Bandwagon L.A.

Lakers Live Wire: Now with Dodgers and Titties

2008-12-08T15:09:00.000-08:00

I hate that damn Lakers Live Wire segment that they do during the second quarter of some Laker games. For those that have never witnessed it, it's an in-game interview with a notable spectator at Staplescenter; you're still watching the game, but you're getting the audio from some inane interview at the same time.

I mean, it sounds like it should be OK. You can still watch the game. You hear less Joel Meyers, which is always good. And sometimes, when the interviewee is particularly insightful (Rick Fox comes to mind), there's actually some value added. But that's not what usually happens. Unfortunately, it's usually some actor or director plugging some horrible project and all it really does is perpetuate the god awful stereotype that the real interest at Laker games is in the stands and not on the court.

But last night's Lakers Live Wire was highly enjoyable. First of all, the guest was Dodger outfielder Matt Kemp. Considering the huge cross-section of Laker fans and Dodger fans, this type of cross polination could only yield positive results. And it did not disappoint. Right as Matt was about to delve into his personal baskteball history and Laker fandom in general, a pair of L.A.'s finest come waltzing across the screen. Matt's expression says it all.

Besty. Lakers Live Wire. Ever.

Matty Kemp loves the Tigolbitties.

The Joel and Stu Drinking Game

2008-11-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

Perhaps we have been spoiled as Los Angeles Sports fans in terms of who we've enjoyed as our sports voices. Vin Scully. Chick Hearn. Bob Miller. Petros Papadakis. But is it just me, or is the river of awkward that is the Joel Meyers experience bustling like the mighty Mississippi this year? Check out his latest gem. And by gem, I mean diarrhea of the mouth.

A few nights ago, Kobe hits an insane fadeaway from the right wing and is fouled on the shot. He stumbles backward into the courtside seats near the Laker bench and Sasha Vujacic, excited from the acrobatics of the play gets up and slaps Kobe on the ass. Joel's call?

"Sasha likes it from behind!!!"

Wow. Oh and let's not forget about the Length of Lamar. My lord. The LOL. I understand that decribing a players length is a trend right now in basketball commentating with all the long-armed, versatile players scattered throughout the league. But Joel takes this to a whole other level. Wow, he was really bothered by the length of Lamar on that shot. Or, Lamar's length caused that turnover. It's like, it's not just Lamar Odom. There's Lamar. And there's the Length of Lamar. Both are sentient, tax paying citizens of the Earth according to Joel.

But you see, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about Joel that bothers me. I mean, the Gay innuendos are one thing (and that "one thing" would be hilarious), but I think the thing that frustrates me the most is that I can't understand Joel's thought process as he's calling the game. I feel like the play by play man should describe the action and from time to time make some relevant observations about the context of said action. But Joel. Joel, Joel, Joel. Joel does not do this.

Here's a hypothetical example. The Lakers could be down by ten points with maybe 6 minutes to play in the game and then Joel will say something like, "The Lakers could use an 8-0 run here..." First of all, you're thinking well, no shit, Joel. But then the you think about it some more and you find yourself wondering, well, why didn't he say a 10-0 run? Hell, why not 20-0? But then you know what happens next? The other team goes on an 8-0 run.

But ok. I suppose every announcer is guilty of jinxing a team now and then. Fine. And of course, it doesn't happen that way all the time. What if say the Lakers do go on that 8-0 run, making Joel seem down right prophetic. Now say we got the ball with 30 seconds left, down 2 (remember, it was an 8-0 run from down 10). Kobe's dribbling out the clock a bit at the top of the key, he decides to make his move, and here is a classic Joel call of this play:

Kobe dribbles right. He's gets into the lane. HE'S CUT OFF! He finds Fisher in the corner. FISHER FOR THREE!!! OH!!! It rims out. Can't give Kobe the assist....

That's right. Can't. Give. Kobe. The. Assist. Seriously, who gives a shit about the assist. What about the fact that the game is probably over on that miss. It's like he gets fixated on certain things, usually statistical milestones for certain players, and it prevents him from commenting on the broader, more important perspectives. And honestly, it's becoming distracting as hell.

And I know that the above is not describing a play from a particular game. When I said before that I cannot pinpoint what bothers me about Joel, I really meant that I don't have a body of concrete examples of his ineptitude to list before you. But if you've been watching the Lakers closely during the Joel Meyer's era, tell me the above hypothetical does not sound all too familiar.

But either way, it looks like this is what we've got until the Lakers get wise and put Spero Dedes on TV. So you know what? Let's make the best of it. One easy way to do that: get shit faced. I present to you the Joel and Stu drinking game.

Rules: Buy some beer. Buy some liquor. Watch the local broadcast of the Laker game. Drink when you hear the following from Joel Meyers or Stu Lantz.

Level I: One sip
- Joel talks about Lamar Odom's length
- Stu refers to Pau Gasol as Pau Kasol
- Joel mentions points off of turnovers
- Joel or Stu uses the phrase Charity Stripe
- Stu says that the Lakers have "issues" if they are running late in the shot clock

Level II: Chug a beer (beer bong is optional, recommended)
- Stu says something about the Lakers "needing to Scratch"
- Joel mentions where a player played college ball more than once
- Joel talks about Trevor Ariza's length
- Joel talks about Andrew Bynum's length
- Joel talks about Pau Gasol's length

Level III: Take a shot
- Stu uses that metaphor about how big guys being far from the basket is like being high in the mountains/air is thin
- Stu says "Noiiiiccce"
- Joel talks about Kobe's Length
- Stu talks about Pau Kasol's length
- Joel uses the phrase "the rub down low"

Seriously, you'll be drunk by half time. And the Lakers will be up by 20. Happy drinking, Laker fans.

Finals Thoughts

2008-06-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

Boston is the better team. The thing that made this fact -- that a 66 win team is better than a 57 win team -- a surprising one was the way the Lakers looked coming into the Finals and the way Boston looked to start the playoffs. It turns out we were all fooled. Boston was already a bad match up for these Lakers. They had a bigger, tougher frontline and they had more veteran experience. Now realize that this is the NBA finals and the particulars of that bad match up make it a nightmarish one. This was not as close of a series as the 6 game length might imply.

So where does that leave the Lakers? Well we do get Bynum back next year. Which is huge. Make no mistake about it. We're basically adding a top five center. So that would help shore up the toughness, rebounding, shot blocking, defensive anchoring, inside scoring etc that the Lakers were sorely lacking in this series. And we will have a full year to jell which should improve the team's cohesion both on the offense and defensive end.

But more importantly, the Lakers next year should and will play with a bit of an edge. A chip on their collective shoulders, one that may not be there had they won this year. It's NBA growing pains and we've seen it happen before. Jordan losing to Detroit. Shaq and Kobe losing to Utah and San Antonio. And even though these Celtics did not have a similar experience as a unit, they did individually with all of the big three making deep playoff runs in past years only to come up short. And that's what gave the Celtics that something extra this series. They had that edge. They had that hunger. There was a huge gap between these two teams in that respect. And even though they pounded the crap out of us, I feel like this series just caused that gap to get A LOT smaller. Of course, adding a couple of nasty veterans in the off-season might not hurt.

And I guess all there is left to talk about is Kobe and his legacy. Now, a lot of people have been using this latest chink in the armor as the indisputable evidence that Kobe is not on the level of MJ. And they are 100% correct. Jordan never did and probably never would have lost two straight times in the Finals. But maybe this is a good thing. Maybe now people will start looking at Kobe for who he is rather than the gap between him and Jordan, something Kobe pleaded for during his Sunday Coversation with Stephen A. Smith a few weeks ago.

Yes, he is about the same size as MJ. He has a competitive drive and a fadeaway that reminds people of MJ. He can light you up while shutting you down like MJ.

But after that, what's the point of comparing? Because so much of the way we perceive these guys, and athletes in general, is left up to fate. Like what if Jordan was drafted onto a team that already had a star player. Maybe he would have won a title early without the pain/benefit of an arduous climb to the top. And then maybe he would have had to deal with being knocked off his pedestal after the other star began to decline and he was handed the reins to the team. Perhaps he would have endured his growing pains then. And maybe (or let's face it, inevitably) he would have rebuilt, reclaimed his glory and took his place atop the Mount Olympus of the NBA.

Does that story sound familiar? Well, it's not Kobe's. It's Magic's. Maybe that's the more apt comparison in terms of career arc. And I have absolutely no problem with that.

Under the Radar

2008-06-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

The appeal of this series is obvious. It's Kobe versus Pierce, Gasol versus Garnett, and Lamar versus, well Lamar. It's the Laker offense, which will be humming, clashing with the Boston defense, which will be downright stalwart. It's Rondo and Perkins striking hard in the shadows and the Laker bench making its presence felt. It's our Stars versus their Stars and a mess of role players doing all the little things and a few that are big. We know what this looks like.

But what is really intriguing to me are the more underrated notions. Like the improving Laker defense battling the resurgent Celtic offense. Like Luke Walton meeting James Posey or Sasha Vujacic meeting Ray Allen or Ronny Turiaf meeting Leon Powe. I'm talking about Kevin Garnett posting up in the clutch and Pau Gasol showing grit in the paint. Because while there are many things both sides can count in this series, here is where it will be decided.

And finally, it's game time. Go Lakers.

Killing Time Until Killing Time

2008-06-04T15:17:00.001-07:00

+ First a laugh via Cuzoogle:

+ Some words on Kobe from Kelly Dwyer at BDL:

Save for one, angry season (2004-05, when he shot less than he does now but slept through some games), Kobe Bryant trusted his teammates a little too damn much.

In fact, "trusting his teammates" in the playoffs against San Antonio in 2003 and Detroit in 2004 may have cost the Lakers a ring; because had Kobe taken over the games with the same shoot-first but-within-the-offense fervor we saw in 2005-06 and 2006-07, the ball may not have been in Robert Horry's shot-missin' hands in 2003, or Shaquille O'Neal's out-of-shape mitts in 2004.

And though Kobe may have piled up the shot attempts in Phil Jackson's first two seasons as Laker coach, post-Shaq; Los Angeles wouldn't have had a chance of approaching anywhere near 40 wins in those two seasons had Kobe not tried to put up 35 every night. Those would have been 30-35 win teams had he shot 18 times a game. Instead, the two campaigns saw Los Angeles eke out 45 and 42 wins in what we safely know to be a competitive Western Conference.

Listen, for every shot that Kobe gave up, for every possession he allowed another player to use up, those Lakers would falter, all the more.

That means a player with a lower shooting percentage than Kobe shoots the ball. That means a player who turns the ball over way more than Kobe gets the ball put square in his hands. That means a player who has a worse free throw percentage than Kobe gets fouled. Those possessions just don't dissipate when Kobe decides to "trust his teammates," they get used up by players who are far more prone to miss shots, turn the ball over, or do less at the line.

But because the stereotype is, "Kobe wants all the shots, Kobe wanted Shaq gone so he could get all of Shaq's looks," we think that Kobe should be passing more, and "trusting his teammates." And it's absolute bollocks.

+ Some Triangle Insight from Steve Kerr via Roland Lazenby at Sportshub LA

+ Unrelated but hilarious (via FFFFound):

With the Benefit of Instant Replay

2008-05-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Foul.

Yes It Was a Foul

2008-05-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Was that a foul? Yes.
Should it have been called? Yes. It was on the ground and should have been two free-throws.

Am I surprised that it wasn't? Nope.

I am a firm believer that a foul in the first minute should be a foul in the last minute. But, c'mon, how long ago did we all learn that this is not the case in the NBA? How many times have we seen people drive the lane with the game on the line and get absolutely mugged with no call made?

It sucks. But this is the world we live in. Purists and Idealists or whatever the hell you want to call them are going to bitch and moan about this for weeks. But, I don't see why. You know that refs tend to swallow their whistles at the end of games. You've seen it happen over and over and over especially in the playoffs. Yet, you're surprised - outraged even - about what happened at the end of game 4?

And then to try to tie to the fact that Joey Crawford was the ref as Basketbawful did or to go even further out on a limb and tie it (albeit weakly) to some conspiracy theory/referee scandal as Henry from Truehoop did, is just plain ridiculous. This is a completely separate issue, one that is not new at all.

This has nothing to do with Joey Crawford.

This has nothing to do with Tim Donaghy and the ref gambling scandal.

This has nothing to do with Stern wanting the Lakers and Celtics in the finals or some other general NBA conspiracy theory.

This is the NBA as we know it. As you knew it before game 4 started and for the last 30 years or so. Why all the shrieky indignation?

Tonight my team was on the winning side of a questionable no call at the end of a game. They have been and one day will be again on the losing side of such a play. But for now, I will go on enjoying the win.

***

Speaking of shrieky indignation, let's go back to Truehoop's "That Was a Foul!" post. I mean, jeez.

Laker Derek Fisher left his feet, and landed hard into Spur Brent Barry. The Spurs were down two and time was running out. That's a foul in my pickup game. That's a foul in high school. That's a foul in college. And, at just about every moment of NBA basketball that I have ever seen except this one, that's a foul in the NBA.

Dude, what kind of pussy ass pick up game are you playing in where you call that? An on-the-ground foul from 30 feet out. Do you take charges in these pick up games as well? Do you call technicals and three seconds in the key?

I actually do not think that the NBA is rigged (if it was the shot clock would have been reset on the play before, when Derek Fisher's shot appeared to touch the rim). But a lot of people do, and that's a problem. The way to solve that problem is to be scrupulously fair, which this was not.

I don't see how the refs not resetting the clock can be considered evidence that the NBA is not rigged. That makes no sense. Because you know what? Fisher's shot DID hit the rim and the Lakers should have had a fresh shot clock. You know, if the refs were scrupulously fair and all.

If the refs had made that call, the game would have been over. The Lakers would have had the ball with 5 seconds left and no shot clock and the Spurs would have had to foul. But it was too close of a call on which to essentially end the game. Again, the refs do NOT want a hand in deciding the game. Do we notice a pattern forming here?

***

Yes, if Barry had sold the call, he would have had free throws. But that doesn't mean that he should have flopped. It just means that he should have taken the contact instead of basically DRIBBLING AROUND IT.

It's a bit of twisted irony to see a team that flops the whole game lose on a play where one of their players had an opportunity to flop and basically shied away from the contact. I now have a new found respect for Brent Barry. He played it straight up.

Actually, all of the Spurs are showing some serious class and sportsmanship with the way they are handling the non-call ending. They are truly champions in every sense of the word.

***

What the hell was Kobe thinking at the end there. Thirty seconds left, up 4 and he drives to rim like we're down 4. He should have dribbled it back out obviously. Or hit Pau streaking down the middle rather than that tough shot over Duncan. Seriously, he could have totally blew it.

May Madness

2008-05-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

The NCAA Tournament may be the favorite of millions, but THIS my friends is a Final Four. We have the defending champs coming off a game 7 win on the road. Perennial contenders from Detroit who have made the last 6 (SIX!) Eastern Conference finals and are starting to embody an Atlanta Brave like consistency. And then we have the league's two greatest all time franchises in the Lakers and the Celtics, playing the role of the new kids on the block. It's like the old guard meets the new guard. Except the new guard is actually the old-old guard who, for lack of a better term, is back bitches!

(I was trying to end that last paragraph with some sort of pendulum metaphor, but then I was like, screw it.)

This morning, so many are lamenting the exit of Chris Paul from these playoffs, the final straw after losing the likes of Steve Nash, Deron Williams, and to a lesser extent Josh Smith because these players represent the actual new guard. If not new by age, then new by style. An aggressive, athletic, and aesthetically appealing style. And just one year removed from the near possibility of a Phoenix Suns/Golden State Warriors Western Conference finals, it seems that these folks are jaded by the sight of who is still alive in these playoffs.

And you know what, the Lakers belong here with this particular final four. But when I say the Lakers, I'm referring to the ShaKobe Lakers. Because if you had told me six years ago that the Lakers would be in the Western Conference Finals with San Antonio in 2008, I would have shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head. But I would have been picturing the Lakers with an aging Shaq, Kobe dominating, some younger role players and the same boring, methodical approach that won them titles in 2000-2002.

They were definitely on that track. But of course, everything exploded after Detroit beat them in 2004. And then things got worse. And the Lakers were rebuilt. And this rebuilding took place during what will be remembered as the Steve Nash Era (2005-2008) in which uptempo offense and long, versatile players became all the rage around the league. So instead of entering the 2008 Western Conference Finals as a plodding, grind-it-out juggernaut like the rest of the final four, the Lakers are an extremely dynamic team full of athletic, long, and versatile players held together by Championship experience at the top and a proven system that allows for all of it.

The Lakers today are a team that seems to combine the substance of its final four counterparts with a style that even the layest of fans can appreciate. Because when the Triangle Offense is humming, and recently it has been, it is basketball at its finest. Passing, moving without the ball, screens, ball movement. Kobe's brilliance as a garnish. They are an example of how you obtain fast break excitement through half court execution.

Long story short. San Antonio is the thesis. The Suns were the antithesis. And as it happened, the Lakers are the synthesis.

And there is your pendulum metaphor.

Bynum's Anti-Gravity Treadmill

2008-03-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

(Note: Not Andrew Bynum)

Here's a picture of the new anti-gravity treadmill that Andrew Bynum has been running on recently. This dealy is called the G-Trainer and is made by a company called Alter-G. I actually can't say for sure if this is the exact same machine that Bynum is using - you know everyone is making an anti-gravity treadmill nowadays - but I am pretty sure based on the fact that google couldn't find any others. Here are some tidbits from the Alter-G website:

The G-Trainer overcomes limitations such as water resistance and cumbersome harnesses associated with conventional unweighting systems allowing for a natural gait pattern.
...

Alter-G's technology was originally developed at NASA as part of an effort to help astronauts maintain fitness during prolonged space flight. Alter-G combined this technology with an advanced pressure regulation system and a treadmill to produce the first anti-gravity treadmill. The physical lifting force generated by the G-Trainer comes from a difference in air pressure around the individual's body.

Sounds pretty cool, I guess. I also heard that it roughly costs $75,000. But I was thinking, it was probably more than that because they probably had to make a customized air bag because if you replace the dude in the picture with Andrew Bynum, the top of the bag is probably mid-thigh.

Kobe Blog Day : Love, Hate, Appreciation

2008-03-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

Apparently, it's Kobe Blog Day. It feels like it's been Kobe Blog Year, hasn't it? Ever since he started dropping Andrew Bynum fueled F-Bombs in some Applebee's parking lot, through the trade rumors, through the pouty early season, through the cautiously optimistic early going, through the greatest trade of all time, and now all the MVP talk - with all the hate and all the love out there, 2008 is Kobe's season. Let's just hope we're still saying that in late June.

Well, I haven't written about Kobe in a while. Which just goes to show you how easily one can eventually become numb to even the strongest of stimuli given a long enough time line. As Stu Lantz often cautions us, every now and then, Kobe does something that makes you stop and remind yourself, this is one of the greatest players of all time - kobe fan or kobe hater, you should always appreciate that.

But after that moment passes, you go right back to what you were doing. If you're on the other side, you're trying your damndest to find holes in his game or reasons why he's not the best player in the NBA. But around here, most of us are guilty of putting Kobe's stellar play in the bank while we pore over minutiae such as Luke Walton's suspect jumper or Phil's odd line ups or even the Bynum injury; yeah they'll all impact the Laker season in some way or another, but in the end, none of it would matter without Kobe.

So in the hopes of showing my appreciation, here are some of my favorite Kobe memories.

+ Of course the list has to start with 81. But in my eyes, this was a feat of sheer relentlessness. And as unfathomable as it was, to me, his 56 on Memphis and his 62 on Dallas were even more amazing. In the former, we saw an absolute shooting display as he dropped 21 field goals in 3 quarters of play and in the latter we saw a player take a lead into the fourth quarter over an entire team, Kobe 62, Dallas 61. The 81 was the realization of the hypotheticals posed by these two games. That is, what if Kobe played in the fourth quarter?

+ Portland, Part I. This was the last game of the 2003-04 regular season. Kobe hit a three to tie - a pump faking, arm ducking affair on the self proclaimed Kobe Stopper (Ruben ~~Studdard~~ Patterson). And then a three to win - a rainbow fade away over Theo Ratliff after which he could barely stay on his feet. This game clinched the Pacific Division title, not like we're gonna hang a banner about that or anything.

+ Kobe's Dunk on Yao. To Yao's credit, he got a whole lot of the ball. But to Kobe's credit, that was a baseline move meaning the only way he was getting to the rim was up. Over a 7'6" Chinese man.

+ San Antonio, Part I. This is referring to the 2001 series sweep in what was supposed to be a Western Conference Finals showdown. Kobe scored 133 points in this series. And say what you want about the Lakers being Shaq's team. This series was arguably the very peak of the ShaKobe dynasty and after Kobe dropped 45 points and 10 rebounds in game 1, Shaq had this to say:

I told Kobe that he was my idol. I'm serious. He's playing phenomenal. I think he's the best player in the league, by far.

Yeah Shaq was the Finals MVP in all 3 of his Laker Championship seasons. But you could argue that it was Kobe that got them there.

+ The 2003 scoring binge. It started with him draining 12 threes in a game against Seattle (9 in a row at one point). And it was odd because he never really was much a of a three point shooter for his entire career. Then a month later, he scored 40 or more points in 9 consecutive games. It was really the first time that we saw what Kobe could do when he was able to let loose.

+ Portland, Part II. This game was last season. The Lakers were in the midst of a 7 game skid, the longest of Phil Jackson's career. They were losing their grip on playoff seeding. The shit was hitting the fan big time. Then Kobe comes into this game and drops 65 points on the Blazers, 33 in the fourth quarter and over time. And it was oddly reminiscent of Portland, Part I as he hit a three to send the game to OT. And then in overtime with the game tied at 108 and 44 seconds to go, he hit this insane fadeaway three pointer on two guys (pictured), to basically put the game away. As good as Portland, Part I was, this was even better. And seeing as how bright the future is for both the Lakers and Portland, this picture might be the first battle of a great Western Conference rivalry.

Kobe and Portland's future, Roy and Aldridge.

+ 2000 NBA Finals, game 4. With Shaq fouled out and Kobe playing on a severely sprained ankle, the Lakers pulled this game out in OT to take a 3-1 series lead. In the game-deciding stretch, Kobe scored on three straight possessions. Two were on long jumpers after each of which, Kobe trotted down court, pumping downward with open palms, as if to say, "take it easy, I got this." The last basket sealed the game (and the Championship, really), a reverse layup put back on a Brian Shaw miss. After the game Shaq sought out Bryant on the floor and gave him a hug and a thank you. And rightfully so.

+ San Antonio, Part II. Game four of the 2002 Western Conference Semi-finals. After drilling two straight threes to tie the game, Kobe comes up with an unbelievable rebound and then in one smooth motion, comes down, springs back up and sinks a soft floater over Tim Duncan and David Robinson in what turned out to be the game winner.

And this type of play, my friends, is why despite all those late game shooting percentage stats (which show other players to be more "clutch"), Kobe is the most clutch player in the game. Because there is no stat that is going to show you that this was a broken play, that everyone, well almost everyone, was frazzled. Or that he managed to score in the paint between two hall of fame seven footers, one of them the league MVP that season. There's no extra statistical weight given to the fact that this was the playoffs, on the road and that this shot gave the Lakers a 3-1 series lead and all but put it away. And there's no stat to measure how un-surprised people were by the play, given the player. This was truly an illustration of Kobe's will and resourcefulness under pressure. And this is a play that I don't think any other "clutch" player would make.

Except for one.

Public Enemy Number One

2008-03-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen it yet, here's a look at Dodger Minor Leaguer Clayton Kerhsaw's curve ball (it's DodgerThoughts property). It's not often that something like a curve ball is "you tube" enough to hang in the most viewed list. But, man ... Just watch the video.

That thing looked too high, was almost too low, and touched every inch of that strike zone. Talk about an out pitch.

