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.
Less talk, more post work…
Dwight Howard has recently had a quiet word with coach Stan Van Gundy regarding his negativity. Ok, I get it. When Stan yells, everyone feels a little sensitive.. I can understand that. I think it's a little soft that these players are upset with being asked to perform tasks that reap them millions of dollars, albeit with a raised voice... but I get it. I've moved on.
The thing I can't understand in Orlando is why the hell Dwight Howard only gets 5 field goal attempts in a game against the Miami Heat???!?!
Who is going to stop Howard in the post?
That is... if he has any moves down there.
As Ryan said to me earlier today:
"He’s very mechanical in the post. The only move he has from the block is a spinning jump hook into the middle of the lane.
He is pretty good when he gets the ball just inside the elbow coz he can take one hard dribble and just elevate. His quickness lets him get past most opponents when they do that, but he can rack up offensive fouls doing it so they don’t go to it often.
That’s my 2c on it anyway."
Orlando need more of this...
I have to agree, as I've not seen too much in the way of a post-move repertoire from Howard. But there's one thing that is certain, Orlando will not get too far with their current three-point barrage and no inside presence. The game against Miami on Wednesday night saw Howard take 5 of the teams 77 field goal attempts. That is just stupid.
I'm not sure if it's the coaching philosophy or maybe Dwight's lack of confidence, but it cannot continue if the Magic want to emulate last season's success.
So far this season, (after 15 games) Dwight Howard has taken 133 of the teams 1174 shots, that is just over 11%. Other big men across the league are taking a lot more shots and at a higher percentage...
- Chris Bosh - 269 shots at 20.7% of team shots
- Dirk Nowitzki - 302 shots at 23.8$ of team shots
- Andrew Bynum - 164 shots at 13.3% of team shots
- Jermaine O'Neal - 135 shots at 12.3% of team shots
- Tim Duncan - 145 shots at 13.8% of team shots
You get the idea. Basically, all of these players are getting more shots than Dwight Howard. Even Andrew Bynum and Jermaine O'Neal!
It's not even about how many they make, it's just that they are a preferred option to score on their team. If Dwight Howard is to become the "great" big man that everyone seems to think he will, then he needs to develop a post game and then convince his team/coach to get him the ball. Or maybe it's the other way around?
Less talk, more post work.
1, 2, 3 times a Laker…
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently buried in a 14 of 16 home stretch and their next three games are tantalizing. The Lake Show's next potential scalp is the much improved and co-division leading Phoenix Suns. A three day rest should enable Andrew Bynum to return and possibly Pau Gasol, although the latter is unlikely. The Lakers then travel to Colorado to face the "home dominant" Nuggets. A great test for the Lakers and potentially a great opportunity for Denver to springboard out of their current mini-funk. The following game is back at the Staples Center against those pesky Houston Rockets.
Will Trevor Ariza bring a special surprise back to L.A. to trade for his Championship ring?
All of these games are intriguing match-ups and all will provide ample entertainment in Los Angeles and Colorado respectively.
Paul Pierce kills Bulls on Halloween
The Celtics rolled to a 28 point victory over the Bulls at home today as their hot start to season 09/10 continues. In scenes reminiscent of the C's strong start last season, the Celtics dominated throughout the game, with Paul Pierce scoring 20 points in the third quarter to completely ensure victory.
Paul Pierce, 3rd quarter killer
The Lakers are also looking strong with Bynum especially active on both ends, which adds significantly to their defensive ability over last year. Orlando too look to have taken a leap with the additions of Brandon Bass, Vince Carter and Jason Williams. Let's hope Cleveland and San Antonio sort themselves out after their rocky offensive starts to the season so we have some real depth to that upper crust, because at the moment it's looking thinner than the paper skeleton hanging on my wall.
09/10 Kobe and LeBron preview
As mentioned in this space earlier, the general media is already anointing Kobe and LeBron as 09/10 conference champions and trying to predict the overall winner. We think this might be a bit over the top given training camp hasn’t begun and so much is still to shake out. The more interesting and pertinent topic will be what does each of those players need to add for the upcoming season to give their teams the best chance to make it to the big dance?
LeBron
While James' play on court is almost flawless, his biggest challenge will come from being the on-court and locker room leader for all the new additions added to a 66-win team. The holdovers will likely be thinking that they were fine and don’t need all the additions, and there is a school of thought there too. But the bottom line remains, finding roles for Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and the Big Cactus, without stepping on the toes of valuable veterans such as Delonte West and Big Z is going to be no easy matter. Is this another skill that LeBron has? Time will tell.
