January 31st, 2010 by Chase

Thanks to some big plays down the stretch by both Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest, the Lakers were able to sneak out of Boston with a 90-89 victory over the fierce rival Boston Celtics. With under a minute to play Ron Artest makes a tough basket going to the rim with 2 defenders in his face, then follows it up with a solid defensive stance against Paul Pierce by drawing a charge. The very next possession Kobe Bryant with Ray Allen all over him manages to hit a touch fadeway from the free throw line with 7.3 seconds left in the game. Kobe providing game winning shot heroics yet again. This time against the hated team in green. Let me point out a few things that I thought were huge for the Lakers.

1. Dominance Inside by Andrew Bynum

Bynum played well. Now i’m not the typical Laker fan who jumps all over the “Bynum” thing whenever he manages to play a descent game. But for the first time since before his injury last season, Andrew Bynum actually gave the Lakers the dominance inside on both ends of the court that they needed. He matched the physical play of Perkins and Garnett inside, something the Laker big men have always had a hard time doing.

I thought the key point in the game for Bynum was during the first quarter, after KG hit a jumper over him and start barking at him all the way back down the floor. Bynum with KG defending him, caught the ball in the post, went left towards the middle, and jammed the ball right over KG posterizing him. It showed the Celtic bigs that Bynum was going to be a beast to contend with all night!

2. Physicality and Toughness of Ron Artest

More and more I am being convinced that the whole Ron Artest over Trevor Ariza thing is starting to work out. From the very beginning of the game you could see that Ron Artest was ready to play and not be pushed around. He got into a little tussle with Pierce right before tip-off, layed out KG as Garnett was trying to run back down the floor, and ultimately pestered Paul Pierce all night long not allowing him to make any kind of real impact on the game. Even though he only had 11 points in his 31 minutes of play, he came up with a couple big buckets in the 4th quarter to keep the Lakers in the game. It looks like Ron Ron is starting to get healthy after all.

3. The Lakers are the more Physical Team

Who would have thought we would ever say this? But it’s clear now after watching today’s “beatdown in beantown” that the Lakers are the tougher more physical team. They may not do as much talking as the Celtics do, but when push comes to shove the Lakers seem to have the mental and physical toughness it takes to consistently win close games on the road. The Lakers size and strength inside with Bynum, Gasol, Odom, and Artest pushed Boston around inside all night long. And when the game was on the line, the hobbled and injured Kobe Bryant found a way to win the game for his team in the end.

There is One Negative From This Game!

Not all is positive for the Lakers after watching this game. After the Lakers built a 30-17 lead late in the 1st quarter, they watched that lead squander thanks to the play of Celtics PG Rajon Rondo. The Lakers had no answer to Rondo in this game. He drove to the basket at will and made play after play building a 10 point lead for the Celtics going into the 4th quarter. Is Rondo a fantastic player? Yes! But this issue of the Lakers being able to defend and compete at the PG position is more evident than ever.

If they Lakers want to win a championship this season, they first need to stay healthy. But even more important is the fact that they need more help at the PG position, particularly on the defensive side of things. Hopefully Laker GM Mitch Kupchak will see what we all witnessed today and make that Kirk Heinrich move that is being discussed. Otherwise it could be a shortened Playoff stint this year!

January 29th, 2010 by Chase

The Eastern and Western Conference All-Star Reserves were announced yesterday and course like every season, there are notable players who were snubbed while others should never have made the list. I’m going to leave any arguments concerning the Starters out of this blog post, since you really can’t hold any selective group of people accountable because it’s the fans as a whole who choose the All-Star Starters. So let’s talk about the Reserves that were chosen by the coaches and GM’s around the league. Let’s start with the Eastern Conference.

2010 Eastern All-Star Reserves

1. Rajon Rondo
2. Paul Pierce
3. Chris Bosh
4. Joe Johnson
5. Al Horford
6. Gerald Wallace
7. Derrick Rose

Who Should Have Made It?

1. David Lee
2. Josh Smith
3. Stephen Jackson

Let me start off by saying that New York’s David Lee should have made the team. Over who? You could argue that David Lee has had a better season than Paul Pierce and therefore should be on the team instead. You could even argue that Atlanta’s Josh Smith should have made the team over Pierce considering the type of season he has had. Pierce, as great of a player as he has been, just has not had a great season. With Kevin Garnett expected to skip playing in the All-Star game because of a bad knee, expect one of these 2 players to fill in as his replacement. Now let’s take a look at the Western Conference All-Star Reserves.