Great call by Vin.

Bill Simmons Is Terrifying Laker Fans

2008-03-05T11:41:00.000-08:00

From Simmons' mail bag today:

If I'm a Lakers fan, I'm terrified by three things right now:
1. Bynum's knee injury happened on January 13th and the Lakers claimed he would return within two months. Um, it's March 5th. Where is he? Here's the last public quote we've heard from him, courtesy of an L.A. Times story on February 29th: "If I'm able to run in the pool with no pain, then we'll start building my leg up more and more. I'm making progress and I'm excited to actually run in the pool, but I'm still not back." Does that sounds encouraging? I say no.

First of all, the next two of the three things that I should be terrified by right now (not shown) are consequences of this first thing: Bynum not coming back. So no, there's really just one thing we're worried about here, not three.

(For those keeping score, that's two sentences by me that render 2/3 of his argument redundant).

Second, the very same L.A. Times story that he links to shows that no, the Lakers did NOT claim that Bynum would return within two months. It says that the team had an initial timetable of "at least eight weeks." And the quotation marks are from the article, not me. It's subtle, but by changing the words from "at least" to "within," Simmons tries to paint things as much worse than the Lakers expected in an attempt to ultimately discredit the Laker PR stance with regard to the severity of the Bynum injury. But that's ridiculous. The Lakers knew this was a pretty severe injury and their initial timetable conservatively left the door open for the 2-3 week addendum that has come to pass. And even if they didn't. Who cares? What? Initial timetables can't be wrong? Or adjusted? Or blown out of the water completely for the sake of the player's health?

Then he goes on to date Bynum's last public comments, the one about possibly running in the pool, as stated on February 29th. Again, if you turn to the article he linked to, you might notice that Bynum was unavailable for comment at press time and the quote about running in the pool was actually from the week before. In fact, if you look at the L.A. Times Laker Report from February 19th, you'll find the initial run of that quote a full 10 days earlier than when Simmons dated it. Hmm, running in the pool 3 weeks before the best case scenario return date? Does that sounds encouraging? Why, yes. Yes, it does.

But, what really bothered me was his "Um, it's March 5th" line. The whole, "Um, <insert snarky statement of fact here>" schtick is getting really old. Especially when it's misused. It's supposed to have the effect of showing how ridiculous some opinion or prediction turned out to be. Like I could see him making this comment if it was like April 5th or something and Bynum is no where to be seen. But no, it hasn't even been the full 8 weeks yet (March 9th will be 8 on the nose) and Bynum's about to start running on treadmills. So, are we like way out of the ball park here? Am I supposed to be worried because the Lakers are proving to be reasonably accurate and consistent with their injury projections? Um, no.

But in the end, the essence of Simmons' point is correct. We DO need Bynum if we are really going to make some noise this year. Am I concerned that he won't make it back this year? Definitely. And I, like all other Laker fans, shuddered when Andrew said there was still swelling in his knee during his interview that aired during the Dallas game on Sunday. But you know, if he doesn't make it back this year then that's tough luck for us. Still, unlike most of the other contenders, the Lakers' window for a title is just beginning and should extend into the next decade. So, am I terrified? No. Why should I be?

So then why make such a big deal about this? I agree, I am being very nit picky here. But let me just say that this was really easy to write seeing as how I have been reading L.A. Times Laker Reports every day this season. I bet you every Laker fan that does read the Laker Reports was able to read Simmons spiel and call bull shit within 30 seconds. And I just really can't stand it when people make shitty arguments.

But to be entirely honest, it was the "Um, it's March 5th" line. I read that and I really wanted to punch him in the face.

Kobe's Finger

2008-02-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

Ouch.

Part of me wishes he would just get the surgery, damn the estimated 6 weeks recovery time, come back in 2 weeks instead and that'll be that.

While an exercise in denial would be to believe that the finger actually isn't that bad and that Kobe is playing up the dramatics to help his MVP case.

No matter how you look at it, Laker Fans, you have to be asking yourself, why can't these guys stay healthy?

But who knows. If Kobe goes down, maybe Kupchak can trade Coby Karl for Tracy McGrady.

UPDATE: Looks like he's playing in the All-Star Game.

Kobe Da Vinci

2008-02-06T16:41:00.000-08:00

If you check out Kobe's site right now, they have some stuff about his new Nike ad campaign in which he dresses up like Leonardo Da Vinci. Or as Kobe pronounces it, Lehyo-nartho Da Beenchi. Hey, did you know that Kobe spoke Italian?

Anyway, it looks odd to say the least. When I first saw these pictures, I thought that's pretty lame. I was like, leave it to Kobe to compare himself to Da Vinci, that arrogant ass. And I immediately thought back to that extremely gay Adidas commercial that had Kobe jotting his musings in a quiet courtyard. But then I watched the commercial and it's actually really funny. Check it out.

Oh and here's the new shoe, the Zoom Kobe III:

Some Thoughts

2008-02-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

+ That Pau and Kobe pick and roll is devastating. The key is that Pau has the foot work and B-ball IQ to catch the ball 10-15 feet out, read the defense and either slash to the rim or pop the soft jumper. He showed both in two late fourth quarter possessions. It's that two dimensional attack that makes him extremely tough to guard, especially considering how much of a "bang-bang" circumstance defending the pick and roll already is.

Bynum is more the catch-me-with-a-lob-to-the-rim type of pick and roll partner. Brian Cook was more of a pick and pop guy. Lamar prefers to create of the dribble. In fact, I do not think Kobe has had as good of a pick and roll partner since the Mailman himself.

I have a feeling that is the new bread and butter play. At least until Andy Bynum comes back.

+ Vladimir Radmanovich is starting to make the case that he is a very good cog in the triangle. Say what you will about his defense, but his passing has been superb in the last few games. Couple that with his shooting (and his ability to put it on the floor if they are charging his shot) and I'd say that unless Luke really starts to step it up, he's gonna be hard pressed for minutes when Ariza comes back.

+ Did you think that the Lakers should have put the Nets away earlier last night? So did Pau.

And if you were watching the KCal 9 broadcast as astutely as my friends and I, you might know what I'm talking about. It was that one play where Josh Boone mishandled a rebound and as he and another Net tried to coral it under the Laker basket, Pau swooped in with one long arm, yanked the ball away and in one motion put it in the hoop. Nice play. Well, there was a tv timeout right after that play and the KCal 9 Broadcast had a close up shot of Pau walking back to the bench and as he was passing the scorer's table, you could see him mouthing something to the effect of "This is bullshit. These motherfuckers are whack. Let's go!"

It was his first game and he's already showing strong competitive fire as well as passionately asserting, to his team and to the rest of the league, that this team has entered a new class with him on the roster. That was my favorite part of last night's game.

+ I have been reading about the Shaq to Phoenix trade. My first reaction was that this is just wrong on every level for Phoenix. But I realized that I have not actually watched Shaq play all that much first hand this year. I've seen his numbers, heard some stories and that's about it. Could he really be as bad as it seems?

But the more I thought about it, the more it started to make a little sense. Yes, Shaq won't be running the break with Nash but Amare (at the 4) still will be. Who says you need all five guys running to be a fast break team? And if he can shore up their defense/rebounding/toughness quotient, then it's a plus, right?

But more than all that, I think Shaq will just help improve the mood in Phoenix. It sounds like there have been some serious chemistry issues regarding Shawn Marion. He pouts at the lack of attention and praise that he gets. He demanded a trade before the season. I mean, maybe the rest of the Suns plain don't like him. Wouldn't you have more fun playing with a jovial giant like Shaq than with a brooding douche bag? I don't know considering that the douche bag is a better fit in every way shape and form for your team. But it just seems to me that Phoenix is at their best when they're loose and care free. And maybe Shaq can help them get that back.

+ And oh yeah, I fully realize that this trade shows just how scared shitless they are at the thought of playing the Lakers in the playoffs. And Shaq or no Shaq, they should be scared.

Pau Gasol is a Laker

2008-02-01T12:51:00.000-08:00

My new favorite Spaniard. Sorry, Paz.

!!!

I am in shock. I need to learn more about Pau Gasol. I need to digest this. I need to pick myself off the floor.

But my first reactions are. I am sad that I will not get to watch Javaris Crittenton take the reins from Kobe one day in about 6 or 7 years. This kid is special. And he will be an All-Star one day. And we are giving up quite a bit of future for Pau.

But hey, wasn't that the point? Kobe's prime is right now. Not only that, thought Lamar was a weak second option but a great third one? Well, how about fourth option? And why don't we take a look at our lineup come playoff time:

PG Fish/Farmar
SG Kobe/Sasha
SF Lamar/Luke/Ariza/Vlad
PF Pau/Turiaf
C Bynum/Mihm

Find me a better 1-12 in the NBA.

Better brush up on your vosotros tense, Laker fans.

UPDATE from Tom Ziller over at the AOL Fanhouse:

How do the folks in Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, SLC, Denver, Houston and Oakland feel right about now? This is a potential champion, folks. The Lakers were between good and very good before -- hell, they knocked on the one-seed's door briefly before Bynum and Trevor Ariza went down. And they just replaced a below-average center with one of the best bigs in the game in his prime.

Yessir.

We Say So Long, Never Goodbye

2008-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

This is not my girlfriend's foot.

How many of you have had this conversation with your friends:

you: You know what we should do? Drive across the country!

them: Yeah, that shit would be tight.

you: We can hit every big city along the way, take turns driving, see the country.

them: Yeah, that shit would be tight.

you: We can pick up some hitch hiker chick and have hot-

them: Dude, you been watching too much porn. You don't know where that dirty skank has been.

you: Yeah, that shit would be tight.

But of course, you never end up doing it. You forget you have to work. Or go to school. Or you're just too lazy.

Well imagine being the Lakers. A fifteen day, nine game road trip. Or another way to look at it, the cross country vacation with your friends. Of course there's some work to do. Unless you don't consider playing basketball work. Or unless you're Coby Karl.

I mean, everyone's talking about the doom and gloom of this looming trip. But if I was one of them, I'd be totally amped about going. I guess I don't know the realities of being a player on an NBA road trip. The hostile arenas. The bad weather (in this case). But at least they get to travel in luxury charters. And instead of careful, per-day budgeting, they're fucking millionaires. Travelling with other fucking millionaires. With per diem.

And tonight, they're in the lovely city of Detroit. Those lucky bastards.

Anyway, my prediction: 6 - 3, with wins at TOR, WAS, NJ, ATL, MIA, MIN and losses at DET, ORL, and CHA.

The Big on a 10 Day Contract

2008-01-22T12:29:00.000-08:00

Mbenga stretch.

I remember the way Smush Parker played when he was on the Lakers and if I only had one word to describe him, it would have been "desperate." Desperate to score. Desperate to be noticed. Desperate for a contract.

And probably the most important lesson that we learned from the Smush Parker era was that "desperate" and the point guard position don't mix.

Last night we got our first dose of DJ Mbenga, the Lakers' frontcourt back up plan. He was released by the Warriors earlier this season and the Lakers signed him to a 10 day contract in the wake of the Andrew Bynum injury.

Ahh, the 10 day contract, desperate times indeed. But after watching Mbenga play like he might only have 9 days left in the NBA, I started realizing that this might just work out. Because while you want your point guard to play with a cool, level head, there's nothing wrong with your big man playing as if his career depended on it.

Mbenga survey floor.

It's basically a matter of how the different positions contribute and the nature of big and small in basketball. But in this case, where Smush's attitude may have caused him to shoot an ill advised three or gamble to make a steal, Mbenga's will push him a little closer to a loose ball and a little faster down court. And if you saw him save the Laker fans' tacos last night, you'd have to agree.

UPDATE: I was checking out Flea's Laker Blog today and he had a post up about DJ (Didier) Mbenga. Apparently, DJ had a horrible experience as a youngster in Congo as he was mistakenly entangled in the Civil War taking place in neighboring Rwanda:

didier mbenga, was mistaken for a criminal in this affair and put in
jail and treated horribly for nine months and was supposed to face
execution he escaped and managed to get out of the country and get to
belgium
where he started playing basketball, around 1999
this led him to the nba, and now he is a laker, with a ten day contract
so i am sitting there watching the game the other night
and thinking...man, this guy was in jail facing execution and now is
on the court in staples center where the most important thing for him
to do is to block some shots and get some rebounds
...
he has faced death and been in the midst of a genocide
a genocide is when a million people of one ethnic group are murdered
for the sake of their ethnicity
and now he is throwing outlet passes to kobe bryant in front of jack
nicholson
god bless him
wow
trip out

Hmm, maybe that 10 day contract is not such a desperate situation after all. For more details check out his wiki page.

Phil Wants More Depth

2008-01-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

Webber's name was being thrown around in connection with the Lakers even before Bynum went down which made little sense to me. If it ain't broke why try to fix it? Why try to fix anything with a washed up power forward who can't rebound and defend?

Needless to say, I didn't want Webber when Bynum was healthy, but... now that he's out--aw fuck it, I still don't want his ass. For whatever reason, people tend to forget that the Laker offense is very good with or without Bynum. The last three seasons, the Lakers have been about 7th in the league in offense rating (Basketball-Reference.com). This year's success is based mostly on their improved defense (24th last year to 6th so far this season). Basically, the Lakers have enough offense. Defense is the key and Webber will contribute but not in that department.

But you know what I realized. It's not just Bynum being out. It's also Radmanovich being out that's got us considering adding the Queeniest Sacramento Queen. Because basically, at this point, all Webber can bring is nice shooting touch and good passing and not a whole lot of defense or rebounding.

So, who does it sound like he's filling in for? Bynum or Radman?

Either way, the Lakers are getting desperate for some depth. Call it a hunch. But if you read between the lines, the message is clear. As Phil said in today's paper, "We need some depth."

What?

2008-01-15T11:50:00.003-08:00

"We're a championship-caliber team when he's in the lineup."

- Kobe Bryant on Andrew Bynum

Ok. Here it comes.

I had been cautious to not make such a bold statement myself this year. Even though I said as much about last year's team. Even though I know this team is head and shoulders better.

But Kobe's admission last night to John Ireland after the OT squeaker against one of the leagues worst teams, is huge. It tells us that he is one step closer to rescinding that trade demand. That Andrew Bynum is now a Laker4Life. And that after two and a half months of conservative assessment of the team's potential, Kobe is convinced.

And why the hell wouldn't he be?

The future looks bright ladies and gentlemen. As bright as the days when we used to imagine an aging Shaq rebounding, defending, and deferring to a peaking Kobe on their way to more and more Laker titles. Only brighter. Because for all the inherent problems that would have plagued those theoretical ShaKobe Lakers, these Lakers have solutions.

Shaq hating on Kobe? Bynum doesn't seem to mind him.
Kobe hating on Shaq? After all he's been through, he just wants to win.
Too old? The average age of the Lakers is 25.9, 8th in the league.
No third scorer? Lamar Odom.
Not athletic enough? Trevor Ariza.
Not quick enough at the one? Jordan Farmar.
Not enough urgency in the regular season? Ronny Turiaf.
No three point shooters? Radmanovich and Sasha.
No young talent? Javaris Crittenton.
No depth? See all of the above.

Amazing, isn't it?

Agent: Bynum Out for 8 weeks

2008-01-14T13:04:00.000-08:00

Via espn.com:

Andrew Bynum, a key factor in the Los Angeles Lakers' 25-11 start to the season, will miss eight weeks with what his agent says is a subluxation of his left kneecap.

David Lee told ESPN The Magazine's Sam Alipour that Bynum will not need surgery. Bynum, who had an MRI on Monday, will begin rehabiliation immediately, Lee said.

And this only 6 hours after I had a conversation about whether or not I would do the Garnett for Odom and Bynum trade if it was offered today. My response had the words "fuck" and "no" in it.

The Boy is Becoming a Man

2008-01-12T14:04:00.001-08:00

That should be a real stat. Total Rebounds. Offensive Rebounds. Fuckin Rebounds.

The Boston Hangover

2008-01-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all.

That Boston loss, much like the party at my place last weekend, seems a lot like a drunken black out. I vaguely remember certain parts of it and the parts that I do remember seem dream-like and surreal. Like, wait did that really happen? And the answer to that question is found in the gory box score and assorted accounts from my friends and girlfriend. Either way, here are some moments of clarity:

+ Those shorts. I mean, every time some NBA team breaks out the throwbacks, the broadcasters will remark about how crazy it would be if they went all the way and wore the booty shorts to boot. Ok, maybe only Stu Lantz does that. But admit it, the morbidly curious cat that lives inside all of us wanted to see it too.

But I guess we should have known that it wouldn't have turned out well. Or are you the only person in the world who never wore the funny t-shirt to the bar? Yeah, it's hilarious for about 5 minutes, but then after that, you just feel stupid. By the end of the night, you're wishing you had just went with your standard issue, American Eagle graphpaper button down. (Oh, the safe, comfortable graphpaper button down, the staple of the non-metrosexual man's closet.)
You could almost sense the moment in the first quarter when the Lakers realized that it was a bad idea. They were self conscious and distracted. And even worse, it seemed to cause the Celtics to focus even more. Because from all accounts, it sounds like on-court KG is as intense as ever with Boston this year. And what better way for him to further this reputation by remaining stone-cold during all the short-short silliness. Against the streaking Lakers. At Staples. And the rest of the guys seem to follow suit.

+ Surveying the paper plate mess the morning after the party:
Me: Whoa, who made frozen taquitos last night?
Girlfriend: You did.
Me: Oh.

+ Lamar tackling Ray Allen was weird. Yeah, the big three of the Celtics were in the game during the 4th in a blow out. But to me, that was more in homage to the Laker's offense and the (suddenly) streaky nature of Kobe's shooting. That or Doc Rivers' ineptitude. Lamar just makes some bad decisions sometimes, plain and simple.

+ An excerpt from a phone conversation with one of my friends the next day:
Me: Man what time did you guys leave last night? Was I already passed out?
Friend: Naw, you were awake. You said bye and everything.
Me: ... right.

+ Man, 6-25 from Kobe? Why does his shot look so flat this year? Is it the groin? I'm not sure what it is. But where is his trademark shooting flow? Like, the last few years, it seemed like he'd get hot at least once a game and end up shooting nightly heat checks. This year, I only remember him doing this a handful of times.

+ During an ill-advised screening of Godfather II, disc 2 at roughly 1 am, right where young Don Vito takes revenge on Don Ciccio:

(Keep in mind, this was a pretty important/climactic part of the movie and a few people who never seen it before, and many more who have, were intently watching.)

Me: See this is where Michael gets his revenge gene from. Right here. This scene. Cause he coulda let it go. But yeah, naw he came all the way back to Sicily just to put a knife in this guys' belly. And that's what Michael does: Not letting shit go. Fucker's straight evil man. Serious... Dude! I read on Wikipedia about the Godfather book. TOTALLY DIFFERENT! Well not really. It's more or less the same. Just more info on the side characters. But yeah, naw like the doctor that fixes Michael's face after the Police Captain broke his jaw. Yeah he's in the book a lot more. Oh and Fredo was gay. Hahaha, fucking Fredo... Yeah, naw but seriously, Vito is goddamn pimp. Man, ho man this movie is the shit! Hahahah. (Sigh) Pinche Don Ciccio.

And I was pretty much doing that the whole way through.

+ Overall, the Boston loss isn't as troubling as I initially thought. They've only lost 3 times this season, for shit's sake. To me, getting swept by them isn't as bad as getting swept by Charlotte and Milwaukee last year. Now that the season series is over, they can just be a Final Boss of sorts looming in the back of our minds. I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it. And here's to finding that bridge in the first place.

+ In full fledged what-the-hell-happened-last-night mode:
Me: Did I go on a Laker rant last night?
Girlfriend: Not really. You did a little. But mostly you talked about how glad you are for the Trevor Ariza trade.
Me: That's cause he's fucking sweet!

Can't Get Over the Hump

2007-12-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

The Lakers lost yet another hump game last night. They win last night, there's a sense of arrival, a galvanizing of their momentum. It's like when you're at a black jack table. You've won a few hands in a row so your bet is pretty big. The dealer shows a 6 and you've got 2 jacks. Then the dealer flips and he has a five under there and what does he pull? A facecard. A King to be exact.

You win that hand, you're pocketing some chips. Or maybe you're off for some prime rib followed by the titty bar. Sky's the limit. But if you lose, you're back to where you started. Not necessarily down. You basically still have your buy in. But now you also have that demoralizing feeling that you're running in place.

I think Luke said it best:

"That was one we've got to have. That's what all the top teams in the West do, win when they're supposed to. Until we start winning them, we're going to be a step behind Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio."

Losses like these are tough. Not too sure how many of these we can take. But at least the Lakers get a chance to put the loss further into the past tonight.

Oh and by the way, I blame last night's game squarely on Joel Mutherfucking Meyers. True to form, he came through with two grade A jinxes last night:

1) With the Lakers up 11 after a Kobe layup, Joel says something to the effect of:

"Wow, what a third quarter by the Lakers!"

Only to be reminded by Stu that,

"Well, the quarter ain't over yet, let's see how they close it out."

What happened next? A 16-0 Cavaliers' run at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth.

2) The whole game Joel was making giddy remarks about Derek Fisher's physical advantage over Daniel Gibson. How he can just over power him to going to the rim and get any spot on the floor, etc. And what happened at the very end of the game? A loose ball foul on Fisher grabbing a rebound over Daniel Gibson. Was it a bull shit call? Yes. Then why did they call it? Because Fisher's 'physical advantage' over Gibson made an incidental contact seem much more brutal than it actually was.

Thanks Joel, you rat-bastard.

Lo Duca Slanged

2007-12-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

I didn't read the entire Mitchel Report. Instead, I did searches of particularly interesting names, one of them being ex-heart-and-soul-of-the-Dodgers Paul Lo Duca. And, jesus...

(Kirk Radomski was a big HGH source for MLB players)

Todd Hundley referred Lo Duca to Radomski when Lo Duca played for the Dodgers. Radomski estimated that he engaged in six or more transactions with Lo Duca. In some transactions, Radomski sent the performance enhancing substances by overnight mail to Lo Duca’s home or to the Dodgers clubhouse and Lo Duca sent Radomski a check a week or so later.

***
According to Radomski, Lo Duca referred [Adam] Riggs to him. Radomski subsequently engaged in six to ten transactions with Riggs from 2003 to 2005.

***
Radomski said that Paul Lo Duca referred [Kevin] Brown to him in 2000 or 2001 when Brown and Lo Duca were teammates with the Dodgers.

***
Paul Lo Duca and [Eric] Gagné were teammates with the Dodgers from 1999 to 2004. Although he is not sure when, Radomski recalled that Lo Duca called Radomski and told Radomski that Gagné was with him and wanted to buy human growth hormone. Gagné then came onto the phone and asked Radomski a question about how to get air out of a syringe. This is the only time Radomski spoke to Gagné. Radomski said that Lo Duca thereafter placed orders on Gagné’s behalf.

***
[Matt] Herges was a teammate of catcher Paul Lo Duca with the Dodgers from 1999 to 2001. According to Radomski, Herges called Radomski and said that Lo Duca had given himRadomski’s telephone number.

When he was with the Dodgers, I always saw Lo Duca as an upstanding, blue collar player. Turns out he was the motherfucking HGH ringleader. And yeah, I understand that the implications of taking HGH are different from straight steroid use; many HGH users including the ones mentioned above, are seeking quick recovery from injuries, not homerun power and smaller testes. Maybe he was just being a good teammate trying to help his comrades get healthy. Perhaps. But then there's this.

From 1999 to 2000, Todd Seyler served as a minor league strength and conditioning coach for the Albuquerque Dukes, which was then the class AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Around May 1999, Seyler began talking with five of the Dukes players about using performance enhancing substances. The players were Matt Herges, Paul Lo Duca, Jeff Williams, Mike Judd, and Ricky Stone ...

Seyler said that all five players expected to be called up to the Dodgers later in the season, and they all wanted to be in “peak physical condition” when that happened ...

