NBA Season

[SoCalJoe]

Figured this had to be a blog by some unknown person that should be ignored, but Jason Whitlock is nationally known and after reading I'll agree this piece is way off base. Lifting up Kobe's status to fuel LeBron hatred?? I guess he picked a wrong week to top sniffing glue, because that is from the tin-hat, wacky conspiracy dept.

Kobe has earned the right to be in the discussion as the all-time players, and in my mind is certainly on the level of Bird and Magic. Can you compare him to Jordan? Yes, but there can be only one and MJ is still it. Justin, Luc Longley, Will Perdue, Bill Wennington, and Bill Cartwright are 'solid centers'? Come on, those guys stunk.

[HatterDon]

Sorry, 24, but Kobe isn't in the same zipcode as Michael Jordan ... or Elgin Baylor ... or Oscar Robinson ... or Jerry West ... or Bob Cousy. The young ones always forget or under-rate the old ones.

And how do you know what Jordan says "in private?"

[VegasJustin]

I know what Jordan says in private because there was an article not long ago where Jordan told his biographer, I think it was his biographer, that only Kobe is in the same category. It was an article about LeBron.

They were solid enough. Alone they weren't any good, but as a group they were solid. He had a very good team around him and played in a bad decade for the NBA. I loved watching Jordan play, but I guess I love watching Kobe more. I am biased, but I don't think my bias puts me too far off track here. And, Hatter, I am a Lakers fan so I have watched enough Lakers tape to know how good Baylor and West is. This is why I laugh when people put Shaq ahead of Wilt. I respect the players from the past as much as the current players.

[VegasJustin]

Speaking of old school players, anybody know where I can watch the older games? Usually ESPN Classic shows old Lakers and Celtics games, but I would like to watch other teams.

[VegasJustin]

The Lakers went from possible contender to definitely going to be up there today. We got Ramon Sessions from Cleveland and Jordan Hill from Houston for two first round picks, Luke Walton and Derek Fisher. So we finally have a backup big man and a starting PG all while freeing up our roster from Fisher and Walton. I wanted Michael Beasley, but World Peace is playing so well that we might not need a SF anyway. Good moves by the Lakers!

[VegasJustin]

I have to give credit to Mitch for getting Sessions. This guy looks like an all star and it doesn't look like it's a fluke either. How Mitch keeps doing this is beyond me. He got us a great PG and kept Pau. If Jim Buss can let Mitch do what he does then we'll be good. If we can keep up the good play then we are right up there with the best teams and possibly better because of our size. Good job Mitch!

[SoCalJoe]

Sessions is a serviceable point guard, and is exactly what the Fake Show needed. The one thing Laker fans have to come to grips w/is the new collective bargaining agreement crushes the teams that go over the cap in consecutive years. The Lakers want to get under the cap, avoid the double tax, then go over the next season if necessary. That's the reason they got rid of Lamar Odom for nothing, and didn't make the trade for Beasley. I have to agree w/you Justin, Mitch is an outstanding GM and they've trimmed Odom, Fisher, Walton, and Kapono's contract off the books while staying very competitive.

My Trail Blazers...ugh. At least they've decided to blow it up and start from scratch instead of trying to hang on and compete for the last spot in the playoffs.

[VegasJustin]

What happened to the Blazers? At the start of the season, they were pretty good. With their luck, the next time they have a number one pick and there is a center and amazing SG, they will realize how bad picking centers have been for them and they will draft a SG who will then do nothing in the NBA.

[SoCalJoe]

Justin, it was a combination of bad luck; Roy having to retire when now would be the prime of his career. Draft; Oden instead of Durant, makes me want to throw up thinking about it. Trades; Raymond Felton who has been a disaster (Andre Miller at least was a professional PG). Coaching; McMillen was a good coach, but the team totally quit on him. Better to trade all assets, tank the rest of the season and try to rebuild.

Couldn't help but notice D Fish sign w/OKC to have that one moment he's still capable of having in the playoffs.

[VegasJustin]

So there was a couple of playoff games last night. The Heat played the Thunder and the Lakers played the Clippers. Didn't watch the Heat win over the Thunder, but I did watch the Lakers game and it was probably the best NBA game all year. Having a PG like Sessions makes all the difference. We finally have a PG who can keep up scoring wise with elite PG's. The end where Bynum dunked on the fast break was a nice "screw you" touch to the end of the game.

[MisterF]

Griffin isnt human. Absolutely beastly. Wow!

[VegasJustin]

It's playoff time and the Spurs and Thunder are already into the second round while every other series is 3-1. The Lakers have had the toughest battle because Denver can throw ten players at you and have size. Never seen a team that gets down the court like they do. It's one pass and dunk. Apparently the old Nuggets teams from the 80's could do that, but I haven't watched a ton of their games so don't really know. Stupid ESPN Classic only plays Lakers and Celtics games.


I wanted the Clippers to lose in the first round, but the Grizzlies have thrown away that series so now I want to meet them in the Conference Finals. They don't match up with us and maybe the rest of LA will shut up about them when we beat them.



The Heat are looking good against the worst playoff team in years. The Knicks suck. They sucked with a full roster and now they're down 3 point guards. If they were playing in Cleveland everybody would agree, but since they play in NYC everybody needs to feel the need to root for them.


Speaking of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Bulls are without Derrick Rose and possibly Noah so they're out of it. I know the Celtics are doing well against the Hawks, but that's another crap team so I don't think they'll beat the Heat. If the Heat can't get through this piece of cake group of teams, then they should be publicly criticized like no other team in history.

[SoCalJoe]

You know it's bad when Kobe says the only guy he can count on for sure to show up is Metta World Peace. He's so fed up w/Andrew Bynum's attitude and Pau Gasol's disappearing act he wants to throw up (inside scoop to why he really was vomiting all day in a Denver hotel room ). Have to think the Fake Show will slip by Denver today, but George Karl is a vastly superior coach to Mike Brown so it wouldn't be shocking to see the game close late in the 4th quarter.

Other team in LA had their chance to finish off Memphis, but blew it. Now it goes back to Memphis for Game 7, advantage to the Grizzlies. Clippers have never been the same without Chauncey Billups. Chris Paul is an amazing player, but not in the cut of the great point guards who never missed games (Magic, Jason Kidd, John Stockton, Steve Nash). He gets dinged up all the time, and his inability to stay 100% in this series has cost them.

Out east will Philly or Indiana be able to mess up everyone's prediction of a Boston-Miami Eastern Final?

[VegasJustin]

I don't think we win tonight. Gasol has been horrible last year in the postseason and now this year. He can't even hit the open 16 foot shot any more. He has been the worst star player in the last two postseasons and nobody has been able to get him to play better, not Kobe, not Phil and definitely not Mike Brown.

I am going to cut Bynum some slack. Our perimeter play is not there and Denver can just converge on Bynum when he gets the ball. He would dominate Mozgov and McGee if he didn't also have another player doubling up forcing him to kick it out and have a guy miss a shot or try and do something. He needs guys to hit shots and that doesn't happen. It's not entirely his fault.


This is frustrating because Kobe has been amazing in this series. All he needs is a bit of help. He doesn't need everybody else to play their best and he's not even getting their mediocre play, he's getting nothing.

[SoCalJoe]

Boston steals win Game 1 from Philly, Sixers showed their inexperience by losing a 10 pt. lead in the 4th.

Justin, you might be one of the only Laker fans wiling to give Bynum a break. He has been absolutely crushed out here.