Kobe
Kobe also has lots of potential roster conflict, although he has the advantage of being able to pass those tasks along to Zen Master Jackson. Probably just as well, as Kobe has not exactly shown himself to be useful at roster placation (see carpark hidden video trade Bynum tirade).
The real issue is that Bryant is no longer a young pup, even though his play reflect it, and all of the Playoff and Olympic miles on his signature shoes over the last several years have to catch up to him at some point. Taking a leaf out of Michael Jordan’s playbook has been something Kobe has never shied away from, so spending more time in the post to conserve energy and focus on fourth quarter heroics would be well served this season.
The Magicians in 6
The Magic will taste victory in six games. Part of my predicition could be my complete dislike of Kobe, but the majority is based in the regular season.
I will grant you that Jameer Nelson was a large part of the regular season sweep that the Magic put on the Lakers, as Los Angeles struggle with quick point guards like Tom Cruise struggles with hetrosexuality. However, if you take out the fact that the Magic have two excellent perimeter defenders in Pietrus and Lee to somewhat slow Kobe, I think the elephant in the room that no one is talking about is Phil Jackson.
Phil has been more MIA than Kim Jong-Il's humility. He hasn't made a single reasonable adjustment in-game or between games for what seems like years. Perhaps Tex Winter did more behind the scenes than we ever thought? The simple answer to the Howard problem is to put Gasol on him and draw quick fouls, but I don't think Jackson will go that way, and as a result we will see more 20-3 Howard/Bynum rebounding advantages, and that's just too much to give up. Plus the Magic's strategy of letting a superstar get their points and stopping everyone else worked on a much better player and team in LeBron and Cleveland.
Magic in six.
NBA Finals: The 7 point theory…
Ok, so it's the Lakers and the Magic, Orlando vs Los Angeles or as ESPN put it "Disneyland vs Disneyworld". What a fortnight we're in for.
As disappointing as a LeBron-less Finals is, (for now) there are so many sub-plots to this series that will keep us entertained and writing!
1) Can Kobe lead his team to the Promised Land?
2) Can the Lakers stop Dwight Howard?
3) How will the Magic defend Kobe Bryant?
4) How will the Lakers defend Howard AND the three ball?
5) Will Derek Fisher hit more than 4 shots in a game?
6) Will the Magic resurrect Jameer Nelson?
And finally...
7) What is the over/under for Andrew Bynum's DQ's this series?
Here is my breakdown of the aforementioned 7 points.
1) If the Lakers play anything like Game 6 of the Denver series, this could be over in 5. The way the LA Wrecking Crew attacked the Nuggets from all angles proved to a lot of people what LA were capable of. Hopefully the Lakers, and more importantly Kobe adopt this style of Basketball for the entire Finals series. As always, Bryant holds the key and it must've felt good to demoralize the Nuggets the way they did. And Kobe still got 35 points in that game. Kobe does NOT want to feel the same way this June as he did last, and he must realise by now that he needs everyone in order to win.
2) Phil Jackson's teams over the years have come up against plenty of very talented Centers. And casting aside the Shaq years, Phil didn't have a lot of talent on his side to work with. What he did have was fouls. Three men with 6 fouls each equals 18 fouls to use. Then it just comes down to when they're used, not how. Josh Powell, DJ MBenga and Bynum hold the 18 keys to Superman's kryptonite. I expect them to put the big fella "on the line" more than Len Bias in the mid-80's.
3) Defending Bryant? You HAVE to double Kobe, at least to begin with and see who else wants to hurt you. The Lakers biggest achilles heel is the performance of everyone not named Kobe Bryant. If you're SVG, your perfect world involves you winning in a 4-0 sweep while Kobe averages an NBA Finals record 81ppg. The fact is, Orlando can score very quickly and an offense too "Kobe-friendly" will put incredible defensive pressure on the Lakers.
4) This is the biggest element to this series. Where can the Lakers succeed where others have all failed? Dwight has proven he can be a menace in a big game. So now, while Orlando's biggest Magician is firing offense out of a cannon, the rest of the "lesser" Magicians are all on top of their respective games too, and at the perfect time. Turkoglu is hitting big shots, Lewis is excelling, Rafer is finally erasing the "playground" asterisk off of his name and the almighty Gortat is working his way into a Powerball payday at season's end. Even David Copperfield in his prime wasn't as hot as these guys are right now. It all comes down to the rotations and it's going to be critical to the Lakers success to get this right. Heck, no one else has done it yet this post season.
