What A Stooge!

The Lake Show was in Oakland last night playing the Golden State Warriors and won easily, 102-85. The Lakers are starting to play a little better. Maurice Evans in particular has been playing better than I thought he could. He scored a career-high 26 points, matching Kobe Bryant's 26 for the game-high in points. The Lakers have won two in a row coming in to tonight's game against the division-leading Utah Jazz, who have a two game win streak of their own.

As I've posted in the past, the Lakers have been hit hard by injuries this year but have stayed afloat throughout. The latest victim is power forward Vladimir Radmanovic who separated his right shoulder in a snowboarding accident during All-Star weekend. The guy is an idiot. He's getting paid $6 million a year, and is only averaging 6 points, and 3 rebounds per game. For $6 MILLION! I can score 6 points a game, and I'd play for free! He then lied about his injury to the Lakers organization because there was a clause in his contract forbidding him to snowboard. I'm sure the Lakers are going to fine him heavily for such a moronic mistake.

Here's a flattering video of Radmanovic when he was playing for the Seattle Supersonics.

The Best Part Of All-Star Weekend

Shaq has got to be the best 7-foot dancer I know. Actually.....I don't know anyone that's 7-feet tall.

All-Star Game

Well, the over-hyped All-Star game has finally come and gone. The game was full of lots of alley-oop dunks which I'm sure was entertaining for the fans, however, I'd really like to see a competitive game in which the players are trying their hardest to win. That hasn't been the case since the '80s when players were proud of playing for the Eastern, or Western, Conference. Blame free agency I guess. Players are changing addresses every few years, which doesn't give them much time to feel loyal to any particular team, let alone proud to play for them. Ah, well.

This year, the West slaughtered the East 153-132. I'm happy to say that the MVP (yes, they actually give MVP awards for these kinds of games) this year was our very own Kobe Bryant. Kobe had 31 points, six assists, six steals, and five rebounds.

A quick note to NBA commissioner David Stern: you should seriously consider a game in which we see the best interantional players like Pau Gasol (Spain), Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), and Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) play against the best homegrown players. Keep it fresh, ya know?

LeBron Hands the Lakers Their 5th Straight Loss

Sigh. Another game squandered by the LA Lakers. Perhaps the players were already dreaming of the debauchery that's gonna go down in Las Vegas this weekend for the annual All-Star game. Whatever it was the Lakers gave another one away, and have extended their losing streak to 5 games, the longest of Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson's career. Their overall record is now 30-24, having lost 11 of their last 15 games. Easily their longest slide of the year.

The game featured an exciting head-to-head between the league's two brightest stars in Kobe and LeBron. Kobe outscored LeBron in the last meeting, but the Cavs go the W. This time around LeBron (38 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast, 3 stls) outplayed Kobe (34 pts, 6 rebs, 5 ast, 2 stls) AND got the W. Two of LeBron's points came off a steal which lead to a spectacular dunk that wowed the LA crowd. The biggest problem I saw for the Lakers was their lack of rebounding, and their inability to stop the Cavaliers from getting in the paint, resulting in too many layups or easy put-backs. They failed to get a rebound off a free-throw miss by LeBron James which killed any chance they had at tying or winning the game.

I'm not too worried about the Lakers, yet. I don't think they should be judged until they are fully healthy. It's only been Lamar Odom's 6th or 7th game back from a knee sprain, and although he my physically be healthy enough to play, mentally he needs to feel comfortable landing on that knee again. It's surprisingly clear how vital Luke Walton is to the offense. He is a great passer and knows the triangle offense as good as any other Laker. Of course Kwame Brown is needed to help rebound the ball and play defense, something Andrew Bynum is still learning how to do.

The Lakers will play their next game on February 21st against the Portland Trailblazers.

A Spew of Hate

This is a real shame. I used to like Tim Hardaway, but after hearing his latest comments about gay people in sports it just proves what a prick he really is. In lieu of former NBA player Jon Amaechi announcing that he is gay, players around the league have been relatively supportive of him, which hopefully will put current gay athletes (which surely there are) a bit more at ease. Unfortunately, with assholes like Tim around it makes it much harder for gay athletes to feel comfortable being open and honest with themselves and their teammates.

Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers used to coach Amaechi when he was playing for the Orlando Magic during the 1999-2000 season and has nothing but great things to say about him. Other supportive comments have come from players like Charles Barkley who said, "It shouldn't be a big deal to anybody. I know I've played with gay players and against gay players and it just shouldn't surprise anybody or be any issue." It's no surprise that the upstanding, and well-educated Grant Hill has some positive things to say about it. Hill said, "The fact that John has done this, maybe it will give others the comfort or confidence to come out as well, whether they are playing or retiring." If only every one in the league were this open-minded.

