It’s pretty rare that a regular season game in any sport has the hype that came with this one. It’s even rarelier….more rare-er…whatever, that the game would live up to that hype. But this one sure did. Boy oh boy, what a freakin’ game! I was all geeked up for this one the minute I tuned in and saw the players going through their pre-game warm-up routine. That nervousness that comes with watching playoff basketball was with me the entire game. I’m surprised I didn’t wake the kids after a couple of the more exciting plays. Kobe’s dunk at the end of the 1st quarter as time was expiring, which from now on shall be known simply as “The Statement Dunk of 2008,” had me rewinding the DVR to show Robin, who, by the way, doesn’t particularly care for basketball and can’t stand Kobe, but still was able to work up an obligatory “wow.” (God love her).
This game was packed with huuuuge plays. Kobe blocking a dunk, Gasol filling the middle to finish a fast break with a time-out inducing slam dunk (only to get mauled by a creepy Sasha Vujavic), Kobe later breaking up a Nash-to-Shaq alley oop attempt, Farmar nailing threes, Odom driving the lane and dunking. You name it. This game had it. The Suns had their share of big time plays too. After all, if they hadn’t, this game would’ve been nothing more than a replay of Tuesday night’s laugher against the Hawks (poor Mike Bibby). Anyway, Nash was his usual self, scoring and passing with relative ease. Grant Hill had a great game. Stoudamire was out of his mind and had himself a game. Even the Big Fella started to crank it up late in the going, which I have to say, made me feel less than comfortable, to put it mildly.
I really, really hope these teams play each other in the playoffs. It could potentially be one of the greatest series EVER. Imagine how much more exciting these battles will be when Shaq is up to speed with his new teammates and with his conditioning and Andrew Bynum is back into the fold for the Lakers. Holy cow – that’ll be a show worth watching. I only hope the knot on Raja Bell’s head has subsided by then. Yikes. The biggest blow in the game for either side was Shaq’s elbow hitting Raja Bell, causing a lump the size of a small child on the back of Bell’s head. When it happened, he looked like he was out cold. Even when he went to the locker and came back to the bench several minutes later he looked like he wasn’t sure who he was, let alone where he was. I think that blow would’ve killed a normal sized man.
Well, this was a statement game to say the least. And a statement the Lakers made, punctuated of course by the Statement Dunk of 2008. Put some ice on that lump, Raja - we’ll see you in the playoffs!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Lakers vs. Suns - February 20, 2008
Biggest game of recent memory for these reasons:
1) Winner claims Pacific division #1 spot
2) Possible ramifications for home court advantage in the playoffs
3) Lakers vs the team that has bounced them from the playoffs in the last 2 seasons
4) If the Lakers lost they would be tied with the Suns in the season series, win and they have the advantage
5) Shaq's first game with the Suns
6) Shaq vs Kobe
7) Revamped Lakers vs Revamped Suns
First I have to comment on the whole Shaq going to the Suns thing. For the record this the 4th team in his career. Again he's feeling "recharged" and dedicated to working on getting into basketball shape because of his new team. I really used to like this Shaq but consider this... makes 20million a year (the highest salary possible that won't be matched for YEARS because his deal was done before the new collective bargaining agreement). Why does he need motiviation or to be recharged or whatever horse crap? I'm sure that's the kind of thing that bugged Kobe and it bugs me too. Kobe works his freaking butt off at all times.
Now while this was a big game, it's also an indicator of what kinds of strategies these teams could employ in the playoffs. Let's start with the bad news and good news for the match-ups.
Bad News
1) Shaq didn't look too bad. I mean that high screen and roll may not work as well with him in there, but that lob over the top alley-oop (the only successful one that worked for them) looked really natural for both Shaq and Nash.
2) Shaq isn't even really in shape yet and he had some decent minutes. With a couple of months of dedicated Diesel, he could transform into 2006 Shaq who won a title with Wade.
3) Shaq is still a good passer. He had that great behind the head dish to Stoudamire that led to a dunk.
4) Not having Shawn Marion made the Suns happier somehow. The morale on that team is very high right now and that's a big difference.
5) The game was close and the Lakers were definitely firing on all cylinders hitting open shots, making the extra pass, everything that we needed, if we had an off night it would have been a different story
6) We had trouble getting defensive stands... a lot of the good defense we had waer lucky steals on bad passes from the Suns who were just getting used to each other...
Good News
1) Gasol isn't afraid of Shaq and proved it by taking a couple of tough charges!
