Peter Vecsey in the New York Post reports that David Geffen is making a serious play for controlling interest in the Los Angeles Clippers and hopes to lure LeBron James away from Cleveland, too (the rumor is already being shot down by the LAT Fabulous Forum blog, but that doesn't mean you can't still dream of a new future for LA's moribund NBA franchise).
Seems like if the franchise were to get a chance at a reboot, that they should bury the old cursed name, and ring in a new era by renaming and rebranding themselves, here are a few choices, some have been out there before, some are my own invention, most make use of the location, or the Geffen connection, pick a favorite
As far as these names go, LA Rockers sounds good on the tongue, and you could have a dual theme of Rock and Roll, as well as Earthquakes with regards to merchandizing. Hollywood Knights, too would be popular worldwide merchandizing-wise, though why people still think Hollywood is some glamorous place rather than the ratty, rundown, and skeevy hole it has been for most of its history, is beyond my ken. That Other Team benefits from accuracy, though the might be tough to fit on a jersey. The West Hollywood Pride would have absolutely fabulous jerseys, so they have that going for them, and would be pretty unique amongst major sports franchises in explicitly courting the 'gay dollar'. The LA Ogres might work, but the Shrek thing is kind of played out, and would look dated pretty quickly (see Raptors, Toronto for previous examples of a team jumping on a current trend and then looking foolishly dated very quickly by choice of name/mascot). That leaves the LA Dragons as a pretty solid choice, you could have both a western style dragon main jersey, as well as Chinese dragon alternate jerseys to cater to the massive (and massively interested in NBA basketball) Chinese market, and given that they are already working on another How to Train Your Dragon film, looks like this is the current ongoing animated franchise over at Dreamworks, so the cross promotion thing would be of real benefit.
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
21 July 2009
Your Daily Photo (Behold the Awesome Power of a Fully Operational Thabeet Face Edition)
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The Hasheem Thabeet face, coming to an NBA arena near you...
(this is a blow-up of a tiny portion of a shot, the over-processed look of it is artistic expression, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it)
15 July 2009
Your Daily Photo (With Those Moves, If Being an Official Doesn't Pan Out, There's Always Runway Modelling Edition)
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That's right, she can be a tough, fair, and accurate official, and she can do a mean catwalk sashay at the same time. That woman has some talent.
Each ref squad had one woman, two dudes during the Summer League games I saw. Seems the NBA's making a major effort to expand their pool of female refs. Almost all the anti-ref heckling that I heard (which there was very little of) was directed at the female refs. I suppose the jerks in the stands are doing these officials a service by getting them used to ignoring that sort of stupidity early on in their careers. Most of the games were called fairly, one game I saw the crew called everything, and it made it unwatchable, but that had nothing to do with having a woman on the crew.
14 July 2009
Your Daily Photo (Summer League is Clipper Time! Edition)
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Even the folks behind the Clippers can be hopeful this time of year (and David Stern can pretend to like these folks).
Blake Griffin is the real deal, he's going to be a star in the NBA, he should even be an impact player as a rookie.
On paper, the Clips look like a sure playoff team, and should end up the second in the Pacific Division (Lakers still the heavy favorites in their division, Phoenix has slipped, Golden State is a work in progress, and the Kings are the Kings, they should be better than last year, but that's not saying much). They are the Clippers, so while they have the talent for a 50+ win season, they also have the history and an organization that can take this talent and produce a 50+ loss season, as well.
30 January 2009
How You Know "The Real Shaq" is the Real Shaq . . .
Tweeted recently:
Thank u all 4 da votes,witout u there is no me
Congrats, Shaq, you've earned your return to All Star status, you've been playing with energy, and you're even making your free throws lately, keep it up and you'll get your team all the way to a 1st or 2nd round sweep by the Lakers (unless the Spurs sweep the Suns out of the playoffs, first), enjoy it.
Thank u all 4 da votes,witout u there is no me
Congrats, Shaq, you've earned your return to All Star status, you've been playing with energy, and you're even making your free throws lately, keep it up and you'll get your team all the way to a 1st or 2nd round sweep by the Lakers (unless the Spurs sweep the Suns out of the playoffs, first), enjoy it.
01 October 2008
Lakers Chat, Part Infinity, Insanely Optimistic BLOGTOBER Edition
Is it NBA time already? Almost, the Lakers play two exhibition games this week, and are in day 2 of training camp. Bynum claims to feel fine, a lot rests on his repaired knee and Kobe's torn pinkie ligament.
They should be better than last year, but even being better than the runners-up might not be enough to get them back to the Finals cause other teams in the Western Conference have also improved.
John Hollinger at ESPN isn't sold on them, but he does think they are the 2nd best team in the West (to Utah). I think they should come out strong, they only have 4 games away from Staples in their first 15, so a fast start is expected, and is a must. Wouldn't be surprised to see them make it to 15-0 by the end of November, and who knows, 30-0 through December 31st isn't outside the realm of possibility for this team if everything clicks in place (18-12 is just as possible if they get injuries, or just don't figure out how to handle their new line-ups).
So, I'm going to err on the side of optimism and say that this Lakers team won't lose a game in 2008, and will have an NBA record season starting 30 game win streak (obliterating the old 15-0 mark shared by 48-49 Washington Capitols and the 93-94 Houston Rockets) going into their Jan 2nd match-up against Utah at Staples (where they will sadly, suffer their first defeat, missing out on the all time best 33 win streak mark set by the 71-72 Lakers, but they'll rebound to set a 40-1 mark in their first 41 games to break the half season record shared by those same Lakers and the Jackson coached 95-96 Chicago Bulls).
That's a prediction you can take to the bank, and I'll back that prediction with the same level of certainty and same kind of guarantee that the federal government did with Fannie and Freddie.
They should be better than last year, but even being better than the runners-up might not be enough to get them back to the Finals cause other teams in the Western Conference have also improved.
John Hollinger at ESPN isn't sold on them, but he does think they are the 2nd best team in the West (to Utah). I think they should come out strong, they only have 4 games away from Staples in their first 15, so a fast start is expected, and is a must. Wouldn't be surprised to see them make it to 15-0 by the end of November, and who knows, 30-0 through December 31st isn't outside the realm of possibility for this team if everything clicks in place (18-12 is just as possible if they get injuries, or just don't figure out how to handle their new line-ups).
So, I'm going to err on the side of optimism and say that this Lakers team won't lose a game in 2008, and will have an NBA record season starting 30 game win streak (obliterating the old 15-0 mark shared by 48-49 Washington Capitols and the 93-94 Houston Rockets) going into their Jan 2nd match-up against Utah at Staples (where they will sadly, suffer their first defeat, missing out on the all time best 33 win streak mark set by the 71-72 Lakers, but they'll rebound to set a 40-1 mark in their first 41 games to break the half season record shared by those same Lakers and the Jackson coached 95-96 Chicago Bulls).
That's a prediction you can take to the bank, and I'll back that prediction with the same level of certainty and same kind of guarantee that the federal government did with Fannie and Freddie.
25 August 2008
The Dream v The Redeem Teams, A Numerical Analysis (heh, heh, He said ysis)
Basketball Reference is an invaluable site for NBA basketball fans/stat junkies. It's also mostly worthless. Of all the major sports, NBA basketball is the one where stats tell the least of what each player contributes to his team. But, imperfect numbers, are better than no numbers at all.
So, using their stats, I compiled a google spreadsheet that compares the players of the 2008 Beijing gold medal winning team to the 1992 Barcelona gold medal winning team.
I intentionally ignored 2 players from each team, first, cause of the 12 players on the original 'Dream Team', ten of them were part of that Top 50 All Time list that the NBA came up with for their 50th anniversary, and the other two were a college player (Christian Laettner), so no NBA stats available to that point, and the other player's haircut was just too awful to mention or think about (Chris Mullin), plus the 'Redeem Team' really only went 10 deep with Carlos Boozer and Michael Redd primarily relegated to 'in emergency break glass' duty on the roster (and nobody got injured, so they sat and sat and sat for the most part).
The stats I used were Player Effeciency Rating in their most recent NBA campaign, an average of the past 3 years of PER, their Win Share, and a 3 year average of WS, plus their NBA regular season and playoff games played up to their appearance in the Olympics.
Why those stats? Well, PER isn't perfect, but it's the stat that translates best from season to season, and player to player. The formula is complicated, and different analyst tweak their formula here and there, but it's pretty indicative of what kind of season a player is having, and how they compare to others at their position. Win Share is a bit trickier, but it's also a pretty good number, it's meant to compute the 'share' of a team's victories attributable to that player, a solid player can see that number plummet if they are on a lousy team (see Wade, Dwyane last year), or if they are the number two guy on a good team with a mega-superstar on their squad (see Pippen, Scottie, any of his Bulls years).