2010 Western All-Star Reserves

1. Brandon Roy
2. Chris Paul
3. Deron Williams
4. Dirk Nowitzki
5. Kevin Durant
6. Zach Randolph
7. Pau Gasol

Who Should Have Made It?

1. Chauncey Billups
2. Chris Kaman

Pau Gasol missed 17 games during the first half of the season. How was he chosen to be a reserve? Yes Pau is an All-Star caliber player. But when you miss that many games you shouldn’t be playing in an All-Star game. The Clippers Chris Kaman should have that spot instead. He’s had a better season than Pau statistically. Period. I know the Grizzlies are doing well, and I know Zach Randolph has had a good stat year. But the Denver Nuggets are easily the second best team in the West, and are nothing without their floor leader Chauncey Billups who is having yet another solid NBA season. I think he should be on that list rather than Randolph.

What do you guys think? Who should have made it? Who should not have made it? Also, congrats to Deron Williams for making his first All-Star Appearance. It was long overdue!

January 27th, 2010 by Chase

I always find it interesting how every season, NBA experts always find a way to jump on some other bandwagon than the one’s that are actually the best in the league. Experts and fans are always so quick to count out teams early in a 82 game season, and even quicker to anoint some new team as the “team to beat”. Over the past 2 seasons that team has been the Cleveland Cavaliers. As soon as they start playing well, you get to hear idiots like Tim Legler on ESPN rout off bogus statistics and evaluations that somehow prove that they are the new hot team in the NBA!

I have one very important thing to tell everyone! Don’t sleep on the Lakers or on the Celtics! Are they playing their best basketball right now? Of course not. But assuming KG and KB24 stay healthy, you better believe it’s going to be these two teams in the Finals in June. I’ll bet my Wife’s little Pug/House Dog whose name is Benny on it! Okay I really won’t because my Wife would kill me, but I really do want to get rid of him so if you have any ideas please do let me know.

The Boston Celtics Are The Best in the East

I don’t want to hear statistical arguments as to who the best team is in the East. Let’s be honest with each other. With a healthy Kevin Garnett, there’s nobody in the East who can get past Boston in the Playoffs. Even without KG the Orlando Magic were barely able to squeak by the Celtics in the playoffs last season. And as good as LeBron James looks some nights, his dominance disappears against that KG led Boston Celtic defense.

It’s pretty obvious the Celtics are giving KG the rest he needs during the season and not pushing him to hard. They are saving him for Playoff time and a return to the NBA Finals. Not matter how good of a regular season LeBron James and the Cavs have, they don’t have what it takes to beat the C’s in a 7 game series.

The L.A Lakers Are The Best in the West

We thought the Denver Nuggets would have dominant season and continue what they ended last year. We thought the Spurs by adding Richard Jefferson would recreate the dominance they had earlier this decade. Neither of these two scenarios have played out. The fact is that when push comes to shove, the real competitors for dethroning the Lakers are in the Eastern Conference. The West just does not have anyone competitive and good enough to challenge the Lakers.

Expect the Lakers to lose some weird games now and again. They are the defending champs. They are going to go through their share of injuries, as well as their ups and down’s while still trying to integrate Bynum and Artest into the Offense. But just like the Celtics, when Playoff time rolls around this team will be fully prepared for a repeat championship.

Does Either Boston or L.A Need To Make A Trade Before The Deadline?

In my opinion yes they do. Both teams have fantastic starting 5’s by are lacking some depth on the bench. Both teams have bench players who in previous seasons provided solid play (Glen Davis, Sasha Vuyacic etc.) but have games that have mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth. The Lakers appear to need more help off the bench at the Guard positions while Boston appears to need more help in the Frontcourt off the bench. Look for both of these teams to make 1 deal that will strengthen their benches before the February trade deadline.

January 22nd, 2010 by Chase

The Lakers loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last night finished off a season sweep of the Cavs over the Lakers. In the big part 2 of this seasons much anticipated showdown between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, it was LeBron who individually got the better of Kobe this time around scoring a game high 37 points and adding in 9 assists. Kobe’s numbers were no chump numbers by any means, adding in 31 points. But it was clear that when the 4th Quarter came around LeBron was “out for blood” and took over the entire last 8 minutes of the game.

Quick Thought: Phil Jackson sat Kobe Bryant out during the 4th Quarter and all the way until 5 minutes left in the game. Not sure what his thinking was with this. Between the 8 and 5 minute marks is when LeBron James got going offensively. In my opinion PJ made a big mistake not putting Kobe back in the game at the exact same time Cleveland put LeBron back in.