2) Not having Marion means no one guards Odom, who had an off night but should be able to score at will normally against this team
3) Shaq nearly killed his own teammate and best defender Raja Bell with a 365lb elbow to the back of the head... I was a little scared at the time that he wasn't getting up. (They said that in the locker room he forgot why he was there or what happened... yikes!)
4) The Lakers proved they can run with the Suns and still play a better half-court game. This team is so well balanced with the perfect blend of unselfish players, veterans and young talent that they can do ANYTHING.
5) Kobe's pinky allowed him to get 41 points...
6) And this is the best news... WE WON AND WE DIDN'T EVEN START BYNUM!!! (insert evil genius cackling laugh here)
He had a bunch of great plays and dunks (even one where he reverse slammed it in transition in the middle of 3 people) but the play of the game had to be Kobe's statement "eff you" dunk with 2 seconds remaining in the1st quarter.
I want to stand on the top of a mountain and yell at the top of my lungs "I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!"
1) Winner claims Pacific division #1 spot
2) Possible ramifications for home court advantage in the playoffs
3) Lakers vs the team that has bounced them from the playoffs in the last 2 seasons
4) If the Lakers lost they would be tied with the Suns in the season series, win and they have the advantage
5) Shaq's first game with the Suns
6) Shaq vs Kobe
7) Revamped Lakers vs Revamped Suns
First I have to comment on the whole Shaq going to the Suns thing. For the record this the 4th team in his career. Again he's feeling "recharged" and dedicated to working on getting into basketball shape because of his new team. I really used to like this Shaq but consider this... makes 20million a year (the highest salary possible that won't be matched for YEARS because his deal was done before the new collective bargaining agreement). Why does he need motiviation or to be recharged or whatever horse crap? I'm sure that's the kind of thing that bugged Kobe and it bugs me too. Kobe works his freaking butt off at all times.
Now while this was a big game, it's also an indicator of what kinds of strategies these teams could employ in the playoffs. Let's start with the bad news and good news for the match-ups.
Bad News
1) Shaq didn't look too bad. I mean that high screen and roll may not work as well with him in there, but that lob over the top alley-oop (the only successful one that worked for them) looked really natural for both Shaq and Nash.
2) Shaq isn't even really in shape yet and he had some decent minutes. With a couple of months of dedicated Diesel, he could transform into 2006 Shaq who won a title with Wade.
3) Shaq is still a good passer. He had that great behind the head dish to Stoudamire that led to a dunk.
4) Not having Shawn Marion made the Suns happier somehow. The morale on that team is very high right now and that's a big difference.
5) The game was close and the Lakers were definitely firing on all cylinders hitting open shots, making the extra pass, everything that we needed, if we had an off night it would have been a different story
6) We had trouble getting defensive stands... a lot of the good defense we had waer lucky steals on bad passes from the Suns who were just getting used to each other...
Good News
1) Gasol isn't afraid of Shaq and proved it by taking a couple of tough charges!
2) Not having Marion means no one guards Odom, who had an off night but should be able to score at will normally against this team
3) Shaq nearly killed his own teammate and best defender Raja Bell with a 365lb elbow to the back of the head... I was a little scared at the time that he wasn't getting up. (They said that in the locker room he forgot why he was there or what happened... yikes!)
4) The Lakers proved they can run with the Suns and still play a better half-court game. This team is so well balanced with the perfect blend of unselfish players, veterans and young talent that they can do ANYTHING.
5) Kobe's pinky allowed him to get 41 points...
6) And this is the best news... WE WON AND WE DIDN'T EVEN START BYNUM!!! (insert evil genius cackling laugh here)
He had a bunch of great plays and dunks (even one where he reverse slammed it in transition in the middle of 3 people) but the play of the game had to be Kobe's statement "eff you" dunk with 2 seconds remaining in the1st quarter.
I want to stand on the top of a mountain and yell at the top of my lungs "I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!"
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Lakers vs. Nets - February 5, 2008
24 and 12.
Did you read what I just wrote? 24 and 12!! What a debut! I’m in love. In love I tell you. I was hoping Gasol would maybe, just maybe, get 15 points and 5 or 10 boards in his first game. But instead, he stepped right into the Lakers lineup and contributed as though he’d been wearing the purple and gold for years. Yep. The boys looked good last night. And here’s the best part. It should only get better from here on out. Gasol’s certainly not going to go for 24 every game, but Kobe’s not exactly going to get 6 every game either. Even if Bynum doesn’t play the way he did before his injury, when he returns, the Lakers stand to be in way better shape than they were a month ago.
What an unbelievable season we’ve had so far. Let’s recap, shall we?
Kobe hints at wanting to be traded.
Kobe demands to be traded.
Buss implies Kobe is trade-able for the right price.
