Posts Tagged ‘Basketball’
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.
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.
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:
Man, I forgot that this guy actually won a ring with the Celtics last year. Check out the video below. Cherly RIPS into Pollard for missing the pregame. Holy the hell is this guy still even doing anything related to basketball? Once a scrub, always a scrub. This guy needs to learn to just keep his mouth shut. Are you seriously challenging a girl to a basketball game? Even if you are, she’d probably wipe the floor with you, Scot.
My buddy found this on SportsbyBrooks:
Cheryl Miller took offense to co-analyst Scot Pollard missing the pregame and halftime shows due to “mechanical problems” with his flight. When he shows up for the postgame show, and blames the mechanical problems on the weight of his championship ribg, well, Miller pretty much loses her s**t on live TV. See video of why TNT might have found its designated crazy replacement if Barkley relapses, after the jump.
Pollard begins by bragging about his championship, which he TOTALLY EARNED as part of the “big four” on last year’s Celtics team. Then he moves on to his manicure in Cabo. But when Miller finds out that Pollard’s flight was scheduled the day of the broadcast, while she had to fly in two days prior, she is, shall we say, not cool with that. Watch the carnage:
Pollard doesn’t do himself any favors by trying to compare his 16.5 mpg to Miller, a hall of famer. And while a game of 1-on-1 would be a treat to NBA TV’s tens of viewers, Pollard’s vaguely sexist challenge makes for a painfully awkward studio show moment.
But, OK, Pollard was late, and he’s kind of an ass about it. But Miller’s reaction isn’t proportional; clearly there’s something else at play here. Our crack SbB research staff dug up Scot Pollard’s 2005 roast of Reggie Miller. Maybe Cheryl’s still bitter about Pollard’s cracks at her baby bro?
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.
Aww man. I found this off Ball Don’t Lie from The Puns are Starting to Bore Me. This video is just too funny not to post. Dwight Howard may be the biggest kid in the league. He’s what makes the league fun to watch. We definitely need more guys like him.
The look on Gortat’s face when he’s listen to Robert Horry… aka Fresh Prince is jsut classic. This guy has no idea what’s going on.
Found this on Ball Don’t Lie:
I don’t like the fact that Charles got the DUI, but hopefully he learned something from it. Like Skeets said “I can’t talk for everybody else, but that’s good enough for me, Chuck. Live and learn. Welcome back.”
His apology seemed very heartfelt, especially after Kenny asked him about what he learned about his friends and the people around him. I’m glad that he got the support he needed to get through something like this. It’s a bad situation to be in, but he put it on himself. He didn’t blame anyone else. He didn’t make excuses. He took it all on his shoulders like he should have, and took the blame.
Welcome back, Charles. It’s good to see you back on TV.
Thanks to JD2K for this video. Check his site at Lakersmedia.com:
Clean block. Shouldn’t have been a foul, but it was called anyways. Booooo. But damn is this kid athletic. Check out where his head is. If he went forward anymore, he would have hit it on the bottom of the backboard. DISGUSTING!
Found this on Lakersground.net. Originally from SGV Tribune:
EL SEGUNDO - The Lakers’ UCLA alumni club did its best to make Adam Morrison feel welcome - so to speak.
Morrison arrived at the Lakers’ practice facility Monday, a day after being acquired from Charlotte in a trade, to find a picture taped to his locker.
There was Morrison, sobbing, moments after his Gonzaga Bulldogs had been eliminated from the 2006 NCAA Tournament by Jordan Farmar’s UCLA Bruins.
“I have a suspect,” Morrison said with a smile. “I knew I would get some flak for that, coming to L.A.”
Trevor Ariza is also a UCLA alum, but incriminating photos aside, Morrison couldn’t be happier with the trade, which sent him and guard Shannon Brown to the Lakers in exchange for Vladimir Radmanovic.
Much has changed for Morrison since that tournament game. Most visibly, his once- famous shaggy locks have been shorn to a tight cut, and his facial hair has been trimmed into a thin goatee.
In a basketball sense, Morrison has yet to resemble that dynamic college player, the one talented enough to be the third overall pick of the 2006 NBA draft. After a decent rookie year, Morrison missed all of 2007-08 after ACL surgery. This season, he averaged only 4.5 points in 44 games with the Bobcats.
While Morrison isn’t assured of much playing time with the Lakers, coach Phil Jackson said he is open to seeing what Morrison can bring once he gets acclimated with the triangle offense.
In college, Morrison was a high-scoring forward who drew favorable comparisons to Larry Bird.
“I think the confidence issue is probably more with my knee than my game,” Morrison said. “Half of the battle is just getting my knee to feel right. It feels good right now, so I’m just looking forward to contributing to this great team.”
To the extent that he plays, Brown is expected to contribute more on defense. Jackson said Brown wouldn’t have a problem playing either guard position for the Lakers.
“I’m just going to try to bring a lot of energy at both ends, some athleticism and spark,” Brown said.
