Laker Blues…
As a quasi-Laker fan I'm happy to celebrate the dominance that LA has enjoyed over the past couple of seasons. I enjoy watching Kobe Bryant reaching even higher than we thought the top of his game reached. I enjoy watching Phil Jackson play the NBA the same way a cat plays with a mouse before she eats it. Always seemingly in control and never panicked.
Whether you follow the Lakers the way I do, you're a die-hard fan or anything in between, you have to be more than a little concerned with the current Laker funk. I know it's only two games but this current Laker stew that's being cooked stinks of failure and complacency. The only player excelling since Gasol's hamstring injury is Lamar Odom. This is great for Lamar but seemingly horrendous for the Lakers as no one else seems willing to step up from the bench crew.
Jordan Farmar had a nice scoring night against an average Dallas squad but apart from that there's no spark from the bench at all. Sasha Vujacic, Derek Fisher and Josh Powell are just horrible to watch. (With the exception of Fisher's defense... I can handle that!)
They make me cringe when they shoot the ball these days and they make it look like they've been sitting out of Basketball for a year.
Sasha and Derek putting their heads together is like watching two hippos try to walk a tight rope. It's going to end badly...
There's no underestimating the value of Pau Gasol in this equation. Now I'm not saying he's the "hardest" guy in the League but I certainly think the inside-outside game that he is a catalyst of, certainly holds the Lakers in better stead.
As for Kobe, well it's easy to consider the finger injury, the knee injury, the elbow injury etc. The only trouble is, Kobe still continues to shoot tough fall-away jump shots during the 4th quarter of close games. Surely his brain isn't injured too?
It's the Milwaukee Bucks that visit the Lakers tonight in LA and after only emerging victorious by one point in overtime last meeting, the Lakers are vulnerable at best. It kicks off an interesting week for the Lake Show with a visit to San Antonio, Dallas and then back home to attempt to avenge their latest loss to the Clippers.
Milwaukee present a definitive challenge to LA. The Bucks have a good presence inside and the Bogut vs Bynum match-up will be great to watch. I'm most excited to see if Phil will give Shannon Brown significant minutes guarding Brandon Jennings. I think Brown's mixture of speed and strength will provide the perfect counter. Either way it will be entertaining! I'm predicting a triple double for Lamar Odom also... I see 14p, 16r and 10a for the lanky number 7.
Jennings could destroy the Lakers... or provide the perfect opportunity for Shannon Brown to arrive.
Buckle up no matter who you are, as when the Lakers experience the Blues, it seems everyone has a lot more to talk about.
Mambalous!
As predicted, Kobe Bryant has been on a tear over the past two games. His game winner against Milwaukee last night was a beauty to watch. Charlie Bell played some really good defense at the end of that game, and especially on Kobe's attempted game winner at the end of regulation. Even his defense on the actual game-winning shot was good, but the shot was just better.
Kobe Bryant was very lucky to have that opportunity.
The foul that was called on Andrew Bogut in the late stages was just a horrible decision by the officials. Bogut was completely set in place and outside the restricted area. Not only did Kobe travel on the play, but he also committed a charge. In reality however, it became the three-point play that kept the Lakers in with a chance.
The Bucks to their credit played very hard and got great contributions from Bogut, Ilyasova, Ridnour and a rather fresh looking Michael Redd. In fact Redd put up nearly as many shots (24) as Roko Ukic has all season! (30)
(Can you say "trade bait"?)
What a difference 4 days make...
We see with superstars all the time, and while it's not right, these calls sometimes don't go the way they technically should.
Regardless of that one play, Kobe has been simply amazing over the course of the past two games against Milwaukee and Chicago.
I know it's only two games but Bryant was horrible against the Jazz whilst battling a broken finger and a stomach virus. He's certainly bounced back with the following averages:
- 40.5 points
- 14-27 shooting @ .518
- 23-27 from the line @ .851
- 4.5 rebounds
- 3.5 assists
- 2 steals
- 7.5 turnovers
I mention the turnovers too because it's fact and I don't want to look like a "Mamba" fanboi. But no one can say that Kobe hasn't made a statement in his last two games.
Needless to say, Courtney Lee will likely feel worse than June '09 this Saturday night in East Rutherford.