Kobe is booed on opening night and calls the fans idiots (okay – I embellish a bit about the idiot thing)
The team starts very mediocre, as does Andrew Bynum.
The Lakers make news by beating teams that suck (something they struggled with last year)
Bynum sells his soul to the Devil and becomes the West Coast version of Dwight Howard.
The Lakers go on a tear, with Andrew Bynum fans driving the all-of-a-sudden very crowded bandwagon.
Bynum suffers a knee injury with some made-up name and a collective gasp from the fans in Los Angeles can be heard as far away as San Antonio.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak must've mysteriously obtained incriminating photos of Memphis Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace because...
...The Grizzlies trade Pau Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown and a song.
Due to excessive weight, both axels on the bandwagon snap and all four wheels explode.
I’m going to make an effort to remember how I feel right now. The way I feel this week. The way it feels the moment this team turned the corner and jumped back into elite status. This must be how Kobe feels right now. This must be why Kobe’s got such a huge smile these past few days. I’m not making predictions and I certainly don’t want to jinx anything, but if this is the beginning of the Lakers’ third dynasty in the last 25 years, I’m going to make every effort to remember this time in Lakers' history.
Did you read what I just wrote? 24 and 12!! What a debut! I’m in love. In love I tell you. I was hoping Gasol would maybe, just maybe, get 15 points and 5 or 10 boards in his first game. But instead, he stepped right into the Lakers lineup and contributed as though he’d been wearing the purple and gold for years. Yep. The boys looked good last night. And here’s the best part. It should only get better from here on out. Gasol’s certainly not going to go for 24 every game, but Kobe’s not exactly going to get 6 every game either. Even if Bynum doesn’t play the way he did before his injury, when he returns, the Lakers stand to be in way better shape than they were a month ago.
What an unbelievable season we’ve had so far. Let’s recap, shall we?
Kobe hints at wanting to be traded.
Kobe demands to be traded.
Buss implies Kobe is trade-able for the right price.
Kobe is booed on opening night and calls the fans idiots (okay – I embellish a bit about the idiot thing)
The team starts very mediocre, as does Andrew Bynum.
The Lakers make news by beating teams that suck (something they struggled with last year)
Bynum sells his soul to the Devil and becomes the West Coast version of Dwight Howard.
The Lakers go on a tear, with Andrew Bynum fans driving the all-of-a-sudden very crowded bandwagon.
Bynum suffers a knee injury with some made-up name and a collective gasp from the fans in Los Angeles can be heard as far away as San Antonio.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak must've mysteriously obtained incriminating photos of Memphis Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace because...
...The Grizzlies trade Pau Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown and a song.
Due to excessive weight, both axels on the bandwagon snap and all four wheels explode.
I’m going to make an effort to remember how I feel right now. The way I feel this week. The way it feels the moment this team turned the corner and jumped back into elite status. This must be how Kobe feels right now. This must be why Kobe’s got such a huge smile these past few days. I’m not making predictions and I certainly don’t want to jinx anything, but if this is the beginning of the Lakers’ third dynasty in the last 25 years, I’m going to make every effort to remember this time in Lakers' history.
Lakers vs. Nets - February 5, 2008
Symmetry is beautiful when it surrounds your favorite team and the greatest rivalry of any team in any sport. When I heard about the Gasol trade from my fellow blogger Steve, I was flabbergasted... I have never used that word but it's exactly what I was, how I felt, and almost sounded like my actual response. It was more of something like "Flubbaguahgwha?" Getting Gasol for Kwame was like getting a brand new Ferrari vs being punched in the testicles by Mike Tyson. Losing Kwame was the definition of addition by subtraction, which is a phrase I only use for healthy bowel movements and is also a nice metaphor for what transpired...
Anyways I digress, the symmetry aspect comes in when you consider that Kevin McHale (The evil gollum Celtic bastard disguised as the T-Wolves GM) makes a ludicrous trade sending KG to the Celtics (his real team) for a bag of basketballs and someone named Jefferson and making the Celtics instantly into a title team. Karma-wise this is just about as fair as me hiring Mark McGuire (the good old steroids days one) for our company softball team. The world was not IN BALANCE... Kobe upon hearing the trade and seeing Gasol's Pau"er" for himself he declared that he had seen the light and there was a god. I'm saying that there is a balance to the universe and this is how it corrected itself. So lopsided and manipulated was that bastard trade of the aforementioned evil gollum, retribution was swift and angry. Jerry West still has some ties even if he's not officially the GM anymore of the Griz and I think he pulled a McHale to help out his old team. The Logo is still the greatest Laker and he proved it here.