The five players and Seyler all injected themselves with the steroids at the apartment. Seyler witnessed Herges and Williams inject themselves in the buttocks with syringes containing Deca-Durabolin. Seyler also observed Lo Duca and Judd inject themselves with either Deca-Durabolin or Winstrol, although Seyler could not remember where they injected themselves or which of the two substances they used.

So much for the feel good story of Paul Lo Duca's rise through the Dodger organization and into the hearts of the fans. And I mention all this now because, at the time trading Paul Lo Duca was devastating for us. Yes, we got Brad Penny in return. Yes, we now have Russell Martin behind the plate, Lo Duca's superior in almost all respects. Sure, Lo Duca's production took a dive toward the end of every season. But it didn't matter. The fans identified with Lo Duca's competitive attitude and hardnosed play. And losing him was something for which most of us never forgave then GM Paul DePodesta. Well, maybe it looks like DePodesta knew what he was doing.

But you want to know what the most fucked up thing about it is? If you look at this internal memo from the Dodgers that was found in the report, it doesn't look like Lo Duca was traded because he was on roids. It looks like he was traded because he stopped:

Steroids aren’t being used anymore on him. Big part of this. Might have some value to trade . . . Florida might have interest. . . . Got off the steroids . . . Took away a lot of hard line drives. . . . Can get comparable value back would consider trading. . . . If you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year. That’s his makeup. Comes to play.

Asides

2007-12-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

/*
Druw.

No more legging out doubles on loopy line drive singles against the Dodgers. No, sirree. There's an arm out there in center field now. Two of them, actually. And the other one has a gold glove on it.

So with one problem solved, a new one arises. The Dodgers have four starting outfielders and since they are not playing in a family softball game, one of them will have to sit on the bench.

The mainstream media is reporting that the acquisition of Jones signals a move to left field for Juan Pierre and the possibility of trading Andre Ethier or Matt Kemp for some starting pitching. To me, I guess that makes sense, but it depends on what pitcher we're looking at. Erik Bedard? Not worth it. Danny Haren? Not available. Johan Santana? Hmm. That one would work for me.

Otherwise, if they can't land a legitimate ace by including one of the surplus outfielders, I hope the Dodger Brass has the balls to play the most deserving three, namely Ethier in left, Jones in center, and Kemp in right. Man, that's what I'm talking about. However, trotting out this triple cheeseburger of an outfield would require them to admit they made a huge mistake with the Juan Pierre signing. But admitting the mistake for the sake of one of the GM's better acquisitions(Ethier) and a potential 30/30 guy (Kemp) -- part of the Dodger's bright future -- should help it go down easier. Nothing is worse than compounding a mistake with another one.

From Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus (via DodgerThoughts):
The Dodgers have an opportunity to show just how well they understand sunk costs by relegating Pierre to a fourth outfielder's role, to which he'd be reasonably suited. It would also give us a chance to test the whole "character" framework, to see if the fourth-best outfielder on the roster is able to accept that he, in fact, is that, and sublimate his desire to play more for the good of the team. That's leadership, right?
Glad we got Joe Torre yet?
*/

/*
Lakers at the Nuggs

Just a few notes from last night's game:

+ Iverson was amazing last night, no doubt. I haven't seen a display like that in a long time. For a while, I thought that he was going to top Kobe's night against Memphis from a while back (56 points in 3 qtrs, 20-29 fgs). Then they put Kobe/Ariza on him and that was just about that.

One thing that bothered me about Iverson last night was his flopping. My lord. All that dude had to do to get a whistle was get close to a Laker and swing his head backward and flail his arms. I was getting so pissed watching all the replays. He was literally untouched on many of those fouls. It reminded me of Reggie Miller toward the end of his career.

+ Trevor Ariza can seriously hit the boards.

+ I am starting to get REALLY sick of Joel Meyers. I swear if I hear him describe the "rub" or talk about someone's "length" or say someone got in someone's "grill" one more time, I'm going to ... shit, do nothing. Bitch about it on my blog, perhaps.

I say it's about time for Spero to take over.

+ It's been stated before and backed up with stats that Kobe Bryant is Not the Most Clutch Player. Usually this kind of analysis involves taking some small sample set of clutch shots, such as attempts within the last 30 seconds with the chance to tie or take the lead (in the link, free throws to tie with less than 10 seconds), and then pointing out that someone, or a few people, perform better than Kobe. But then why, if you ask the players and coaches, would Kobe be the consensus Most Clutch? Last night is a good example. Take a look at that Kobe did to the Nuggets down the stretch:

Game tied 104-104, 1:42 to play: Kobe takes three Nuggets to the rack from the left wing. And 0ne (he missed).

Lakers 104-102, 1:12 to play: Kobe beats J.R. Smith off the dribble, hits running lay-up in the lane

Lakers 106-104, :35 seconds to play: Kobe hits 20 footer

Lakers 108-104, 35 seconds to play: Denver Timeout

The point is, you don't always have to strike out the last batter with the bases loaded to be considered a good closer.
*/

/*
Happy to birthday to BandwagonLA. Thanks for reading.
*/

Game Notes - MilBoJerSeaDenUtAndo

2007-12-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

That's just about the exact same expression I would make in his position.

I apologize for the lag.

Part of it was an ear infection that I had the last week or so. Part of it is that I am usually too pissed off to write game notes after the Lakers play particularly shitty. This is not necessarily after they lose, mind you.

But my how the climate has changed in seven games. I last wrote after the Indiana game. They had just beat the Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse, a place where the Lakers usually lose, and did it with 8 guys posting double figures. They were the surprise team of the NBA earning an impressive 7-3 record against a strong schedule that included wins against Phoenix, Utah, Detroit, and Houston.

Now, after losing 5 of their last seven, the Lakers are back to where many pundits have predicted they will finish: hovering above .500 . And it's not so much the numerical record that is so, so sobering. It's the inconsistency. It's the turnovers. It's the mental lapses. And as is usually the king symptom of all young teams, the frustration of the few veterans.

I guess it turns out that Kobe's reserved attitude after the sparkling early going was prudent. We can only hope now that he is just as patient during the rough patches.

Anyway, here's what I remember off the top of my head from the last seven games.

@ Milwaukee
Michael Redd is good.

@ Boston
The Celtics are who we thought they were. And we let 'em off the hook. Actually, they put the hook through our collective scrotum, but whatever.

New Jersey
My cell phone did not survive this game viewing.

Seattle
Against a not-the-worst team, we lose this game too.

Denver
The lone bright spot in the bunch. The Lakers weathered the early storm and figured out how to make the Nuggets pay for their passing lane gambles. They returned to the form of the 7-3 team.

Melo is a beast. Here's what Phil said about Lamar's D against Melo: "Lamar was a punk against him, actually." Ouch.

@ Utah
Deron Williams is good.

Orlando
Sometimes the Lakers simply do not finish. Yet one more growing pain to endure.

Kobe showed some flashes in this game. The consecutive three pointers he dropped in the second quarter. The one handed lob he threw down from around the top of the box. Showing his unmatched body control -- breaking out his dribble-spin-stepback fadeway and slithering around tailor made charging calls. But then came the second half and the indecisive, pump faking, flat shot Kobe returned and the Lakers fell apart.

The key play for Orlando last night? Keyon Dooling and that charge that he took on Jordan Farmar. The Lakers were up by two, Farmar rebounds a long three point miss by Rashard Lewis and comes screaming down the court full speed. After a nifty, crowd pleasing behind the back move to lose the first transition defender, Farmer found himself 2 on 1 against Keyon Dooling with Lamar filling the right lane. You could almost see it coming. Farmar dishes just as Dooling is position himself in Jordan's path. Charge. Dunk negated. Of course, Dooling then went on to hit a 17 footer on the next possession to tie and that was basically it for the Lakers.

(Jordan complained after the call, naturally. But it looked clean, a good call. And besides, if Jordan relied on his fundamentals and executed a jump stop at the free throw line...)

Game Notes - Indiana

2007-11-21T12:07:00.001-08:00

+ The first game I have ever watched on KCal 9 HD. It was a grand experience. If only Chick were still around...

+ Kobe looked more aggressive early in this game than any game I've seen so far this season. The ball seemed to stop moving when it got to him in the first quarter. He was individually efficient though. And as the EIGHT PLAYERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES stat will attest, it didn't affect the rest of the team too adversely.

+ When Bynum gets that baby hook dropping, he is seriously effective. It's funny though because sometimes it's just off. Not by much, mind you. He has nice tough in general so it's not like he's clanging it off the back board. But some nights it just seems like every shot he takes saunters on the rim for a second and refuses to fall through. Tonight was not one of those nights and hopefully with more touches, he can find more consistency.

+ That move that Farmar put on Tinsley, Granger, and JO was nasty. He caught the ball at the right block on a jump pass from Kobe. He went middle and threw the up fake. Tinsley bit hook, line, and sinker. Then Farmar continued to the under portion of the up-and-under as Jermaine O'neal slid across from the weak side and Granger left Kobe on the wing to try and block the shot from behind. Then at the last moment, Jordan whipped the ball right past JO's head to a wide open Bynum for the easy dunk. Just another pretty play by a dude who is starting to make some noise.

+ Speaking of pretty plays, that dunk that Vlad Rad tried to throw down a couple of plays after Farmar's, was pretty fucking bad. He basically just threw the ball at the rim. Seriously, that's what it looks like when I try to dunk.

+ Did I mention 8 players in double figures? That's like, at least 80 points.

+ Luke might be finding his bearings on the second unit. His last two games:
10 pts (3-4), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 TO
11 pts (4-7), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 TO

+ The players seem pretty bummed about losing Cook. I bet you he's the life of the party off the court. He probably smokes a shit load of weed too. But apparently Mo Evans and Bynum were really close friends and Luke Walton and Cook were the Laker's answer to Scrubs' Turk and JD.

It's guy love, between two guys...

+ Remember, we lost twice to Milwaukee last year and in one of them Michael Redd lit Kobe up bad. I hope Kobe remembers that.

Cook, Evans to Orlando for Ariza

2007-11-20T16:11:00.000-08:00

Just found out that the Lakers traded Brian Cook and Maurice Evans to the Orlando Magic for Trevor Ariza.

I really have no idea what type of player Ariza is. But Tom Ziller from the Fanhouse seems to think that the Lakers got the best of the swap:

Ariza's a quality young fellow. He played well over the course of last season and is a vicious rebounder for his position. He can't shoot, so he doesn't; this is an underrated asset in a young (he's 22) player. And he's quite cheap -- cheaper than the older and less-good Cook -- at about $5.6 million over the next two years (with 2008-09 being a player option). Cook, on the other hand, makes $10 million over the next three years. (Evans' $1.5 million contract comes off the books this summer.)

So, Dennis Rodman-ish, then? Either way, the Lakers cut some salary.

But I am a little bummed about losing Maurice Evans. I liked his athleticism and effort, especially on the defensive end. He showed some flashes of some pretty decent scoring ability as well. He will definitely be missed.

L8RZ!

As for losing Cook, I think this is good for both parties, the Lakers and Cookie himself. Cook always just seemed like the guy without a role on the Lakers. For everything Brian Cook brought to the table (and trust me, it wasn't much), someone brought it better. Poor Brian was ever the understudy in this play that we call the LakeShow. The Soft Shooting Bigman will be played by Vlad Radmanovich. The Hustling Rebounding Bigman will be played by Ronny Turiaf. The Versatile Tweener Bigman will be played by Lamar Odom. The Socks in the Shower Wearing Road Trip Hotel Room Masturbating Bigman will be played by Andew Bynum. Etc. Etc. To summarize, if Phil ever felt the need to send an expendable body to go goon it up in garbage time, it would have been Cook. At least now, he gets a fresh start where his shooting will be viewed as a premium and his defensive/rebounding/hustling shortcomings are masked by the force that is Dwight Howard.

Goodbye and good luck to the both of them.

Come with me, Kobe.
I can't.
But, what will I do without you?
I...I don't know. But let's not think about that now. Let's just...

Game Notes - Houston

2007-11-15T12:05:00.001-08:00

+ Ugly win all around. T-Mac got hurt. Lakers blow an 18 point lead anyway. Mo Evans tried to dunk on Mutmbo, but ends up getting blocked by the rim; Mutumbo does the finger wag anyway. Houston misses 8 fourth quarter free throws. Yao missed one on purpose (in the most perfect way that you can do this, a beam right off the front of the rim back to the shooter) and passes it out to Rafer Alston for the tying three (he missed -- I'm not complaining). All because of a stupid touch foul on Farmar with less than 2 seconds with Yao scoring what should have been a concession basket.

+ Having Houston's coach from last year, Jeff Van Gundy, as the broadcast's color commentator was pretty awesome. He provided many insightful nuggets about the Rockets. Just good timing for us at home. For example, he could not believe how closely the Lakers (mostly Luke Walton) were playing Bonzi Wells on the perimeter. JVG kept saying things like, Bonzi is a slasher, his first instinct is to get to the rim. Why would you body him so close! You're just daring him to take you to the basket. Make him shoot a jumper! And as you're watching the game, it is seems so obvious as Bonzi made countless forays to the basket around an overcommitted Laker defender. I found myself wondering what the hell Luke was thinking and why the hell none of the Laker coaches were doing anything about this.

+ Kwame did a hell of a job on Yao last night. Every shot he took was contested when Kwame was guarding him. He even blocked one point blank in the middle of the lane. Yes, Yao did get the ball back and took it the basket for an and1, but still.

+ Speaking of blocking Yao, how about that Kobe Bryant? Is that his new thing this year? Streaking in at the last minute to swat the shit out some unknowing center or power forward. I haven't decided whether or not I approve of this yet. While it does make for pretty exciting theater, I feel like Kobe's gambling on defense usually hurts the team defensive effort. However, this is not his usual gamble -- jumping a passing lane trying to steal the ball, failing, and leaving the team to recover from the defensive break down. When Kobe goes for these blocks, they are mainly at the tail end of the possession. They are usually somewhat point blank shots taken by one of the bigs, thus it probably doesn't matter much that the guy Kobe is leaving to make the block attempt is open. That said, I hope Kobe doesn't become too preoccupied with trying to get these blocked shots, which could leave him in bad defensive positioning in the general case. Like I said, the jury is still out on this.

+ Bynum looked pretty lost last night at times. Bad post moves, bad fouls, etc. But to his credit he did come up with a huge rebound on a possession late in the game (under two minutes) with the Rockets down three. They took and missed three three pointers on that possession before Bynum finally came down with it. Then he nailed two free throws to pretty much seal the game.

+ We'll go out today with Phil's apology to the Gays:

"It's poor humor. I deserve to be reprimanded by the NBA. If I've offended any horses, Texans, cowboys or gays, I apologize."

Phil Offends the Gays

2007-11-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

... and some notes. But first, the gays.

+ Here's Phil on last night's game:

"We call this a 'Brokeback Mountain' game, because there's so much penetration and kickouts. It was one of those games."

I think we all agree with the penetration metaphor in Phil's assessment if not with the gay innuendo. To me, what the Spurs did to our defense last night was like the guy boring holes into the bottom of your boat. You plug one hole with your finger and they just go and make another, then another, and then another, until finally you run out of fingers and they get an open three in the corner. Now you take my vision and Phil's and combine them and you end up with a pretty accurate description of what happened last night: The Spurs bored holes in the Laker boat with their gay penises.

+ What was up with Duncan last night? 5 Pts, 5 Reb on 2-13 shooting and one free throw. Getting blocked by Kobe. Twice. Getting dunked on by Farmar. Shaq puts up a 8, 7, 4-13 and everyone's talking about he's done.

+ Speaking of Shaq, check out this comment from Bill Simmon's NBA Eastern Conference preview:

Come on, he's 36 years old. He has been in the league for 16 seasons. You were really expecting a 25-12 every night from Shaq at this point?
Of course, only one thing could ignite Shaq's career at this point: The Lakers appeasing Kobe by making a panic offer for Shaq (Andrew Bynum, Vlad Radmanovic and Kwame Brown's expiring contract), followed by Shaq and Kobe joining forces again on a suddenly intriguing Lakers team.
Now that would be a riveting sports story. In all seriousness, which team wouldn't make that trade? If you were the Lakers, why wouldn't you roll the dice with a Shaq-Kobe reunion that would become the dominant L.A. sports story over trading Kobe for 60 cents on the dollar and starting over? And wouldn't Miami jump at the chance to crawl out from under Shaq's contract when Alonzo Mourning and Mark Blount are waiting to take his place? Hmmmmmmm.

I don't read Simmons much anymore, mostly because he's been fucking insufferable ever since his Boston teams decided to take over sports. But once in a while he poses a really interesting hypothetical (HORSE at the all star game, Amare for KG straight up - before the Suns and Wolves actually talked about this deal). I mean, the Bynum for Shaq deal would never, ever happen. But could you imagine the roar at Staples when they announced Shaq's name for the first time?

Honestly, though, if I weren't so drunk on nostalgia, I would choose young Bynum over old Shaq. With Bynum and Kobe, the Lakers have the potential (albeit, a long shot) to start a new dynasty. If you mortgage the future (like the Celtics did), you need to win right now and that's that. And if you don't ...

+ How many more dunks will Farmar throw down before the bigs around the league stop trying to challenge him. I believe Smush landed a good 3 or 4 brutal dunks before people either started fouling him on the ground or getting out of the way.

+ Luke is continuing to struggle on the second unit.

+ Would anyone be against getting Bynum 10-15 looks down low in the post per game and seeing what happens? I swear they only called his number twice last night.

Asides

2007-11-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

/*
@ the Game

I was actually at the Laker game against the Hornets. It sucks that they lost but it was still a pretty surreal experience. For one, it's the first time that I have been to Staples since they went with the whole light's out thing. I must admit, it's not as dark in there as it seems on TV but the contrast truly does make the court look amazing. I felt like I was watching the game in HD. If that makes any kind of sense.

But not only that, I was sitting in section 106, row 4. So I was pretty close. Here are a few observations from a Laker fan, about as close to courtside as he probably will ever get.

+ Bynum is a freak. Seriously, if he hot glued some bed sheets to his arms, he'd fly.

+ The game is fast. I've seen a lot of basketball played at a lot of different levels. But watching these guys play up close, I was almost cringing the whole game. It seems as if they are all out of control. I felt like at any moment, someone was going to go flying into the crowd or some sort of nasty collision was going to happen. On TV, everything looks so smooth. Near the court, it looks violent.

+ I'm really starting to get tired of Brian Cook. The above bullet does not apply to him.

+ I noticed Brandy sitting behind the Hornet's bench. She was cheering all crazy for Kobe. Then I remembered. Kobe hit that on prom night.

+ Fuckin Peja. Jesus. But the weird thing is how we had no idea he had made 10 3s. Or that Chris Paul had 21 assists. Not until they flashed it on the screen. Being at the game can be disorienting.

+ Bruce Willis looks like he weighs about 140 pounds. That's with a 100 pound body and a 40 pound head. He also started his own "BRUUUUUUUUUUUCE" cheer as he walked by.

+ There was one possession in the second half where Farmar was isolated on Chris Paul at the top. Paul did about 4-5 juke moves. One after another, one setting up the other. He was relentless. I mean, he really wanted to break Farmar off on this play. But Farmar stayed in front of him and he had to pass. It was a great example of using your feet and focusing on the dribbler's trunk rather than his head and the ball. Picture perfect on-ball defense. Too bad this was probably the only time we stopped Chris Paul all night.
*/

/*
Congrats to Big Russ

Russell Martin is the National League's Gold Glove winner for catcher.

I have always felt like there's something special about watching a player make a name for himself in your favorite team's jersey. As a fan, you develop a certain sense of propriety for that player and it serves to bolster even further your sense of homerism and pride.

Eddie Jones. Vlade Divac. Adrian Beltre. Paul Lo Duca. Mike Piazza. Magic. Kobe.

And now, Russell Martin. Congratulations.

Hopefully, we won't trade you to the Marlins. After which you will end up on the Mets.
*/

/*
Imports

Some Asian pitcher news via Dodger Thoughts:

The Dodgers plan to bid for 32-year-old Japanese free agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, "a control pitcher with a fastball in the 95-mph range who projects as a middle-of-the-rotation starter," according to Tony Jackson of the Daily News:

Kuroda considered coming to America a year ago before ultimately signing a four-year, 1.2 billion yen contract (about $10 million U.S.) to remain with the Carp. But that deal included an escape clause after the first year, which Kuroda chose to exercise.
...
Kuroda is 103-89 with a 3.69 ERA in 11 seasons, all with the Carp, and he has a remarkable 74 complete games in 244 career starts. He is said to favor Seattle because pitching to countryman Kenji Johjima, the Mariners' primary catcher, would make for an easier transition. But the Dodgers also have a prominent Japanese player in closer Takashi Saito, who is said to have a close friendship with Kuroda. Saito also is an Octagon client.

Cool. The Dodgers could use another staffer and they have definitely had their luck with their Japanese imports. This guy sounds pretty interesting. But not as interesting as:

Filling the Wilson Alvarez/Jose Lima/Scott Erickson/Aaron Sele veteran shot-in-the-dark slot at Dodger Spring Training next season could be an old friend.

Other sites are linking to the Kim Tong-hyung/Korea Times news that Chan Ho Park is saying he has signed a contract with the Dodgers to give him a chance to try out for the team in Spring Training.

"The terms of the contract are similar to a rookie on the start, but the important thing is that I will be able to play for a team that I always missed," Park said.

Park debuted for the Dodgers at the age of 21 in 1994. At his best, in 2000, he had a 133 ERA+ and 217 strikeouts in 226 innings for Los Angeles. But he has been below average since 2002, and made it into only one major league game last season.

Update: According to public relations director Josh Rawitch, Park hasn't signed, but it's heading that direction. It would be for a minor league deal with an invite to camp, but it's not a done deal.

Wow. Chan Ho. Talk about memory lane. I wonder if Nomo is available.

The Chad

2007-11-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

The Chad.

By now, I am sure that you have seen Chad Ford's dazzling argument that Kobe is not worth trading for on ESPN.com. I read it, vomited, and then prepared to rip his shit to shreds. I even printed it out and took a high lighter with me into the can, a place where I do some of my best ripping of shit to shreds. But then before sitting down to write it yesterday, I thought to myself, it's late in the day, it was on ESPN.com's NBA home page all afternoon (ESPN Insider free preview -- fitting on so many levels), I bet you somebody already took Mr. Ford to task. And I was right (20 Second Timeout).

They did a great job of disputing and otherwise commenting on Chad Ford's 4 Pillars of Kobe's Unworthiness. It was definitely a more thorough rogering than what I would have come up with. I just have a few things to add.

+ Ford's first point is that Kobe has logged too many minutes in the NBA and that this large amount of "mileage" deters potential trade partners. Ford even ends this segment with "No one knows whether all that mileage -- all those minutes -- will shorten Bryant's career. But it's understandable if a team is reluctant to find out how Kobe's knees survive his next 10,000 minutes on the hardwood."

To me, Ford discounts his own point with that last bit. He's right; No one knows how all Kobe's mileage will affect his future play. No one knows because there are so many other factors that will play a part in determining a player's longevity such as genetics, physical conditioning, style of play, and just plain old luck. And his point is further weakened because, as 20 Second TO points out, the teams that are trying to get him don't care so much about the next 10,000 minutes. They care primarily about this season. They want to win NOW. And it's inexcusable that Ford overlooks this (or more likely, purposely ignores this). The whole reason why Kobe wanted to be traded in the first place is that he knows he's nearing the end of his prime and he wants to win now. Not be the cornerstone of some franchise's longterm plan. That was the whole fucking point.

+ Ford's second step in his quest for irrelevance is to point out that Kobe is probably not the "best player in the NBA." He supports his theory citing Kobe's less than best scores in terms of two notable NBA statistical rating systems, Hollinger's PER and 82Games.com's adjusted +/-. He notes that many players, including Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Shaq, TMac, KG, JKidd, and Gilbert Arenas all rate better than Kobe in one way or another with respect to the statistical analysis.

