NBA Season

Wow so 89 points for Jeremy Lin in his first 3 starts. Best start for a player since 1977.

Not sure yet if he is for real but boy is it fun to watch!

 

It is fun, isn't it? Hope he keeps it going, it's the only thing about the NBA piquing my interest.

 

The Lakers need a trade soon. Brandon Jennings said he might not want to play for Milwaukee so we should try and get him as he's the cheapest option out there. I don't really care for the Howard for Bynum deal so I would rather us send Gasol to the Rockets for half their team like they wanted to do with the Paul trade. We need a PG and a bench more than a Center like Howard.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/1736 ... ont-office


All I can say is wow. There needs to be movement on Kupchak's part here. He needs to gather all of the people on his side and go to Jerry Buss and demand that Jeanie be given a bigger role and tell that idiot Jim Buss to piss off. Kobe needs to be a part of this. This is completely unacceptable to be in a position where one of our scouts is a fucking bartender. That hire was the work of Jim Buss. That's all people need to know about his capability as a director.

If we don't get competent management soon then it is quite possible we suffer for years because of this period. There are guys like Kobe and Pau who probably won't be here in a few years and there is no way Jim Buss successfully transitions the team. If he is making the decisions when Kobe retires, we will be a mediocre team for years.

 

There is a big trade rumor out by a Magic beat writer that says the Lakers would send Pau and Bynum to the Magic to get Howard, Turkoglu and Nelson. Apparently we would keep our trade exception and no picks were mentioned.

This seems like alot, but if we held onto our picks and trade exception then we have to pull the trigger. We could turn that into a PF and have the best starting five in the game. The NBA office would be pissed.

 

50th Anniversary of one Sports All Time Performances

50 years ago today Wilt Chamberlain aka The Big Dipper, Wilt the Stilt, etc... scored 100 points in a regulation NBA game. Wilt hit over 50% of his shots (36 of 63) and the most surprising stat of the night was he shot 28 of 32 free throws (he shot 51% for his career). One of the few superstars from the past that would be dominant today.

 

http://sports.mobile.msn.com/en-us/arti ... id=0&pg1=1


This is an article that deserves to be ridiculed and the writer should be fired for idiocy. I have watched the Lakers for the last 16 years and I still remember watching Jordan in the 90's, I actually had a Jordan poster in my room and a Bulls hat, and Kobe is on Jordans level. People don't want this to be the truth, but it is and even Jordan says this in private.

But screw trying to convince people of this, lets destroy the arguments made. He says that Kobe has benefited from playing with big men. Let's ignore the obvious idiocy of this argument because Magic played with Kareem and Jordan had three solid centers. Remember when the Lakers had nobody to go with Kobe? Yeah well that's when he was at his best. That's when he put up 81 points against the Raptors and kept going off in places like MSG. He didn't have good big men there and he still destroyed teams.


This writer says that Kobe is only a scorer and not a player that elevates teammates. Only somebody who has never watched a Lakers game would say this. All this idiot has to do is look at the amazing contract Sasha Vujacic got when Kobe was carrying the team to the playoffs. I seem to recall Kobe also having lots of games where he wouldn't score, but he would dish out 10+ assists. Those games aren't few and far between either. They happen pretty consistently. There is a reason he averages around 5 assists a game. It's because he can do more than score. There are games where he takes the game over by passing and rebounding. He had a bad offensive game 7 against Boston, but guess what? He had 15 rebounds. That's what great players do, they figure out ways to influence games even when one part of their game is off.


The fact of the matter is that LeBron isn't an elite player like the all time greats. All of his stats mean nothing when you can't close games and don't win titles. An all time great is somebody who has a desire to not only win a title, but carry his team to the title. When LeBron starts closing games and winning titles, then talk about him being an all time great. Until that happens, don't drag down Kobe because your player isn't getting it done. They both have had enough talent around them to win titles and only Kobe has won the titles, LeBron can't get past teams with less talent like the Mavericks.

 

Agree FFC24 and I think the author is wrong about his Lebron hate concept. There are probably some people here in Cleveland that truly hate him, but other than that I think most are just disappointed in Lebron and believe in making the distinction you described. Lebron is not among the greats of all time in basketball because he doesnt have the will and discipline to carry a team and close out a championship. He is probably the greatest athlete to play in the NBA but not among the greatest players because he is missing the key ingredient that Kobe, Jordan, Magic, Bird, etc have. I think things came too easily for him so he didnt need the relentless competitiveness that Jordan had until the NBA. I will always wonder if a few years in college for a top coach would have changed that, but I doubt it because he already had superstar status in high school. And that is where the problem lies - making a young kid a superstar before he has really earned anything or shown he can live up to such lofty expectations. I think that is what people have a disdain for, not Lebron himself. All things considered, Lebron could've turned out worse. And he was at his best with Cleveland early on when he had a much weaker team than the one he played with against Boston.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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!

 

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!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.