If you want to peruse the individual stats, the link is above, but here are the averages for each squad.
All this proves for certain is that the 1992 Olympians were older, and had much more NBA experience. The PER numbers are fairly close, as are the win shares, though Dream Team has the edge on both of those.
Also, if you were to list the ten best players at their position, I think it'd be hard to leave any of the 10 Dream Teamers I did stats for off the list. On the Redeem Team, only Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, and LeBron James would be locks for that list, but Chris Paul, Deron Williams, seem headed in that direction, and Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony all seem like they have the potential to be that good, but whether or not they realize that potential is an open question. Another interesting quirk in the numbers is that the previous season PER and WS are lower than the 3 year average for 1992, and reversed for 2008. I think this shows that you had more players at or past their peak in 1992, while in 2008 you have players who are just beginning to figure out the league. In 1992 all the players were 26 or over (other than Laettner, who I didn't count), while in 2008 you had six players 23 or under. Also, if you take out Kobe and Kidd, none of the other players in 2008 had more than 500 regular season games played, but in 1992 only Scottie Pippen and David Robinson (again, ignoring Laettner) were below that number.
But none of those numbers tell you how'd they match up against each other. Could 29 year old Kobe guard 28 year old MJ? In that match up, Kobe is actually the more veteran player with almost 200 more regular season games played, and 60 more playoff games, plus Kobe to that point had 3 rings, and 2 other Finals appearances, while MJ was off his 2nd straight championship team. Everyone assumes MJ would kill Kobe, but Kobe is a better defender, and has better range on his jump shot. Who guards LeBron James? Malone doesn't have the footspeed, neither does Barkley, Pippen might get the assignment, as long as you give him lots of help in the middle. Where 1992 shines compared to 2008 is in the middle. Ewing and Robinson would eat Howard and Bosh for breakfast, and then ask for seconds. But Paul and Williams would wear down Stockton and Magic in the backcourt, though Magic could use his size to post up those guys, so some adjustments would have to be made. Old and slow Larry Bird would be a huge liability on defense for the 1992 team, and would see most of his minutes go to Malone, or Robinson if Coach Daly went with a 'Twin Towers' approach by putting Ewing and Robinson on the floor at the same time to take advantage of 2008's lack of size.
I don't think the winner between these squads is absolutely certain, 1992 is made up of greater players, some of the best all time, but their age, and lack of ball handlers (seems crazy to say a team with Magic and Stockton has problems with handles, but Paul, Williams, Kobe, Prince could give them both problems) might cause problems against a younger, far quicker team in the 2008 vintage Olympians. Jordan was a phenomenal player, at his peak, but if Jordan is the Alpha of all time shooting guards, then Kobe is a not too distant Gamma or Delta (Elgin Baylor or Oscar Robertson slot in somewhere between Kobe and MJ, probably). Size is where 1992 can kill 2008, and speed and greater team defensive intensity is where 2008 can counter 1992's better individual players. Coach K's 2008 squad is better balanced as a team, but the experience and the collective competitive fire of the 1992 squad would overwhelm the 'Redeem Team' in a single game.
In a seven game series, I think the 2008 players might give those old guys a run for their money, though.
Somebody needs to invent a time machine, snatch these players off the podiums just after they get their golds, and answer this question once and for all (just make sure not to neglect wiping their memories of the contests so that they don't pollute their respective timelines with knowledge of the future).
(also, if you added 2008 vintage Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce to the "Redeem Team", in place of Bosh and Prince, I think you'd have a much more competitive game, but then, if you got rid of old and busted 1992 Larry Bird and replaced him with younger and annoying 1992 Reggie Miller, balance would be restored)
So, using their stats, I compiled a google spreadsheet that compares the players of the 2008 Beijing gold medal winning team to the 1992 Barcelona gold medal winning team.
I intentionally ignored 2 players from each team, first, cause of the 12 players on the original 'Dream Team', ten of them were part of that Top 50 All Time list that the NBA came up with for their 50th anniversary, and the other two were a college player (Christian Laettner), so no NBA stats available to that point, and the other player's haircut was just too awful to mention or think about (Chris Mullin), plus the 'Redeem Team' really only went 10 deep with Carlos Boozer and Michael Redd primarily relegated to 'in emergency break glass' duty on the roster (and nobody got injured, so they sat and sat and sat for the most part).
The stats I used were Player Effeciency Rating in their most recent NBA campaign, an average of the past 3 years of PER, their Win Share, and a 3 year average of WS, plus their NBA regular season and playoff games played up to their appearance in the Olympics.
Why those stats? Well, PER isn't perfect, but it's the stat that translates best from season to season, and player to player. The formula is complicated, and different analyst tweak their formula here and there, but it's pretty indicative of what kind of season a player is having, and how they compare to others at their position. Win Share is a bit trickier, but it's also a pretty good number, it's meant to compute the 'share' of a team's victories attributable to that player, a solid player can see that number plummet if they are on a lousy team (see Wade, Dwyane last year), or if they are the number two guy on a good team with a mega-superstar on their squad (see Pippen, Scottie, any of his Bulls years).
If you want to peruse the individual stats, the link is above, but here are the averages for each squad.
Dream Team 1992
AVG PER = 24.19
3YR PER = 24.65
AVG WS = 12.95
3YR WS = 13.40
AVG Regular Season Games = 613.3
AVG Playoff Games = 82.9
AVG Age = 29.0
Redeem Team 2008
AVG PER = 22.40
3YR PER = 22.02
AVG WS = 10.57
3YR WS = 10.14
AVG Regular Season Games = 458.3
AVG Playoff Games = 56.0
AVG Age = 25.2
All this proves for certain is that the 1992 Olympians were older, and had much more NBA experience. The PER numbers are fairly close, as are the win shares, though Dream Team has the edge on both of those.
Also, if you were to list the ten best players at their position, I think it'd be hard to leave any of the 10 Dream Teamers I did stats for off the list. On the Redeem Team, only Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, and LeBron James would be locks for that list, but Chris Paul, Deron Williams, seem headed in that direction, and Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony all seem like they have the potential to be that good, but whether or not they realize that potential is an open question. Another interesting quirk in the numbers is that the previous season PER and WS are lower than the 3 year average for 1992, and reversed for 2008. I think this shows that you had more players at or past their peak in 1992, while in 2008 you have players who are just beginning to figure out the league. In 1992 all the players were 26 or over (other than Laettner, who I didn't count), while in 2008 you had six players 23 or under. Also, if you take out Kobe and Kidd, none of the other players in 2008 had more than 500 regular season games played, but in 1992 only Scottie Pippen and David Robinson (again, ignoring Laettner) were below that number.
But none of those numbers tell you how'd they match up against each other. Could 29 year old Kobe guard 28 year old MJ? In that match up, Kobe is actually the more veteran player with almost 200 more regular season games played, and 60 more playoff games, plus Kobe to that point had 3 rings, and 2 other Finals appearances, while MJ was off his 2nd straight championship team. Everyone assumes MJ would kill Kobe, but Kobe is a better defender, and has better range on his jump shot. Who guards LeBron James? Malone doesn't have the footspeed, neither does Barkley, Pippen might get the assignment, as long as you give him lots of help in the middle. Where 1992 shines compared to 2008 is in the middle. Ewing and Robinson would eat Howard and Bosh for breakfast, and then ask for seconds. But Paul and Williams would wear down Stockton and Magic in the backcourt, though Magic could use his size to post up those guys, so some adjustments would have to be made. Old and slow Larry Bird would be a huge liability on defense for the 1992 team, and would see most of his minutes go to Malone, or Robinson if Coach Daly went with a 'Twin Towers' approach by putting Ewing and Robinson on the floor at the same time to take advantage of 2008's lack of size.
I don't think the winner between these squads is absolutely certain, 1992 is made up of greater players, some of the best all time, but their age, and lack of ball handlers (seems crazy to say a team with Magic and Stockton has problems with handles, but Paul, Williams, Kobe, Prince could give them both problems) might cause problems against a younger, far quicker team in the 2008 vintage Olympians. Jordan was a phenomenal player, at his peak, but if Jordan is the Alpha of all time shooting guards, then Kobe is a not too distant Gamma or Delta (Elgin Baylor or Oscar Robertson slot in somewhere between Kobe and MJ, probably). Size is where 1992 can kill 2008, and speed and greater team defensive intensity is where 2008 can counter 1992's better individual players. Coach K's 2008 squad is better balanced as a team, but the experience and the collective competitive fire of the 1992 squad would overwhelm the 'Redeem Team' in a single game.
In a seven game series, I think the 2008 players might give those old guys a run for their money, though.