Best Passing Big Man?
With Vlade Divac getting his number 21 raised to the rafters by the Sacramento Kings in March this year, (and ESPN trotting out another Vlade article today), I thought I'd have a little rant. Not about Vlade, I quite like the goofy, beaded Serb. I just smile and shake my head when some compliments become so mainstream. This from a photo caption of Divac in a circa-1991 Lakers uniform:
"One of the greatest passing big men of all-time"
Back in the early 90's this was a valid statement, because very few players over 6'10" could pass very well at all. There were certainly even fewer that possessed any extended vision or creativity. But as the 90's came and went, media aplenty have used this term to describe the modern "plus six foot tenner". It's becoming a little diluted...
Ryan and I have often joked about this subject. So I thought I'd compile a list of all the players that I distinctly remember being referred to as "one of the best passing big men" in either commentary or print.
It's a fun list, in no particular order..
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Vlade Divac
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Luc Longley
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Arvydas Sabonis
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Hakeem Olajuwon
-
Kevin Garnett
-
David Robinson
-
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
-
Bill Walton
-
Pau Gasol
-
Anthony Mason
-
Boris Diaw
-
Brad Miller
-
Shaquille O'Neal
-
Yao Ming
-
Chris Webber
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Tim Duncan
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Toni Kukoc
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Clifford Robinson
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Travis Knight (No, I'm not kidding!)
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Juwan Howard
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Kendrick Perkins
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Andrew Bogut
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Charles Oakley
I'm sure there's more that I can't recall right now. It used to be a great compliment, but these days anyone who is over 6'10" and happens to throw a few good passes is all of a sudden considered to be one of the "best passing big men" of all-time. I guess the game evolves but at some point you've got to find a new "buzz term".
And just for good measure, here is the only image of Travis Knight that you're likely to ever see on twosidesofthehoop.com
Travis Knight (Photo courtesy: lebasketbawl.com)
Buck Nasty…
Ok, can anyone tell me why the Bucks are still in the NBA? They don't conjure up any fiery debate at all and could be re-located and very few outside Milwaukee would care. Let's take a look at their recent history...
I'm lifting these stats from the 1991/92 season to the present. Let's see what positives we can find, if any in 17 years.
- 9 Coaches
- 6 Playoff appearances (16-32 overall)
- Combined regular season record of 611-833 at .423
- All Star selections - Michael Redd, Ray Allen, Glen Robinson and Vin Baker
- Only 3 seasons over .500 (4 if you include the 28-22 lockout season in '99)
- 12 Draft lottery selections
- Zero trophies
Interestingly, if you remove Michael Redd and Ray Allen's stats, and concentrate on everything but 3pt shooting, no one has made a historical dent on any stats for the Bucks in this time frame. No one.
How can this be?
Well, wait. I am telling a little lie here. Vin Baker in the 1994/95 season posted 3361 minutes of play which ranks 4th all-time behind the now named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Baker also gathered 289 offensive rebounds for 3rd all-time during that season. Oh and wait, there might be more!
Glen Robinson, Sam Cassell and our man Vin Baker collectively smashed the all-time franchise records for Turnovers in a season from '94 to 2000. Finally, Andrew Bogut and Ruben Patterson squeezed their way into the Top 10 all-time for field goal % in the 2006/07 season.
All in all, just a woeful story of a once-proud franchise.
One would think that someone in Milwaukee would be doing something to remedy the situation. Right?
How about owner Herb Kohl?
Sen. Herbert Kohl (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
He's been the owner of the Bucks since 1985, surely a Senator with a net worth of $279m would look at doing something to help this struggling team?
Well, I suppose this photo tells the story...
"Herb, how about a few dollars to sign some free agents?"
Response: See photo.
"Yo Herb! We need a half decent Power Forward, can we make a splash during Free Agency?"
Response: See photo.
I guess there's no hope for Milwaukee fans. Their team will continue to be sub-par at best, they will continue to finish between 8th and 12th in the East and they will probably never splash out with a big Free Agent signing. I guess all they can do is sit tight and wait for a Russian billionaire to come and bail them out...
...and then probably move them out of Milwaukee.
Note: Statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com