Its a great time to be a sports fanatic in LA. I’m still hung over from celebrating the Laker victory and basketball season is just around the corner. Just imagine?! The starting five could be the following:
Kobe, Artest, Odom, Gasol and Bynum
The only weak point might be Bynum, but with more experience and “practice” (a la Allen Iverson), we should be and are the favorite to raise another banner in 2010 in Staples Center.
On top of those good feelings, the Dodgers are experience a momentous revival in the postseason with Joe Torre at the helm. Up 2-0 on the St. Louis Cardinals, the Blue Crew should be set up to meet in the NLCS.
As if that was not good enough news, the Angels of Anaheim (of also Los Angeles; all I can say is que?) are on off on the right foot in the postseason with a dominating performance against those hated Boston Red Sox. Hopefully, this trend continues and we shall also be in the next round, the ALCS.
My hope is that the World Series this year will be one known as the Freeway Series. Let’s make it happen guys! Go Dodgers and Angels!
Its definitely going well in these parts. I’m rooting for my hometown teams, including the USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins and UCI Anteaters! Go LA (and the OC)!
I really hate this time of year when basketball and football isn’t in season. Sorry baseball fans, but I just can’t watch a whole game unless I am there in person.
Well, what I really hate is the free agent period. It flat out sucks. Its all about money. Agents only have their interests in mind and advise players poorly. Players get caught in the media frenzy about how much they should make or where they should go, instead of making their own educated decisions.
Case and point: Lamar Odom. Lamar is in his basketball prime and he has a good offer from the Lakers to stay with his championship team. I know it isn’t as high as his asking price but who has 10 plus million to offer Lamar? I can’t think of a team willing to pay him more than the mid-level exception since everyone is cutting costs and saving money for next year’s free agent class. This mean the Lakers are willingly to pay him about 3 million more than any other team, but he scoffs at the idea. His agent should be jumping for joy and telling him to sign, even maybe asking for more incentives; instead he decides to advise Lamar to wait. Well this is sad and poor advice.
What is to stop Jerry Buss from taking the offer off the table? Nothing! Jerry is known not to take crap from players that offer little in return. I am not saying Lamar isn’t a good player but if you think about it, Jerry will be spending 16 million a year to keep Lamar under league salary cap rules.
Quite frankly he isn’t worth that much!
Lamar has a habit of not playing every game and every Laker fan knows this. I really do like the guy and feel he is important in our quest to repeat. Lamar, if you are reading this, please consider the Laker offer and quit listening to your agent. I know it isn’t as much money as you would like but look at it from an overall perspective. Jerry is willing to pay 16 million total to keep you and you have another chance to win a title. This is a whole lot better than a few extra bucks that you probably can pick up through extra incentives.
The Lakers have added a major piece signing Ron Artest to a 3 year contract for around 33 million. Though it was at the cost of Trevor Ariza to the Rockets, a young, up and coming player, Ron Artest is an upgrade. If you don’t agree, you should check out Artest’s stats and compare them with Ariza’s.
Artest brings proven defensive skill, rebounding and added offense. Some claim that he’s Kobe’s Rodman as Dennis was to Jordan. Like Rodman, in addition to his basketall skills, he brings other intangebles. If you don’t know what I mean, you should check out several videos below:
Summer has begun and you know what that means right? All the major sports (basketball, football) are on hiatus. Even hockey playoffs are done. It leaves us with the great American pastime, baseball. Personally, I enjoy parts of baseball, but dang, 162 games not including playoffs in 7 month span is ridiculous. Maybe that’s what summer in SoCal is all about: the beach, surfing, bbqing and chilling out. If you got nothing to do over there (aka rest of the nation), come by Cali! (My little plug to help the local economy).
On a different note, congratulations to US soccer for shocking the world and almost winning a international competition. Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Landon Donovan should be a force the rest of the way.
Now to enjoy some tea at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where Roger Federer can make history by breaking Pete Sampras’s record. Also, the William sisters never go away which makes them interesting.
Before I go, here’s a little video treat for those long summer nights:
Have you guys been checking out the latest news in the NBA lately? If not, then you should be keeping up as these developments have a major impact on fantasy basketball in the fall. Other than Ricky Rubio drama and the obvious Blake Griffin first pick by the woeful Clippers, the trades in the offseason have been interesting. It is like trash turning into gold. Its not even finding a needle in a haystack. Its magic!