Fair enough. At least he's supporting this part of his argument with facts. But my question is, who gives shit? Are any of those players that he mentioned as being potentially "better than Kobe" on the trade market? Or, does a team get a certain added advantage from having the quoteunquote best player as opposed to say, the second or third best? What's with all this relative analysis? The fact is, Kobe is a great player and with the right pieces around him, can win a championship. Best player or not.

+ Ford's third installment in this masterpiece is his point that Kobe may not be a winner as his reputation professes. While admitting that Kobe has won three titles, it's the way that Kobe approaches the game that Ford asserts is the problem. Basically, Kobe's poor team play and lack of leadership qualities prevents him from truly being a winner. He writes, "Certainly Bryant wants to win. But he wants to win his way, according to many who have followed his career. And when you break it down, that translates to this attitude: I would rather lose my way than win your way."

For one, that is just false. Kobe has proved that he can subjugate his game for the greater good. And the Lakers won three titles. Just because Ford notes this quickly in a "Let's be fair" moment doesn't mean he can later ignore it in his argument and somehow avoid being hypocritical.

Jordan was another guy who wanted to win "in his way." But since Jordan's dominating presence led to 6 titles, his highly questionable teammate and leadership tactics became something of legend; for Kobe, since he has struggled recently, it's evidence that he's a team cancer. It's like the whole winning breeds chemistry thing. When you win, all problems disappear and the ends justifies the means. When you struggle, it becomes a blame game.

+ Ford's fourth point is the "verdict" if you will. I'll let 20 Second TO take this one. They say it all:

4) "Is Kobe worth it?"

Ford's case: Ford finally gets around to noting how difficult it is logistically to make a trade for Bryant due to Bryant's unique contract. A team would have to give up so much to get Bryant that there might not be enough left to make a title run. Ford concludes, "Most GMs prefer to stick with the status quo. Taking risks invites scrutiny from the media and fans, and tends to hasten a GM's dismissal, many feel. Doing nothing is simply safer."

Why Ford's case is not built Ford tough: Actually, this is the one valid point that Ford makes. The real reason that it is difficult to trade for Bryant is the unique contract he has, which Ford finally mentions at the end of his article--this should have been the first point. Bryant has a no-trade clause and a trade kicker; not only can he reject any deal but a team would have to give up so much (in personnel and contracts) to get him that there might not be enough left to make his new team any better than the Lakers are now. That, and not Ford's psychobabble, is the real reason that Bryant has not yet been traded. The reality is that Bryant is worth trading for if his new team can arrange to deal away primarily young players while keeping enough of a core intact for Bryant to lead the team on a title run.

In Chad's defense, hey he has to write something.

Looks Like Kobe's a Laker, For Now

2007-11-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

John Paxon put the trade speculation to bed.

"There's not a deal done," he said Thursday. "There's not going to be a deal done. All the things that were out there were really unfair to all of us who were trying to do our jobs. The misinformation ... I think gets in the way of the process. It's just such a complicated thing and we kind of put it to rest now."
...
"I think today sends a message that our guys don't have to worry about anything right now."

Good. Consider the Korean miniseries on hiatus. But first, commenter Michael gives us a look at what a real Korean miniseries revolving around the Lakers would be like:

If this were truly a Korean miniseries, Vanessa Bryant would be living at Kobe's mom house with arms elbow deep in Kimchee, while number 24 carelessly romps around K-town singing karaoke and drinking Soju.
Jerry Buss would have NONE of that bullshit coming out of his son's mouth, and would send Jim back to Korea to fulfill his mandatory duty in the Korean Army, conveniantly replacing him with his secret protege he has been procuring all along to take over the business.
Phil would be the same, you know, writing tell all books and instigating confrontations by not instigating confrontations.
Gary Vitti would finally diagnose Kwame with Slippery-Palm-Itis and will give treatment accordingly transforming him into bread-and-butter when he's in the paint.
But best of all, the 2007-2008 Lakers will be recognized as the greatest squad ever assembled in any sport, all because of Sasha Vujacic... find out how in next weeks episode...

It's the hair. Sasha looks like he could be a straight K-Pop megastar.

It's Official

2007-11-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Joe Torre is the new Dodger skipper.

People have been asking me how I feel about the Joe Torre signing and I am forced to drop vague catch phrases like, "dude, he's the Phil Jackson of baseball." I really don't know much about Joe Torre and have no idea what to expect. All I know is, he wins titles, he cries in press conferences from time to time, and he looks authentic in the Yankee uniform.

But good old Dodger Thoughts collected some information from some knowledgeable sources (Bronx Banter, Baseball Prospectus) about some of Joe Torre's managing habits. Here's a sample, but you should go read the whole thing at DT.

"In his first season with the Yankees, Torre billed himself as a 'National League manager,'" Goldman (Baseball Prospectus) wrote. "This mostly displayed itself in the frequent use of the hit-and-run, though that year Torre also called more bunts and squeeze plays than he would in any other season. He rapidly cut back on bunting and squeezing, and with his powerhouse teams of the late 1990s, he mostly stayed out of their way. Post-2001 he was a little more active with the one-run strategies, but was never fanatical about it. This was one of Torre's best qualities as a manager: he recognized the kind of team he had and didn't try to play a style of offense unsuited to the roster."

Other than that, it sounds mostly like Torre should employ similar strategies as Grady Little. Of course, we all know that there is a lot more to managing a team than strategy. And many, rightfully or not, think that Torre's personality and charisma would have been able to repair the rift in the clubhouse between the youngsters and the vets last season, something that Grady failed to do. Well, he'll get his chance to prove that theory.

Grady's Gone, Brooklyn's in the House

2007-10-30T16:16:00.001-07:00

According to the L.A. Times, Grady Little is out as Dodger manager and the Dodger's are very close to a deal with Joe Torre.

Sources said that the Dodgers and the former Yankees manager have agreed to the terms of his contract, and what remains to be done is to agree on issues about the coaching staff and his input on player personnel moves. Torre wants to choose his own coaches, among them Don Mattingly, and is negotiating the amount of money to be spent on them. The deal could be completed in the next day.

Well then. A knee jerk move? Yes. But I guess we'll see what happens. Hopefully Torre can help integrate the young kids with the vets better than Grady did.

The article also insinuates that Torre's signing is paving the way for A-Rod. But I don't know about that until we hear from Ned Colletti on the matter. I mean after all that went down between him and Scott Boras last year, do you really think that Colletti is going to kneel before the Scott Boras shrine and be the other side of what will probably be the agent's career defining deal?

UPDATE:
Whoa, looks like Grady resigned. Apparently he and Colletti had a falling out after this past season. Interesting. Probably bullshit.

Keys to the Season

2007-10-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

First a couple of quick notes on the Korean miniseries that the Lakers have become. Why does it have to be a Korean miniseries? Mostly because I am sick of the soap opera parallel. But also because I have no idea what's going on.

+ I appreciate having a guy like T.J. Simers working for the L.A. Times. If not for his change of pace approach, it's for his nerve to ask tough questions. He really took it to Kobe in yesterday's interview. It's worth the read and if you are so inclined, you can catch the video on the team website (10/29 practice report). In a sea of fluffy, trivial questions like what Kobe was going to be for Halloween (Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter -- is that the gay one?), was TJ's piercing inquisition.

The Kobester keeps saying things that make no sense.

He really likes everyone, the improvement his teammates have shown, and blah, blah, blah. He says "we're really a close-knit group," but obviously he still wants to play elsewhere, although I recall he once said, "I want to be a Laker for life."

"Don't you understand your mixed messages are the fuel to the fire?" I say.

"I understand a lot of people misinterpreted what I said . . ."

"Well, here's your chance," I say, to set the record straight.

"Wouldn't you love that?" he says, and wouldn't we all?

Finally, someone made him eat his contradiction.

+ Lazenby's got some new literature up on his blog. It's more portrayal of the Buss family as one huge Shakespearean tragedy and Jim Buss bashing. You know, it occurred to me today that Lazenby's take on all this seems so much more insightful/incendiary than most of the mainstream media. It got me wondering about whether or not this is truly insider information (remember, Lazenby has Tex Winter on speed dial) or is it propaganda on behalf of the Phil Jackson BLOC to tell the story about how Jerry Buss is leaving the Lakers in the hands of an incompetent douche bag, his son Jim Buss.

Then I remembered that Lazenby is a journalism professor at Virginia Tech university. So much for the propaganda theory. Then, I got sad.

***

Key: D
As was preached on FB&G all last year, the Laker defense was their downfall last year, and if you watched the games you'd have to agree (well, D and injuries). Pundits seem to focus on the Lakers' lack of a point guard and an all-star complement for Kobe. Nope. It was the team defense. From FB&G's season preview:

Defense really is at the heart of the Lakers problems. By any measure the Lakers scored plenty last season (they were fifth in points per game at 103.3 and seventh in the league in points scored per possession, 108.2 per 100 possessions). The problem was they gave up as many points as they scored (Los Angeles was 24th in points per game allowed at 103.4 and 25th in the league in points allowed up per possession, 109 per 100 possessions). It’s pretty simple — if you give up as many points as you score, you’re a .500 team. I don’t care how many points you score.

If the Lakers need help in terms of personnel, it would not seem to be in the form of a legitimate 3rd scorer (or 2nd depending on what you think of Lamar Odom).

Key: Health
What compounded the defensive problems was the injuries they endured last year. But remember, when this team was healthy, they were pretty damn tough. Favorable early schedule considered.

Key: Farmar and Bynum
Last year, I pointed out Luke Walton and Lamar Odom as key guys to start the season. I attribute the Lakers early success to the emergence of Lamar as a legitimate second option and Luke as a consistent role player and 3 point threat. Conversely, losing them for a combined 48 games last season was somewhat devastating. Hopefully, this progress will not be lost this season (granted, Lamar needs to recover from his injury).

This year's key guys are Farmar and Bynum.

First, Farmar. No one is expecting much from Farmar. But if you watched him in the pre-season, he seems poised to start making some noise. His decision making is still good, not trying to do too much even in the face of the Lakers drafting talented guard, Javaris Crittenton. This is a good sign, because one of the last traits that you'd want in your point guard is insecurity (see: Smush Parker). And Farmer still seems as confident as ever, if not more so.

In addition, Jordan seems to be the one of the guys that will benefit from Phil Jackson's 7-seconds of freelance directive. To promote more transition offense, Phil is allowing the Lakers to have 7 seconds at the beginning of each possession to make something happen, before setting up the triangle. In the pre-season, Farmar took this notion to the court, pushing the ball up and penetrating, setting up his teammates and getting to the rim for some very nice finishes. And let me emphasize, he is fast. Dare I say, Tony Parker like.

As for Bynum, well...we've heard it a thousand times. 7 feet tall. 7'6" wingspan. Soft hands, good feet. Nice shooting touch. It's just a matter of time and hard work. And if the work was put in and the time is now, the Lakers will be reckoned with.

Both of these guys have the potential to be an impact player this year. This is special because usually, to get an impact player, you have to give something up. Either another impact player, a draft pick, or cap space. But if Bynum and Farmar can step up and be a force on both ends, the Lakers will have gotten something for nothing. And most importantly, at the two positions where they have holes.

Key: Kobe
Plain and simple. If he's here, anything is possible.

The Betrayal

2007-10-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

Here's the dunk on KG (and Rasho) from the 2003 playoffs that I mentioned yesterday.

Using the basket as an ally and then turning around and stuffing it down its throat. Oh, the betrayal.

Taking It Back to the Old School

2007-10-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

Do your calves do that when you jump?

Something I noticed last night that I think could be effective during the season with Kobe as the facilitator. It should sound familiar to you.

When Kobe beats his man baseline, the opponent's bigs rotate and Kobe will have three options:

1) Dish to the open big from under the basket
He and Shaq used to break this out during the playoffs during the title years. The premise was simple. Kobe would cause the defensive break down and almost literally hand it off to Shaq in a spot from which he basically shot 99%. It was a play that seemed to use the most effective aspect of each of their games in the same play -- for Kobe it was his unmatched one-on-one ability and for Shaq, it was his ability to finish around the rim with devastating force. Now, obviously Bynum is no Shaq in that he can't just dunk over absolutely anybody, so it's not as brute-force effective as it used to be. But Bynum does have good hands and he can make his free throws (he's sort of the Anti-Kwame in that way). So that's not a bad alternative.

2) Kobe with the reverse
Seriously, there is no one better at scoring from the baseline right under the basket. Think about that dunk he put down on Lattrell at MSG in 2003 (@ the 1:10 mark). He almost stepped out of bounds near the right block when he jumped and he ended up windmilling it on the other side of the rim. Or that one on KG during the playoffs the same year. It was almost exactly the same as the Lattrell one except he fell to the ground afterward (and, duh, it was on KG). Or even last night, with that Dr. J-like reverse on Kaman. That one is his fall back move now. That crazy bastard.

3) Fisher in the weakside corner
This works as both a release in case Kobe has no other options and also as a good way to get Fish some open looks. One of the things that I missed about Fisher when he was gone was his knack for dropping to the level of the ball, finding the open space and spotting up, especially in the left corner where his left handed, high arching shot enables him to shoot from slightly behind the backboard making it extremely hard to defend (without going across his body and probably fouling him). Spotting up for your shot in an open space sounds simple but it's something that Smush never figured out. And that pretty much summarizes the upgrade from Smush to DFish.

I hate to use the phrase "pick your poison," but this is one way that the Lakers could make their opponents pick their poison. It reminds me of how Gretzky used to operate from behind the goal. He would tease them with a wrap-around attempt and then instead give it to a guy open in the slot (and vice-versa). And yes, I am aware of how gay that last sentence sounds.

Be that as it may, mark this day as the first time I have ever mentioned the Los Angeles Kings on this site. October 22, 2007. Oh yeah, Happy Birthday to my mom.

More Lazenby

2007-10-18T10:53:00.001-07:00

Over at TrueHoop. He covers all the bases in this one, as always from the perspectives of some insiders (Tex Winter, Alan Elliot). Kobe speaking up this summer. Who's mad at who. The front office mess -- the Jim Buss story. The Lakers style this season. You should check out the whole post, but my favorite part is the end:

Buss has had a vision since he put together an amazing deal to buy the team and the Forum in 1979. He has displayed amazing instincts. But that doesn't mean he's been perfect. Why did Buss trade Shaquille O'Neal? He was hesitant to sign him to a huge contract extension because of O'Neal's age and conditioning (as O'Neal told me, the two were never close).

Then O'Neal harshly criticized Buss, which sealed the issue. Buss has enjoyed tremendous fortune as owner of the team, but he still has a pretty thin skin. Has Bryant hurt Buss? Will Buss trade Bryant? Can he trade Bryant? Or will Phil and Tex and Kobe and everyone else get the opportunity to reinvent the team and prove once and for all Tex Winter's assertion that his triangle offense is plenty flexible and very capable of running?

Now that's what I call real drama. And it's all about basketball. Mostly.

Exactly. I am frustrated and fascinated with all of the meta crap involved with this team. But now, I just want to watch them play. When they're on the court, we're all on the same team.

Something Stinks, Again

2007-10-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

So.

Apparently Kobe wasn't mad but he was clearly taken aback at what Buss said. Does he deny the veracity of Buss' statements? No. But it looks as if they had all agreed to keep the further trade talk private for the sake of the new season. And Buss broke the silence.

One thing I said in training camp is that I don't want this to be a distraction...We just wanted to keep things quiet, just go about our business.
- Kobe

To me, that's bull shit for Kobe to say that and imply that Jerry Buss is the one that's causing all this drama. Buss' statements aren't causing the distraction. It's Kobe not practicing. It's Kobe's initial silence in the days following. It's Kobe cleaning out/just cleaning his locker. It's Phil making statements like,

We can't project anything right now. I think there's a certain progression of things that we have to go through. We have to see how the feelings are in the situation, see if there can't be some remedies for it. From there, the next step takes place, and that is, how do we go forward as a basketball club?

Those things are the distractions.

Everyone agrees that Buss didn't say anything new or controversial. So what's the big deal? Oh that's right, it's because Buss agreed not to say anything about it. Fair enough. But for Kobe to insinuate that everything was going to be cool as long as no one talked about it is just absurd. It's the whole elephant in the room thing. Well guess what. The elephant just farted. And instead of simply opening a window and moving on, Kobe, it seems, would rather projectile vomit all over the carpet first.

(Ok, maybe 'projectile vomit' is a little much. But he is definitely calling out the elephant about that shit smell hanging over the room, making the pachyderm all uncomfortable and embarrassed.)

But of course, Kobe's the good soldier. Now that enough attention has been put on this whole thing, now that the PR spin has made Buss out to be the cause of the circus coming to town, he's ready to 'strap it up' and play. Which is fine with me by all means.

But is it just me, or does anyone else have this feeling that ESPN.com has an intern photoshopping Kobe into a Dallas Maverick's Jersey as we speak?

* * *

Real quick, if you haven't seen Lazenby's take of this whole thing at TrueHoop, you ought to check it out. As always, Lazenby brings the insight.

Usually, nobody plays this game better than Phil. He eviscerated the Jerries in Chicago with Jordan as his major card, had them begging for mercy by the end of the season. Krause and Reinsdorf still haven't recovered from that showdown with Phil, who coolly rode off in the sunset after it was over.

Phil had primed the pump this time by getting his pal Sam Smith at the Chicago Tribune to write a column saying Kobe ought to sit out the season. Jerry Buss could see the play coming. So the owner walked into training camp and knocked Kobe almost unconscious. We'll trade your ass and put it on the table now, Jerry Buss told Kobe in so many words.

Phil was left gulping, Kobe speechless.

Phil has finally met his match in those juicy PR games that sell newspapers and books. Question is, do Phil/Kobe/Jeanie have another move? Or are they done, left slinking away sheepishly?

Phil wants another championship and he wants Jim Buss out of the way so that he can do it. It was Jim Buss, supposedly, who talked his father Jerry in firing Phil in 2004, so this thing has a history.

On Buss

2007-10-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

He reminds me of that clown that they have on ice-cream cone boxes.

Check out Kurt's (FB&G) take on Jerry Buss' recent interview. He pretty much expressed my sentiments exactly:

If you read both stories (LA Times and OC Register) I think this is just Buss being honest about what happened this summer. First, Kobe goes Vesuvius. Eventually Kobe sat down with both Mitch and Buss and, as Buss said, they made their pitches and Kobe said he is still frustrated and would like out. Then I think they both told him “if that’s what you want, we’ll keep an open mind, but we’re not going to trade you for Luther Head and an expiring contract or two.” Buss said he’s kept Kobe apprised of the lowball offers that rolled in, so Kobe would understand.

If Buss had played to the fans and taken a hard line in the interview — directly contradicting what he told Kobe to his face — that is what would have destroyed what is left of his relationship with Kobe, it would have hardened Kobe’s heart toward opting out regardless of what the Lakers did. So Buss professed his love of Kobe, said he wants to make moves that would keep him here (“”I wish he felt differently. And if we win, I think he will feel differently. So we’ll just wait and see if we can win.”) and at the same time put other GMs on notice that they will not be taking lowball offers — come for real or don’t come at all.

A lot of the talking heads, on the radio and in my office, have been making such a big deal about Buss' interview. About how it's reopening the same issue about trading Kobe or not trading him and all that drama. But to me, where is the conflict? Who is supposed to take offense to these comments?

Kobe? No. It's exactly what he asked for. That the Lakers be open about trading him. As Kurt said, if Buss said that they weren't open to trading Kobe, that would probably piss him off royally.

Does it distract the rest of the players? After all that has already happened, I doubt it. In fact, the transparency offered by Buss probably makes it less of a distraction because at least they know what the organizational stand on the trade issue is.

Do his statements worry the fans? Yeah probably. But that's more of a commentary on the typical Laker fan, or any fan for that matter. No one wants to see a player of Kobe's caliber leave, myself included. But to me, I am grateful that we have an owner who seems to be employing some sort of strategy in this matter and is disciplined enough to execute it. A lesson learned from the Shaq trade, perhaps?

Basically, someone in a position of power came out and made some blatantly honest statements and the media didn't know what to make of it. It's a non-story. But since it's Kobe, the Lakers, and the possibility of the two no longer being a couple, it'll catch some eyes.

Back To School

2007-10-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

[Sorry, this was supposed to be up yesterday but my internet connection was hosed.]
Watching the first game of the pre-season reminds me of the first day of school. There's old faces, new haircuts. New faces, old haircuts. There's those who arrive with a confidence-fed maturity and others with a sobering rustiness. And of course, there's new hope and old problems for all.

For the most part, all of that was there last night. Here are my thoughts.

+ One thing that anyone who has watched Kobe's career knows: It seems like he has two modes. He can score whenever he wants or he can pass all night long, seemingly refusing to shoot. The art is performing both modes in parallel not in series as he did in the first (1 shot, 0 points) and third quarters (17 points), respectively.

Granted, this was a pre-season game so who the fuck cares, right? But still, some balance would have been a very positive sign seeing as how Kobe is supposed to be taking more of a facilitator role this year. Because to me, that is the key to the Lakers' success this season. They were never going to win with Kobe scoring massive amounts of points and nobody doing much else. It's when he's melting the two modes together that he is the best basketball player on the planet and the Lakers are a tough, tough team to beat. Of course, we've been over this.

+ Bynum wasn't overly impressive. He looked a little bigger. A little quicker. But he still couldn't dunk over a weak-side helping Austin Croshere. That's not good. That said, his defensive rebounding and defense in general helped the Lakers get back in it in the second half. I see we're just about picking up where we left off with Bynum.

+ Sasha sucks, looks like a smaller version of 07 Radmanovich.

+ The halftime segment highlight: The shaving of Kwame Brown

+ The 'Colt > Kobe' sign. Oh wow...

+ Colt Brennan must be getting so much ass over there.

+ The Lakers are toying with the idea of starting Turiaf at the four, sliding Lamar over to the three and making Luke the six-man. And although Turiaf didn't look terribly good last night, I really like the sound of this move. First, Turiaf will bring some energy and hustle from the opening tip. This will be important if the Lakers want to be an defensive minded, uptempo team. Second, this puts Lamar in attack mode on the wing, a move that could help Lamar become a legit second scorer instead of a, well, not so legit one. And third, this puts Luke on the bench. Not that he's not of a starter's quality. I just he think the second unit could use a guy like Luke to help run the offense. I guess we'll see how this all works in reality when the other two principles are in uniform.

+ Belinelli is Stallone's illegitimate child. And he can shoot the rock.

Kobe Shows Up, Mass Suicide Cancelled

2007-10-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Kobe reports to media day, but apparently he was high.

"If I keep pretending to be confused, I can keep doing this shoulder shrug to show off my off-season weightlifting. I'm giving them the gun show and they don't even know it. But at the same time...they do."

Asides

2007-09-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

/*
Bill Plaschke Ought to Go Away, to Die PerhapsThe Dodgers were officially eliminated from the playoffs last night. So you know what that means. It's about that time for some excruciatingly retarded thoughts in a cascading series of one sentence paragraphs that we've all come to know as a Bill Plaschke column.

Today's topic? Let's trade Matt Kemp!

Are you fucking serious? The Bison? The guy who hits opposite yard home runs without even stepping into it? The guy who takes about five strides between bases? The guy who is only in his second year and in 93 games and 275 at-bats (thus far this year) hit .331 with 10 HRs, 40 RBI, and 10 SB all while OPSing .873? That's fucked up, Bill Plaschke.

