Lakers
I know that was some jawing going on at the beginning of the game last night between the Rockets and Lakers, and Artest was bodying up Ariza, so Ariza was pushing back. But could this be the beginning of a rivalry between the two players? I could understand it from Ariza’s stand point that he’d be pissed, just because Artest is the only new guy on the squad this year and basically replace Trevor. But check out this quote from Artest after the game:
“I don’t have hard feelings,” Ariza said. “It was emotional, I guess you could say.”
Artest said he thought about giving Ariza a hard shot, but backed down for fear of a fine or a suspension.
“You know if somebody hits me, I’m going to react,” the famously temperamental Artest said. “I got hit with about three elbows. It’s just not fair. I don’t want to fight, I don’t feel like doing it. If you throw an elbow into Ron Artest’s chest, do you know who you’re hitting?
“But I give up, I just give up,” he said. “I’m not fighting anymore. You could elbow me, smack me, use me as a punching bag. I’m not reacting anymore, I’m tired.”
So everyone keeps talking about Tony Gaffney possibly making the Lakers, especially with him still being on the team less than a week before the start of the regular season. I personally still don’t get this obsession with him. Yeah he’s tall and can kinda play defense, but his offense is pretty weak and so is his defense.
The worst part is that apparently he doesn’t yet understand the dangers of Social Media these days. Social Media meaning sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc. Don’t post anything on there that you don’t want getting out to the public. Ummm stuff like this picture…
Nothing against him cuddling with another man, it’s his choice… or he was just really drunk. But there are quite a few things wrong with this photo. A) He’s the freakin little spoon! B) How the hell does a 6′8″ guy fit on a couch with another man? C) WTF? He’s wearing a Celtics shirt!!!
That shirt alone should get him booted from the Lakers. I know he’s already changed his loyalties; he mentioned that after signing with the reigning champs… but come on! There’s just something wrong with this whole thing. What if he’s a spy working for the Smeltics?
I was going to write something on here to kick off the Lakers preseason, but after watching last night’s game against the Warriors, I’m a bit speechless. Just check out one reason why I’m so excited about this season. Wow. WOW WOW WOW! The end.
It’s been a while since I posted since it’s the offseason and all, but this was definitely worth sharing with you guys. Check out this kid. He’s 3 years old and you can find the story at Oh Me Oh My Jello’s Jigglin
Looks like the Free Agent signing period is now in full swing and it’s no longer just verbal commitments. Here, we’ll start breaking down the signings and the impact they can have on the respective teams. The biggest so far is the official signing of Ron Ron with the Lakers.
Ron Artest had agreed to sign with the Lakers last week for the MLE, but was finally able to make it official today. As tough as it is to see Trevor Ariza leave the Lake Show, the Artest signing should quickly ease that pain.
It seems like the Lakers are definitely trying to shed the “soft” label still. Artest now gives the Lakers a lock down defender that can play the 2 through 4 spots. Yes, he’s undersized at the 4, but he’s strong enough to guard a lot of the PFs in this league. As great of a team defender as Ariza was, he still had a lot to learn about man defense. Artest may be one of the all time greatest man defenders by the time he’s done.
Yes, he may be crazy and have a lot of mental issues that can hurt the Lakers (just Youtube Ron Artest), but take a look at his last few years. He’s gotten older and a LITTLE wiser. This guy was just born into the wrong era of basketball. He would have fit in perfectly with the tougher old school NBA.
Look for Ron to make a big splash with the Lakers this year. Phil will prevent him from pounding out the shot clock and jacking up shots, and so will Kobe. This is a completely different style of ball than Artest is used to, and that could be what he really needs. Ron will be getting way more open looks than he’s accustomed to, especially to start each half when he’s out there with Kobe, Pau, and Bynum.
This signing just made the Lakers even more stacked than they already were. Imagine Odom coming off the bench when either Artest or Pau need a rest… that’s the next signing the Lakers need to take care of.
I’m giving this signing a huge thumbs up. The Lakers will look even more dangerous this year. Stay tuned for more free agent rankings.