I’m glad Morrison is a Laker. The guy got now love from Larry Brown. You have a great scorer, but you give him no playing time, and you expect him to perform. Then when he does get playing time, he’s thrust into the lineup and expected to be the #1 guy on offense. Any kid would have trouble dealing with this. Let’s see what he can do when he’s eased into an offense and actually given a chance. Let’s just hope he can take Luke’s spot.
Found this off of Blog Maverick. Check out where Jason Kidd is, and then where Kobe is on this list.
So apparently, Cubes’ system thinks that Kobe is Igoudala, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Emeka Okafor, and…. Randy Foye????
Mark, you might just want to scrap your system. It puts the Crap in Scrap. How is Jason Kidd gonna be ranked #2? Possibly one of the worst system’s I’ve seen in a long time, Mark.
A note to Doc Rivers and his squad: Stop whining and take the loss like men.
Otherwise, you can go play in the WNBA. Actually they probably complain even less than you do. And Pierce, what’s up with the flopping around when Farmar is guarding you? You outweigh him by a good 50 lbs. Stop being a batch. Here’s a list of their complaints and quotes after the game yesterday. Most of them found on Lakersground.net from various sources:
- Ray Allen: “I was fouled,” Allen said after the Celtics’ 110-109 overtime loss to the Lakers. “I was pushed. I think I did twist my ankle.”
- Eddie House: “They looked like they’d won the Finals the way they were celebrating,” Eddie House said. “It’s only Game 51.”
- Ray Allen: “But Fisher pushed me,” Allen said.
- I believe these were all Ray Allen: “There was a lot of thickness in the atmosphere,’’ said Ray Allen after scoring 22 points and being the victim of a last-second no-call. “It was a playoff game.”
“They still remember being in this building in June and being sent home with frowns on their faces. That’s what they sat home and thought about all summer (when) we celebrated.
“It’s important that we know and learn in the last two months where teams are really attacking us. We’re the hunted. We have to hunt back.’’…
- Ray Allen: “I was fouled. I was pushed,’’ said Allen. “I think I did twist my ankle. I thought I was fouled. I got pushed into the shot. But what can you do about it? He rode me into the shot.’’
- Doc Rivers: “I thought it was a hand check. But the officials say they don’t call the game different from the first quarter to the end of the game. If that’s true, then Ray should be on the free throw line. It was hand check the whole way. Unless the rules have changed, you can’t do that.’’
- Paul Pierce: “It was a physical game, but you’ve got to expect that,’’ said Paul Pierce, who had 21 points. “It’s two of the top teams battling for the best record in the league. With all the things said about the Lakers not being a physical team, you’ve got to expect they’re going to come and hold their chests high. They beat us once and we had a chance tonight, but we let it go.’’
- Paul Pierce: “The thing we’ve got to realize it’s not the end of the world,’’ said Pierce. “It’s still a long season. Our goals are still the same. Nothing changes. It would have been nice to get this win if it comes down to a tiebreaker, but we’ve still got work to do.’’
Alright, enough quotes. They’re just gonna make me laugh even harder at the Celtics. I thought you guys had some pride. Some heart. Apparently, it’s all fake. You lose a big game and you start making excuses. After the Christmas Day game, Garnett and House came out and said that the Lakers took it more seriously than they did, that the Lakers were waiting for that game all year, that the Lakers needed that game. Well, Boston needed this game. Now the Lakers have the tie breaker if it comes down to it during the Finals.
Whatever happened to being a humble loser? Back when I was growing up, if you lose, you take it like a man. You don’t complain. You congratulate the other team. And you just get yourself up for the next game.
A few directed words to the Celtics players:
Garnett: Enough with the fake intensity. Everyone sees right through it. Why do you think no one in the league is scared of you anymore? You got in Odom’s face just because he slapped your tooshie. Then Odom and the Lake Show were so deep inside your head that you disappeared for the rest of the game.
House: Who the fuck are you? Shut your pie hole, scrub. This is like Luke Walton coming out and saying that we’re the best in the world, and we just stomped the Celtics. You belong on the bench. You’re brought in purely to hit open shots, and nothing else. You talk about how the Lakers acted like they won the Finals… how about you stop acting like you won the Finals anytime you make a single shot? Stop with the prancing already.
Pierce: Other than your flopping around, you’re by far the most respectable guy on the team, at least in terms of what comes out of your mouth.
Ray Ray: Shut your mouth. Quit your complaining about a foul and hurting yourself on the last shot. You wouldn’t have hurt your ankle if you didn’t flail around like you just got shot. Even the media isn’t on your side this time. Everyone knows that wasn’t a foul. Fisher rode you… rode you like his bitch. Then he stopped so that once again, Gasol could block your last second attempt, kinda like the Christmas Day game. Good job, Jesus.
Rondo: You against Kobe? I’ll bet everything I own on Kobe. Maybe have something to eat, grow a little, then you’ll come close. We all know you were trying to get in Mamba’s head, but you’re not even in the same league as him.