But according to the Plaschke, Kemp is a guy "whose power and speed have been negated by silly at-bats and baserunning mistakes. "

Again, Kemp is in his second year. Baserunning mistakes, as long as one of them isn't being too fucking slow, will decrease with more experience. Especially when you're blessed with as much speed as Kemp. As for the "silly at-bats," what the hell do you expect when you take a guy and move him around the batting order ALL YEAR LONG? You expect him to develop this killer eye when he's being pitched to differently every month? And I'm not talking about shuffling between the 3, 4, and 5 spot. For most of the year, Kemp was hitting in the 6/7/8 spot. Then in August, he moved up to the 3. And now he's hitting in the 2 spot. He's basically seen the spectrum. And it's not like he isn't making progress. He's getting better and better at laying off the breaking balls in the dirt, the one glaring weakness in his game.

You can fix plate and baserunning discipline with time and experience. But you can't teach power and speed. Just like you can't teach woman-pleasing. C'mon, you know this, Plaschke.

Or as Jon Weisman at DodgerThoughts put it:

Negated?? Are you serious??
The silly at-bats have already been factored into his on-base percentage and slugging percentage, which currently stand at .364 and .509. Yes, those are the numbers of the irresponsible Kemp.

The baserunning mistakes? What have there been, five? Ten? Let's say the latter. Instead of 198 outs in 294 plate appearances, give Kemp 208 outs in 294 plate appearances. Wow, what a change.

Negated???

Yeah, man. Negated???

The Good News

God, he just looks like a Kupchak, doesn't he?

Kupchak on Kobe's training camp status:

"I have no reason to think he won't report."

Dude, the Lakers are the shit.

Talk about offseason re-tooling. So, the Celtics got Garnett. We have no reason to think that Kobe won't report. BOOOYAHHHH!!!

Big Russ

"There are times I felt like I wanted to say something, but it's just not my time. I'm not going to be one of those young guys who talks a lot. I need to have the team's respect before I do that. And I still have to earn that respect."

- Russell Martin

The one worthwhile nugget from Plaschke's article. But still. Negated???
*/

/*
How I Spent My Summer

The end.

Kids Today

2007-09-22T16:51:00.001-07:00

Jeff Kent: "Not absorbing my MLB experience...that's a paddlin."

This whole thing reeks of a frustrated team just venting. I once wrote that the make-up of the Dodgers -- young kids and slightly past their prime veterans all trying to prove themselves in the absence of any true superstars -- is something that would make them more of a team. Well this is what happens in the worst of times. With no one who commands the respect of both the vets and the kids, there was no way to unite the clubhouse when the hardship set in. Jeff Kent is apparently not that type of teammate although you would think he is in a good position to do so.

Should Have Known

2007-09-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

Watching Todd Helton's walk-off homerun sail over the right field wall was one of those moments that left me blushing. I could feel my scalp tingle as sweat started to surface. My face was burning and all of a sudden I felt as if everyone were looking at me. And it's not because I have some strange, cross division man-crush on Todd Helton; that is to say, if I had a man-crush it'd be on a member of the Dodgers. (I'm looking at you, Matt Kemp.)

No, the cause of my blush was embarrassment.

I thought back to earlier in the day, how I read all the warm, memory lane articles about the 4+1 game (a year ago, last night), and how I allowed myself to wonder what kind of magic the Dodgers had in store for us today before settling on a double-header sweep as a grand yet, achievable goal.

I thought about the LATimes piece I read that highlighted Takashi Saito's dominant season, specifically the part about how Colorado was 0-14 with 6 Ks against him this season.

I thought about the 2 minutes of impromptu biceps flexing I did in front of my girlfriend and mother, the height of my hubris for the evening, no doubt. (What can I say? The Dodgers were winning. It was time to punch some tickets to the gun show.)

And probably the most immediate and painful thing I thought about was how earnestly and surely I believed that the pitch that Helton hit out was going to be a swinging strike three. I would have bet the farm. I even bellowed during the wind-up, "Here comes the coochie-coochie ball!" in anticipation of Saito's nasty slider.

And then..."Oh shit." My little sister, sitting on the floor watching the game with me heard that and began to scold me about cussing in front of her, and then as abruptly as Helton's ball left the park, she stopped. She saw the Rockies celebrating at homeplate and she asked, "Wait, they won?" And then she looked at my face and knew that it was no time for asking questions. It's amazing that kids can sense things like this. The tension. The grief. The electricity in the air right before a grown man is about to yell at a nine year old girl.

But, I didn't. I just sat there and let it all sink in. The scene was all too eerie. As I watched Helton flip off his helmet and dive screaming into a huddle of cheering teammates, all I could think about was Nomar doing the same a year ago. And how the subtext to that amazing game was how it seemed to fuel the Dodgers' run to the playoffs. My girlfriend, a very new but very diehard Dodger fan, watched the game with me that night last year. She was jumping up and down with me as the four homers and the walk-off cleared the wall and she saw first hand, the kind of joy that can come with being a fan. Last night, she was by my side again and she summarized things perfectly, muttering "I'm sad." And alas, the opposite lesson was learned.

Consider the circle fulled.

The Dodger season may have ended last night, suddenly and surprisingly. But thinking back on it, I probably should have known.

T minus 19

2007-09-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

If the MLB season is a marathon, a pennant race is a sprint...that takes place at the end of a fucking marathon. You can't feel your legs. Your face is stuck in an expression of pain. Your mouth is frothing so much it looks like you just bit into a bagel with extra cream cheese (shmeeaaar). Like Jeff Kent after going first to third on a double to right. All that and now it's time to turn on the jets.

That's where the Dodgers are with 19 games left; after an up and down (mostly down) second half, the Dodgers need to play some of their best baseball right now. And with their next six at home against the Padres and then the D'Backs, I mean right now.

We know this. Yet the following quotes (from the LATimes) by two key veteran Dodgers are kinda disturbing. First, from Juan Pierre:

"I wouldn't say make-or-break, but if we don't take care of business at home, it'll be that much tougher. If we play well and get back in the hunt, we still have two weeks after that. There's still time to mess up either way -- either we mess up or the other team messes up."

I don't quite get what Pierre is going for with this quote. Is he downplaying the importance of winning the immediate two series because of the imminent losses what will occur in the two weeks after that? Does he not realize it's possible to NOT mess up at all? How about we just try to win them all, Juan? Just a thought.

And then there's this gem from the increasingly quotatious Jeff Kent:

"The games that are the most important are the games that will put you on the verge of elimination. I don't think that that's coming this week. It frustrates me that it gets amped so much like that. It's going to be important for us to play consistent baseball without being emotionally involved."

Yes, yes. I believe in saving a little something for those really, really crucial, back to the wall, win or go home type games. But to play "without being emotionally involved" -- is that a good thing? We're not doing a fucking science project here.

At least my man Saito recognizes that there's some urgency:

"We can't wait for a miracle. We have to create one...Wooooo yesssahhhh!!!"

Damn straight.

But, of course, what do I know? These guys are veterans and I guess they're just setting the tone for a young clubhouse. Keep them even and centered. But still, Kent did admit this:

"We do understand that we have to start making up some ground. Time is shortening itself."

Yeah dude, time tends to do that.

Staying Tuned

2007-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

It's hard to come to terms with the 2007 Dodgers at this point. They're not out of it yet. But with their starting pitching still very much a patchwork project, it's hard to feel optimistic. It's almost a numb feeling.

While I do believe that this team can make the playoffs and do some damage in October, it would require a series submiracles conspiring to a larger one. Like a Voltron of miracles, if you will:
+ Chad Billingsley becoming a quality start machine
+ Nomar re-entering the line up and hitting .325 and OPSing .9 0r more
+ Grady Little not pitching Roberto Hernandez ever again
+ A clear winner emerging out of the David Wells-Eric Stults (and now, Esteban Loaiza) depth chart battle, and not by default
+ The Dodgers winning meaningful games against the Padres in September

So with the race between the Padres and Diamondbacks heating up, the Dodgers are nothing more than a dark horse right now. And the cachet that comes with being considered "dangerous" aside, I would much rather be a protagonist than being the lava pit that some other team tries to avoid.

Plan B

2007-08-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

Show off.

Jermaine O'neal has requested to be traded to the Lakers.

It's funny, while the KG deal was ~~still on the table~~ ~~in the conversation~~ in the realm of possibility, no Laker fan wanted anything to do with Jermaine O'neal. He's damn good, yes. But the consensus was he's no KG, and that it would take both Lamar and Bynum to land him. It would be a lateral move.

And I agree with that line of reasoning. But now that Jermaine has done what KG apparently would not -- asking specifically and publicly to be traded to the Lakers -- the Lakers suddenly have some leverage. And everyone knows about the power of the lever: you can ram it straight up some team's ass and steal their all star power forward (Word for word from my freshman physics book). And that would seem to be quite a bit more than just a lateral move.

But the most interesting pasrt is, if this deal goes down, the Lakers may very well be better off than if they somehow pulled off the Garnett deal. It's clear that Garnett is a better player than Jermaine but is he a full Lamar Odom's worth better? I think not. Take a look at this rotation:

Starting Five:
Derek Fisher
Kobe Bryant
Lamar Odom
Jermaine O'neal
Chris Mihm

and off the bench:
Luke Walton
Maurice Evans
Jordan Farmar
Ronny Turiaf
Vladimir Radmanovich

That team would compete in the west. And keeping Lamar is the key. He's talented, versatile, and as he showed this past year while sucking it up and playing out the season with a bum shoulder, he's tough as nails. By adding a bonafide 2nd scorer to play along side Kobe, you relieve Lamar of the pressure to carry a siginificant offensive load from night to night. And that would leave him free to do what he does best: set up teammates, exploit mismatches (which should be plentiful if he's back at his natural position, small forward), and be an all around x-factor. And one final note, having Lamar at the SF spot would also mean Luke coming off the bench, a role that suits him well in that he can help steady the second string with his playmaking ability and knowledge of the triangle.

And that's all well and good but, of course, nothing is done yet. I guess we'll have to keep holding our breath.

Asides

2007-07-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

/*
Doing it the Hard Way
Scathing insults and projectiles alike will rain upon on him from the blue reserve as he resignedly undertakes his journey. Unprecedented aggression will pour out of the hearts of thousands, collectively crusading in the name of purity, history, and rivalry. His supporters will remain, wisely silent, as quiet as those who will stand with their backs to the field in solemn protest. But they will be the stoic few as the rest of the rabble will violently carry on, possessed by the past demons of the tragic protagonist. If Barry Bonds hits a homerun in Dodger Stadium this week, he will round the bases in baseball hell.

Still, the mercurial hero he will be. And he will most definitely cross home plate.
*/

/*
KG to Boston
Deep down, I guess I always knew that, at heart, KG was more Bill Russell, Larry Bird than Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain. Still, I've always thought that if someone was given the choice, they'd choose the purple and gold every time. (I mean c'mon, 20,000!!!)

But, I guess not. A legitimate reality check.
*/

/*
Gagne, also to Boston

I am happy for Gagne. It's weird, when he left the Dodgers, I had this feeling that it was only a matter of time before he ended up in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. I'd like to see him get his chance on the biggest of stages. He deserves it.

One thing that sucks though is that I have both Okajima and Gagne on my fantasy team. I really need something bad to happen to Johnathon Papelbon.
*/

/*
Smush to Miami
Here's a quote from Mr. Parker himself:

"I came to the Heat for the chance to bring a championship back to Miami. We have all the right pieces in place. Whatever they want me to do, I'll do. I'll be a floor leader, a coach on the floor. I'm a point guard; the offense and defense starts with me."

Bwahahahhahahahahahahahaha....
*/

/*
Betemit to the Yanks, Proctor to L.A.

Losing Betemit sucks considering some of the thoughts that I read on Dodger Thoughts, namely:
- Betemit had 1.167 OPS in July (better than Nomar's "hot" July streak)
- He had 19 homers in 330 bats overall as a Dodger
- The perception that Betemit was a poor offensive contributor was misguided; he was judged by the type of outs he made (strikeouts) rather than the quantity
- With this trade and the release of Marlon Anderson, we no longer have a left handed hitter off the bench, unless it's a game in which either Ethier (that looks weird in print) or Gonzo does not start.

As for the addition of Proctor, all I can really say at this point is...
Prrrrroctor!!!!!!!!!
*/

30 Days Later

2007-07-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

As much as I would like to tell you that I was off doing something exciting the last few weeks, I wasn't. I was being a lazy jaggoff.

The Blog Obligation Snowman is not an abominable snowman it turns out. He's more like the dental hygenist reminding you to floss. And She ain't the boss of me.

That said, this is still an "I'm back!" of sorts. But first, a little catch up.

/*
Fish lift us up where we belong.
I have this coworker who, after especially atrocious Smush Parker performances over the last 2 years, would come in and talk to me about how much the Lakers could use Derek Fisher. I would then dive into my well rehearsed routine about how Derek Fisher is not the best defensive point guard in the league, he can't stop Steve Nash and Tony Parker, blah blah blah. Point and counter point. Then comes the part where he would invariably start babbling on and on, making ludicrous suggestions about how I should call Mitch Kupchak or go play point guard for the Lakers myself, all while giggling like a crazy man and all in the hopes of keeping his foray into my office alive for just a few more minutes. I sigh. He leaves. Eventually.

But that said, I am very happy to have Derek Fisher back on the Lakers. The Lakers needed veteran leadership, championship role players, a clutch three point shooter, someone who's not afraid to teabag Kobe while he sleeps, mouth open, on the team bus -- and they got them all with D Fish.

Now we just need someone who can stop Steve Nash. I wonder if Horry would come back too.
*/

/*
Three Star Baseball Team
The Dodgers sent three guys to the 2007 All Star Game. Brad Penny, Russell Martin, and Takashi Saito. The ace, the catcher, and the closer. For the Dodgers, these are three great roles to have filled by exceptional players. And it was especially gratifying for these particular guys. For Penny, his appearance symbolizes his return to form after his second half collapse last season. For Russell, it's recognition of his desire to be the best catcher in the game. And for Saito, well, let's just say that his only goal when he left Japan for America was to throw one pitch in one Major League game and he ended up throwing a shut out inning in an All Star game.

However, there is still much to be done this season for the Dodgers and since the All-Star break, the three Dodger All-Stars have had their share of struggles and misfortunes. In his last start, Penny gave up four runs in the first two inning before recovering to go 6.1 innings; although he got the win, he was hardly dominant. Russell Martin is currently in a 4-30 slump. And Saito is just hoping that the pain in his back and shoulder go away so he can take the mound again.
*/

/*
Thanks, Beautiful.
I met Nomar on Friday (7/20) in Manhattan Beach. He was just wandering the streets with a water bottle, presumably looking for his homerun power. I shook his hand and wished him luck on the rest of the season. He's hit 2 homeruns since, as many as he has hit all season up until that point.

That wasn't magic potion I wiped on your hand, Nomar. It was just water. You were hitting those homeruns all by yourself... Ok, ok, it was gorilla piss. Let's go back to the zoo.
*/

/*
D'Oh

Probably the most convincing evidence that Garnett doesn't want to come to play for the Lakers to date (from L.A. Times):

BTW, tennis observers report that Garnett didn't look amused when he was shown on the video screen and public-address announcer Ted Sobel intoned, "There's a team in purple and gold that could use you."

But then again, maybe KG just didn't want to be a douche bag and stand up and do overhead double fist pumps for the fawning L.A. crowd.
*/

/*
Back to the All-Star game
Was it just me or was anyone else extremely annoyed by the big picture of the splashing ball in center field at AT&T park? It's like, "Everyone behold the glorious feature that is hitting the ball into McCovey Cove." It's just like the Giants to so deliberately draw attention to themselves and their stupid shit rather than just let it subtly speak for itself. AT&T is an interesting, beautiful ball park as it is. It will come off as such regardless of whether or not you plaster a huge, grass reminder across the field of play.

It's like that damn "Barry's Corner" sign they have (had) in left field. Dammit, you don't need the fucking sign. I see Barry right there. In the corner.
*/

Only in Hollywood, Only Kobe

2007-06-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

Could it actually be, that all of Kobe's crazy demands, revisionist history, and all around bitching can actually end up in this...

Check this shit out.

Now that it sounds like the 4 team deal is off the table, I think it's going to require Kevin Garnett specifically asking to be traded to the Lakers. Right back to where we started.

3 + Flip Game

2007-06-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

If the 4 homers on 4 pitches against the Padres last year is the 4 + 1 Game, this one has to be the 3 + Flip game. Three homers on three pitches in the second inning by Wilson Betemit, Matt Kemp and finally Hong-Chih Kuo, who prefaced his homerun trot with one of the pimpest bat flips in recent memory.

How do you say, 'That shit is gone!' in Taiwanese?
Hong. Chih. Kuo.

Asides

2007-06-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

/*
In first place, Russell Martin

The above is meant to be read in the accent of a horse racing announcer. Ever notice how pretty much anything can feasibly be a name of a race horse? Take a look around.

Kitchen Trashcan Overflow.
Venetian Blinds.
Casual Encounters.

All good horse names.

But back to the point of this sub-aside, Russell Martin. After spendings weeks indignantly holding onto the 3rd spot in NL All Star voting for catchers, Russ has suddenly taken the lead. Fitting that it should happen over the weekend when his predecessor, Paul Lo Duca, and the Mets were in town. "Russell deserves to go," said the former Dodger catcher, and currently 2nd in NL All Star voting.

Russell's performance has been somewhat of a surprise this season. We already knew the kid could play and I'm sure that everyone would have been satisfied if he duplicated his effort from last season. Call a good game. Throw a few runners out. Get a few timely hits and we're cool with him. But it seems as if that's not enough for Russell. It's clear that he wants to be an elite player in this league. Not only is he reprising his role from last year, but he has added some homerun power and base stealing to his repertoire. The latter of which caused Tommy Lasorda to remark, "Catchers aren't supposed to do that. Scioscia and Piazza, they couldn't even steal a hot dog in their own clubhouse." But most important, I think he has surpassed Nomar as the guy we want up with the game on the line.

And now he'll start the All Star game. Probably. Keep voting.
*/

/*
Johnny Buss, on Myspace

Via the LATimes:

Johnny Buss, the oldest son of Lakers owner Jerry Buss, sent a bulletin to friends on his MySpace.com page that contained a peculiar reference to the team's nine-time All-Star.

"If you've been following the Kobe drama, I want to let you know it's not really drama … sometimes we all need to make a change in our lives and that's all it is," Buss wrote. "Popular or unpopular, when it's time, it's time. Good luck Kobe wherever you go!"

A freelance photographer, Johnny Buss is not part of the Lakers' front office and holds no decision-making authority in the day-to-day operations of the franchise. The Lakers have no plans to trade Bryant, who two weeks ago said publicly he would like to be traded.

This is disturbing on many levels. One, that a bulletin on one's Myspace page is now quotable fodder. And two, that again we're receiving mixed signals from the Laker organization. Or from the Laker Organization extended. Granted he holds no power within the organization. And he is a "freelance photographer." But still, he's a Buss. And that puts him closer to the pulse of the organization than a lot of people.

Or maybe he was drunk and just wanted to have a little fun with the media. Again, it was on fucking Myspace.
*/

/*
The Ducks won the Stanley Cup

Yes. Yes they did.
*/

The 4 + 1 Game Revisited

2007-06-06T11:20:00.001-07:00

Seeing as how the Dodgers and Padres are squaring off for a three game series at Petco this week (Padres 1, Dodgers 0), here's a little something I wrote before I started this blog about last year's ridiculous 4 homer, bottom of the ninth come back against the Pads. It was a Monday night no Dodger fan will forget and it's always good to reflect. And I am being lazy. Anyway, enjoy.

*******

If I was watching this game as a seven year old, I would have been pleading for four home runs in a row. No singles rally. No patient at bats. No bases on balls. Just four straight homeruns from the next four guys coming to the plate. You see, an impatient child, with his team down 9-5 in the bottom of the ninth, wants that feeling of despair to end instantly. And you know what, you can say the same at age 25, with the difference being a lack of hope. At 25, fantastic thoughts like back-to-back-to-back-to-back bottom of the ninth homeruns to tie are preempted by a realistic outlook honed by years of watching baseball and a healthy disbelief in things like Santa Claus. That's why when something like that happens, you scream, you jump on the couch, and anyone watching you will, for one moment, see you become seven years old again.

Four straight bombs. Kent, Drew, Martin, Anderson. The 'stache, the deadman, the rook, and...who? And then to follow all of that with a monster walk-off from Nomar Garciaparra. A guy whose vintage season has been marred by a recent slump. A guy who comes to the plate with "Lowrider" blaring on the Dodger Stadium PA system. A guy who is obviously the emotional leader of this team as evidenced by his chilling homerun trot which, to me, was like a mix of Kirk Gibson and Charlie running home with the golden ticket. I will never (for)get this game.

The prevailing thought that I had toward the end of the game was man, I'm going to miss having all these veterans on my team. Watching Kenny Lofton make acrobatic plays at the centerfield wall in crunch time and then draw a huge (GINORMOUS!) walk in the bottom of the tenth prompting Vin Scully to yelp, "The Dodgers have a rabbit on as the tying run!" Then seeing Nomar do his little shimmy before stepping to the plate interspersed with shots of Jeff Kent taking on-deck swings. I'm starting to realize how much luck and genius went into making the Dodgers who they are today. Bringing in crafty veterans to usher in the long awaited prospects has defined the make up of this team and has instilled the never die atmosphere that can only be created by players with something to prove. For the rookies, they must prove that they do in fact belong. For the veterans, it's to prove that they still belong. It's the same kind of tension, just from opposite ends. And the result is a team devoid of a "true" superstar and more of a team because of it.

Some other thoughts:
- The fricken Padres. The unremarkable, khaki sporting bunch who become the toughest 27 outs in baseball when they play the Dodgers. I could not believe they had the sack to put up a run in the top of the 10th after the four run barrage by the Dods. They just do not die.

- Had Sammy Saito not given up that last run in the top of the 9th (the run that made the score 9-5 and no longer a save opportunity), the Dodgers would have been facing Trevor Hoffman to start the bottom and who knows how that may have turned out (Hoffman at the start of the game had 55 saves in 57 save opportunites for his career against the Dodgers, coverting his last 24 in a row). But as it happened, when the Padres took that four run lead, Hoffman gave way to Adkins who promptly gave up the first two of the four bombs, leaving Hoffman, sorta warmed up/sorta tight, to come in with the momentum clearly swinging toward the Dodgers way and the crowd on its feet. Two pitches later, it was tied. But hey, that's what happens when you try to get cute; you get fucked.

- I told you Saito is the man. Even when he screws up, he ends up helping.

- Dodger fans should consider themselves blessed to have Vin Scully. Not only did he drop several GEMS throughout the night--

It has been a Friday night and Saturday night combined emotionally, but now it's starting to feel like Monday.

-- but at the glorious end, in true Vin Scully fashion, he let the raw footage do all the talking. We saw the team huddle at homeplate as a screaming Nomar came stomping home with the winning run. We saw the crowd going Bedlam. We saw the Padres walk dejectedly from the field. We heard the din of the fans and the faint yet unmistakable intro to Randy Newman's ubiquitous "I Love L.A." And even though he had never seen a game like that before in his storied career, he knew anything he said could not improve the natural sounds and images of being at the ball park. So he left it at that. That's why he is the master. But he did chime on one more time before signing off. He said--

I forgot to tell you. The Dodgers are in first place.

*******

Tonight: Wolf (7-3) v. Maddux (4-3), 7 PM @ Petco

Still Looking to Leave

2007-05-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

From Mike Bresnahan's LATimes column:

When he spoke to The Times at 5:27 p.m. [Wednesday], he reiterated his position from earlier in the morning.

"Nothing's changed," Bryant said. "It's just a matter of I don't want to go no place else. I don't have much of a choice. When things like this go down, you just sit back. What can I do? It's like a broken record."

When asked if he still wanted to be traded, he answered quickly and firmly: "Yes."