Somebody needs to invent a time machine, snatch these players off the podiums just after they get their golds, and answer this question once and for all (just make sure not to neglect wiping their memories of the contests so that they don't pollute their respective timelines with knowledge of the future).
(also, if you added 2008 vintage Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce to the "Redeem Team", in place of Bosh and Prince, I think you'd have a much more competitive game, but then, if you got rid of old and busted 1992 Larry Bird and replaced him with younger and annoying 1992 Reggie Miller, balance would be restored)
02 May 2008
NBA Playoffs Second Round, Humiliating Picks
There's one series left, and my prognosticating abilities failed me in the first round, but that won't stop me from making a fool of myself in the 2nd round, too.
Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
(1) Boston v (4) Cleveland
I'm going out on a limb and assuming that Boston will take care of business in their game seven on Sunday. Cleveland may have had an easier time in the first round than Boston, but that doesn't mean they're the better team, or will do better in the 2nd round. Boston has had their wake-up call, and you'd expect them to be able to figure out how to not only beat Cleveland, but dominate them. Pick, Boston in 5 (LeBron will win one game all by himself, but only one)
(2) Detroit v (3) Orlando
Detroit doesn't have anybody to guard Dwight Howard, and Howard will suck up every rebound available. The only way Detroit wins this series will be if they shoot a very high percentage, thus negating Orlando's advantage on the boards. I don't see that happening. The ESPN experts except for Abbott pick Detroit (in 6 or 7), but I think Orlando's youth, inside game combined with their outside shooting will be decisive, plus Detroit still strikes me as a team that is likely to get sulky when things go badly. Pick, Orlando in 5
Western Conference Semi-Finals
(1) LA Lakers v (4) Utah
Of course I'm picking the Lakers, and I'd do so even if I weren't a life-long Laker fan. They're playing very well right now, hopefully Turiaf is healthier, and the Lakers have the benefit of 6 days rest, plus Ariza might be available to give them a boost defensively. The Lakers have too much depth, and too much Kobe, and too much Pau for Utah to handle. Pick, LA Lakers in 4
UPDATE: All the ESPN Experts pick the LA Lakers, other than Abbott, and they all pick this series to go 6 or 7 games. I think the Lakers know how to win at home, and know how to win in Salt Lake City, and will maintain the roll they are on. Things will get tougher against San Antonio (or even New Orleans) in the Conference Finals, though.
(2) San Antonio v (3) New Orleans
This ought to be a good series. Paul will push his team to a few wins, but Duncan will push his team to a few more. Parker and Ginobli won't have the trouble guarding Paul that Kidd did, but Chandler's not ready to handle Duncan, either. Only Hollinger is picking New Orleans, all the other ESPN experts like the Champs, so do I. Pick, San Antonio in 6
Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
(1) Boston v (4) Cleveland
I'm going out on a limb and assuming that Boston will take care of business in their game seven on Sunday. Cleveland may have had an easier time in the first round than Boston, but that doesn't mean they're the better team, or will do better in the 2nd round. Boston has had their wake-up call, and you'd expect them to be able to figure out how to not only beat Cleveland, but dominate them. Pick, Boston in 5 (LeBron will win one game all by himself, but only one)
(2) Detroit v (3) Orlando
Detroit doesn't have anybody to guard Dwight Howard, and Howard will suck up every rebound available. The only way Detroit wins this series will be if they shoot a very high percentage, thus negating Orlando's advantage on the boards. I don't see that happening. The ESPN experts except for Abbott pick Detroit (in 6 or 7), but I think Orlando's youth, inside game combined with their outside shooting will be decisive, plus Detroit still strikes me as a team that is likely to get sulky when things go badly. Pick, Orlando in 5
Western Conference Semi-Finals
(1) LA Lakers v (4) Utah
Of course I'm picking the Lakers, and I'd do so even if I weren't a life-long Laker fan. They're playing very well right now, hopefully Turiaf is healthier, and the Lakers have the benefit of 6 days rest, plus Ariza might be available to give them a boost defensively. The Lakers have too much depth, and too much Kobe, and too much Pau for Utah to handle. Pick, LA Lakers in 4
UPDATE: All the ESPN Experts pick the LA Lakers, other than Abbott, and they all pick this series to go 6 or 7 games. I think the Lakers know how to win at home, and know how to win in Salt Lake City, and will maintain the roll they are on. Things will get tougher against San Antonio (or even New Orleans) in the Conference Finals, though.
(2) San Antonio v (3) New Orleans
This ought to be a good series. Paul will push his team to a few wins, but Duncan will push his team to a few more. Parker and Ginobli won't have the trouble guarding Paul that Kidd did, but Chandler's not ready to handle Duncan, either. Only Hollinger is picking New Orleans, all the other ESPN experts like the Champs, so do I. Pick, San Antonio in 6
NBA Playoffs First Round, Humiliating Results
Oops, only picked on series correctly.
The Results:
Pick Boston over Atlanta in 4. Result Boston in 7?
Guess that's not going to happen, Boston won't lose a game 4 at home, they've won by big margins in their home games, and don't expect differently in game seven, but the fact they couldn't win on the road against Atlanta has to be concerning to Celtics fans in a match up against the Cleveland LeBrons.
Pick Philadelphia over Detroit in 6. Result Detroit in 6
D'oh! Things looked good for me when it was 2-2 and Philly had the momentum, but Detroit woke up and realized they are a really good team. Orlando might be better, though.
Pick Orlando over Toronto in 7. Result Orlando in 5
Semi-D'oh! Picked the right team, wrong number of games. Dwight Howard is a monster, he's the most intimidating presence in the paint the NBA has right now, too bad he looks like a choir boy (albeit a choir boy with a freakishly awesome body).
Pick Washington over Cleveland in 5. Result Cleveland in 6
D'oh! The LeBrons (they really aren't the Cavaliers, anymore) had one clunker, lost one squeaker, and otherwise controlled the series. They also bitched and moaned about the physical play, and sat around and watched LeBron be LeBron for large stretches of these contests. That will cost them against a stifling Celtics defense, assuming Celtics can make the adjustments needed to win on the road.
Pick LA Lakers over Denver in 4. Result Lakers in 4
Woohoo! Got one right. Possibly was my homerism talking in this pick, and my Kobe-love, but also Denver just looked like a basket-case of a team all season, even when they were winning. Melo was right, they quit as a team, and I'm not sure if Coby Karl hadn't been there to console him at the end of the sweep that George would have survived that night. Just the same, he should stay away from sharp objects for a month or two. Utah will be a handful for the Lakers, but Utah has nobody who can guard Kobe, and if they double and triple team him or go to a zone, Fisher will go wild shooting from the outside, and Gasol will have another dunkfest like he had against Denver. If they play Kobe straight up, Kobe will average over 40 points in this series and the Lakers will sweep, so the Jazz get to pick their poison. The main hope for a close series is that LA's defense is pretty lousy, and they get 3 pointer happy from time to time.
Pick Dallas over New Orleans in 6. Result New Orleans in 5
D'oh! I knew Chris Paul was amazing, but who knew about David West? Dallas will probably do some serious tweaking in the off season, and New Orleans will play well against the defending champions, but the big advantages New Orleans had against Dallas aren't as pronounced against San Antonio.
Pick Phoenix over Seattle in 6. Result San Antonio in 5
D'oh! The champs still look like champs, and they still flop like a European soccer team. Also, Duncan has never committed a foul in his entire career judging from the pained expression that crosses his face every time he's whistled. Did I mention I hate San Antonio? Can't wait to watch the Lakers pick them apart in the Western Conference Finals. They'll find a way to slow down Chris Paul, either by forcing him to be a scorer rather than a passer, or by just plain beating him up. Plus, Duncan will destroy Chandler inside, Chandler will be in foul trouble by the 2nd quarter in every game.
Pick Houston over Utah in 7. Result Utah in 6
D'oh! The Jazz are a very good team, with excellent depth, and a fantastic point guard in Deron Williams. Houston weren't at full strength, and McGrady had a terrific series, but his team still lost. The Jazz will play well against the Lakers in the next round, but the Lakers were the only team to sweep their way through the first round, and they are playing at a high level. The Lakers ought to be able to handle the Jazz, but they'll give them a serious fight.
Well, that was pretty humiliating, the tally so far . . .
1 right team, right number of games
1 right team, wrong number of games
5 wrong teams
1 result pending
Next round I'll be better . . .
The Results:
Pick Boston over Atlanta in 4. Result Boston in 7?
Guess that's not going to happen, Boston won't lose a game 4 at home, they've won by big margins in their home games, and don't expect differently in game seven, but the fact they couldn't win on the road against Atlanta has to be concerning to Celtics fans in a match up against the Cleveland LeBrons.