So why do I have a picture of Pau Gasol? He is the first trade in recent times that follows this “gold from trash” pheonomena. You could say Mitch Kupchak (or was it Jerry West) started a trend. Some teams are dumping major salary to get under the cap due to economic times (or is it 2010 free agent bonanaza?) Other teams are taking advantage, using the trade to beef up their rosters making them contenders for the 2010 championship.
Here is the wrap-up of what has happened so far in the “trades sector.” Its hotter than a muggy summer day in Hotlanta:
1. Spurs trade for Richard Jefferson: With this trade, they automatically get a reliable and legitimate third scoring option after Duncan and Parker. If Manu Ginobli is healthy next season, this team is downright scary. As a Laker fan, this is horrifically disappointing, especially when Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza are not resigned yet.
2. Shaq hanging out with King James: This deal is sick! Shaq will try to win a fifth championship and doing it with the future king of the NBA, Lebron. This deal is absolutely a win now situation. We all know how the Cavs got dismantled by Orlando’s Dwight Howard, so this deal makes perfect sense. Even if he plays only 30 games this season and all of the playoffs (thanks to jadamusss for that assessment), it’ll be worth it. Plus Shaq is “off the books” in terms of salary after next season anyway. An added bonus.
3. Poof, the Magic are all stars, literally with Vince Carter!: If Hedu Turkoglu resigns with the Magic, they will have players that have all played in the All-Star Game at one point or another in their career. This move is to continue the success they were riding on when the Magic got to the playoffs and it gives them another player that can create his own shot. The Magic are making sure they can neutralize the effect of the Shaq trade.
4. Amare Stoudamire to Golden State?: Though this trade has yet to happen, this would be another big one. Why? Amare being coupled with Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette would absolutely make the Warriors automatic contenders due to their offensive prowess. Amare already knows how to play in a fast paced system and would fit naturally in Don Nelson’s running game. This team, if this trade does happen, would score probably in the upper 90s to 100s almost every night. It would be fun to watch.
Trash for Gold. We’ll see if these plans work out or will the teams saving money by dumping salary win in the end in 2010? Only time can tell, but I”m looking forward to next season already. Can the Lakers play ball in this new landscape? I certainly hope so. Get to work Mitch!
I would like to thank a friend of mine, Marcus, who recently graduated from UC Irvine MBA for giving me the inspiration for this post. Actually, he’s always utilized this moniker in place of his real name to represent his online presence in our fantasy basketball league, but I have finally some time to put a reasonable post together.
Indeed, the Lakers are Kobe’s Lakers. He is the unquestioned leader and he believed that running “his” team would lead to the championship. Today we find that it is true, though I’m not so sure a healthy Boston Celtics team would necessarily foster the same result. The Lakers of 2009 are quite different from the Lakers 0f the early 200o’s. Obviously, one major difference is the leader of that team was Shaq. Kobe was only playing second fiddle at that time. That is important because the Lakers of old were a team of Phil Jackson’s image, the triangle offense, with Shaq in the middle, Kobe playing the versatile guard and Derek Fisher running the point. Continue reading
What a treat last weekend was! If you were not on your couch and in front of the TV watching sports, then you missed out on a whole lot. Lucky for you, I’ll give you a couple of snippets of the spectacular, a view of a champion’s heart:
Tony Stewart: Though I don’t care much for NASCAR racing except when they race in Sonoma (with its non-oval track), I have to admit that Tony pulled out an exciting victory. To race from worst to first is a splendid feat. He got himself into this position by crashing his car in practice a couple days earlier. That meant he had to use a new car and start from the back of the pack. No matter, a will to win will always get you there.
Tiger Woods: When its Sunday on the golf course, you can never count Tiger out. Its actually when he plays his best, especially when he’s coming from behind! Its like an extra feline sense, Tiger’s sixth sense so to speak. He’s on the prowl on the fairways and pounces you on the greens. If you thought surgery could keep him down, then you are surely mistaken.
Roger Federer: With Rafa (Rafael Nadal) out of the Roland Garros, the door was open for Roger to finally capture the French Open. Many people in this position would have choked under the weight of such a great opportunity. However like a true champion, he fought through the tournament with his power serves and solidly hit, spot-on forehands. There were tough matches, but the gusto to glide on red clay with zest is what makes Roger so great.