I can't say I'm surprised. I think that this will be his tentative stance until something actually gets done. Actions/louder/words. The thing that bothers me is that by taking all of these complaints to the press, he takes away some of the Laker's leverage in the upcoming trade talks; not for trading Kobe, but in trading for help. Other teams know now that the Lakers need to make a move very soon. But I guess you can't light a fire under an organization with stern words in a closed door meeting.

In any case, he's supposed to talk to Jerry Buss today. Stay tuned.

[UPDATE: Jerry Buss released the following statement:

“I talked with Kobe this morning and assured him that I share his frustration and, more importantly, I assured him that we will continue to pursue every avenue possible to improve our team with him as the cornerstone. I told him that we will keep him apprised of our progress and we agreed that we will talk again in the very near future.”

Ok. ]

Kobe Asks For a Trade

2007-05-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

What the hell is going on?

He claims it's because he has been lied to. It doesn't matter anymore. The fact is, he wants out and everything he said yesterday was his strained attempt at justifying it.

Everyone needs to take a deep breath. Kobe. The Laker Brass. And especially us.

But if it were up to me. We're sitting on him until we get value back. Plain and simple. Seeing as how difficult that might be, that might never happen.

[UPDATE: Just heard another Kobe interview on AM 570 KLAC with the Loose Cannons (Mychal Thompson, Vic the Brick Jacobs, and Steve Hartman) and Kobe seemed to soften his position a bit. Apparently he had a conversation with Phil today and that calmed him some. He still trusts Phil a great deal and Phil assured him that something will get done this summer.

The Cannons actually did a pretty good job. Lots of Vic the Brick trying to smooth things over by stroking Kobe's ego and emphasizing how much he means to this city. But also, they asked a lot of questions that I think a lot of people were wondering themselves. Here are some points from the interview:

Have you talked to Jerry Buss personally in the last couple of days? (No)

How far would a Buss apology go? (Actions speak louder than words. He has to show Kobe. For example, Phil rebuilt the trust with Kobe -- after Phil's tell all book -- by returning to coach, an action.)

Have you talked to Magic? (No but Kobe said he had just received a voice mail from him. Mychal told him to call him right away)

Do you have any idea who the Laker Insider is? (Without naming names, yes)

Do you realize that if you leave, the team you will be going to will be essentially gutted by the trade? (Kobe said yes, but it isn't about the talent level of the Lakers that he is asking for a trade. It's the trust)

Kobe, do you realize that the whole city of L.A. is listening and shaking in their boots right now? What do you have to say to them? (I hope we can work something out. I want to be here. This is my team. I'm a Laker fan. I don't want to go someplace else.)

What if the team tries it's hardest to bring in some better personnel but for whatever reason cannot? (As long as he and the other players trust the management, he'll stay.)

To Dr. Buss from Kobe: "Call me." Kobe doesn't have his number apparently.

Vick the Brick uses the following words to decribe Kobe during the interview: Magnanimous, revolutionary, poet, transcendant. But not only that, he told Kobe to calm down. Look around. Take a deep breath. All things I'm sure we wanted to tell him.]

2007-05-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

Kobe essentially makes two points in his interview(s) from yesterday, one I don't agree with and one that I do, kinda.

1) Kobe was misled into thinking that the Lakers would be aggressively trying to achieve an elite level and that he was never informed about a cost cutting plan to get under the cap.

As I said yesterday, I think this is bull. I definitely remember a well publicized plan to get under the cap by the summer of 07. Check it out for yourself. Google "Lakers cap space" and the first entry you'll see is a May 07 article by Eric Pincus from Hoopsworld.com:

The (Defunct) Cap Space Plan
The Lakers once had a plan to generate cap space for the summer of 2007. While passing up on opportunities that might have helped the team in the short term, they held tight on spending. In 2005 they drafted 17-year old center Andrew Bynum and preached patience for what would be a long term project.

Meanwhile they had hoped to win with veteran additions like Vlade Divac and Aaron McKie. Instead both got hurt and the Lakers in the short term were paying the price for the cap space plan.

In a sudden reversal, LA guaranteed the third year on Kwame Brown's contract. They signed Vladimir Radmanovic to a long-term contract. They gave Brian Cook a three year extension. They picked up the fourth year option on Sasha Vujacic's contract.

Having abandoned their goal, the Lakers are well over the cap this summer [07]. Had they held fast the only players under contract for next season would have been Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Mo Evans, Jordan Farmar, Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf.

The second link in the search is a July 05 article by Sean Deveney on the SportingNews.com:

The Lakers are trying to restrict free-agent contracts to two years in hopes of keeping salary cap space for the summer of 2007. The obvious targets would be young big men such as C Yao Ming and F/C Amare Stoudemire, and it's no secret the Lakers have an eye on signing one of them. That pipe dream will end this summer, when both players sign maximum-dollar extensions and go off the '07 market. It's always wise to save cap space, but in the meantime, the Lakers missed out on G Antonio Daniels because they did not want to include a third year.

If Google knows then Kobe had to have known. I don't buy his anger on this one.

2) Kobe wanted to make it clear that had was NOT responsible for forcing Shaq out of L.A.

For the record, I have never blamed Kobe for running Shaq out of town. In my opinion, that conflict was between the prudent Laker organization and an aging center. Could Kobe have done more to try to convince the two sides that they needed each other? Possibly. But not to the tune of an $80M extension over 3 years for a 31 year old center with a bad toe and a weight problem. And in my opinion, I don't think Shaq would have budged on his contract demands. He had already done too much yakking and he has too much pride to just do a 180 like that.

When asked by Stephen A. Smith yesterday about whether he believes Kobe when he says that Dr. Buss had already made up his mind to trade him regardless of what Kobe decided to do in the summer 04, Shaq had this to say:

"I believe Kobe 100 percent. Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind Kobe is telling the truth. I believe him a thousand percent. I would have respected Dr. Buss more as a man if he would have told me that himself, because I know he said it. But he didn't [tell me]. He never said a damn word to me."

So, basically, I agree that Kobe should not be blamed for running off Shaq. But it makes me wonder who this "Laker Insider" is. To me, the legitimacy of Kobe's complaint on this issue is directly proportional to the clout of this person within the Laker organization. For example, what if this "insider" is a low level employee who has been there for like 7 months? Why would his opinion matter to Kobe? How responsible is it to take that opinion and treat it as if it came directly from Jerry Buss himself? If that's the case, then that would expose Kobe again as being ingenuine in his anger.

Kobe on PMS

2007-05-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

Kobe did an interview (link via Inside Lakers blog) today with Petros Papadakis and Matt "Money" Smith on AM 570 KLAC this afternoon. In short, Kobe is PISSSSSSED right now. According to the blog on KB24.com, he is livid about a report in the LA Times (Heisler) in which a "Laker Insider" came out and directly blamed Kobe for running off Shaq and causing the subsequent decline into mediocrity that the Lakers currently find themselves in. Here are some bullets from the interview [

- He DID NOT demand Jerry West's hiring. He directly contradicts ESPN.com's Rich Bucher's assertion that Kobe's comments were in any way an ultimatum.

- Right before Kobe re-signed with the Lakers, he had a very important phone conversation with Jerry Buss in which the Laker owner promised Kobe that the Lakers would be aggressively striving to achieve a championship level. Kobe states that this singular phone call was the crucial reason why he decided not to leave.

- Kobe actively recruited Baron Davis, Ron Artest, and Carlos Boozer only to be turned away by Mitch Kupchak.

- Kobe dances to Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy by the Wiggles with his daughter. Money saw him.

- After the 03-04 season, Buss told Kobe that regardless of what Kobe does (re-signs, or leaves), he was planning on trading Shaq based on the issue of Shaq's contract demands.

- Kobe on the Laker front office: "That place is a mess."

- He has not had ANY communication with the Laker front offices since his exit meeting.

- He really doesn't know what is going to happen with his relationship with the Laker organization. This is due to trust issues. Trust issues he did NOT have as recently as yesterday. It's all because of this "insider" throwing him under the bus.

- He talked to Phil this morning. He asked him about Phil's exit meeting from after the 03-04 season and what the Laker Brass told him. (Apparently, since Phil has returned, the two have not talked about the aftermath of the 03-04 season, the book, etc. ) Basically, Phil said that the Laker front office told him that the Lakers were going to be scaling things back in a long term effort to try to get under the cap. They had no reason to have such an expensive coach so he was let go. Phil also said that the front office did say that they were going to trade Shaq regardless of what Kobe does. This one shred of consistency shown by the front office is quickly glossed over by Kobe during the interview; it seems as if it slipped out.

- Kobe said that this "long term" plan was not mentioned to him ever. Especially not in that fateful phone call with Dr. Buss on the eve of his signing. He claims that this is the first time he has ever heard of this.

- Money: "Is this reparable Kobe?"
Kobe: "I don't know."
]

I seem to remember the very public stance that the Lakers took following the Shaq trade regarding an effort to scale back in an effort to have cap space in the summer of 07 during which they would try to sign Amare Stoudamire or Yao Ming. To that end, the Lakers went through a period in which they weren't offering any free agents anything longer than one or two year deals (they ended up losing out on Derek Anderson and Antonio Daniels after they were both offered longer deals by other teams, etc). Then after both Amare and Yao got extended by their respective teams, the Lakers seemed to abandon this plan and they extended Kwame and signed Radmanovich to a 5 year deal. Does that sound right? I mean, some of the details may be a bit inaccurate but if memory serves, that was pretty much it.

Now let me ask. Is this the scaling back that the Laker front office was referring to in their exit meeting with Phil back after the 03-04 season? If so, how could I know about this and how could Kobe claim that he was never informed of a long term plan to get under the cap?

Am I taking crazy pills here?

Something seems fishy. And I don't like fish.

Few Thoughts on the Lottery

2007-05-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

+ Poor Bill Simmons. But with the amount he talked about it and the way the Celtics tanked it at the end, you almost saw it coming. The number five pick is a toss up in this draft. It sucks for him but at the same time, how could you hang all of your hope on to a fricken lottery? That question goes out to both him and the Celtics.

Here's YAYSports' take on Boston fans and their inevitable whiny tirade about all of this:

You Boston fans are so funny - you weren’t “entitled” to Oden or Durant - they weren’t cruelly ripped from your grasp by the boogie-man or something.
Shall we go through the list of things that have happened to the Celtics and explain why this isn’t “bad luck”? This is just off the top of our head:

1) Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose. He didn’t die in a car crash, or via a freak blood transfusion, or by getting mugged on the front porch of his home while drinking lemonade. He was a stupid kid who did too much blow, and your braintrust was too inept to figure out he wasn’t an angel. This is not bad luck.

2) Reggie Lewis died of an alleged cocaine overdose. (We’ll always believe this btw. He was a good guy, so the truth got covered, especially since it was way after the fact.)

3) You lost the Tim Duncan lottery in 1997 because the team with the worst record almost never gets the first pick. (2003 was a notable and welcome exception!) Much like Oden/Durant, Timmy was not your property who suddenly was taken away from you. Also, the 1997 NBA Draft Lottery was high on cocaine.
4) Antoine Walker. Twice.

+ How happy was I to see the Hawks get the number 3 pick and thus not have to trade it to Phoenix. Like they need to be any deeper. Suddenly the Diaw/Joe Johnson trade looks a lot better for Atlanta. Especially considering Diaw's no-show in game 5 of the Spurs series. Where the hell was that guy?

+ Haven't seen this mentioned yet but does everyone realize that the Western Conference, already the superior conference top to bottom by far, just got the top two picks in what is basically a two pick draft? When will this ever even out?

Asides 10

2007-05-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

/*
From Robert Horry (via a Wojciechowski article on ESPN):

"I'm still amazed at the notoriety that this one play got compared to Baron Davis' foul [against Fisher in the Golden State-Utah series] and Mikki Moore's foul [against Aleksandar Pavlovic in the Cleveland Cavaliers series]. Those were like malicious fouls in my eyes. Guys who can't protect themselves off their feet. Blow to the head."
...
"I think on my part -- and I think [Nash has] been in the league long enough to realize -- it's just basketball. I can understand if I had clotheslined him and tried to hurt him, but that was just a bump. Hopefully, in his eyes, he'll look at it as just basketball and no hard feelings. Because when you're trying to win, you have no friends until you walk off the court."

Lost in the mix of this whole thing was the severity of Horry's punishment. If the NBA really wanted to be consistent, and as we all saw with the Stoudemire/Diaw punishment, consistency is paramount, then how could Baron, Moore, and even Bruce Bowen (with his kick to the heel and knee to the balls) go unpunished while Horry gets a two game suspension for what was essentially a hard, basketball foul. Not an elbow to the head. Not a midair take down. A body contact foul.

What happend was they based their punishment on the visual effect of what resulted: Steve Nash flying into the scorers' table, hair whipping, hands flailing above his head -- as if a grenade had exploded out of Horry's shoulder. Well guess what. As much as everyone loves seeing Steve Nash dart around the court using his quickness to make lumbering NBA bigs look like giant clods, the devastating effect of Horry's bump on him illustrates the perilous flipside of playing in the NBA as a 6'3", 195 pound point guard. When someone who is half a foot taller and like 40 pounds heavier puts his body on you, you're going to go flying. It's the equalizer in this situation. Should it be Horry's fault that he's that much bigger and stronger than his opponent? Is it Horry's responsibility to be mindful of the relative size and strength of his opponent before he proceeds with a basketball motion? Contrary to what the NBA-going-small campaign would like you to believe, being small and fast is not and should not always be shits and giggles. Go ask Allen Iverson.

You see, Laker fans have dealt with this issue for years during the Shaq Era. How many times did we see a smaller player (read: any player in the NBA) take it to the basket, hit Shaq mid air, go careening out of bounds and then have a flagrant foul called on Shaq. It didn't matter that Shaq was more or less jumping straight up. It didn't matter that Shaq would get a hand, sometimes two hands on the ball. The flagrant foul call was based on the discrepancy in size and strength between the two players involved in the collision and the sheer visual brutality that ensued. Not the physical act the by the offending player.

And what bothers me the most about the refs being so easily tantalized by how bad a foul looks as opposed to what infraction is actually ocurring is that it will lead to more flopping league wide. And I don't think anyone, with the exception of Raja Bell, wants to see that.
*/

/*
Mediocre offense and poor defense. Didn't work for the Lakers, I hope the Dodgers take notice. That was pretty much the story of the weekend series with the Angels.

Although I guess it would be premature to start worrying too much about the Dodger's early season error proneness (36, leads the NL), I just don't want to see it being the achilles heel of this team. Because as far as achilles heels go, a poor defense is the most frustrating. When your starter puts out a quality start and your bullpen keeps you in the game, only to have those efforts wasted by a few untimely errors. Those are the losses that can leave the team feeling jaded.

Then to top it off, they are also stranding A LOT of runners in scoring position, the offensive equivalent to making errors. And again, something that when it happens too much, can kill a team's spirit.

And as we all saw with the Lakers this year, it is very hard to watch a team that cannot execute.
*/

/*
Later on in the Horry article, referring to an incident in the 1994 Finals against the Knicks in which he went in for a dunk and got floored by Anthony Mason, Horry remembers:

"I had two sprained wrists and a hairline fracture in my ass after it happened. I knew what had happened, but I was hurt. I got up after that, but it was still painful. You just played on. You don't worry about it. Nobody [from the Rockets' bench] ran over there trying to push and shove, trying to cause anything. It was just a hard foul, and you get up and go."

A broken ass and nobody bats an eye. My how the NBA has changed.
*/

My Grandma Wanted to Watch 24

2007-05-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

Think, a chihuahua barking...

So I let her change the channel. The Spurs were up by like 8 or 10, middle of the 4th. At home. I was thinking, eh this game is over. Whatever. Then about 20 minutes later, I got curious about the score so I checked it on my phone and it said 98-97 Phx with less than a minute to play. Oh, my. Needless to say, Jack Bauer (and my Grandma) had to wait.

I got back to the game in time to see the Spurs miss and Horry hip check Nash into the scorer's table. At first I thought that Horry clotheslined him. But when I saw the replay, it was more like a bump. The only thing is, when you're giving up about half a foot and about 50 lbs, as Nash was to Horry, a bump can be devastating. Amazing how if that was someone bigger, like Amare or James Jones, that bump probably knocks them off balance, probably to their ass. But when it's Nash, it's like watching a Jackass clip.

Frickin Horry. Now that was a veteran move. Cheap? Yes. Unnecessary? Yes. Smart? Absolutely. The Spurs had lost the game. The Suns were about 30 seconds from waltzing off their home court with a hard fought, breakthrough victory. Now look. Amare might get suspended. Diaw might get suspended. And now there's some bad blood; playing in a heated, chippy atmosphere favors the Spurs. Essentially, it served to steal some thunder from the Suns' impressive victory heading into game five in Phoenix.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the best series of these playoffs. The winner of which will most likely win the Championship.

Some thoughts:
- I hope they don't get suspended because that would cheapen the series and the playoffs as a whole especially if you agree with the way I just described the magnitude of this series. And by they, I mean Diaw, Amare, and Horry. Diaw and Amare's "infractions" were based on technicalities and hopefully the league is flexible enough to see that. Enforce the spirit of the law, not the letter. As for Horry, I think flagrant II is sufficient. It's not like he extended the elbow or threw a punch at Nash. He basically just stood there. Being heavy.

The punishment should be based on what he actually did, not how small the victim was and how far he flew.

[UPDATE: SUSPENDED! Horry (2), Stoudamire (1), Diaw (1). The League Office is fucking ridiculous. Self righteous bastards. I mean holding Kobe out of MSG for a regular season game is one thing. Creating a huge impact on THE most important series in the playoffs is another. All you have to ask yourself is this: Do the Spurs want it this way? No (but they'll take it). Do the Suns want it this way? HELL NO. Then just who is served? The fans lose. The NBA loses. What the hell is the point? Justice? Tell me, does what Amare and Diaw did last night deserve a suspension? No. So basically, the big winner out of all of this: bureaucracy. That asshole.]

- I didn't think the Suns were capable of the kind of victory they pulled off last night.

- The comedic genius of sports anchors abounds: ~~Big~~ Cheap Shot Bob. You see how they did that? They replaced the "Big" in "Big Shot Bob" with "Cheap," invoking a pun on the word "Shot." Gold. Pure gold.

But while we're here, it's Rob, dammit! Cheap Shot ROB. It was never Bob. Does anyone call him Bob? Bobert Horry? That's right. No. It's Rob. Call him Big. Call him Cheap. But please, call him Rob.

- What are the odds that the Suns will retaliate? 100-1? If this was 1993, I'd be scared for Tony Parker's life. Since it's 2007, we'll all just go back to spanking it to his wife. That rhymes.

I'm with Darth

2007-05-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOO Warriors!"

Let me just preface this with my acknowledgement that the best series of these playoffs is going to end up being San Antonio v. Phoenix. It's a shame that we're getting it in the second round as opposed to the Western Conference Finals, but what can you do?

That said, the other day I was talking some basketball with my friends and I got resoundedly boo'd when I said I wanted to see San Antonio and Utah in the Western Conference Finals. Apparently that prospect would be too boring, especially with the possibility of a Golden State/Phoenix match up still in the conversation. Seriously, I may as well have been wearing an Imperial Storm Trooper's outfit after that admission.

Why don't you like the Warriors, they ask. But that's the thing. I do. I enjoy watching Baron play hard, pour his heart out actually, night in and night out. I admire the way they took out Dallas. And it's cool to see Matt Barnes get some recognition for being the explosive scorer that any Pacific Division fan knew he was.

I just think Utah is a better team. More boring, maybe. But you know what, you could also argue that Jessica Biel is more boring than Britney Spears. But who would you rather go home with? Because really, that illustrates my only problem with the Warriors: they're sloppy as hell.

And you want to know what would happen if the Warriors meet the Suns in the Western Conference Finals? A sweep. It would be a match up of two teams who play the same style except one team does it 20 times better and more efficiently. Because the Warriors simply commit too many turnovers, miss too many free throws, and their offense stalls up into too many one-on-one possessions (dribble, dribble, dribble, stepback fadeaway) to have any success against the Suns. Yeah they collectively might be a threat to score 300 points in a game, every game of the series, and that would be fun to watch. But not if it's going to be 175-125, Suns.

And as for why I want the Spurs to beat the Suns, it's mostly for the obvious reason. The Suns keep beating the Lakers. So they can all fuck off. Yes, I'm still bitter.

In summary, I know I'm rooting for a potentially boring, defensive grind of a series in a Utah/San Antonio Western Conference Final. But that match up is not without it's charms. Deron Williams will be there and he's hardly boring. And we'll be able to see what looks like would be a hell of a match up between Duncan and Boozer. There's DFish v. Robert Horry in the battle of ex-Laker role player now making clutch shots for other teams. Good coaching means good adjustments which should make for a 6 or 7 game series easily. It would be just good basketball in general.

And I plan on tuning in just in time for the fourth quarter of all of those games.

(Maybe).

DFish

2007-05-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

In Willis Reed fashion, Derek Fisher came out and gave a huge emotional boost to the Utah Jazz in their game 2 victory over everyone's sweethearts, the Golden State Warriors. Freed by the good news that his daughter had undergone successful eye cancer surgery, Fish rushed from New York to Utah to make his first appearance in the series. And not a moment too soon. Utah starter, Deron Williams, had just gone out with his fourth foul late in the 3rd quarter and Dee Brown, Fish's replacement during his absence, was somewhere in a hospital bed with an injured spine. The Jazz needed a steady hand to hold the fort, and they got it fast as Fish got off the plane, walked out of the tunnel, and onto the floor to a HUGE ovation.

And like Reed, Fish didn't go on some crazy, possessed scoring binge. He made a couple of key plays that when coupled with the situation and his personal qualities, served to give the Jazz something to play even harder for.

His defense on Baron Davis changes the dimension of the series to a degree. I was watching him chest up to Bomb Dizzle and I was thinking to myself that Fisher, while he might not match up to other elite point guards such as Steve Nash or Tony Parker, matches up really well against Baron. You see, Baron is most effective when he is using his ridiculous mix of strength and speed to get to any spot on the court that he wants and then he makes a play. But Derek Fisher is swole. And he was able to bother Baron into turnovers, fadeaways, and kickouts.

And then Fish dropped a dagger on the Warriors in OT, taking a page from Big Shot Rob. With about a minute left to play, and the Jazz up three, Deron Williams penetrated from the left wing, Fish's man slid over to help, Deron turned and dished to Fish while simultanously setting a seriously genius pick with his butt, and Fisher buried it in cold blood. Game over.

I knew that shit was going in as it left his hand. And I'm sure I wasn't alone in L.A. thinking that I've seen that before. Fisher inspiring his teammates and burying big playoff shots. It always seems like that wherever he goes, he ends up being the emotional leader of the team, the heart and soul, so to speak. And while he may not have helped us stop Steve Nash or Leandro Barbosa, he may have -- no, he most definitely would have helped hold this team together throughout all the injuries, infighting, and waning motivation that plagued the Lakers this season.

But enough lamenting. It's always good to see the old Lakers do well.
RobertHorry.net
RickFox.com

UPDATE:
A great read from ESPN's John Hollinger about Derek Fisher's daughter, Tatum and her case of rare eye cancer, Retinoblastoma.

Fisher knows he's one of the lucky ones. The condition is a potential killer if not caught early enough, and tough to diagnose because it's so rare and its symptoms so subtle. But in his daughter Tatum's case, he had the good fortune to run into a doctor who had seen the condition before.
Amazingly enough, it was all because his health plan forced him to switch from an out-of-network pediatrician -- "my first experience with that whole, 'man, kids are really expensive' thing," said Fisher -- to a new one, and the new doctor diagnosed it right away.
"What are the chances of us switching doctors, and the first time we see the doctor she picks up on it and probably saves my daughter's life?" said Fisher. "We would have gone for months more not knowing what was wrong, just that her one eye was a little different."

Amazing. Best wishes to Tatum and the rest of the Fishers.