Enjoy the video from Sports Science on the Discovery Channel. They test different scenarios to see what it would take to turn Sasha into Shaq at the free throw line. Kid definitely has a shooting touch. Just wish it was there during this last season.
Check out Amare’s Twitter. He’s at it again.
Just 4 days “Breaking News! Amar’e Stoudemire to the Lakers!!” That ended up just not happening.
Then about half an hour ago he posted “Breaking News! Amar’e Stoudemire to the Lakers!! He might take less money to win a championship.”
I know there has been a lot of talk with him being moved to all sorts of different teams in sign and trades, or free agency, but what’s with all the Laker love? I wouldn’t mind having him at all, but which Laker free agent would have to be let go?
Odom needs to be signed, and so does Ariza. And letting Shannon Brown go doesn’t clear enough money to sign Amare. How about this scenario though? Luke and Sasha for Amare… please? Someone just take Sasha and Luke off our hands, especially Sasha.
But Amare, what’s your deal? How low would you really be willing to go in order to bring home that trophy? Imagine a lineup as follows. You know you want this.
PG: Fisher / Farmar / Brown
SG: Kobe / Brown / Ariza
SF: Ariza / Odom or vice-versa
PF: Amare / Pau / Odom
C: Pau / Bynum / Amare
I know it’s a pipe dream, but that’s just plain disgusting. As the kids on Lakersground.net say, “Do it, Mitch!”
This is finally turning out to be the series that I had expected. After Game 1, I was actually disappointed that the Lakers had won by 25. Then after Game 2, I was disappointed that the Lakers didn’t close out the game and had to go into overtime. Let me tell you this. I am no longer disappointed.
The Magic have finally shown up to make this thing a real dogfight. I thought Game 2 was as close as the Magic were going to come to a win in this series based on how they were playing. Who would have thought that they’d come out last night and shoot almost 70% all night long?
You know those nights where it seems like everything that Kobe threw up was gonna go in? The first half looked like one of those nights when he shot 8-11 from the field. Bad part, the Magic pulled a Kobe also. They absolutely were on fire. Yeah teams go on stretches here and there where they make 5 or 6 straight shots, but last night it felt like they made about 40 straight shots without a single miss. The Lakers defense wasn’t strong, but it was there. The Magic just couldn’t be stopped last night.
Here’s hoping that this continues to be a closely contested series throughout. Even though I’m still calling Lakers in 5, I really don’t see anymore blowouts happening this series. Enjoy what’s left, and thank you Orlando for finally showing up to the Finals. Congratulations on your franchise’s first Finals win as well.
What game was this guy watching, and how is there no talk of him getting fined for his comments about the reffing? This was one of the better officiated games this series. Lakers shot 35 FTs, and the Nugs shot 30.
Yes, there were some questionable calls and non-calls, but at least it was happening on both ends of the court. Did he not notice that in less minutes, Carmelo shot more FTs than Kobe? Or maybe he didn’t notice that freakin Dahntay Jones shot more FTs than anyone on the Lakers not named Kobe Bryant? Whatever his excuse, quit your whining. You’re an NBA coach and you’re in the Conference Finals. There’s no room for whining like that in the press conferences.
Pretty much the entire press conference was Karl complaining about the refs. How about this, George? Complain about how your team missed crucial FTs. Or how they went for a good 5 minutes in the 4th without scoring? Or how about your team not stop the wrecking ball that is Lamar Odom.
Good job lobbying the refs, George. I look forward to your team shooting 15 more FTs than the Lakers… oh wait, that already happened in Game 4.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Artest was quoted as saying “Obviously, the Lakers are more experienced than us, but I thought we were the better team. Individually, it’s a failure for me. With the team that we have, there was no reason why we shouldn’t have advanced. But I thought it was a good learning experience for these guys. They’ve been through a Game 7.”
I understand having confidence in your team, but really? Come on, Ron. Give credit where it’s due. The Lakers were picked to win the championship at the beginning of the year for a reason. Everyone knows who the better team is/was. Stop lying to yourself and go enjoy your Free Agency.