Pick Philadelphia over Detroit in 6. Result Detroit in 6
D'oh! Things looked good for me when it was 2-2 and Philly had the momentum, but Detroit woke up and realized they are a really good team. Orlando might be better, though.
Pick Orlando over Toronto in 7. Result Orlando in 5
Semi-D'oh! Picked the right team, wrong number of games. Dwight Howard is a monster, he's the most intimidating presence in the paint the NBA has right now, too bad he looks like a choir boy (albeit a choir boy with a freakishly awesome body).
Pick Washington over Cleveland in 5. Result Cleveland in 6
D'oh! The LeBrons (they really aren't the Cavaliers, anymore) had one clunker, lost one squeaker, and otherwise controlled the series. They also bitched and moaned about the physical play, and sat around and watched LeBron be LeBron for large stretches of these contests. That will cost them against a stifling Celtics defense, assuming Celtics can make the adjustments needed to win on the road.
Pick LA Lakers over Denver in 4. Result Lakers in 4
Woohoo! Got one right. Possibly was my homerism talking in this pick, and my Kobe-love, but also Denver just looked like a basket-case of a team all season, even when they were winning. Melo was right, they quit as a team, and I'm not sure if Coby Karl hadn't been there to console him at the end of the sweep that George would have survived that night. Just the same, he should stay away from sharp objects for a month or two. Utah will be a handful for the Lakers, but Utah has nobody who can guard Kobe, and if they double and triple team him or go to a zone, Fisher will go wild shooting from the outside, and Gasol will have another dunkfest like he had against Denver. If they play Kobe straight up, Kobe will average over 40 points in this series and the Lakers will sweep, so the Jazz get to pick their poison. The main hope for a close series is that LA's defense is pretty lousy, and they get 3 pointer happy from time to time.
Pick Dallas over New Orleans in 6. Result New Orleans in 5
D'oh! I knew Chris Paul was amazing, but who knew about David West? Dallas will probably do some serious tweaking in the off season, and New Orleans will play well against the defending champions, but the big advantages New Orleans had against Dallas aren't as pronounced against San Antonio.
Pick Phoenix over Seattle in 6. Result San Antonio in 5
D'oh! The champs still look like champs, and they still flop like a European soccer team. Also, Duncan has never committed a foul in his entire career judging from the pained expression that crosses his face every time he's whistled. Did I mention I hate San Antonio? Can't wait to watch the Lakers pick them apart in the Western Conference Finals. They'll find a way to slow down Chris Paul, either by forcing him to be a scorer rather than a passer, or by just plain beating him up. Plus, Duncan will destroy Chandler inside, Chandler will be in foul trouble by the 2nd quarter in every game.
Pick Houston over Utah in 7. Result Utah in 6
D'oh! The Jazz are a very good team, with excellent depth, and a fantastic point guard in Deron Williams. Houston weren't at full strength, and McGrady had a terrific series, but his team still lost. The Jazz will play well against the Lakers in the next round, but the Lakers were the only team to sweep their way through the first round, and they are playing at a high level. The Lakers ought to be able to handle the Jazz, but they'll give them a serious fight.
Well, that was pretty humiliating, the tally so far . . .
1 right team, right number of games
1 right team, wrong number of games
5 wrong teams
1 result pending
Next round I'll be better . . .
15 April 2008
Laker Chat, Part Woohoo!!!
Lakers clinched the number one seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Considering what the season looked like back in October, this is pretty remarkable, they started off kind of rocky, posting a 9-8 record by Dec 2nd. Since then they've gone 48-17.
When they look good, they look really good, but they have their lapses, they get sloppy with the ball and get dumb turnovers, they get too 3pt attempt happy when behind by a lot or ahead by a lot, and still have trouble defending the pick and roll.
The number one seed doesn't really earn them much, though, other than one extra home game in each Western Conference series they play in. Dallas or Denver will be their first round opponent, both teams are talented, both teams are capable of pushing the Lakers, and the Lakers are just as capable of sweeping either of these teams.
The Lakers are probably just glad they don't have to face Phoenix in the first round for the third year in a row. The rest of the Western Conference is still in flux, New Orleans and Utah have clinched their divisions, New Orleans has clinched the 2nd seed, but San Antonio, Utah, Houston and Phoenix could all finish with the same 55-27 record which would be pretty crazy, and fitting given the way the Western Conference has been. It's pretty likely to happen to, if Utah beats San Antonio in Utah (where they've been nearly unbeatable) and Phoenix beats Portland and Houston beats the Clippers, then you'll have a 4 way tie.
In the case of a 4 way tie, Utah would be the 3rd seed (based on a 7-3 record against the other 3) and matched up against 6th seed San Antonio (based on a 4-8 record against the others) while Phoenix (6-5) would be 4th and Houston would be 5th (5-6).
If San Antonio wins, then they'd earn the 3rd seed, and even though they'd have a 54-28 record Utah would get the 4th seed based on being Northwest Division champs. 5th and 6th seed would come down to Houston or Phoenix, and Houston wins in a two team tiebreaker with Phoenix based on better conference record.
Utah's in the best shape, win or lose they get the fourth seed, but if they lose, they'd have the fourth seed, but not home court in the first round against Houston. If Phoenix or Houston loses, then whichever one lost would be the 6th seed, if they both lose then it'd be the same as if they both won.
It's amazing how many different scenarios remain with just a single game left for each team to play. It's also amazing how much time I wasted figuring this out when it will all be decided by 10pm tomorrow.
When they look good, they look really good, but they have their lapses, they get sloppy with the ball and get dumb turnovers, they get too 3pt attempt happy when behind by a lot or ahead by a lot, and still have trouble defending the pick and roll.
The number one seed doesn't really earn them much, though, other than one extra home game in each Western Conference series they play in. Dallas or Denver will be their first round opponent, both teams are talented, both teams are capable of pushing the Lakers, and the Lakers are just as capable of sweeping either of these teams.
The Lakers are probably just glad they don't have to face Phoenix in the first round for the third year in a row. The rest of the Western Conference is still in flux, New Orleans and Utah have clinched their divisions, New Orleans has clinched the 2nd seed, but San Antonio, Utah, Houston and Phoenix could all finish with the same 55-27 record which would be pretty crazy, and fitting given the way the Western Conference has been. It's pretty likely to happen to, if Utah beats San Antonio in Utah (where they've been nearly unbeatable) and Phoenix beats Portland and Houston beats the Clippers, then you'll have a 4 way tie.
In the case of a 4 way tie, Utah would be the 3rd seed (based on a 7-3 record against the other 3) and matched up against 6th seed San Antonio (based on a 4-8 record against the others) while Phoenix (6-5) would be 4th and Houston would be 5th (5-6).
If San Antonio wins, then they'd earn the 3rd seed, and even though they'd have a 54-28 record Utah would get the 4th seed based on being Northwest Division champs. 5th and 6th seed would come down to Houston or Phoenix, and Houston wins in a two team tiebreaker with Phoenix based on better conference record.
Utah's in the best shape, win or lose they get the fourth seed, but if they lose, they'd have the fourth seed, but not home court in the first round against Houston. If Phoenix or Houston loses, then whichever one lost would be the 6th seed, if they both lose then it'd be the same as if they both won.
It's amazing how many different scenarios remain with just a single game left for each team to play. It's also amazing how much time I wasted figuring this out when it will all be decided by 10pm tomorrow.
10 April 2008
Laker Chat, Part Infinity . . .
It's Laker Chat time, they're in the playoffs, but where they end up being seeded is still in doubt. With just four games left, all at Staples, they would seem to be in great shape, but they have New Orleans visiting Friday and San Antonio visiting Sunday (3:30pm ET on ABC, check your local listings). If they win all four games, they'll need New Orleans to lose one of their other games to get 1st in the Western Conference, if they lose all four games, they could drop behind Phoenix for the Pacific Division title, and lose home court in the first round of the playoffs.
Bynum is said to be ready to play on Sunday, and will also play in the season closing game against Sacramento, then it's five days off, and most likely hosting Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Golden State, or Denver (depending on how seeding shakes out) on Sunday April 20th.
They could beat any of those teams, and they could lose to any of those teams in a seven game series. Nothing will be certain in the Western Conference playoffs, and seeding probably won't be determined until the very last day of the season, with Dallas playing New Orleans that day.
The East is pretty determined already, with only some intrigue as to whether or not Washington can pass Cleveland for 4th (and get home court in the first round). Nobody's going to care much about the East until the Conference Finals, though, not with all the action in the West.
(via TrueHoop)
But you already know all that, did you know that Kobe put on his new Nike shoes and jumped over an Aston Martin at the top of a parking structure near Staples Center?