Bill Simmons on the Lakers

2007-05-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Taken from Friday's Basketball Blog:

That reminds me, with everyone weighing in on the "Where are the Lakers going from here?" debate, it has to be mentioned that their overall game plan never, ever, EVER made sense. Why waste two years of Kobe's prime by trying to develop young players like Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown over targeting gamers (dealing Caron Butler never made sense) and using expiring contracts to acquire playoff-proven guys (for instance, they could have had Kidd if they included Bynum in the deal). How could they allow all those contracts (over $10 million worth of expiring deals) to simply expire without taking a flier on someone like Stephen Jackson? And why aren't Lakers fans more furious that their team willingly threw away Kobe's prime like this? I don't get it.

First of all, say what you want about Kwame. He has small hands. He pussies out at times. Whatever. And I agree, Caron Butler is a baller who showed just exactly how good he could be this season with the Wizards. But tell me this, what the hell would the Lakers have done without Kwame after Chris Mihm went down last season and subsequently sat out this season? That would have left Bynum (2nd year) as our only center with both Turiaf and Lamar Odom having to take turns in the middle. We saw this when Kwame went out with injury. And Bynum was unable to cut it as the starter. Despite his faults, Kwame most definitely makes his presence felt, especially on the defensive end and missing him for 41 games greatly hurt the Lakers this season.

As for Bynum, here's what Simmons had to say about him earlier this season:

Maybe he'll be up and down this season, but when he's up, is there another center in the league quite like him? He protects the rim, passes out of double teams, has great hands around the basket, up-fakes on his jump-hooks, rebounds in traffic, even has a motor that keeps going and going (unlike a stiff like Eddy Curry). I'm not sure what's missing here. This is stunning. This is startling. There's almost no precedent for it. Just what the Lakers needed: More obscenely good luck.

How can you describe Bynum like that and then, 6 months later, fail to understand the Lakers reluctance to trade him? As if mortaging the franchise's future is so easily done. Yeah we could have had Kidd. But who knows how that would have worked out? That move doesn't make the Lakers a no-brainer contender. And if you're going to trade away the potential future of your franchise, it better make you a threat to win the title. Otherwise some douchebag will write about you in his Atrocious GM Summit.

You see, it's so much easier to say these kinds of things Simmons is saying when you have the knowledge that the path that was taken didn't ultimately work out. Hindsight is 20/20. And he demonstrates this again with his why not take a flier on Stephen Jackson comment. He just finished watching (with a raging hard-on, apparently) the Warriors take out the Mavs, a campaign to which Stephen Jackson fruitfully contributed. But why didn't the Lakers take a flier on Stephen Jackson? For the same god damn reason that the rest of the league didn't:
So what? Suddenly Mitch Kupchak is a dumbass because he didn't want a proven bad apple on his team? And for the record, the Warriors traded both Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy to get Jackson (and Al Harrington), so I don't see how that is "taking a flier." Fliers are free. Murphy and Dunleavy are at least two, three bucks.

But the last part of his quote is the one that bothered me the most. And why aren't Lakers fans more furious that their team willingly threw away Kobe's prime like this? The reason why we're not more furious is because Kobe's prime is NOT over. I'd say he's right there, maybe starting to hit the downslope on the athletic side (the point at which Michael Jordan truly became lethal, btw). People are making such a big deal about Kobe's window and how many years he has left. Who the hell knows. We don't know how long a perimeter player out of high school will last in the NBA because we have yet to see such a career take its course. And honestly, given Kobe's work ethic and determination, I'd say he's got a good a chance to play another 5 years at an extremely high level.

And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to defend Kupchak. The job he has done so far leaves a lot to be desired and he has a LOT of work to do this summer. But to say that the team willingly threw away Kobe's prime is a ludicrous statement. As if Mitch purposely tried to avoid winning a championship this year. The man took some gambles, didn't take others, and is currently losing the battle. Plain and simple.

The only teams who willingly lost anything this season were teams who were tanking for lottery postion. Teams like the Celtics.

What the...

2007-05-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

Bigamist.

What about Long Beach, Snoop? WHAT ABOUT LONG BEACH?

PHX/LAL Game 5

2007-05-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

I thought we had them.

Kobe started hot early, got cold late and refused to take it to the basket. That's pretty much the game. Because the Suns were ripe last night. The Laker D took them deep into shot clocks. Steve Nash was having an off night (7 TOs). Amare was in foul trouble. Barbosa wasn't torching us with his speed. But of course, the Lakers couldn't capitalize. And even if they did, they'd have to do it again. And again.

In fact, the only reason why they were even close last night was Lamar Odom. As he did in game 4, Odom played inspired basketball. In my opinion, he earned his place on this team as the legit second option with his last two games. He knows that he will be the center piece in many trade talks this off season and that there is more than a good chance that he will be wearing another uniform next year. He could have easily taken that cue and mailed it in especially with all his injuries as legitimate excuses. But no, he came out and left it all on the floor. With desperation. I think it's clear. He wants to be on this team.

And since it seems like things will be changing in Lakerland, I just hope they remember that.

So that's the season. I'll be reflecting on it over the next few weeks. But at this point right now, my assessment is that the team has taken a step backward. And not just because they lost. But because they unraveled as a unit in the second half of the season. Yes, the injuries played a big role in that but that threat isn't going anywhere. Hardships such as injuries can be overcome with proper leadership. And with proper leadership in place, sometimes hardships can even bring a team closer. That was the most disappointing part. And I think that's the aspect of the team that needs to change first.

We need some good veterans. We're young, we're athletic. But what we need to be is tough. Robust. We can't be a team that is only elite in the best of conditions because that's the thing, conditions are rarely ideal and completely in the hands of fate. And honestly, it doesn't seem like fate likes us right now.

That said, there was a lot of good coming out of this season. Kobe continued his legacy as one of the greatest scorers this league as ever seen and in breathtaking fashion. Lamar made strides this season both in terms of his play and his mental approach to the game (his game last night would have never happened if not for some added maturity). Turiaf and Farmar (and to a lesser extent, Bynum) showed potential of being good NBA players and Luke Walton proved this year that he is just that. So, it most definitely wasn't a total loss, just a disappointing finish.

PHX/LAL Game 4

2007-04-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Luke wonders where the ball is. Nash remembers a joke from Super Troopers (Meow!).

Well at least Nash didn't break Magic's/Stockton's record for most assists in a playoff game (24). You know why? Because no one, and I mean no one, puts up 25 assists in a game against our Lakers. No, siree.

So as one annoying house guest dropped in to say yesterday, the Lakers are "just delaying the inevitable." A few other people then entered the room so of course, he repeated it so that they too may bask in the glory that was his astute basketball observation, laced with wit, and placed with impeccable comedic timing...again. He then went on to refer to Kwame as "Mitts Brown." And then applauded several beautiful Steve Nash passes with an orgasmic, "Ohh, nice pass." What did I do about it? Well, being that he was my parents' friend and I was in my parents' house (I don't have HD, they do), I farted in his direction and left it at that.

As for the actual game, what can you say? The Suns made the right adjustments. They flukenized the Lakers' game 3 victory by proving that yes, they were just caught off guard by the Laker's trap and that they would be ready for it by game 4. Bad news for the Lakers.

That said, Lamar did us proud in this game. Broke knee. Broke elbow. Broke shoulder. It don't matter. There came a point in the third quarter where he was revving up the crowd on the defensive end and then ramming it down Phoenix's throat on the other end causing the seed of doubt to germinate in the Suns. The crowd was getting into it. Kobe was likewise having a good game. And that, my friends, may have been the closest we were getting to the title this year: cutting the lead to 6 in game 4, trying to tie the series 2-2. In the first round.

Because in the end, it just seems like these Lakers cannot/will not bring a consistent defensive effort from game to game. And this is a problem especially if you are down 3-1 in a seven game series. So that now puts the Lakers in the business of extending the series any way they can. Think: last 35 seconds of a game, down 5. You know you're pretty much done, yet you foul the other team every time they touch the ball. Maybe they'll miss their free throws. Maybe they won't call the foul and you'll come away with the steal. Maybe you'll catch fire from three and trade 3 for 2 with them. Nonetheless, your chances are slim. But that's besides the point. Stalling is your all consuming task as you savor the last few moments before your unofficial loss crystalizes and the defeat's agony sets in. It gives that homer inside of you one last hurrah. Before he's hosed down by reality of a final score.

Delaying the inevitable.

PHX/LAL Game 3

2007-04-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Fuckin finally.

I am holding back the urge to gush about the way the Lakers played tough, focused basketball last night. How Lamar and Kwame did their best Shaq impression (37 pts, 22 rebs, 4 blocks). Or about how Shammond Williams and Smush Parker turned in inspiring defensive efforts against one of the league's best back courts. But, for now, I will refrain. In my mind, I want to believe that this is the start of a series victory, not just a moral one.

But seriously, there ain't nothing wrong with moral victories.

PHX/LAL Game 2

2007-04-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

Damn.

More later.

Actually, no. That's it.

PHX/LAL Game 1

2007-04-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

Laker Killer.

Overall, the game was encouraging. The Lakers proved to themselves that if they control the tempo, they can control the game. And that's exactly what they did for 3 quarters. The fast breaks were rare. The Lakers kept the Suns off of the three point line and away from the rim (they can't shoot midrange for shit) and more importantly deeper into the shot clock. True, it did require the white hot shooting of Kobe Bryant to maintain their lead. But still, now they know it's possible.

That said, there was still something very methodical about the way the Suns dismantled the Lakers lead in the second half. Especially on the defensive end. They tried to force the ball out of Kobe's hands. Kobe gave it up, literally, a couple of times. The others did not come through and their short leash was pulled. It was Kobe keepers from there on out, double teams be damned. We all know the rest. The horrible, frustrating rest.

But the other component to the Suns' second half surge was Barbosa. That guy is basically Tony Parker, but less French. And faster. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was like when you're playing pickup ball at the park against a soccer player. The only difference is Barbosa can finish; the soccer player at the park tends to just drive, full speed parallel to the sideline, but instead of angling toward the basket for a layup, he keeps going straight and then he lobs some hook shot toward the basket before going over the baseline, hoping one of the other dudes will head the ball in or some shit. Anyway, Barbosa single handedly negated the Lakers' attempt at slowing the game down.

As you can see, those two adjustments at halftime (get the ball out of Kobe's hands and push the tempo with Barbosa, the fastest man in the building) paid well for the Suns.

Now it's Phil's move. I say we go something like this:
1) More Lamar in the post.
2) Be ready for Barbosa. (That is, don't have Smush guarding him)
3) Tell the bench guys to start making some shots.

And can you believe it? The Nuggets beat the Spurs and the Warriors beat the Mavs in stunning game 1 upsets leaving us with the old that-was-supposed-to-be-us look on our face. That's what I get for saying that the Lakers are the only 6/7/8 team that has a shot of taking out one of PHX/SAS/DAL. But you know what, I stand by my statement.

Phoenix It Is.

2007-04-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

There are so many things I am curious to see in this series.

How will Farmar hold up against Nash?
Honestly, Farmar appears to have the quickest feet in terms of on-the-ball defense. He keeps the dribbler in front of him and he seems to make sound decisions while negotiating the high screen. He may not pick Nash's pocket as often as Smush would but over the course of the game, Jordan's D will take its toll on the Canadian.

[Random note on the Smush v. Farmar debate: In the last game of the regular season against the Kings, after Farmar dunked from the hash line on a 3 on 2 point guard keeper, the telecast showed the entire bench (especially Bynum and Sasha) ECSTATICLY cheering and hooting as the Lakers returned on defense. But there was one sober face in the midst of the jubilee: Smush's. Smush had that "yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just all calm down" face on. Smiling, yes. But obviously conflicted and definitely not as excited as the other guys. And that right there, is my problem with Smush. Although Kobe may receive everyone else's vote, in my opinion, Smush Parker is the most selfish player on the Lakers.]

Will we see Lamar in the post again?
What the hell happened to this play over the last few weeks after Lamar returned from injury? The guy is a beast in the post yet I can only remember him shooting threes and occasional forays into the lane. Setting lamar up in the post (especially when Marion was guarding him) was a huge component of the Lakers' success in last year's playoffs. I hope Phil was just saving it for the playoffs.

Which Laker team will show up?
During the Sacramento game, there were stretches where the Lakers started to look a lot like the team from the first two weeks of the season. And I hope that's the team that shows because that team can win. However, I do believe that we will see the team that looks so bad that Kobe has to score 50+ to stay in the game. At least the latter will be fun to watch.

How much has each team has grown (or regressed) from last year?
The biggest difference for the Suns is Amare. No doubt about it, he makes them better. But other than that, the only other significant difference in the Suns from last year to this is the time. And trust me, this is not good news for the Lakers. More time means more cohesion and more teammates reading each other's minds. For a team like the Suns, this is very important.

As for the Lakers, there is a great deal of improvement personnel wise. The bench is deeper with additions like Mo Evans and Vlad Radmanovich and the continued improvement of Brian Cook. The front court is stronger with Turiaf and Bynum now making solid contributions. Luke has shown great strides this year. But to me, this series is riding on the growth of Kwame. Kwame proved this year that he is an indispensible piece of this team. And if he can be a presence on both ends, as he did in spurts last year, the Lakers will have a chance.

Is it just me, or are you other Laker fans out there starting to feel quite a bit of confidence in Kwame?

Professor Roland Lazenby, Journalism -- Virginia Tech University

2007-04-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

(Passed on from TrueHoop and FB&G)

For a personal, detailed account of the Virginia Tech tragedy, go check out Planet Blacksburg. Planet Blackburg is a student run media organization started by one of our favorite Laker writers/historians Roland Lazenby, who is also a Journalism professor at Virginia Tech.

Some of the content (especially the comments) is downright chilling. And it is definitely stuff that the mainstream media will not and cannot present. This point of view is not from people who flew in yesterday with a camera crew. This is from the people who were there and will be there and will be most affected by it.

It Was A Good Day

2007-04-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Lakers are IN.

The Lakers finally suited up their entire roster. They made a starting line up change, inserting Farmar at PG instead of Smush. And they finally secured a playoff spot. Game 81 was big.

But those are the side orders. The main course was once again Kobe Bryant. He dropped at least 50 points for the 10th time this season on 18-25 shooting. Two of those fifty came on a graceful aerial spin that would make a ballet dancer blush both because the form was flawless and because he thinks Kobe's hot.

Back to the sides, having Kwame back seemed to really solidify the Laker D. He was blocking shots and taking charges. It's becoming clear that Kwame is a good basketball player. As for Farmar starting at the one, he played well, not great (9 pts, 3 assists). But most importantly, he handled the ball well and made good decisions. That's all you really want from a point guard. Everything else is just a bonus. I wish Smush could see that. But to Smush's credit, he handled his demotion with class:

"Just got to play through it, take advantage of the time I get and work hard."

Now, as long as he didn't say that while making jack-off motions, I'd say that was a mature attitude.

Most importantly, the Lakers are going to the play-offs and don't have to worry about going into Sacramento needing to win to get in. Because you know that the Kings would love to spoil the Laker season. And of course, that Arco Arena crowd would be ready to boo the Lakers lustily. I have a feeling that the only thing Sacramentoans do lustily is boo the Lakers.

***

~~James Worthy Day~~ Jackie Robinson Day, a great success at Dodger Stadium.

Beating the Padres in a series is cause enough for celebration. Especially the way the Padres handed the Dodgers their asses last year (well, except for one game...). But last night also featured a great deal of fanfare and ceremony as the Dodgers and MLB as a whole celebrated the great Jackie Robinson and the 60th anniversary of his appearance in the Majors. Players league wide were given the opportunity and priviledge to sport the sacred jersey number 42. I missed most of the pregame ceremony but from all accounts, it was emotional and classy. Say what you want about McCourt and his ownership regime. But they did a great job honoring Jackie Robinson. For more on Jackie Robinson and the anniversary, head over to the Broken Cowboy. They have lots of good stuff.

As for the game, Russel Martin, Andre Ethier, and Wilson Valdez (the 6-7-8 of the Dodger lineup) combined for 9 hits and 7 RBI. Randy Wolf gave up the three runs over 6 strong innings. And the Beimel-Broxton-Saito combo shut the door on the Pads in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. A good win all around.

***

Cube messes around and gets a triple double.

He had the brew, she had the chronic, the Lakers beat the SuperSonics (see above).

Fanny. Jammy. Punanny.

Fat burger.

No AK.

I gotta say it was a good day.

Don't Hate

2007-04-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

I hate the way the Lakers are playing.

I hate the fact that they are now "fighting" to make the playoffs.

I hate the fact that I had to quote the word fighting because it really is a stretch to consider the effort they put forth night to night as fighting.

I hate their defense.

I hate how Lamar Odom insists on shooting threes even though his shoulder injury has left him with little to no shooting touch.

I hate how Kobe is so frustrated that he complains about no-calls now instead of getting back on defense.

I hate thinking about how good this team looked earlier this season.

I hate injuries.

I hate how Clipper fans think they have a better team than us.

I hate how correct they appear to be right now.

I hate that this blog post makes me sound like Bill Plashke.

I hate how this team is constantly compared to Phil's past teams.

I hate that we have gone 2-7 in what was supposed to be a soft schedule for the final 10 games.

I hate that we have only beaten Sacramento and Seattle, both well below .500 teams, for those 2 wins mentioned above.

I hate that the playoffs are about to start and I still don't have HD yet.

I hate how Andrew Bynum gets no love from the officials.

I hate how Andrew Bynum makes the above phenomena worse by bitching about every call.

I hate that Luke might be banging bald, crazy Britney Spears.

I hate how they keep blowing late leads.

I hate that I feel like Kobe lost us that game last night.

I hate realizing that there are deeper issues at hand than Kobe missing late jumpers.

I hate taking steps backward.

Alright, I'm done. Here's to victory tonight against Phoenix. Go Lakers.

Opening Day Grades

2007-04-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

It was my first trip to Dodger stadium in about 8 months. Much had changed since last season. And of course, much stayed the same. For better or for worse.

+ For better: Parking at the stadium
I went from ticket gate to parking spot in about 3 minutes. The florescent green clad attendants formed human road barriers funneling me to my singular destiny. I was actually quite impressed. One thing to note: you should figure out which entry gate will funnel you to a parking lot that is close to your seat and enter through that gate; we had to walk a ways to our seats.

- For worse: Cops in unmarked Suburbans breaking up tailgating parties
They showed up out of nowhere. In short black shorts. But they left. And the drinking of the beers ensued. But still, I hate no tailgating policies, especially ones that are even half-assedly enforced.

+ For better: The exterior stadium posters of the players are now paintings, not photos
A nice touch, really.

+ For better: The ceremony
It gave me the chills. And made me want to fight the British.

- For worse: The game. We lost and Matt Kemp and Jason Schmidt were injured

Note: Jason Schmidt was not injured in the collision pictured above.

- For worse: The beer stand
The concession stand was either out of beer or was not selling it by design. So we got our Dodger dogs (for better, always) and headed over the beer stand and got in line. We ate our dogs. We caught a glimpse of Jason Schmidt's homerun clear the fence. My friend Mike used the bathroom and came back. We talked to some random old guy in front of us. All in all, we were in line for 2 full innings. Why? They had to pour the beers. Seriously. I'll write more about this over the course of the season. But to sum it up: the reason why lines at Dodger Stadium concession stands are so fucking long is the pouring of beer. Plain and simple.

+ For better: The Dodger fans

Don't start shit with Dodger fans.

Especially this one.

I think people would generally leave this guy alone, though.

- For worse: Leaving Dodger Stadium
And not in some cheesy sentimental way. It's the fact that an hour after a game, the lot was still packed. They still have some work to do.

Frustrating, Yes. But I Wonder.

2007-04-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

These last few games were hard to watch as a Laker fan because it seemed like in each game they could not seem to get that pivotal, get-over-the-hump basket. For example, last night against the Clippers, they fought back from down 19 but everytime they got the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, the would screw it up. Or down three, late against Denver, the Lakers came up scoreless after getting two shots and the ball following (a somewhat questionable) flagrant foul. Or a few nights ago against Houston, Kobe travelled on a crucial overtime possession. And to top it all off, the last two losses -- DEN (7th in the west) and LAC (8th in the west) -- have put the Lakers perilously close to the very edge of even making the playoffs.

What's so frustrating in games like these, is that the team does enough to earn the victory yet they end up with a loss. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It's losses like these wear down the mind as well as the body. And to have them happening this late in the season, when the team would like to be collecting momentum for a playoff push, it is especially disheartening.

But here's a thought: Maybe the Lakers want the 8 spot.

It's clear that the teams in the 6, 7, and 8 spots in the West are more or less sacrificial lambs to the NBA deities. "Pick your poison," they say. Dallas (v. 8), Phoenix (v. 7), or San Antonio (v. 6)? To me, the answer to that question is inconsequential; I don't see one of those opponents as being a more favorable matchup than the others. All three are bad ass teams. All three can win the title this year. And all three present matchup problems in some way shape or form. All three are, well, poison.

The real question is what happens if you actually take one of the big three down and pull of a first round upset? Well, say you're in the 6 spot. You beat San Antonio. Then guess what? Odds are you're going to get Phoenix in round two. And similarly, if you're the 7 spot and you beat Phoenix in round 1, then you get San Antonio in round 2. Shitty, I know. However. If you are in the 8 spot, and you somehow beat Dallas in the first round, then you get the winner of Utah/Houston in the next round. And as an added bonus, San Antonio and Phoenix will have to play each other in round 2 as well.

So basically, if you're one of the 6,7, or 8 teams and you have title aspirations, then the 8 spot is where you want to be because you will only have to play 2 out of the big 3 rather than all of them. And honestly, the only 6/7/8 team who has even a chance at pulling of a first round upset is the Lakers.

Hmm, maybe these losses weren't so bad after all.

CG'd

2007-04-03T10:10:00.001-07:00

Ben Sheets shattatatted on the Dodger lineup yesterday. Complete game, 2 hitter. Not how you want to open the season.

The really troublesome part was how it took approximately 20 minutes for someone to expose Juan Pierre's defensive limitations. In the first inning, Rickie Weeks went from first to third on a bloop single that landed in front of Pierre, drawing a weak throw that allowed the batter, J.J. Hardy, to take second. So instead of runners at first and third (or maybe just one at second), the Dodgers were looking at second and third and thus the hard one hopper to Jeff Kent (two batters later, after Fielder had struck out) scored a run instead of being the inning ending double play.

However, the shittiest Dodger news came before the game when I learned that the Dodgers had optioned James Loney to AAA and instead put Matt Kemp on the opening day roster. Not only did James Loney hit .414 in the spring, but Matt Kemp has yet to show any consistency at the plate. He's like Pedro Cerrano. Straight ball he hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid. Sounds like he could use more time in AAA, rather than sitting on his ass in the bigs. And besides, Big Lone-Lone is the sleeper on my fantasy team.

"Hats for bats. Gracias."

Lazenby Strikes Again

2007-04-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

Roland Lazenby talks about Smush Parker and the unique element that he adds to this Laker squad. The toughness. The desperation and fervor. The sink or swim mentality. These all describe Smush.

Lazenby begins by describing where he first saw Smush: the D League.

I always referred to D League as “Hardwood Survivor.” It’s a unique blend of the college and the pro game. The players are trying to catch a basketball lifeline, so they often play with the kind of heart-on-the-line abandon that could light the gleam in Jerry Sloan’s steely eyes. The games are played in the classic pro style (lots of high screen and roll, etc.), but, fueled by desperation, they often resemble a college pace and fervor.

He then goes on to make the observation that although he is in his second season as an NBA starter, about to lace them up for onehundredandsomethingeth consecutive game, "without a guaranteed contract, Smush remains in the D League. He can’t afford to sit down, can’t afford to let go of the lifeline."

I never thought of it like that. I always thought that Smush's play-with-something-to-prove style was the result of an inferiority complex because of his history in the NBA. I seemed to have forgotten that until he nails down a guaranteed contract, he can't rest. Basically, it's not so much his personality that makes him carry that insecurity to the court. It's his situation.