Some Thoughts on the Kobe/Lebron Thing

It’s been obvious the past two seasons that Kobe’s athleticism has slowed down tremendously. Add that with the incredible never before seen athleticism of LeBron James and you can see how LeBron can dominate Kobe in a game physically. The best example came from TNT’s Kenny Smith at the end of the game where he described LeBron as someone who “goes through you” to score the ball while Kobe “goes around and over you”.

It’s obvious to me that Kobe Bryant is still transitioning to the softer, older mans game and is not fully comfortable dominating a game with it just yet. There will be a time, just like with MJ where Kobe will feel more comfortable dominating the game with turn around jumpers. But we witnessed tonight how Kobe wants to match LeBron with athleticism but just unable to do it. The ability is just not there for the athletic style game. LeBron wins that battle any day of the week.

Warning Kobe Fans…There Will Be Haters

I’m putting out a warning to all Kobe Bryant fans (myself including) that there will be Kobe Haters approaching you today boasting how LeBron is the better player after his performance last night against the Kobe and the Lakers. But remember that it’s just 1 game. And like Chris Webber and Kenny Smith were quick to remind people at the end of the game on TNT’s Inside the NBA, until Kobe can be dethroned as a champion he’s still the best player on the planet!

January 21st, 2010 by Chase

I’m talking about back up guards for the Los Angeles Lakers Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown. After watching the Lakers bench dismantle the Orlando Magic on MLK day, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing with the Lakers bench. They actually played like they were supposed to. That is by providing energy and a spark off the bench led by guards Farmar and Brown. Farmar had 11 points off the bench and an added energy on the defensive end, while Shannon Brown chipped in with a season-high and team-high 22 points.

It all started with Shannon Brown coming in midway through the second quarter. Shannon within just a couple minutes of playing time hit a few jump shots and got his confidence rolling. Then after blowing a 3rd quarter lead, the Lakers came storming back led by Brown and Farmar in the 4th with energy, defense, and driving layups to the rim.

While all of this is happening, I’m sitting back in my pj’s thinking about what could be. What would it be like if the bench, particularly Brown and Farmar played like this every night? What if every time they were called off the bench by coach Phil Jackson, they came into the game with the same energy and enthusiasm? The answer… the Lakers would be unstoppable!!

Farmar & Brown’s Contributions are Key!

If the Lakers want to get home court throughout the playoffs this year, they are going to need these two players to step up during this regular season. They need to bring the type of game they played against Orlando on MLK day every single game. Why not? Why can’t Farmar and Brown continue to play at this high of a level?

The key to consistency with this is defensive intensity. Farmar and Brown had the energy because their shots were going in. But what is their energy like when they are on the road and the shots are not going in? Everything is fine and dandy when the shots are falling. But when they are not going in, the Lakers are in desperate need of Brown and Farmar providing a spark off the bench. If they can learn to do this with consistency during this regular season, the Lakers will be able to get Home Court Advantage throughout the NBA playoffs and thus increasing their chances of repeating as Champs!

January 16th, 2010 by Chase

It seems like every year Kobe Bryant sustains a painful injury on one of his fingers. But because a finger does not seem to be as serious as say a knee, NBA fans tend to overlook the injuries that Kobe Bryant is playing through. Recently the OC Register posted an image on their Lakers blog in a blog post titled ‘Kobe Handles Ball and Pain’. This image is a little shocking at first. It gives you an idea of how messed up Kobe’s shooting hand really is and truly makes you appreciate how tough the guy is. Here is the image from their game against the Toronto Raptors recently.

Ouch! Are you serious? You can see the bandage over his broken right index finger that he sustained earlier this season. And you can see that mangled right pinky that Is barely grasping onto the basketball. That’s the pinky he first busted 2 seasons ago against the New Jersey Nets during a regular season game which has not only never healed correctly, but continues to get re-injured time and time again with each passing season.

How Is He Still Shooting the Ball?

I am totally surprised he is still able to shoot the basketball at all. Over the past three games Kobe’s injured fingers along with spasms in his back have limited his game. With all this however he has still managed to shoot an incredible 55% from the field in the past 3 games while his injures have lingered the most. Absolutely incredible. How in the world has this guy managed to shoot 55% from the field with two fingers on his shooting hand completely inoperable?

The answer is simple. Only Kobe Bryant in this past decade has proven year in and year out that he can not only play through injuries, but continue to dominate the league with his scoring and offensive prowess through those same injuries. For NBA fans around the world this type of thing may seem new and admirable. But for Kobe Bryant fans we have been seeing him do this kind of thing for the past 10 years. It’s no surprise to us.