Sure he did, and here's the video to prove it. Like the way he gave Turiaf a piece of the action by putting him in this video, don't know how it works with 'viral' ads, I doubt this video will ever show up on TV spots, it's strictly going to be an internet phenomenon (until some dumb kid tries to jump his friend's Corolla and gets horribly maimed). Things that you can determine from the ad, yes Kobe probably really jumped high enough to clear the Aston Martin, yes that was really an Aston Martin driving in the same place Kobe occupied, yes Roni Turiaf is always that goofily enthusiastic about stuff, yes Kobe has a playful side, and no, no way in hell that they actually really did this, two possibilities, the car wasn't in line with Kobe, or they edited a jump and car drive by together that didn't happen at the same time. Looking at the frames, I'm going with the edit job, but however this was done, this ad should spread across the internet like crazy.
(and I don't get why there's all that Latin all over Kobe's website, either)
Bynum is said to be ready to play on Sunday, and will also play in the season closing game against Sacramento, then it's five days off, and most likely hosting Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Golden State, or Denver (depending on how seeding shakes out) on Sunday April 20th.
They could beat any of those teams, and they could lose to any of those teams in a seven game series. Nothing will be certain in the Western Conference playoffs, and seeding probably won't be determined until the very last day of the season, with Dallas playing New Orleans that day.
The East is pretty determined already, with only some intrigue as to whether or not Washington can pass Cleveland for 4th (and get home court in the first round). Nobody's going to care much about the East until the Conference Finals, though, not with all the action in the West.
(via TrueHoop)
But you already know all that, did you know that Kobe put on his new Nike shoes and jumped over an Aston Martin at the top of a parking structure near Staples Center?
Sure he did, and here's the video to prove it. Like the way he gave Turiaf a piece of the action by putting him in this video, don't know how it works with 'viral' ads, I doubt this video will ever show up on TV spots, it's strictly going to be an internet phenomenon (until some dumb kid tries to jump his friend's Corolla and gets horribly maimed). Things that you can determine from the ad, yes Kobe probably really jumped high enough to clear the Aston Martin, yes that was really an Aston Martin driving in the same place Kobe occupied, yes Roni Turiaf is always that goofily enthusiastic about stuff, yes Kobe has a playful side, and no, no way in hell that they actually really did this, two possibilities, the car wasn't in line with Kobe, or they edited a jump and car drive by together that didn't happen at the same time. Looking at the frames, I'm going with the edit job, but however this was done, this ad should spread across the internet like crazy.
(and I don't get why there's all that Latin all over Kobe's website, either)
12 March 2008
Proposed Changes to the NBA Playoff Structure
The NBA has a problem, one conference tends to be a lot better than the other conference, that's been the case for the past 2 decades, though which conference was ascendent, flipped sometime around Jordan's retirement.
Right now, you have two elite teams in the East (Boston, Detroit), two good teams with an intriguing player (Cleveland, Orlando), and the rest of the teams that don't much matter. It's inconceivable that other than those four will get to the 2nd round, barring a wave of injuries hitting the top teams.
In the West it's a completely different picture. There is no elite unbeatable team. On any night, any one of 10 teams is capable of beating any of the other top 10 teams (on their home floor, at least) in that conference. Only 8 of those teams will make the playoffs this year, and that's a shame. Of the eight teams currently above the cut for a playoff spot, only four losses separate 1st from 8th. In the East, 25 losses separate 1st from 8th.
Some have already suggested just seeding the top 16 teams, without regard to conference, and let them in the playoffs. I think that'd make this year's playoffs a lot better, and would have lead to more intriguing playoff match ups (especially in the 2nd round) than what you probably will have this year (as well as in the past 5 years).
Using Hollinger's Playoff Odds to predict the final W/L tally for each team, here are the first round match ups you'd have with the current system, in the East BOS(1)-CHI(8), DET(2)-PHI(7), ORL(3)-WAS(6), CLE(4)-TOR(5), and in the West LAL(1)-GS(8), HOU(2)-PHO(7), SAS(3)-DAL(6), UTA(4)-NO(5). You'd have 3 yawners in the East, with one potentially interesting match up betweeen Cleveland and Toronto, but in the West every match up has the potential to be a real battle that would normally be worthy of a Conference Finals in any normal year.
If you ditch the conferences for purpose of seeding then you get a top sixteen that looks like this, BOS(1)-WAS(16), DET(2)-POR(15), LAL(3)-TOR(14), HOU(4)-CLE(13), SAS(5)-DEN(12), UTA(6)-GS(11), ORL(7)-PHO(10), NO(8)-DAL(9). 10 teams from the West, 6 teams from the (l)East. One Eastern team (Cleveland) loses home court in the first round, and one Western team gains it (New Orleans), and more importantly Portland and Denver get to have some more April fun, while woeful Chicago (or Atlanta) and mediocre Philadelphia get to contemplate ping pong balls in the draft lottery. Only one match up is between two East squads, while three games pair two Western teams. Travel would be coast to coast (or nearly) in three of the match ups, but if they went with an all league playoff format, they'd have to take into account having that kind of travel in every round of the playoff, some sort of accomodation could be made, using the 2-3-2 format of the finals and always having 2 days off between travel when skipping more than 2 time zones would be a simple adjustment to make (when match ups are within the same or adjacent time zones, then one day off for travel would be OK).
You'd lose a couple of really good match ups in the West, but you'd gain two better teams in the playoffs, and you'd gain a few interesting cross-conference contests in the first round.
This is my hypothetical so I'm going to go ahead and predict the entire playoff based on these match ups:
1st round, favorites win most of these series, but three lower seeds advance, Cleveland rides LeBron over the Yao-less Rockets. Phoenix overpowers Orlando as Shaq gets somewhat revived revisiting his old stomping grounds. Golden State avenges last year's 2nd round exit at the hands of Utah, despite great play from Deron Williams. With this new playoff format, rather than keeping the teams in brackets, I'd re-seed the playoffs each round, that'd also mean that you'd have to wait for all the match ups to be decided before preceding to the next round, but that's as it should be, anyway. Given those 3 upsets, and re-seeding, the 2nd round looks like this, BOS(1)-CLE(13), DET(2)-GS(11), LAL(3)-PHO(10), SAS(5)-NO(8). Now that's a 2nd round that has intriguing match ups top to bottom.
Boston versus Cleveland looks like a likely 2nd round match up in the current playoff system, so I guess this series is inevitable no matter how you slice it. Boston will prevail, but they'll get tested, they simply have too much talent with their starters plus newly acquired Sam Cassell, and despite LeBron's great play, he doesn't have enough other players with him to overcome Boston's depth.
Detroit's solid defense versus the scoring of Golden State is another really fun 2nd round match up. Golden State is capable of pulling off this upset, but Detroit is a bit too solid and deep to be upset by a team like Golden State.
LA Lakers in their annual playoff match up against Phoenix could be a great 2nd round match up, also. Shaq should be fully intergrated into the Suns plans by then, and will give it everything he's got to beat his old team. But the Lakers have a lot more depth than Phoenix, are a lot younger than Phoenix, and would love to knock them out of the playoffs after losing in the 1st round the previous two seasons.
San Antonio against New Orleans would be pretty fun to watch, also. Could go either way, if San Antonio doesn't play like an old team, and New Orleans doesn't play like an inexperienced young team, then this will be the most competitive match up of the 2nd round. Too close to call, really, but I think the experience of San Antonio will show up big time and they'll win a close game 7 at home.
That sets up a final four of Boston against San Antonio and Detroit against Los Angeles. Both these match ups would be finals worthy most years, but instead you get them in the semi-finals. You could make solid cases for any one of these teams when matched up against the other, but I think Boston has enough to get past San Antonio, and Los Angeles has enough scoring to force Detroit to play at a faster tempo than they'd like.
That sets up the big Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals. You probably get there either way you go. Under the current format this is a likely looking Final, but either or both could get tripped up along the way.
Do I even have to say which team I think would win that Finals match up?
(as a hint, just imagine the exact opposite of what My Nemesis Bill Simmons™ would want)
Right now, you have two elite teams in the East (Boston, Detroit), two good teams with an intriguing player (Cleveland, Orlando), and the rest of the teams that don't much matter. It's inconceivable that other than those four will get to the 2nd round, barring a wave of injuries hitting the top teams.
In the West it's a completely different picture. There is no elite unbeatable team. On any night, any one of 10 teams is capable of beating any of the other top 10 teams (on their home floor, at least) in that conference. Only 8 of those teams will make the playoffs this year, and that's a shame. Of the eight teams currently above the cut for a playoff spot, only four losses separate 1st from 8th. In the East, 25 losses separate 1st from 8th.
Some have already suggested just seeding the top 16 teams, without regard to conference, and let them in the playoffs. I think that'd make this year's playoffs a lot better, and would have lead to more intriguing playoff match ups (especially in the 2nd round) than what you probably will have this year (as well as in the past 5 years).
