Gov: Looks like T-mac's going back to his Toronto averages.
Ken: No man, he's just the ultimate team player!
Gov: That's Kobe now!
Ken: Reluctant passer!
Gov: He passes with love!
Ken: No way, he loves the ball too much.
Gov: Yeah, enough to rape it.
Ken: I wouldn't be surprised if he did..
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
Opening night: A toast to Tinseltown
123 days, 19 hours, and 30 minutes. Offseason. The absolute worst time of year.
As I worked to Assimilate into my role as taxpayer and integral part of the labour force, this offseason was particularly memorable. My usual offseason birthday saw me turn well into my 20's and for For the first time in my young life, I thought about finally taking myself seriously. I thought of my health and well-being. I thought of my spiritual self. I thought of poverty, drought, and struggle. I thought of my future. A wife and 6 lil Laker fans. I thought about the betterment of my fellowman. It was about that time. The crossroads... Tiptoeing on the iceberg that separated my childhood and my life as a bonafide adult, and I was slowly falling onto the latter. Then November 1 came... Lamar drops 33 points! 13 boards! 7 assists! King Bynum dominates in his first start and the Mamba-less Los Angeles Lakers thump the title-contending suns!
Then, I thought again. God bless the NBA.
L.A. 110 - Phoenix 103
The Los Angeles Lakers. My immortal lover. How good did they look on opening night? I won't let you decide. (For most of you who don't know, this site is not, in any way, impartial)
The Good:
No Kobe, no problem. - Although my heading may sound catchy, #24 is still, and will always be, the only man that can take this Laker team to the promised land. However, The Black Mamba's absence may have worked well for Lamar and the rest of the supporting cast. If Kobe had played opening night, it might have destroyed an entire pre-season of struggling toward productive teamwork within the rest of the Laker squad. Fortunately for us, they succeeded.
The first three quarters of the 2005-2006 regular season revolved around good execution from the Lakers, perfecting the triangle, and scoring slack was happily picked up by Bryant. The last 25%, however, involved Kobe dropping his scoring average, FGAs, upping his assists, Kwame learning to catch interior passes, Lamar thriving, Mihm dying, Smush crying, and the overall flourishing of the triangle. The Lakers dominated that portion of the season and was a Tim Thomas HGH steroid scandal (which I still believe is true) away from unseating the speedy Suns.
The Bad:
Hole in the middle!
The Lakers have holes.
Andrew Bynum is a great young big man. He will become an all-star, possibly even a superstar. However, My Lakers are playing for the now. If you don't believe me, ask Mitch why he used his mid-level on the Radman (Who will play better once his shooting hand heals and stops trying to look like the Passion of the Christ). Bynum will have his 20s and 10s, but he will also have his 2 point nights, his 1 attempt outings, and the almost inevitable rookie wall. We cannot have a 19 year old starting center in a conference dominated by bigs. We will not survive.
Chris Mihm is out for the season. Ouch.
Thus, the only man that can save us is Mr. Brown. Yes, I said it. Kwame needs to continue from the momentum he finished with last year and thrive in his role as the Lakers starting center. If this can be done together with Bynum's daily Kareem filled improvement as he comes off the bench, we will be fine.
X Factor: Ronnie Turiaf is not, by any means, another Mark Madsen. This man can play, wait and see.
The Ugly:
Smush Parker is ugly. He puts the F, in fugly. If I was him, I'd be ugly. In other words, this man takes ugly to whole new level.
William 'Smush' Parker is terrible. Decision making? No can do. Defense? This man can't guard a dying snail. 'Nuff said.
We all know that Phil doesn't rely heavily on his floor generals, but come on, we need a smarter pg. Derek Fisher, Ron Harper, MAGIC JOHNSON, and now Smush?? NO CAN DO. Our offense is among the most structured in the NBA. With a point man of Smush's IQ, we cannot get past teams such as the Spurs, Mavs, and Suns.
As I worked to Assimilate into my role as taxpayer and integral part of the labour force, this offseason was particularly memorable. My usual offseason birthday saw me turn well into my 20's and for For the first time in my young life, I thought about finally taking myself seriously. I thought of my health and well-being. I thought of my spiritual self. I thought of poverty, drought, and struggle. I thought of my future. A wife and 6 lil Laker fans. I thought about the betterment of my fellowman. It was about that time. The crossroads... Tiptoeing on the iceberg that separated my childhood and my life as a bonafide adult, and I was slowly falling onto the latter. Then November 1 came... Lamar drops 33 points! 13 boards! 7 assists! King Bynum dominates in his first start and the Mamba-less Los Angeles Lakers thump the title-contending suns!