Instead we hear from players like this:

J-Kidd to the Lakers?

Can you imagine a Lakers back court with Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant? I'm so excited just thinking about it. Thanks to Andy for bringing this rumor to my attention. Jason Kidd is one of the premiere point guards in the NBA. His court vision and knowledge of the game are so good. He is a legitimate triple-double threat every night, is the best rebounding point guard by far, and is third in the league in assists. In addition to all these great skills Kidd possesses, his greatest asset is his ability to make his teammates better. Just look at the resurrection of Vince Carter's career. I really hope the Lakers can pull this off without giving up too much. I would love to see the Lakers get rid of the inconsistent and defensive liability known as Smush Parker. I hope the Lakers realize the potential of Andrew Bynum and former UCLA standout Jordan Farmar and keep them off the trading block. Anybody else is fair game in an attempt for Kidd.

Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, and a healthy Kwame Brown (former number one draft pick back in 2001). Not a bad starting five. With Kidd running the offense Kobe won't have to be such a facilitator anymore (which he has proven to be pretty good at) and go back to his natural instinct: looking to score first. Trades involving All-Star caliber players are hard to pull off, and while reading a few articles about this rumor, most people think it's a long shot. I'll keep my fingers crossed in hopes that we can land him without losing too many key players. The NBA trade deadline is February 22nd. I'll be watching.

Curry's Alley-Oop Dunk Seals The Deal

Last night the Lakers once again proved how unpredictable they can be. Some nights they play so well and defeat the likes of the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, or Utah Jazz. Then the next night they'll follow those great games with dismal performances against sub-par clubs like the Raptors, Grizzlies, and in this case the Knicks.

Granted the Lakers are coming off a grueling 8 game east coast road trip, (thanks to the stupid Grammys) that saw them go 3-5. But coming back to LA and playing a big game against the Knicks should be reason enough to come prepared.

Credit given to the Knicks, who were the laughing stock of the NBA last season, for simply outplaying the Lakers. They shot over 50% from the field and had only 11 turnovers. They are steadily showing some improvement, having already won as many games as they did all of last year. And even more surprising, the playoffs are certainly a possibility in the dreadful Eastern Conference.

Kobe played spectatular as usual leading the Lakers with 31 points, and grabbing 7 boards, and hitting on all 11 of his free throws. Lamar Odom had another double-double with 12 and 10. And, the 19 year-old center Andrew Bynum played solid grabbing 11 rebounds.

Leading the way for the Knicks was Jamal Crawford who scored 24 points and dished out 3 assists and Quentin Richardson who had 19 points, pulled down 12 rebounds, but had 5 turnovers.

The Lakers did have a chance to win the game with about 7 seconds left. They decided to give the ball to Odom and use Kobe as a decoy. Needless to say, it didn't turn out so well. In final second situations like that, Kobe should ALWAYS touch the ball. ALWAYS.

Next game is on Thursday as LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers come to Staples Center in an attempt to push the Lakers season-high losing streak to 5.

Tip-Off

So, I've decided to start a blog dedicated to the Los Angeles Lakers. It's not the most unique topic, or most interesting topic, but damnit it's something I care enough to write about. Plus, c'mon it's basketball season. I was originally thinking of starting one on pizza or hamburgers, but I couldn't imagine writing lots of thought-provoking posts about these two delicious foods.

Here are some links that I was reading that inspired me to create one of my own.

The Association
Although it's not entirely dedicated to the Lakers, it is all about the NBA. The blog is written by a guy who lives in the LA area and is obviously a Laker fan. Pretty cool blog. The writer has a good "voice" in his blog and is pretty funny. This is definitely the model I'll be looking at.

Inside The Lakers
Here is another Lakers blog I've been reading. It's VERY thorough, and in my mind a little too in-depth for the average reader. I guess it's not for the casual Laker fan, but then again I don't think there are casual Laker fans. The blog is pretty boring because it's pretty much ALL text. The dude needs to add some images, links, and/or video within his posts.

Need For Sheed
This blog is pretty awesome. Although it's a blog dedicated to a player that I really can't stand, Rasheed Wallace, it's really cool. There are lots of images, graphics (the banner that reads "Free Shee" is cool), and awesome videos. This may be the best blog I've come across. The images are what I like best. The writer has made everything in the picture black and white except for the Pistons player who is scoring, which really has a nice effect. I want to learn how to do my blog like this.