Lakers: So Kobe was a bit disappointing in the fourth quarter in game 2 of the NBA Finals, it does not mean disaster when you have teammates like Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. They picked up his so-called slack, if you call 29 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds slacking off. Whatever the game and whatever the case, the Lakers will pull it out even if drama is on display. When Courtney Lee of the Magic missed the game-winning layup at the end of regulation, the Lakers went to work and showed how it is to finish off the game in overtime. Pau did the scoring in overtime, Lamar kept them alive in regulation and Derek practically sealed the deal with his steal at the end. Lakers should and can win in any situation. The “ring” is near!
Aside: Have you checked out the latest Kobe Bryant song by Lil Wayne? If not, here it is, a heart of a champion:
If the world of the NBA worked like TV commercials and ads, the Finals would have Kobe Bryant and the Lakers facing Lebron James and the Cavs. If the NBA worked my way, I would also hope that Kobe would make it to the NBA Finals as well. However as a trained scientist, I must accept the possibilities that an alternate reality may exist. No, no I’m not referring to Star Trek where a future entity comes back into the past to alter the course of history. (Oops, did I kill the story for some of you Trekkie fans?) I’m simply stating that the Finals might pit small market teams, Denver Nuggets vs Orlando Magic.
A couple weeks ago, this might have been unimaginable, but with the schizo nature of the Lakers and the Cavs needing a miracle shot from King James just to stave a 0-2 start to the Magic, anything is possible. I have to admit, the NBA Conference Championships are shaping up to be a doozy. I expect the Finals to be spectacular either way. Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard may be advertising underdogs, but they might blow the door wide open if they both make it to the Finals. What an alternate reality that would be?!
In respect of such a moment, I have posted two commericals on these budding superstars. Just don’t expect me to believe that’s going to happen. Go Black Mamba! Let’s tarnish the shine off those Nuggets!
You know those “most likely…” scenarios commonly found on high school yearbooks. I thought it would be fun to translate such scenarios to our current NBA playoffs and see what we can find. For your enjoyment fast in a dash:
Most Likely to Succeed: Lebron and the Cavs
Not too long ago we thought about Lebron James leaving Cleveland due to the horrific nature of his team. Who knew that all he needed was a drop of cough syrup in the form of Mo Williams. With that addition with better team play others, Lebron is poised to possibly capture his first NBA title. I know this is blasphemy from a Laker fan, but objectively speaking, King James is ready to rule.
Most Likely to be a Drama Queen: Los Angeles Lakers
Not too far from Staples Center is the headquarters of the movie capital of the world, Hollywood. Being situated so close to the stage, does it make you wonder if they had some pointers in manufacturing drama during the Western Conference Semis? If you ask me, they were probably trying to generate ticket sales from forcing and yes I said forcing a game seven. Why else do you think the Rockets could make it this far without Yao Ming even with Aaron Brook’s stellar play.
Most Likely to Surprise: Denver Nuggets
With a frontline sported by the likes of the Birdman Chris Anderson, a healthy Nene and a sick-nasty Kenyon Martin, the Nuggets have the opportunity to do what they’ve never done ever, which is make the NBA Finals. The calming and gentile influence of Chauncy Billups has gotten this offensive machine a rhythm to be reckoned with. I hope the Lakers have their eggs all in a dozen or they will be scrambled by Carmelo Anthony.
Most Likely to Threes: Orlando Magic
If Dwight Howard and the Magic are to have any chance of making the NBA finals (which is highly unlikely in my book), they need to shoot threes like nobodys business. JJ Redick is the key. They need a third powerful three point shooter other then Hedu Turkoglu and Skip to my Lou Rafer Alston. With Dukie basketball not translating well into NBA basketball, my guess is the King will kill the Magic in 5. Give the Magic credit, they’ll finally get a win against the untouchable Cavaliers.
Why did he take that shot? Why the double screen? Phil should’ve drawn up a different game plan for the last shot!
Oh hey! Its me and I guess I’m back again. If you don’t already know, both jadamusss and Iare diehard Lakers fans. So you might think that this blog posting might be a tad bit “biased,” but whose really objective in their analysis of sports these days. Most of analyst make their decisions based on their gut and then throw in stats that fit their agenda. Like I said, Kobe should’ve taken a better shot!
Since we’re on the subject of shots, I thought we’d go over the West and do a subjective analysis. It should be consensus that the Western Conference plays better basketball and with a style that is easy on the eyes. The Eastern Conference is all about scrappy and sometimes ugly play marked by stout defense. The West plays for great shots, aka finesse plays and generating these shots through fastbreak generating defense. Let’s see which games are must see and who is predicted to win by yours truly (again, in order of worse to best; see The Beastly East): Continue reading