Gotta love these videos from Lakers-Fan.com. Check out the latest after last night’s game.
There’s something wrong when you have that big of a Free Throw discrepancy, especially when the team with less FTs is driving to the hoop and getting hammered. Last night the Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92, while takign 29 shots from the charity stripe. The Lakers, however, only took 19 free throws.
It is just me, or were the refs horrible last night? I’m a fan of calling the game evenly on both ends. This game was just made worse by the fact that it was the Lakers that were getting screwed, particularly in the 4th quarter. Lamar Odom was taking it to the rim every single play and managed to take 6 free throws. Kobe was being aggressive and driving in, getting hacked, yet now calls.
On the other end, you look at Yao the wrong way and he goes to the line. Artest is allowed to dribble the ball while holding the Heisman pose and stiff arming Trevor Ariza, yet no foul was called. Phil Jackson, PLEASE submit this tape to the league for review. Pull a Mark Cuban. Thanks.
That game was one of the most frustrating games to watch in a long time because of the horrible officiating crew. Hopefully the rest of the series has better reffing. I’d even rather have old man Crawford or Steve Javey (known Laker/Kobe Hater) in there. At least these days, they’re trying to ref fairly. We’ll just have to wait until Wednesday to see if this crap changes.
Hilarious snippet from OC Register from an article about Shannon Brown:
Bryant loves Fisher and likes Farmar, and Bryant calls Brown “a much, much better player than anybody ever expected” and “an added bonus.” It wasn’t just coincidence that after answering a stream of questions about Brown on Monday, Bryant brought up someone with whom he used to share the Lakers’ backcourt.
Asked to compare how tough it is now for Utah guard Deron Williams and how tough it was for Bryant two years ago in trying to carry the Lakers with an inadequate supporting cast, Bryant scoffed.
“It’s not even close,” Bryant said. “They don’t even have Smush Parker on their team.”
Parker took a shot at Bryant last summer, saying in an interview: “The problems with that team start with him and end with him.” That didn’t, however, prevent Parker from plummeting from alongside Bryant into total obscurity.
Brown is going the other way – fast.
His swim is the upstream one, yet he’s not headed anywhere he hasn’t been before.
Maybe nobodies (is that really a word?) should keep their mouths shut when talking about arguably the best player in the league right now. Smush, we have guys on the bench that are better than you ever could hope to be. Enjoy your early retirement.
Trevor Ariza is quickly becoming the player the Lakers hoped he would become when they traded away Brian Cook and Mo Evans for him last year. He’s showing that he’s not just the defensive stopper that they knew he was, but also a deadly threat from the outside.
With Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol garnering constant double teams and occasion triple teams, Ariza can roam the perimeter and setup for wide open triples. The Utah Jazz are learning the hard way that they shouldn’t leave him to double Kobe and Gasol.
After posting a career playoff high 21 in Game 1 on 8 of 10 shooting (including 3 of 4 from behind the arc), Ariza ended Game 2 with 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting, including another 3-3 performance from downtown. He almost posted a double-double with 9 assists as well.
He’s proving to be what the Lakers missed least season in the playoffs, a defensive minded Guard/Forward with apparently deadly accuracy and toughness. A guy that showed off his skills as a defensive player is now shooting at a ridiculous 81% through 2 games in these playoffs. This is a find that even Mitch Kupchak couldn’t have imagined that he found last year. Ariza was supposed to be a salary dump move, but has turned out to be a key part of the rotation.
After jumping from New York to Orlando, and not finding a home in either city, Ariza has found his calling in the City of Angels. Not to mention that Trevor is only 23 and still has a long career ahead of him… hopefully with the Lakers. Ariza will be the guy to pester guys like Lebron and Pierce, depending on who comes out of the East. Ariza will be the X-Factor in these playoffs.
Finally, the Lakers figure out who they play on Sunday. All the talk has been that with Utah mostly healthy, the Lakers wouldn’t want to meet them in the first round. There was a lot of talk that the Lakers might intentionally lose their last game of the season to avoid meeting Utah. There was talk that the Lakers would rather play Dallas on Sunday.