Using Hollinger's Playoff Odds to predict the final W/L tally for each team, here are the first round match ups you'd have with the current system, in the East BOS(1)-CHI(8), DET(2)-PHI(7), ORL(3)-WAS(6), CLE(4)-TOR(5), and in the West LAL(1)-GS(8), HOU(2)-PHO(7), SAS(3)-DAL(6), UTA(4)-NO(5). You'd have 3 yawners in the East, with one potentially interesting match up betweeen Cleveland and Toronto, but in the West every match up has the potential to be a real battle that would normally be worthy of a Conference Finals in any normal year.
If you ditch the conferences for purpose of seeding then you get a top sixteen that looks like this, BOS(1)-WAS(16), DET(2)-POR(15), LAL(3)-TOR(14), HOU(4)-CLE(13), SAS(5)-DEN(12), UTA(6)-GS(11), ORL(7)-PHO(10), NO(8)-DAL(9). 10 teams from the West, 6 teams from the (l)East. One Eastern team (Cleveland) loses home court in the first round, and one Western team gains it (New Orleans), and more importantly Portland and Denver get to have some more April fun, while woeful Chicago (or Atlanta) and mediocre Philadelphia get to contemplate ping pong balls in the draft lottery. Only one match up is between two East squads, while three games pair two Western teams. Travel would be coast to coast (or nearly) in three of the match ups, but if they went with an all league playoff format, they'd have to take into account having that kind of travel in every round of the playoff, some sort of accomodation could be made, using the 2-3-2 format of the finals and always having 2 days off between travel when skipping more than 2 time zones would be a simple adjustment to make (when match ups are within the same or adjacent time zones, then one day off for travel would be OK).
You'd lose a couple of really good match ups in the West, but you'd gain two better teams in the playoffs, and you'd gain a few interesting cross-conference contests in the first round.
This is my hypothetical so I'm going to go ahead and predict the entire playoff based on these match ups:
1st round, favorites win most of these series, but three lower seeds advance, Cleveland rides LeBron over the Yao-less Rockets. Phoenix overpowers Orlando as Shaq gets somewhat revived revisiting his old stomping grounds. Golden State avenges last year's 2nd round exit at the hands of Utah, despite great play from Deron Williams. With this new playoff format, rather than keeping the teams in brackets, I'd re-seed the playoffs each round, that'd also mean that you'd have to wait for all the match ups to be decided before preceding to the next round, but that's as it should be, anyway. Given those 3 upsets, and re-seeding, the 2nd round looks like this, BOS(1)-CLE(13), DET(2)-GS(11), LAL(3)-PHO(10), SAS(5)-NO(8). Now that's a 2nd round that has intriguing match ups top to bottom.
Boston versus Cleveland looks like a likely 2nd round match up in the current playoff system, so I guess this series is inevitable no matter how you slice it. Boston will prevail, but they'll get tested, they simply have too much talent with their starters plus newly acquired Sam Cassell, and despite LeBron's great play, he doesn't have enough other players with him to overcome Boston's depth.
Detroit's solid defense versus the scoring of Golden State is another really fun 2nd round match up. Golden State is capable of pulling off this upset, but Detroit is a bit too solid and deep to be upset by a team like Golden State.
LA Lakers in their annual playoff match up against Phoenix could be a great 2nd round match up, also. Shaq should be fully intergrated into the Suns plans by then, and will give it everything he's got to beat his old team. But the Lakers have a lot more depth than Phoenix, are a lot younger than Phoenix, and would love to knock them out of the playoffs after losing in the 1st round the previous two seasons.
San Antonio against New Orleans would be pretty fun to watch, also. Could go either way, if San Antonio doesn't play like an old team, and New Orleans doesn't play like an inexperienced young team, then this will be the most competitive match up of the 2nd round. Too close to call, really, but I think the experience of San Antonio will show up big time and they'll win a close game 7 at home.
That sets up a final four of Boston against San Antonio and Detroit against Los Angeles. Both these match ups would be finals worthy most years, but instead you get them in the semi-finals. You could make solid cases for any one of these teams when matched up against the other, but I think Boston has enough to get past San Antonio, and Los Angeles has enough scoring to force Detroit to play at a faster tempo than they'd like.
That sets up the big Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals. You probably get there either way you go. Under the current format this is a likely looking Final, but either or both could get tripped up along the way.
Do I even have to say which team I think would win that Finals match up?
(as a hint, just imagine the exact opposite of what My Nemesis Bill Simmons™ would want)
24 February 2008
Lakers Chat, Part Quite Giddy and Possibly Deluded
Can the Lakers win out? Mike Dunleavy, coach of the Clippers, said the Lakers might not lose again this season. The way they are playing right now, you'd have to think it's possible. Still not probable, but it's really possible given their recent performance. Adding in the seven in a row streak they're working on, they'd end the season with a 34 game win streak, which would be one game better than the 71-72 Lakers' 33 game streak. It probably won't happen, they probably won't even come close, but 22-5 isn't out of the question over the rest of the season. If it wasn't for that little hiccup in Atlanta, the Lakers would be threatening to be the first team since the Spurs in March of '96 to have an undefeated month (the Bulls also managed to go undefeated in January '96). It looks like Houston will match that feat this month (they are 10-0 this month with home games against Chicago, Washington and Memphis left), but the Lakers could still do it in March (not likely given, though).
Everything is clicking for this team and if they go undefeated through the next three weeks, that wouldn't be that shocking. They have a four game road trip from March 14th to March 20th that sees them visiting New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, and Utah. That's the last major roadblock this team faces, with 27 games remaining and currently sitting atop the Western Conference with a record of 38-17, the Lakers right now would be disappointed if they "only" win 55 games, and have a realistic shot at getting to 60 wins.
That's assuming Kobe's damaged pinky doesn't fall off completely, Gasol or Odom don't get hurt, and when Bynum starts working his way back into the line-up, he doesn't upset the chemistry that's going on right now.
Who'd of thunk back after their game on December 30th when the Celtics beat the Lakers (the infamous 'short shorts' game) to get to 26-3 (eventually making it to 29-3), and the Lakers were sitting at 19-11 that it would be the Celtics who look less likely to make it to the finals.
Everything is clicking for this team and if they go undefeated through the next three weeks, that wouldn't be that shocking. They have a four game road trip from March 14th to March 20th that sees them visiting New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, and Utah. That's the last major roadblock this team faces, with 27 games remaining and currently sitting atop the Western Conference with a record of 38-17, the Lakers right now would be disappointed if they "only" win 55 games, and have a realistic shot at getting to 60 wins.
That's assuming Kobe's damaged pinky doesn't fall off completely, Gasol or Odom don't get hurt, and when Bynum starts working his way back into the line-up, he doesn't upset the chemistry that's going on right now.
Who'd of thunk back after their game on December 30th when the Celtics beat the Lakers (the infamous 'short shorts' game) to get to 26-3 (eventually making it to 29-3), and the Lakers were sitting at 19-11 that it would be the Celtics who look less likely to make it to the finals.
20 February 2008
Lakers Chat, Part XXIV+XXXII (The Prodigal Sun Returns . . .)
Tonight's showdown between the Pacific Division leading Phoenix Suns and the team just one game behind them, the Los Angeles Lakers, is shaping up to be one of the most hyped regular season games in recent memory.
It helps that the Lakers have been playing very well lately. Last night they avenged their last loss (95-98 in Atlanta), by building a 41 point lead (!) in the 2nd quarter versus the new look Hawks. One play exemplifies what the Lakers were about last night, the Lakers were already up 28-66 after two Odom free throws with 57 seconds left in the quarter, but Kobe and Radmanovic trap Acie Law, strip him of the ball, and Radmanovic gets an easy lay-up plus he's fouled with a chance to make it a 69-28 game with 53 seconds to go in the 2nd quarter. How many teams would trap while up 38 points? How many injured superstars would be taking swipes at the ball with his bad hand in a game his team was leading by 38 points? The Lakers weren't just playing Atlanta last night, they were sending a message that not only do they have one of the best offenses in the league (even without Bynum), but that they were ready to bring playoff level defensive intensity to their play the rest of the season. Before last night, Phil Jackson was saying the Lakers need to go 25-5 in their last 30 games if they want to win the Western Conference. They're off to a pretty good start in that direction.
Tonight's game would be important just for the implications within the division, if the Lakers win, they take the season series 3-1 against Phoenix, and that's the first tie-breaker should they finish the season tied, so in essence this one game is worth 2 victories for either team.