The sad thing about it is, if his toughness and desperation are key factors to his success in this league, what happens if he does achieve the stability of a guaranteed contract?

Killing the Last Five Minutes of Work

2007-03-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Almost time for the weekend. A real quick note, before I leave for an exciting weekend of helping my parents move.

I have been reading Chuck Klosterman's Final Four Blog on ESPN.com. The guy is hilarious. It's kinda like reading Simmons. Just fresher and better. Especially if you read Simmons latest right before. And, his ESPN headshot looks like Corey Feldman's character from Stand By Me:

"Looney, looney, looney."

Anyway, Go UCLA.

Asides 9

2007-03-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Flushing it down.

/*
It's that damn zone. I never thought that I would be missing Vlad Rad too much during his injury but it might have been nice to have him around against Memphis' zone. Instead, with Kwame out, Bynum not being a presence on the block, and the defense daring everyone to shoot from far, the non-Vladimir Lakers let loose 35 threes. I hate when the Lakers do that, settle for too many threes. But the funny thing is, when I checked the boxscore, I noticed that they were 13-35 from 3PT land (37.1% -- not bad) and 20-61 (32.8% -- not not bad) for all other field goals. Turns out it was all those missed lay ups that killed them. Who'da thought?
*/

/*
You have heard many commentators talk about it, but you rarely see a coach call for his team to foul when up by 3 with less than 10 seconds left, giving the team that's trailing 2 free throws and preempting a three point attempt (wow, never tried describing that scenario in words before). Tony Barone actually did it at the end of this last game. And I was thinking, oh man he fucked up. Because, you need some seriously clutch free throw shooters on your team to for this to work out. And it almost backfired when Hakim Warrick missed one of two free throws giving the Lakers one final shot, down by 3. Of course, Smush ended up shooting our last shot so...
*/

/*
Speaking of Smush's last three, I thought that was an interesting touch by Phil Jackson. For one, he figured that no one would be expecting the play to be drawn up for Smush, especially after he had just missed a crucial shot (3 pointer, top of the key, 13 sec left, Lakers down 3, Kobe wide open one pass away). So, he got a pretty good look. But the other interesting thing about that play was that it shows that Phil is very aware of Smush's fragile psyche. I once wrote something about how when Smush makes a mistake, he basically tries to make up for that mistake as soon as possible. You can tell, it seriously kills him and it causes him to lose focus. So, I thought it was cool of Phil to give him the chance to redeem himself for the earlier miss, to show that kind of confidence in him. Now we have to see how he recovers from missing that shot.
*/

/*
More Mj v. Kobe from Lazenby. Kobe haters, begin your indignant pouting...now.
*/

/*
The Dodgers traded Elmer Dessens to Milwaukee for Brady Clark. Seems like pretty standard news at this point in the spring. Marginal pitcher for marginal outfielder. Done and done. But check out this observation from Dodger Blues:

One last note on the trade: With Dessens gone, Brady Clark becomes the Dodgers' last link to Mike Piazza. Back in '98, of course, Piazza was traded to the Marlins for Gary Sheffield, Jim Eisenreich, and Bobby Bonilla. After the 2001 season, Sheffield was sent to the Braves in exchange for Brian Jordan and Odalis Perez. Jordan eventually left as a free agent, but Perez was traded last year to Kansas City for Dessens. Now, with Dessens on his way to Milwaukee, it's Clark's turn to hold the Piazza Torch. Maybe he can find Rupert Murdoch and burn him with it.

Piazza for Brady Clark.
*/

Something's Not Quite Right

2007-03-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

At least they are winning now. That's what I try to remember. But there are two reasons why I am wary of getting really excited about the Lakers' five game win streak.

1) The lack of defense. It would be different if the Lakers were coming into each game with a strong defensive effort, making it a point to hold their opponents to a reasonable point total. However, it seems as if they are content to just try to outscore them which, we've all seen, does not work in the long run (the Suns appear to be an exception, but we'll see. honestly, I'd take Dallas over them solely because they play better D). The Lakers, in the month of March (5-7), have given up an average of 110 points per game. Bothersome, but even moreso if you consider this:

In the 7 game losing streak: 110 pts allowed per game
In the 5 game winning streak: 110 pts allowed per game

Basically, the only reason why we're 5-7 in March and not something more like 2-10 is that Kobe decided to start putting up Wilt Chamberlain like numbers. Vitrually NOTHING has changed on the defensive end.

To their credit, they did sack up a few times and got some pretty clutch defensive stops over the course of the winning streak, but still...

2) They seem extremely fragile right now. Lamar, Luke, Kwame, and now Smush are all playing in pain and even though he won't admit it (or just doesn't notice it any more), so is Kobe. That's all the starters. As for the bench, the depth that set them apart earlier this season has been reduced by injury (Cook, Evans), stupidity (Radmanovich), and youthful ineptitude (Farmar, Bynum). Everything seems so difficult right now. Lamar's shoulder won't allow him to shoot from outside of 17 feet (which actually might be a good thing), Kwame can barely get off the ground, and Luke, slow as it is, has lost a step laterally. They are basically a facade at this point and again, this is a problem that has been masked recently by Kobe's heroics.

To summarize, they say that someone's heart doesn't show until they show the ability to press on in the most dire of circumtances. That's the best way I can describe what is going on right now with the Lakers. If the Lakers were a boxer, they'd be entering the 9th round with weak legs, a guard that can no longer protect, and a mind that is hitting the proverbial wall. All they have left is heart. And a devastating right hook.

And unless they catch a second wind, especially on the defensive end, that's all the Lakers will have come playoff time: A puncher's chance.

65, 50, 60

2007-03-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

That looks like my midterm scores from freshman year physics.

I think I'll leave it to Lazenby to summarize my feelings on Kobe's amazing run:

After Bryant scored 60 in a road win over the Memphis Grizzlies recently, Jackson told reporters, “At one point, we got the offensive rebound and (had) a whole new 24-second (shot clock) left. Lamar (Odom) gave the ball right back to him and Kobe went right back at them. He just smells blood in the water and he’s going to go after you.”
I interviewed Jackson many times during his years as coach of the Chicago Bulls. The “blood in the water” quote was the sort of commentary he frequently offered about the incomparable Michael Jordan.
In Bryant’s career with the Lakers, I can’t recall Jackson offering a truly Jordanesque quote about Bryant. Oh, Jackson has had plenty of nice things to say, some of them genuine.
But I perceive this quote as different. Kobe Bryant has finally achieved the status he has sought so long.
He finally has neared the level of respect, even reverence, that Jackson accorded Jordan.
...
But there’s no question this is a new day. Bryant has arrived at his moment, able to use his full arsenal truly for the first time. His three big scoring games in a row all resulted in Lakers wins. He is the man at last, the dominance he sought in his youthful vision.
There’s only a sense, that as the team charges down the schedule toward the playoffs, there are more big performances to come, each of them to be prized the way Phil Jackson once prized Jordan’s every move.

The whole Air Apparent thing has died down in the last couple of years. After Jordan retired, everyone assumed that someone like him would take the helm and lead the league into the future. Grant Hill, Penny, Kobe, McGrady were all labelled as the 'Next Jordan' at some point in their careers and all, to this day have not yet come through. And thanks in no small part to the arrival of LeBron, Wade, and Melo and the emergence of Dirk and Steve Nash - all very different players in terms of size, style, and skill set - it seems as if the focus has been removed from identifying the next archetypical shooting guard in the mold of Michael Jordan.

But just when you resign yourself to the possibility that there will never be another Michael Jordan, Kobe steps up and does something that makes you re evaluate things. And I think it's becoming clear. Although these comparisons between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan have been going on for many years, they are now starting to become really serious. Don't think so? Go ask their coach.

Furcal Injured

2007-03-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Via Dodger Thoughts:

Arguably the team MVP, with no legitimate backup in the organization outside of a major position shift, Rafael Furcal now has Dodger fans holding their breath.

'One batter into the game, Baltimore's Corey Patterson hit a high pop to shallow center. Furcal went out, Repko came in. Repko made a diving catch, and Furcal jumped over him to avoid a collision. It was when Furcal came down from that short jump that he landed on his left ankle and remained on the ground for several minutes before trainer Stan Conte finally drove him off the field on a cart, with assistant trainer Todd Tomczyk holding Furcal's ankle motionless in the flat bed of the cart. This looks bad right now. Really bad. More when I know more.'
(quote from Tony Jackson of the Daily News)

Why couldn't this have happened last year when we had a Gold Glove SS on the bench?

Sneaky Bastard

2007-03-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

Frank McCourt raised the parking prices at Dodger Stadium from $10 per game to $15 per game so that "the free-for-all to get in and out of the stadium should give way to a more orderly system."

Is it just me, or is anyone else bothered by the fact that a man who made enough money to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers, simply by owning a parking lot, just raised stadium parking prices by 50%? According to the article:

About 20,000 cars park at the stadium for most games, so the 50% price increase works out to $100,000 a game in additional revenue, or $8.2 million for the season. About 15% of that will go toward paying about 100 additional parking attendants — double the current number — who will direct fans into specific parking spaces.

Really? Just 15% of 8.2M for more attendants? No satellite parking lot with a shuttle system? No new entrances and exits? If you look at the diagram it looks like all they did was add some new lettered signs and some new road paint for some directional arrows. Oh and they arranged the rest of the numbered parking lots into some sort of discernable order. I'm sure that required a 6 figure line item for a sorting consultant.

McCourt claims that "The challenge at Dodger Stadium is that 20,000 cars all want to be there at the same time and leave at the same time." Uh, yeah. What he fails to realize is that this is not the challenge at Dodger Stadium per se, that's human nature. People in general want to show up just in time for the opening pitch/tip off/ kick off/face-off/ or whatever the hell they do to start Soccer and leave as soon as the game is over. Some arenas/stadiums have well planned parking systems (or public transportation) that allow this to happen. Others, such as Dodger Stadium, are built in a ravine. There's the challenge. However, this plan doesn't seem to do anything to mitigate that fact.

But of course, I will reserve final judgement until I actually have a chance to witness the effects of these changes first hand. However, just for fun let's take a look at this Dodger owner's resume thus far in terms of Non-baseball operations related moves.

+ The unceremonious dismissal of announcer Ross Porter
+ The infamous Dollar Tuesday night
+ The horrible, foul territory eating, field level seat additions in 2005 that featured zero rise and poor view for everyone but the front couple of rows (Basically, non stadium seating in a fucking stadium -- they had to be redone.)
+ The ads on the outfield wall
+ The ribbon screen that lines the stadium loge level balcony (more ads) and the poor bastards deep in the field level sections who are partially blocked by it
+ The all-you-can-eat-deal in the Outfield Pavilion and the poor bastards who will have to clean the Pavilion section bathrooms

Well at least he wrote Angela's Ashes.

Weekend Notes

2007-03-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

+ First of all, how about it for USC and UCLA making the sweet 16. The Pac-10 is soft. The Pac-10 is overrated. Whatever. Three teams in the sweet 16, including our two SoCal teams. Sounds pretty good to me. The best part? USC and UCLA have two great coaches and two high level recruits (Mayo, Love) coming in next year.

+ Did you see how hype Kobe got during the Minnesota game? Like after Luke gave him that dime on the 2 on 1 (Kobe got an and1). He slapped Luke's hand like 7 times and hugged him and screamed at him. All while Luke just stood there undoubtedly confused. Or after he got that other and1 late in the game in which he waded through several bumps and slaps and made a short jumper from around the free throw line. He walked off toward the scorer's table screaming something along the lines of "Fuck these motherfuckers! blahablahg Fuck blahblah Fuck." The ESPN broadcast showed it twice in slow motion. I hope he doesn't get suspended.

+ Lost in the excitement of Kobe's big game last night against Minnesota was the three near triple doubles (a team triple triple-double) by Lamar, Luke, and Smush (Smush!). Here are their lines:

Lamar: 16 pts, 9 rebs, 8 assts
Luke: 10 pts, 8 rebs, 11 assts
Smush: 19 pts, 7 rebs, 9 assts
--------------------------------
Total: 45 pts, 24 rebs, 28 assts

There's lots of talk right now about how Kobe has been onemanshowing it the last few games. And that may be true from the scoring standpoint. But this shows that the other guys aren't just gonna stand there with their thumbs up their respective asses (or each other's for that matter).

+ Seeing Kobe shoot the Lakers back into that game against Portland made me think about that one game in 2004 (the Malone-Payton Campaign) in which the Lakers beat the Blazers in double OT to clinch the Pacific Division title. In that game, Kobe hit a three to tie it in regulation and then hit another to win it in double OT.

Kobe for the tie:
Kobe pump faked about 3 times trying to get Ruben "KobeStopper" Patterson in the air but he did not bite. So Kobe said fuck it, and he jumped to the right and leaned in and made it anyway. By the way, the photo to the left is named KobeTai.jpg. I have more than one of these.

Kobe for the win:
Then, with about 2 seconds left in double OT, the Lakers down 2, Kobe caught the ball near the left wing, and fading away, he launched a rainbow shot over the oncoming Theo Ratliff. Swish. Kobe landed on his heels and almost fell down before running down court in celebration. After the game, Ruben asked Kobe for a signed pair of his shoes and promised to never again call himself the KobeStopper. Then he tried to kiss to Kobe.

+ The turnaround, fadeaway three that all but sealed it in OT on Friday night was more impressive than both of those 2004 shots. By far. That one was a piece of art.

Good Weekend

2007-03-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

Kleiza'd

2007-03-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

For about a quarter and a half, the Lakers teased us, showing us a brief glimpse of the team that rolled to a 26-13 record to begin the season. Then this guy starts dropping bombs on us.

I swear I played with that guy at the park once. And no, he didn't miss then either.

But at the very least, if silver linings are to be drawn from a dull gray sky, it's that for a quarter and a half, they showed they still got it.

That is all.

Asides 8

2007-03-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

An unnatural basketball act.

A very astute comment by Luke:

"He [Kobe] hits us with elbows all the time [in practice]. It's part of the game. I know they're trying to clean it up, but you can't just start calling someone dirty because he's playing the same way he's always played."

To me, if the league would be more vocal about their efforts to clean up the game, then it wouldn't be an issue about whether or not Kobe is a dirty player. Maybe more people will notice that it's not necessarily Kobe's game that has become dirty but rather that the league has lowered (or raised, depending on how you look at it) its standard as to what is dirty and what isn't.

That said, if the league were to spin their recent disciplinary actions as an official crusade to clean up the league, they may be biting off more than they could chew. They would be forced to uphold the consistency of their punishments league wide rather than just with Kobe. They would be suspending someone everyday. So basically, Kobe is just shit out of luck that he got busted in the first place and how that places him squarely under the microscope from here on out.

You could argue, as Phil did (50 K), that it's a witch hunt. But I have tried and tried and I still cannot come up with a scenario in which it is good for the league to suspend Kobe. Well, actually I can, but it always leaves me sounding like Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory.
*/

/*
Speaking of Luke. He's supposed to play tonight. The Lakers record since his injury: 6-15. Holy shit.
*/

/*
I got my tickets for my 13 game package at Dodger Stadium. I go in on the ticket package with about 5 other dudes, all in their early 40s, almost all of them married with young kids (my stepdad's friends, not including my stepdad for some reason). They do not get out much. Hilarity ensues. Trust me, you'll hear more about these guys as the games go by.

Monday April 9 Colorado Rockies (Opening Day) - Ever gotten drunk on 6 jack and cokes in the Dodger Stadium parking lot at 11:30 am? Ever have 2 hot dogs, 4 beers, and an ice cream sundae in a plastic Dodger helmet? Ever take a shit on the steep dirt hill that flanks one of the fringe stadium parking lots? Was it diarrhea? Did you use your underwear and your socks to clean up? I repeat. THEY DO NOT GET OUT MUCH.
Tuesday April 10 Colorado Rockies - I will have 5 extra tickets for this game.
Friday April 20 Pittsburgh Pirates - I played on the Pirates in little league, so ...
Tuesday April 24 San Francisco Giants - Fuck the Giants
Tuesday May 1 Arizona Diamondbacks - Eh, do I have to? Screw it, I probably won't go
Tuesday May 15 St. Louis Cardinals - Watch my Dods try to take it to the champs. Pooholes.
Friday May 25 Chicago Cubs - Prior and Wood will be injured, watch
Friday June 8 Toronto Blue Jays - Never seen the Blue Jays before
Friday June 15 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - versus the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles
Friday June 29 San Diego Padres - Fuck the Padres
Friday July 6 Florida Marlins - I have always wanted a Furcal Bobblehead
Tuesday July 17 Philadelphia Phillies - Ryan Howard
Tuesday July 31 San Francisco Giants - Chinga los Gigantes
Tuesday August 14 Houston Astros - I have absolutely nothing to say about them. Doesn't that just say it all about the Houston Astros?
*/

Eternal Optimist

2007-03-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's as long a shot as you could bet, but I still have hope for this season. I am not Roland Lazenby.

Godspeed, Laker fans.

I Don't Understand Stu Jackson

2007-03-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

It was announced today that Kobe will be assessed a retroactive Flagrant I for his bow to Kyle Korver.

This is exactly what I thought the league should have done in response to Kobe's elbow to Manu Ginobili. Allow myself to quote...myself:

But a suspension? How about a retroactive Flagrant I?

I mean to me, the hit on Manu was at worst, a loose ball foul. A loose ball foul that didn't get called because there was less than 10 seconds left and the refs had swallowed their whistles; trust me, there have been greater travesties in the last 10 seconds of an NBA game. But if the league, from its high horse, really wanted to dole out a non-trivial punishment over the heads of the game refs, then the retroactive Flagrant I would have effectively disciplined Kobe without taking him away from the MSG crowd last night.

Seriously, it's what Jesus would have done.

My whole problem with the two suspensions was that I felt like a step was skipped, a level in the hierarchy of punishment was completely ignored. In the Manu incident, the punishment went from nothing (a non call) to a suspension. In the Jaric case, it went from a loose ball foul to a suspension. In both cases, I felt like the retroactive flagrant I would have been wholly more appropriate.

The fact that the league would draw attention to this by exemplifying that they can, in fact, "reclassify fouls or non-calls as flagrant fouls," is mindboggling. Because all this will do is motivate vigilant fans and journalists to ask the question, what exactly was the difference between the Korver elbow and the Manu/Jaric incidents and why was there such a disparity in the severity of the respective punishments?

All In

2007-03-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

Lamar Odom is coming back on Thursday v. Denver. This reeks of:
1) Desperation
2) Courage
3) A cortisone shot

The Lakers are getting close to the bottom rung of the rope ladder and the helicopter is beginning to ascend. As they fall, rung by rung, the amenities that come with being higher are lost. Home court advantage. Favorable matchups. Resting players for the push. But as they fall, rung by rung, they narrow their focus on a more fundamental goal: not being left on the ground. And the grip tightens.

Memorable Lakers: Elden Campbell

2007-03-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, a friend asked me what I thought about Elden Campbell and his place in the storied Laker history.

I will always remember Elden as the quintessential "serviceable big man." He could play center or power forward. He was fairly mobile, fairly good hops. Had a decent back to the basket game, even if he couldn't turn his head without his whole body following (trust me, this made for many ineffective head fakes). And for whatever reason he loved dunking with his left hand.

Elden was never supposed to be a star in the NBA. Once in while, especially during periods when Shaq went down with injury, Elden would throw up nice a 24 and 12. But he couldn't be counted on to do that night in and night out. He was a good shot blocker. A good rebounder. He made his free throws. And he rarely made big mistakes. He was, well, serviceable.

How would I describe these headshots? You guessed it: serviceable.

He probably would have meant more to Laker fans if he didn't have the charisma of a potato. But I will say this. The departure of Elden Campbell left a huge void at power forward that the Lakers struggled mightily to fill, even as they were winning Championships. J.R. Reid, Dennis Rodman, A.C. Green, Robert Horry, Horace Grant, Samaki Walker, Mark Madsen - all came and went. Some got the job done. Some were horrible. Some were just good enough. The point is, when facing the likes of Tim Duncan, Chris Webber, and Rasheed Wallace yearly in the playoffs, the Lakers would have been a lot better off if they still had Elden.

Don't believe me? Think about this. The Lakers were 8-2 against the San Antonio Spurs when they had both Shaq and Elden in the lineup, including a run of 6 in a row heading into their final regular season matchup of the 1998-99 season. At the time, much was being made about the Spurs and their twin tower model featuring Duncan and David Robinson, thus this was no ordinary feat. But after Elden got traded (with Eddie Jones) to Charlotte for Glen Rice and J.R. Reid (and BJ Armstrong) , the Spurs KILLED the Lakers by 27 in that final regular season matchup, and then owned the Lakers in the playoffs with a dominating sweep on their way to the 1999 NBA title*. So basically, keeping Elden could have been the key to starting the Laker Dynasty a year earlier and ending the Spurs Dynasty before it even started. Imagine that.

* I think we all know what this means: Fuck the Spurs.

Notes on the Game -- KOBE SUSPENDED

2007-03-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

+ Stu and Joel Meyers 'called' both overtimes. First Joel chimes in, Lakers up 2 and about 5.2 seconds left in regulation, with "Oh I hope we don't see overtime." Then, after scolding Joel for his comment, Stu comes back with a similar comment at the end of the first overtime. I hope they feel good that they were right.

+ How you like that one play toward the end of regulation that started with KG guarding Kobe and ended with Jaric swatting the shit out of Kwame? Weird game all around last night.

+ That travel they callled on Bynum toward the end (he was trailing the play, caught the pass as he was streaking down the lane, took two steps and a jump stop - the pro hop - and then went up) was the very same 2.5 steps that I've seen NBA players do since I can remember. I guess it's only a travel when you're that big and you can make up almost 15 feet without dribbling. That, my friends, would be a double standard.

+ I really wish Smush would just make his free-throws rather than try to jinx Ricky Davis as he's shooting his.

+ Speaking of Smush, Kurt at Forum Blue and Gold had this to say about him the last couple of days, after his benching at the end of the PHX game for his porous defense:

I think it will be interesting to see how Smush responds to this at the start of the next game. Does he learn and change a little on the defensive end? Or does he try to go on a scoring binge, saying basically “you can’t afford to lose my offense right now?”

then,

As I said yesterday, I’m curious about how Smush comes out after his benching at the end of last game. My guess, he comes out gunning. But I hope I’m wrong.

Well, it looks like Kurt's worrying was somewhat validated by Smush's 24 points last night. But on a more general note, that's the thing that bothers me the most about Smush: the chip on his shoulder. He's always playing that disrespected role and it always seems like he's going out there with something to prove. Watch him after he makes a mistake. The very next play, he's going out there gambling to get a steal or taking his man one on one, trying to erase his mistake whether or not it makes sense for him to do so from a team standpoint. I realize that sometimes it's good that he has that chip, like when he pickpocketted Nash in game 4 of the PHX series last year, but for the most part you want a point guard who is poised, secure, and even keeled. And I feel like Smush's tendency to go out there and "get his," moreso than his skill set, is the reason why he is always seen as a back-up point guard. He's just so self conscious out there and it's obvious.

+ Kobe's arm flail on Jaric was the Manu/Suspension play all over again. But now the league has to decide whether or not to suspend him again and basically they're screwed either way they decide. If they don't suspend him, they're being inconsistent. If they do, they are suspending a player for an action that did not even earn him a flagrant foul from the game ref.

I realize that Kobe didn't get a flagrant foul that first time either and he got suspended anyway. However, that time, no foul was called at all leaving the refs with 2 outs: 1) they didn't see it or 2) they swallowed their whistles cause it was the end of a close game (an unsaid rule). But this time, a ref did see the play, blew the whistle, and assessed a loose ball foul. So now what? Are they going to suspend him for something that a league official, standing 2 feet away, saw as only a loose ball foul?

~~Probably.~~
Yes.