All that talk went away last night when the Lakers handed Utah a 112-125 loss to end the season. Jerry Sloan may have had the best quote of the night, per Yahoo! Sports:
“We didn’t give them much of a battle and knowing that we’re going to have to play them again, it looks pretty bleak,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “Hate to say that, but it’s one of those things.”
I hate hearing coaches saying stuff like that, but it’s music to my ears coming from a Lakers opponent. All the facts about the Lakers being “soft” have finally turned into rumors and misconceptions, especially with big Drew in the middle clogging up the lane, Trevor Ariza manning the wing, and Kobe and Shannon Brown locking down the perimeter.
Little is known about Shannon Brown other than the fact that this kid has amazing athletic ability and is a great (but not lockdown) defender. He’s jumped around between several teams, but seems to have found a home in LA, much like Trevor Ariza did last year. He’s been stellar on defense, and evidenced by his highlight reel blocks, and has been solid on the opposite end of the court. According to Phil Jackson, Brown looks to get more burn in the Playoffs as the Lakers will be facing PGs that are too strong for Jordan Farmar, and too fast for Derek Fisher. Take Ariza and shrink him down, and you have Shannon Brown. He’s the defensive minded PG that the Lakers have been looking for.
These Lakers will prove to be much tougher on the defensive end than last year’s squad. Bynum will be inside manning the painted area and blocking or altering shots. Gasol has incredible length which will be a problem for players like Boozer and Milsap. Ariza will play the passing lanes like he always does. Kobe of course, will be doing his thing. He’ll play his one man zone, and generally leave his guy open for shots but occasionally make an incredible defensive play. Farmar and Fisher may have problems, but Shannon Brown will fill in the gaps.
I don’t think anyone is more excited about this matchup than I am, especially after Deron Williams showed his bonehead side by trying to set a hard screen on Bynum last night and just bouncing off. It’s gonna be like the Showtime days again with Stockton and Malone vs Magic and Kareem. Except this time it’ll be Williams and Boozer against Kobe, Pau, and Bynum… and don’t forget about Odom off the bench. See you Sunday.
If you guys missed last night’s Lakers v. Kings game, you may have missed your only chance to ever see Sasha Vujacic posterize on only one person, but TWO! Found this video on Ball Don’t Lie. All the stars aligned. Mbenga posted up. Sasha made a perfect cut and was rewarded with a perfect pass. THIS is where amazing happens. Especially when Sasha make slamma jamma bing bong. Machine out like trout. (Yup, I ended 2 consecutive posts with the same line. Gotta love it)
I almost have no words for this. This could be the best video ever for Sasha. “Slamma-jamma-bing-bonging” time! Found it at Ball Don’t Lie:
Pretty impressive article from the Charlotte Observer considering that Bell always seemed to hate Kobe. I guess there really is at least a little bit of respect there. It’s kinda like the closing scene from Anchorman when Vince Vaughnn tells Will Ferrell that deep down, he absolutely hates him, “but damn it, do I respect you.”
Props to Bell for stepping up and paying respect where it’s due.
Q: How would you explain to someone who knows nothing about basketball what makes Kobe transcendent?
“That he can do anything. Some guys are really, really good at one thing. Or two or three things. So you might say, ‘Let him take that jump shot (to guard against the drive).’
“He’s good at everything and he has this knack for being right on the spot with (crucial) plays. He could go 2-for-30 and in the last two minutes of a game, if he has the ball, his percentages go up to 75 percent.”
Q: So what are the guiding principles of guarding him?
“You’ve got to keep him off the free throw line, try to make him shoot 18 foot-plus jumpers with a hand in his face. Try to make him work to get the ball – don’t let him get it where he wants it.”
Q: And where, in particular, does he want the ball?
“He’s great, so his sweet spot is all over the place. But you want to try to make him catch it beyond the 3-point line by a couple of steps so he’s got to use more effort to get a good look up. Still, he likes to catch it anywhere – he just likes the ball, so anywhere is a danger spot for him.”
Q: What’s his pet move?