But, that's not all that's going on tonight, this game also happens to be Shaq's debut with the Phoenix Suns. ESPN is in full hype mode, with a big roundtable discussion on the game, the state of the Lakers and Suns, and the Western Conference in general. ESPN must be thrilled that this game was already on their schedule tonight. It ought to get a pretty decent rating for an NBA game in February. Normally this isn't a time anyone is paying too close attention to the NBA, but this game could be pretty special. What else are you going to watch tonight, anyway, American Idol? (that show is best watched with a DVR remote in hand, anyway, watch the game live, and watch Idol afterwards)
And I know the whole Prodigal Sun thing really doesn't make sense, since Shaq isn't actually returning to LA as the game is in Phoenix, but couldn't pass up the pun (even if it's weak).
It helps that the Lakers have been playing very well lately. Last night they avenged their last loss (95-98 in Atlanta), by building a 41 point lead (!) in the 2nd quarter versus the new look Hawks. One play exemplifies what the Lakers were about last night, the Lakers were already up 28-66 after two Odom free throws with 57 seconds left in the quarter, but Kobe and Radmanovic trap Acie Law, strip him of the ball, and Radmanovic gets an easy lay-up plus he's fouled with a chance to make it a 69-28 game with 53 seconds to go in the 2nd quarter. How many teams would trap while up 38 points? How many injured superstars would be taking swipes at the ball with his bad hand in a game his team was leading by 38 points? The Lakers weren't just playing Atlanta last night, they were sending a message that not only do they have one of the best offenses in the league (even without Bynum), but that they were ready to bring playoff level defensive intensity to their play the rest of the season. Before last night, Phil Jackson was saying the Lakers need to go 25-5 in their last 30 games if they want to win the Western Conference. They're off to a pretty good start in that direction.
Tonight's game would be important just for the implications within the division, if the Lakers win, they take the season series 3-1 against Phoenix, and that's the first tie-breaker should they finish the season tied, so in essence this one game is worth 2 victories for either team.
But, that's not all that's going on tonight, this game also happens to be Shaq's debut with the Phoenix Suns. ESPN is in full hype mode, with a big roundtable discussion on the game, the state of the Lakers and Suns, and the Western Conference in general. ESPN must be thrilled that this game was already on their schedule tonight. It ought to get a pretty decent rating for an NBA game in February. Normally this isn't a time anyone is paying too close attention to the NBA, but this game could be pretty special. What else are you going to watch tonight, anyway, American Idol? (that show is best watched with a DVR remote in hand, anyway, watch the game live, and watch Idol afterwards)
And I know the whole Prodigal Sun thing really doesn't make sense, since Shaq isn't actually returning to LA as the game is in Phoenix, but couldn't pass up the pun (even if it's weak).
18 February 2008
The 2008 Award for Sports Columnist with His/Her Head Shoved Farthest Up Their Own Rectum Goes To . . .
. . . Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News for his article regarding the NBA All Star Weekend (h/t True Hoop)
An excerpt:
First of all, the Slam Dunk competition was the first exciting Slam Dunk competition in recent memory, it was an amazing spectacle that will live on dazzling YouTube viewers for ages to come. Second of all, the game itself after some goofing at the start (as is usual for this contest), turned into a real game where the players cared who won.
I think Bernie is just getting his bitterness regarding the NBA out of the way early in anticipation of a disappointing 1st round exit by the Nuggets in the certain to be ultra-competitive Western Conference playoffs. Cheer up Bernie, maybe the Nuggets will miss the playoffs entirely and get lucky in the lottery.
When you look at the Nuggets roster, you figure them for being a top 5 team in the league, but their performance on a nightly basis hasn't matched that talent. There's something wrong with that team, don't know if it's Melo's mellowness, Iverson's moodiness, or Karl's can't-coachiness, but they look like the best candidate for really good team that manages to slip out of the top eight in the Western Conference during the month of March.
Of course, the NBA should just let the 16 teams with the best record in the playoffs (leave off the specifics for a different post), regardless of conference, that way you won't have a 50 win team miss the playoffs in the West, while a team 10 games below .500 make the playoffs in the East (both could happen this year).
An excerpt:
Watching Utah's Deron Williams dribbling around the motionless NBA props in one of those ceaseless All-Star gimmick stunts, it was eerily like he was again dribbling around the Nuggets defense.
Otherwise, nothing that happened at the NBA All-Star extended weekend in New Orleans, including the game itself, had much to do with basketball.
It had to do with preening and posing and showing off, and not showing off for the fans or for the event, which would be somewhat forgivable, but for the most dreary of male motives, for each other.
The affair encourages this kind of peacock flash and flaunt, or to use the official judging criteria, "artistic ability, imagination, body flow and fan response," reducing basketball to figure skating, or at least to one of Allen Iverson's drives to the basket.
The next time, for example, anyone blows out a candle on a cupcake while dunking the basketball, as Minnesota's Gerald Green did, it had better be somebody's birthday and it better be James Naismith's.
And I suppose if Orlando's Dwight Howard, who won the slam dunk thing, can dress up as Superman, he ought to at least have to outrun a speeding locomotive, or jump over the tall building in a single bound, rather than just a small space inside of it.
First of all, the Slam Dunk competition was the first exciting Slam Dunk competition in recent memory, it was an amazing spectacle that will live on dazzling YouTube viewers for ages to come. Second of all, the game itself after some goofing at the start (as is usual for this contest), turned into a real game where the players cared who won.
I think Bernie is just getting his bitterness regarding the NBA out of the way early in anticipation of a disappointing 1st round exit by the Nuggets in the certain to be ultra-competitive Western Conference playoffs. Cheer up Bernie, maybe the Nuggets will miss the playoffs entirely and get lucky in the lottery.
When you look at the Nuggets roster, you figure them for being a top 5 team in the league, but their performance on a nightly basis hasn't matched that talent. There's something wrong with that team, don't know if it's Melo's mellowness, Iverson's moodiness, or Karl's can't-coachiness, but they look like the best candidate for really good team that manages to slip out of the top eight in the Western Conference during the month of March.
Of course, the NBA should just let the 16 teams with the best record in the playoffs (leave off the specifics for a different post), regardless of conference, that way you won't have a 50 win team miss the playoffs in the West, while a team 10 games below .500 make the playoffs in the East (both could happen this year).
15 February 2008
I Concur . . .
John Hollinger at the ESPN Insider's Blog has this suggestion for Kobe . . .
Looking at the schedule, if he was out for six weeks after getting the surgery this weekend, he'd probably miss 22 out of the Lakers last 30 games. The Lakers have a pretty favorable schedule over that stretch, plus towards the end they should get back Bynum and Ariza. If they went 10-12 in those games, and 6-2 in the remaining 8 games with Kobe back, that'd give them a 51-31 record going into the playoffs. In the highly competitive Western Conference, that'd probably end up giving them the 6th or 7th seed, but with all their players healthy, they could overcome not having the homecourt, even against Dallas, New Orleans, Utah, San Antonio or Phoenix. It'd make their trip through the playoffs difficult, but trying to play with a less effective Kobe would be worse than losing one home game each round.
Add to that his desire to play in the Olympics, if he does that, he wouldn't get his surgery till late September, which means he'd end up missing the first 2 weeks or so of next season, and it seems like each game he plays with this injury is another chance to make it worse, and put himself in a position to miss 3-6 months instead of 6 weeks (but, maybe that's not the case, or the doctors would be more insistent that he get surgery immediately).
His fire as a competitor is amazing, his ability to play through pain already legendary in the league, but the Lakers should be able to hold on for a playoff spot in his absence, and if he's 100% from late March on, then the Lakers would once again be one of the favorite teams to win the Western Conference, and he'd be a near lock to be the Olympic MVP of Team USA's gold medal winning team.
He puts all that in jeopardy by playing, he might win this gamble, but he might lose big, too.
I have some unsolicited advice for Kobe Bryant: Get the surgery.
If you want to win a championship, it's your only option.
Don't be a hero and try to play with your injured right pinkie. While I admire your willingness to play hurt, I saw you try to play with the bad digit in Atlanta last week and you were as ineffective as I've ever seen you: 4-of-16 from the field, 3-of-5 from the line, for just 11 points. If you do that for the next six-to-eight weeks, you might help the Lakers win a few more games than they would have otherwise. But there's no way you're leading a team to the promised land in that condition.
Looking at the schedule, if he was out for six weeks after getting the surgery this weekend, he'd probably miss 22 out of the Lakers last 30 games. The Lakers have a pretty favorable schedule over that stretch, plus towards the end they should get back Bynum and Ariza. If they went 10-12 in those games, and 6-2 in the remaining 8 games with Kobe back, that'd give them a 51-31 record going into the playoffs. In the highly competitive Western Conference, that'd probably end up giving them the 6th or 7th seed, but with all their players healthy, they could overcome not having the homecourt, even against Dallas, New Orleans, Utah, San Antonio or Phoenix. It'd make their trip through the playoffs difficult, but trying to play with a less effective Kobe would be worse than losing one home game each round.
