe ankle sprain, but he keeps throwing himself toward the maximum limit per NBA game. He didn't rest Sunday until 39.8 seconds remained in the Lakers' 109-95 loss to the Clippers. This all started March 30, when he sat out only 23 seconds against Sacramento. He followed it up with 56 seconds of rest against Dallas.