Where are we? I have written and re-written the intro of my piece into this week's GOTWC over and over again. I just don't know where I stand. On one hand:
1) Kobe is out of line for calling out Lakers management and the Lakers have one of the most successful and classy organizations in sports. We as fans have stood behind him through the rape trial. We stood behind him through all the selfish talk, the "gunner mentality" talk, and the Kobe vs Shaq talk. We're good fans and we deserve better.
2) Kobe should be counting his blessings playing in a market as big as Los Angeles. The Dodgers are still rebuilding, there's no NFL team, and the terribly managed Clipper team are the only opposition to the Lakers as a marketing juggernaut. So the star of the Lakers = one of the biggest stars the sports world.
3) This team Kobe is complaining about isn't THAT bad. Really, this team went 18-6 in the beginning of last season mostly on tough defense, a lot of Kobe, and a little bit of Odom and Walton. We have an underrated defensive team with a coach who may be more known for the triangle, but is also a very strict disciplinarian on defense. We have a quick young guard in Farmar who came from Ben Howland's UCLA school of defense. He's got as good a chance as anyone of stopping guys like Parker and Nash (the catalysts for their respective teams). And we have hustle and size in Mo Evans, Bynum and Brown. Not to mention one of the best defenders in the league in Bryant.
4) I hate to bring up old news, because it's just as much Shaq's fault as it is Kobe's. Kobe could have stopped the Most Dominant Ever from leaving. Shaq just wanted to be respected, and he is too much of a big child to admit it. Kobe could have been the bigger man and said "Shaq, please stay" in a very public way, and there's no way Shaq would have gone. I hate to bring it up because all the Kobe haters will refuse to acknowledge that Shaq could have done the same thing. Shaq could have taken a public stance that he was relinquishing "Alpha dog" status to Kobe and all would have been forgiven. But both of them are selfish, so instead of Shaq having 4 rings, and Kobe having 3, they could have each had 6. EASY.
On the other hand:
A) Kobe is right about management. By all accounts, no one even knows who to call if they want to make a trade with the Lakers. Jerry Buss? Mitch Kupcake? Jimmy Buss? Kobe because he has the no trade clause anyways?
B) What happened to all the deals we were going to make? Kidd? KG? How did that get screwed up? Kobe ends up getting Derek Fisher who came free with Rick Fox's invisible backpack of bricks. While that TOTAL BASTARD Kevin McHale trades KG tot he Celtics for a bunch of kids. Can't other teams veto total BS trades like that? Who thinks it's OK for him to do that?!?! That's as bad as the Tim Donaghy scandal, if he goes and becomes a "consultant" for the Celtics in the next year or so after trading them a hall of fame player for unproven youngsters. It's like if you were playing fantasy football and a guy's wife traded Tom Brady to her husband for two no-name guys. That would start fistfights and possible homicides even in a casual league.
C) Kobe was promised that he would get help. They promised him, and I think that means something. While I think they have a puncher's chance in this league with Kobe, they would be DOMINATING with KG. There's no question.
A few notes on the game, now that I have that out of my system:
At around the 10 minute mark after Kobe dives at T-Mac to defend a jumper, Marv "bite marks" Albert says "aaand Kobe matches up with McGrady for the first time tonight". Actually Kobe hounded and forced McGrady to miss his first 4 shots. Marv was a little late to the party apparently, is he slipping?
Kobe looks like he hasn't even broken a sweat and he's killing Battier who is feebly trying to defend himself let alone Kobe. Why would Rick Adelman put Battier on Kobe? If you want to stop Kobe, really T-Mac is one of the few who has a shot at it.
Fisher, actually was a sight for sore eyes. It was nice to see him again, he still isn't that fast but he's at least at the "He's old so we'll call that flop a foul on the other guy" stage. I think we're supposed to call him a "Cagey veteran". Whatever, he's still got Rick Fox's invisible backpack full of bricks with him.
I actually wasn't too disappointed considering that Odom is out. ESPN.com rated the Rockets as the 3rd best team in the West behind San Antonio and the Suns. Although I was hoping for a little more improvement from the young guys, and I was kinda hoping Kwame "T-Rex hands" Brown would be on the bench with tendonitis in his microfractured plantar-clavicle-mangina
I guess in the end, I just don't want to see Kobe in another jersey but I'm so sick of all this drama... It's like a bad break-up with a super crazy girl who is really really hot, it just sucks.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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