Then, I thought again. God bless the NBA.
L.A. 110 - Phoenix 103
The Los Angeles Lakers. My immortal lover. How good did they look on opening night? I won't let you decide. (For most of you who don't know, this site is not, in any way, impartial)
The Good:
No Kobe, no problem. - Although my heading may sound catchy, #24 is still, and will always be, the only man that can take this Laker team to the promised land. However, The Black Mamba's absence may have worked well for Lamar and the rest of the supporting cast. If Kobe had played opening night, it might have destroyed an entire pre-season of struggling toward productive teamwork within the rest of the Laker squad. Fortunately for us, they succeeded.
The first three quarters of the 2005-2006 regular season revolved around good execution from the Lakers, perfecting the triangle, and scoring slack was happily picked up by Bryant. The last 25%, however, involved Kobe dropping his scoring average, FGAs, upping his assists, Kwame learning to catch interior passes, Lamar thriving, Mihm dying, Smush crying, and the overall flourishing of the triangle. The Lakers dominated that portion of the season and was a Tim Thomas HGH steroid scandal (which I still believe is true) away from unseating the speedy Suns.
The Bad:
Hole in the middle!
The Lakers have holes.
Andrew Bynum is a great young big man. He will become an all-star, possibly even a superstar. However, My Lakers are playing for the now. If you don't believe me, ask Mitch why he used his mid-level on the Radman (Who will play better once his shooting hand heals and stops trying to look like the Passion of the Christ). Bynum will have his 20s and 10s, but he will also have his 2 point nights, his 1 attempt outings, and the almost inevitable rookie wall. We cannot have a 19 year old starting center in a conference dominated by bigs. We will not survive.
Chris Mihm is out for the season. Ouch.
Thus, the only man that can save us is Mr. Brown. Yes, I said it. Kwame needs to continue from the momentum he finished with last year and thrive in his role as the Lakers starting center. If this can be done together with Bynum's daily Kareem filled improvement as he comes off the bench, we will be fine.
X Factor: Ronnie Turiaf is not, by any means, another Mark Madsen. This man can play, wait and see.
The Ugly:
Smush Parker is ugly. He puts the F, in fugly. If I was him, I'd be ugly. In other words, this man takes ugly to whole new level.
William 'Smush' Parker is terrible. Decision making? No can do. Defense? This man can't guard a dying snail. 'Nuff said.
We all know that Phil doesn't rely heavily on his floor generals, but come on, we need a smarter pg. Derek Fisher, Ron Harper, MAGIC JOHNSON, and now Smush?? NO CAN DO. Our offense is among the most structured in the NBA. With a point man of Smush's IQ, we cannot get past teams such as the Spurs, Mavs, and Suns.
We need to trade up by the All Star Break. Nothing less.
X Factor: Jordan Farmar can play!!! However, like Bynum, the Lakers cannot contend with a 19 year old starting point guard. If Phil can slowly assimilate him into the system and give him more second half playing time, it might just work.
The Results:
Regular season: 52-30
Playoff performance?: Another article.
Championship contenders?: A whole other article.
For now.... Go Lakers!!!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Opening Night in the NBA
Random thoughts of the day:
- Everyone thought the Bulls would be a contender this season, but blowing out the defending champs on opening night by 42 points? 42 points?!?
- Honestly, how many of you even entertained the thought of the Bulls slicing and dicing the Heat the way they did?
- Like what I've been telling everyone since the Heat won the championship last June: It ain't happening again. Face it, the Heat looked old today and that's how they will be this season.
- The Bulls must be feeling giddy about Hinrich. A couple of days after signing him to an extension, Captain Kirk comes out and leads them to a dominating win. Not like Kirk ever seemed to have Bryant Reeves Syndrome.
- How about the Lakers huh? They played well - moving the ball, hustled and rebounded like it's the playoffs, playing inspired ball. Did it make sense? Of course it did, Kobe didn't play! I bet they win their next game too with Kobe set to stay home while they go on a road trip to face the Warriors.
- And may I just say, what a pick-up Lamar Odom was for my fantasy team! 34, 13, and 6!
- Andrew Bynum came up huge in his first career start. Will he be able to sustain that level of performance for the whole season? My guess is that he is still a year away from consistent production night in and night out. But it will be fun to see him grow this year and be one of the up-and-coming big men in the league.
- Go Rockets!
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