“His pull-up jumper, particularly when guys are underneath him, pawing at the ball (trying to get a steal). He likes to square you up and he goes into either a jab(-step) jumper or one hard dribble and it’s pretty much unguardable.”
Q: Any effective way to deny him the ball?
“Now that he’s got guys around him (Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom), maybe if (you) completely deny him, someone else will take the onus on himself. But he’s good enough in their system that even if you deny it, he’ll find a way to counter it with a backdoor (pass). You do want to deny him, but there’s no way you’re going to keep him from catching it, period.”
Q: Gerald Wallace says it’s imperative to make him work hard defensively, to try to wear him down. Thoughts?
“You want to make him work, but he’s one of the best defenders in the league. I’ve made him work, and seen other guys make him work at (the defensive) end, and he’s still ended up with 50. So I don’t know that there’s a whole lot to that.”
Q: Ever get frustrated guarding such a versatile scorer?
“Not anymore. When I first started (guarding) him, I wanted to stop everybody on every play. It got a bit discouraging. But after you’ve been around the league, you realize there’s no way you can stop guys completely. You have to have a short memory. Strap in and be ready, because it’s really a possession-at-a-time thing with him.”
Q: What’s he like when he’s frustrated?
“I’ve seen him get angry, get heated, but mostly that’s because he’s ultra-competitive. There have been very few times I’ve seen him really lose his composure to a point where he can’t help his team win a game.”
Q: Is he better or worse when angry?
“Depends on what kind of anger; if he’s angry at who he’s playing against, better. If he’s angry at an official, or something else has him off a bit, that could work into his opponent’s hands.”
A friend found this on Larry Brown Sports and sent it to me:
Are you serious Smush? And where are you even playing this year? You probably shouldn’t be talking when you were one of the major reasons that the Lakers had problems. Notice that they got a LOT better when you were gone and they got Derek Fisher back?
You were/are a lazy bastard that played defense only when he felt like it. Actually, you didn’t really play much offense either. And I don’t know if the Lakers’ problems begin and end with Kobe. Once again, the Lakers are playing and have been playing much better since you fell off the map.
Here’s the transcript that Larry Brown Sports had. Tough to understand a guy the mumbles so damn much.
“Playing for the Lakers was an overrated experience. Phil Jackson was great. I don’t care what the media says, they said I had a problem with Phil Jackson. The problem was never with Phil Jackson — it was with your boy, 24 — formerly known as KB. The problem with that team starts with him and ends with him. The reason why I say overrated is because everyone thinks playing with Kobe Bryant was the best thing since sliced bread but it’s not. Out to Miami with the Big Fella, Shaq Diesel, one of the greatest guys I’ve had a chance to play with and meet. Really down to Earth, really cool off the court.”
Smush, you don’t even understand how happy the Laker nation was when we found out that you were leaving. Good riddance, you poor excuse for lockerroom cancer.
It’s a tough call on this one. If you haven’t seen the foul, it’s right below. It didn’t look like Rudy was above the rim. Actually, it looked more like he was just taking off. Either way, it was a hard foul. A flagrant foul in general is to be assessed when there’s excessive, and unnecessary force. In this situation, Ariza went directly for the ball, but caught Fernandez’s head and arm. It was the shot on the arm that seemed to really cauz Rudy to land the way he did. Yes, there was contact on the head, but it didn’t look like that was what caused the awkward landing.
In my opinion, the foul should have been called and play should have continued. At most, a Flagrant 1 could have been assessed and I would have been OK with that. A Flagrant 2 seems a bit much. It was a hard foul, and unfortunately a player got injured on the play. There are hard fouls across the league on a nightly basis, and players are getting hurt left and right. It’s an unfortunate part of the business.
I’m hoping that the league reviews this ruling carefully. Here’s also to hoping that Fernandez comes back soon, and comes back strong and ready to go. This is a young Portland team that can definitely use him. Most importantly, though, is the Rudy comes back 100% healthy.
ABOUT
Just some thoughts on happenings around the league, responses to the media and other bloggers, and just a good place for you to spend time instead of actually working.
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