5) Derek Fisher? I honestly don't think we will see much improvement here. He appears to have lost his mojo entirely. I hope I'm wrong here but I see Fish averaging approximately 20 minutes, 6 shot attempts and 4 points a game this series. And I probably have those yellow and purple glasses on again.
6) I can't see Orlando bringing Jameer Nelson back. Why would you mess with the rotation now? Unless they're really unhappy with Anthony Johnson and I think he brings the physicality they need when resting Rafer. So this, to me is a flat out no. Mind games if anything, but LA aren't going to be particularly worried about a busted, momentum stealing phenom.
And finally...
7) I think the over/under here is 4. Andrew Bynum has shown in nearly every game he's played that he is capable of fouling, and quickly. Phil Jackson is good at making other players stand up when the troops are saddled with fouls, and the aforementioned MBenga and Powell spring to mind. Now, if the series goes seven, this number may be off. However, I don't see that happening. So for me, with everything considered, the $1.90 odds on the under is good value.
Overall? If I had to pick a winner and margin...
I'd say Lakers in 6 appears to be the most likely result. And one that I would be very happy with.
Seven’s the key number here…
Just so the heading makes sense, yes, I agree both series' look like going seven. I'm probably the last to jump on this train but hey, I'm on, I have a ticket and I'll enjoy the show.
As for Kobe, ok, so the three's appear to have been bad judgement. If he makes them however, we are all in awe and the Black Mamba has again struck. You know he thinks every one is going in, so hard to comprehend what's going through Kobe's mind at times. If you remove the three's from the equation and he has a respectable 8 for 16 game, .500 from the field and a healthy 12 for 13 from the charity stripe. So apart from the three's, I see a relatively competent offensive performance from Kobe and employees 16 and 17 respectively.
(Note: I'm intentionally not mentioning the Lakers' bench performance tonight. It speaks for itself and you don't always need to be hand fed ammunition!)
The facts are clear and history will show a simply horrible performance by the Lakers. The 20 point loss or thereabouts looks horrible but history doesn't generally remember individual game margins, just Championship series' results.
Now Ryan, to say professional NBA athletes don't try on the offensive boards because they don't get as many shots as another guy is ridiculous! I fail to see where you come from with that. This is not a social pickup game on a Sunday afternoon. These guys are paid millions of dollars to do a job. Any job in life has the same situations.
You've got Phil the Chairman of the Board, Kobe the CEO, Pau the Managing Director and Sasha Vujacic and DJ MBenga the odd-couple janitors. There's certain things that get done by certain people, that's life.
The real problem to me, and I must agree with Michael Wilbon here, is that apart from Kobe, the Lakers appear to have litle to no killer instinct. You could buzz cut Pau's hair "Jackass" style and he wouldn't want to fight you. I rate Aziza's toughness and even Fisher for an old veteran, but Fisher's biggest play this series has been a shoving match with KMart on a jumpall. Can someone tell me why Fisher was the only one T'd on that play?? Anyway... No matter how tough you are or pretend to be... there has to be backup of good play.
Example: JR Smith is an immature, disruptive turd of a player and one I wouldn't want on my team, much like Sasha Vujacic in a lot of ways. We've seen Sasha piss every Laker player, coach and fan off with some brainless plays during these Playoffs. Smith's technical at the end of the 3rd quarter in Game 3 could be seen as the same sort of crime except for one thing... he made the damn shot!!
I was listening to Bill Simmons' "BS Report" last night and heard him talking about a scenario involving a Ron Artest for Lamar Odom deal. I know we're in the middle of a great Playoffs but regardless of where the Lakers finish this run, I am salivating at the thought of Ron wearing a purple and gold #73 next season. Toughness issue? Fixed.
Ok... focus Paul.. get back to the point.
Denver is faced with undoubtably their biggest game in franchise history on Wednesday night. If the Nuggets can take that game... Whoa! It could be lights out for LA and a long off season of which only seven or eight of the current Lakers return to fight another day. Maybe a reality show could take shape..?
I'm picturing something very similar to Dave Chappelle's parody of Diddy's "Making the Band". Sasha would have to fetch Kobe a sugar cookie from Venice Beach or Kobe would shut down the studio. And just for the record, the five greatest big men of all-time would probably be; Bynum... Bynum... Bynum, Bynum, Bynum.
For the record I'm genuinely excited regarding the coming NBA Finals, as long as the Orlando Magic have no part of it.
Tomorrow is huge for the Cleveland Cavaliers.