Good job with the quotes, Celtics. You just fueled the fire even more. Damn I’m gonna love watching the Lakers stomp you in the Finals… if you get there again.
According to coach Phil Jackson and ESPN, Andrew Bynum could resume playing in as little as 4 weeks. This all depends on his rehab, of course. Jackson said that Bynum will focus on icing and resting his knee for the next 2 weeks, and then will focus on basketball activities the next 2 weeks. Not a bad timeline for a guy that was supposed to be out for 8-12 weeks.
This give Bynum much more time to get back into game shape compared to his injury last season. Don’t forget that up until this previous month, Bynum was still just trying to get his rythym back. In January, we finally got a dose of the potential of the REAL Andrew Bynum. I’ll keep you posted on any news on the Bynum front.
Found this on Lakersground.net (originally from Fox Sports, but the link is now bad):
Sean Combs was supposed to co-host a birthday party for DJ Clue at club M2 on West 28th Street Monday night with Kobe Bryant after the historic Knicks/Lakers game in which Bryant scored 61 points. But nobody warned Combs that the New York Police Department had an undercover gun detail searching guests as they came into the club. “Everyone wanted to make sure that the dozens of NBA stars in attendance, including Lamar Odom, Vince Carter and Pau Gasol, would be safe,” the insider said. When Diddy arrived at 1:45 a.m. with a six-man entourage, a witness said he “flipped out” when cops asked to search him and his friends. “He went nuts, saying, ‘Why are you disrespecting me like this? Why are you doing this to me?’ During the commotion, one of his guys slipped away, unsearched, back to the car.” Combs “stormed off and started to text DJ Clue asking, ‘What the [bleep] is going on?’ and asked if he could go in the back entrance.” When told that the cops would have to search him and his friends there as well, Combs decided not to attend the party. … At least Bryant was happy to be patted down and stayed until 4 a.m. “He was in the VIP area, where there were strict orders not to let any women in near him,” we’re told. On his way out, Bryant (who drank water), after ordering two bottles of champagne for his pals, left the waitresses a $2,000 tip. — NY Post
Kinda cool story about Kobe… even better story about how much of an idiot Puffy aka Diddy aka Sean Combs is. Glad to hear that at least some clubs protect players when they’re inside. Just because they’re famous doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to feel safe doing the things we all take for granted. And a note to Diddy, just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you should act like a baby when you get treated like a regular person, or when you can’t get in somewhere because your friends are idiots carrying guns into a club.
Smart move by Kobe if he really did tell the waitress to keep the women away. Gotta make sure he keeps Vanessa happy.
From Ball Don’t Lie:
Here they are, via Dime: all 61 of Kobe Bryant’s record-setting night in New York City.
Kobe passed Jordan’s opponent record of 55 points in Madison Square Garden when he made three free throws with 3:56 remaining. He then bettered Bernard King’s cool 60, set on Christmas Day in 1984, with two more from the line late.
This game reminded me of the 81 point game a few years ago. From the beginning of the game, Kobe was on fire and kept it going all game long. Oh and don’t forget that he’s playing with 2 JACKED up fingers on his shooting hand.
This was simply a statement game by Kobe. Even without Andrew Bynum, the Lakers are still one of the most dangerous teams in the league. NBA beware. It’s Kobe’s year and nothing is going to stop him.
Here’s another great highlight video from JD2K’s Lakersmedia.com
This is as retarded as it gets
This was emailed to me by a friend today. It came from TheLakersNation.com
This isn’t a joke. The NBA is actually selling green Lakers shirts. Why? You’re guess is as good as mine. If that isn’t enough, the shirts have a clover on the side. We here at TLN say NO to the green shirt.
Apparently, Stern has completely forgotten about the Lakers and Celtics rivalry. Everyone please please please boycott this shirt. Any Lakers fan wearing this shirt deserves a beat down.
Just found this on Ball Don’t Lie:
It’s absolutely ridiculously awesome. I’ve seen this move on NBA Ballers video games and crap, but I didn’t anyone would manage to get this to work in a real game. Check it.
Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your regularly scheduled NBA programming to bring you this breaking YouTube clip that is of the utmost basketball importance. (Slight exaggeration.) Via With Leather, here’s video of Ike Nwamu and Deuce Bello of Westchester Country Day School pulling off a designed double alley-oop in a recent high school game. It’s ridiculous.
Believe it or not, that is exactly the type of basketball-meets-volleyball play we’re going to start see popping up in NBA playbooks, practices and games. Why? Because for far too long, the alley-oop has been an underutilized offensive weapon. As Shoals so perfectly puts it: “If you accept the alley-oop as more like the pick-and-roll than the windmill, all sorts of perceptual doors begin to loosen. Remember McGrady’s off-the-backboard self-oop? Why not use the backboard as a second floor, thus adding another (fourth?) dimension to the game. It sounds fancy and frivolous, but again, we’re talking set plays …” Hear, hear! Unleash the oop!
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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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