This gives us the result of a possible starting lineup of:
Fisher (rejuvinated and launching those high arcing 3s from 2 feet behind his head)
Kobe
Lamar Odom
Pau Gasol
Andrew Bynum
With Farmar, Ariza, Walton, Turiaf, Radman, Vujacic (The Machine), and Mihm coming off the bench...
I would contend that this lineup is better than the Kobe-Shaq Lakers (especially since this onedoes not have Rick Fox prominently involved). We're WAAAAAY deeper now, and two 7footers are tougher to deal with than one Shaq, even in his youth he had a hard time with Duncan and Robinson. That's exactly what you have with Bynum and Gasol. The average height of this team is a little over 6'8", when most teams in the NBA are about 6'6". That doesn't sound like a lot but when you add the length of those long arms, it's a big size advantage. Last time I checked it's easier to play basketball when you're taller. We have big guys who can shoot outside and we also have post guys, this is a VERY versatile team who can make matchup problems for any team, including the rarely used All-White-dude lineup of Farmar, Vujacic, Walton, Gasol and Mihm... In fact that worries me, if we are headed for a karmic union of the Lakers and Celtics, are we the bizarro-white-dude Celtics of old?
So Gasol came in and cleaned house in his first game, just letting it come to him. He's a natural for the triangle with his passing and great footwork in the post as well as being able to step out and take jumpers, he's like a less angry, whiter, slightly less athletic but just as determined KG... Great game, Fish continues on fire from behind the 3 point line. People talked about his soft D but he did a decent job. Great that we can bring Turiaf off the bench and play some minutes at the big spots. God, I love this team!
Laker Nation get on your feet!!!!!!
Since I was late in posting this, I just found out that Shaq went to the Suns... this should be interesting for their run and gun offense. But you never know when the real Shaq turns up it could be interesting. All I know is if it comes down to it, Bynum won't be backing down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPRqhNK6g6g
Anyways I digress, the symmetry aspect comes in when you consider that Kevin McHale (The evil gollum Celtic bastard disguised as the T-Wolves GM) makes a ludicrous trade sending KG to the Celtics (his real team) for a bag of basketballs and someone named Jefferson and making the Celtics instantly into a title team. Karma-wise this is just about as fair as me hiring Mark McGuire (the good old steroids days one) for our company softball team. The world was not IN BALANCE... Kobe upon hearing the trade and seeing Gasol's Pau"er" for himself he declared that he had seen the light and there was a god. I'm saying that there is a balance to the universe and this is how it corrected itself. So lopsided and manipulated was that bastard trade of the aforementioned evil gollum, retribution was swift and angry. Jerry West still has some ties even if he's not officially the GM anymore of the Griz and I think he pulled a McHale to help out his old team. The Logo is still the greatest Laker and he proved it here.
This gives us the result of a possible starting lineup of:
Fisher (rejuvinated and launching those high arcing 3s from 2 feet behind his head)
Kobe
Lamar Odom
Pau Gasol
Andrew Bynum
With Farmar, Ariza, Walton, Turiaf, Radman, Vujacic (The Machine), and Mihm coming off the bench...
I would contend that this lineup is better than the Kobe-Shaq Lakers (especially since this onedoes not have Rick Fox prominently involved). We're WAAAAAY deeper now, and two 7footers are tougher to deal with than one Shaq, even in his youth he had a hard time with Duncan and Robinson. That's exactly what you have with Bynum and Gasol. The average height of this team is a little over 6'8", when most teams in the NBA are about 6'6". That doesn't sound like a lot but when you add the length of those long arms, it's a big size advantage. Last time I checked it's easier to play basketball when you're taller. We have big guys who can shoot outside and we also have post guys, this is a VERY versatile team who can make matchup problems for any team, including the rarely used All-White-dude lineup of Farmar, Vujacic, Walton, Gasol and Mihm... In fact that worries me, if we are headed for a karmic union of the Lakers and Celtics, are we the bizarro-white-dude Celtics of old?
So Gasol came in and cleaned house in his first game, just letting it come to him. He's a natural for the triangle with his passing and great footwork in the post as well as being able to step out and take jumpers, he's like a less angry, whiter, slightly less athletic but just as determined KG... Great game, Fish continues on fire from behind the 3 point line. People talked about his soft D but he did a decent job. Great that we can bring Turiaf off the bench and play some minutes at the big spots. God, I love this team!
Laker Nation get on your feet!!!!!!
Since I was late in posting this, I just found out that Shaq went to the Suns... this should be interesting for their run and gun offense. But you never know when the real Shaq turns up it could be interesting. All I know is if it comes down to it, Bynum won't be backing down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPRqhNK6g6g
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