Add to that his desire to play in the Olympics, if he does that, he wouldn't get his surgery till late September, which means he'd end up missing the first 2 weeks or so of next season, and it seems like each game he plays with this injury is another chance to make it worse, and put himself in a position to miss 3-6 months instead of 6 weeks (but, maybe that's not the case, or the doctors would be more insistent that he get surgery immediately).
His fire as a competitor is amazing, his ability to play through pain already legendary in the league, but the Lakers should be able to hold on for a playoff spot in his absence, and if he's 100% from late March on, then the Lakers would once again be one of the favorite teams to win the Western Conference, and he'd be a near lock to be the Olympic MVP of Team USA's gold medal winning team.
He puts all that in jeopardy by playing, he might win this gamble, but he might lose big, too.
12 February 2008
Wit and Wisdom from a Perspective About a Foot Higher Than Most Anyone Else . . .
In any event, this season has become very interesting for fans worldwide. Will the Laker-Celtic duel of the '80s be revived? Will the Suns break through this year? Will Detroit or San Antonio do their usual methodical march to the finals? Whatever the outcome, the stage is set for a very interesting and competitive playoff season. In all probability … the best in the last 20 years.
Kareem is blogging at the LAT (h/t TMZ!?), above quote from his recent post about the state of the association heading into the All Star break. He's an introspective man with an active mind and a wide range of interests. Worth checking out (and adding to the links).
Dude, You Forgot to Mention That Luke Is Like Totally Fluent in Surfer . . .
. . . an article in the San Bernardino County Sun regarding the increasingly international flavor and multi-lingual nature of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Two players hail from ex-Yugoslav nations (Sasha Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic), you have a Martinican (Roni Turiaf), plus Kobe spent many of his younger years in Italy and is fluent in Italian and Spanish, and now DJ Mbenga has been signed for the rest of the year from Congo, and the big trade for the big guy from Barcelona (please, no Manuel jokes).
And in fairness to Luke Walton, besides being fluent in English and Surfer, I'm pretty sure I've seen him conduct interviews in Spanish for the local Spanish Language media, so the person that did this article on the many tongued Lakers should have found a way to throw in a mention of Luke, too.
Of course, the Lakers aren't alone in being a very tall UN, if the All Star game were to switch to a US v the World format then I think the lineup would look something like this:
Starting Guards: Jose Calderon, Steve Nash
Starting Forwards: Dirk Nowitzki , Tim Duncan
Starting Center: Yao Ming
Reserves: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, Andrei Kirilenko, Hedo Turkoglu, Pau Gasol, Luol Deng, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
That team could put on a decent show, but they'd probably get killed by Team USA (the FIBA qualifying team that competed in Las Vegas a few months ago would do fine, though I'd probably substitute Chris Paul for Jason Kidd and Brandon Roy for Mike Miller).
Two players hail from ex-Yugoslav nations (Sasha Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic), you have a Martinican (Roni Turiaf), plus Kobe spent many of his younger years in Italy and is fluent in Italian and Spanish, and now DJ Mbenga has been signed for the rest of the year from Congo, and the big trade for the big guy from Barcelona (please, no Manuel jokes).
And in fairness to Luke Walton, besides being fluent in English and Surfer, I'm pretty sure I've seen him conduct interviews in Spanish for the local Spanish Language media, so the person that did this article on the many tongued Lakers should have found a way to throw in a mention of Luke, too.
Of course, the Lakers aren't alone in being a very tall UN, if the All Star game were to switch to a US v the World format then I think the lineup would look something like this:
Starting Guards: Jose Calderon, Steve Nash
Starting Forwards: Dirk Nowitzki , Tim Duncan
Starting Center: Yao Ming
Reserves: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, Andrei Kirilenko, Hedo Turkoglu, Pau Gasol, Luol Deng, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
That team could put on a decent show, but they'd probably get killed by Team USA (the FIBA qualifying team that competed in Las Vegas a few months ago would do fine, though I'd probably substitute Chris Paul for Jason Kidd and Brandon Roy for Mike Miller).
01 February 2008
Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo!
This news deserves three woohoos!
Pau Gasol is coming to the Lakers for Kwame Brown and Javaris Cittenton (plus draft picks and other contracts). That's a huge upgrade for the Lakers, and when Bynum comes back, Gasol can play as a forward, in either the small forward or power forward slot. When everyone's back, the Lakers could have a starting five of Fisher, Bryant, Bynum, Odom and Gasol. That's a formidable starting line-up that could cause any other team fits on how to guard all those guys. Add to that a 2nd team of Farmar, Ariza, Mihm, Turiaf and Radmonivic with minutes for Vujacic and Walton depending on match ups, and you have a deep, young and athletic team, with a ton of great shooters, and enough players who play defense where they can stop teams when they need to. That's a 12 man roster that matches any other team, and other than Fisher, they are all under 30 and half of them are under 25. They may not have enough time with all their players healthy this season to challenge for the championship, but this team should be a championship caliber team for the next half decade.
Memphis didn't do too badly for themselves, either, this wasn't a Minnesota style fire sale. Brown has a huge expiring contract which makes them a player for a free agent, Crittenton could turn out to be a very good big point guard for a lot of years, and they picked up 2 first round draft picks.
During the off season many folks wanted GM Kupchak's head on a platter. Now, assuming Gasol gets up to speed quickly and performs well during the playoffs, he should be a candidate for GM of the year.
Here's my prediction, New Orleans (or at least the Hornets franchise, as they may move again in this time period), Portland and the Lakers will make up the teams that will be paired against each other for the next 5 seasons after this one in the Conference Finals. Dallas is getting old, Phoenix is getting old, and San Antonio is downright decrepit. Utah, Houston, Denver and Golden State will put together some good teams in that time, but not make the Conference Finals.
Good, good times to be a Lakers fan, again.
Pau Gasol is coming to the Lakers for Kwame Brown and Javaris Cittenton (plus draft picks and other contracts). That's a huge upgrade for the Lakers, and when Bynum comes back, Gasol can play as a forward, in either the small forward or power forward slot. When everyone's back, the Lakers could have a starting five of Fisher, Bryant, Bynum, Odom and Gasol. That's a formidable starting line-up that could cause any other team fits on how to guard all those guys. Add to that a 2nd team of Farmar, Ariza, Mihm, Turiaf and Radmonivic with minutes for Vujacic and Walton depending on match ups, and you have a deep, young and athletic team, with a ton of great shooters, and enough players who play defense where they can stop teams when they need to. That's a 12 man roster that matches any other team, and other than Fisher, they are all under 30 and half of them are under 25. They may not have enough time with all their players healthy this season to challenge for the championship, but this team should be a championship caliber team for the next half decade.
Memphis didn't do too badly for themselves, either, this wasn't a Minnesota style fire sale. Brown has a huge expiring contract which makes them a player for a free agent, Crittenton could turn out to be a very good big point guard for a lot of years, and they picked up 2 first round draft picks.
During the off season many folks wanted GM Kupchak's head on a platter. Now, assuming Gasol gets up to speed quickly and performs well during the playoffs, he should be a candidate for GM of the year.
Here's my prediction, New Orleans (or at least the Hornets franchise, as they may move again in this time period), Portland and the Lakers will make up the teams that will be paired against each other for the next 5 seasons after this one in the Conference Finals. Dallas is getting old, Phoenix is getting old, and San Antonio is downright decrepit. Utah, Houston, Denver and Golden State will put together some good teams in that time, but not make the Conference Finals.
Good, good times to be a Lakers fan, again.
17 January 2008
"You Out of Yo Mind"
Watching TNT's NBA coverage, it's halftime in the Cleveland versus San Antonio game, and the above quote is Charles Barkley referring to Kenny "The Jet" Smith.
The reason Smith has left his senses (according to Sir Charles)?
He claimed that the LA Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference right now. I'd love to agree with Kenny, but with the abscense of Bynum for eight weeks, I think I'm going to have to agree with Charles, instead.
The Lakers will still beat Phoenix tonight, though, they've designed the team around beating that team, and this year it seems to be working.
(they probably should have designed their team to beat San Antonio instead, even with a healthy Bynum, they'll have trouble if San Antonio is at full strength in the playoffs)
The reason Smith has left his senses (according to Sir Charles)?
He claimed that the LA Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference right now. I'd love to agree with Kenny, but with the abscense of Bynum for eight weeks, I think I'm going to have to agree with Charles, instead.
The Lakers will still beat Phoenix tonight, though, they've designed the team around beating that team, and this year it seems to be working.
(they probably should have designed their team to beat San Antonio instead, even with a healthy Bynum, they'll have trouble if San Antonio is at full strength in the playoffs)
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