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2010-07-07T23:46:00.001-07:00

2010-06-03T02:20:00.001-07:00

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Rivalry Renewed

2010-06-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

Well here we are.

If you are a Laker fan like I am, you would've already assumed that the Lakers would get to this point. Anything less would've been a complete and utter disappointment. Every time the Lakers lose in the postseason, I am completely surprised and shocked. Because I expect us to win every single game, I expected the Lakers to get to this point; to be in the NBA Finals.

But what I didn't expect was our opponent. The Celtics looked old, decrepit during the regular season. A lot of us wrote them off as an after thought going into the playoffs. The Magic and Cavs were both surging to the finish line while the Celtics limped their way to a 3rd place finish, barely eeking out the Hawks. But now, they've hit their stride, the best time possible, and are ultimately murdering the competition. No one seems to have figured out the mercurial yet multi-talented Rondo, and their defense is out of this world right now. KG, although he's not what he was athletically two season ago, is hitting his mid-range jumper incredibly consistently and anchoring the defense with his ever-present tenacity. Kendrick Perkins, although I have a strong dislike for him, is a stout defender and was the key factors why the Celtics prevailed over the high-powered Magic offense. He was able to single-handedly slow down Dwight, and get those rebounds that D-12 usually gobbles up with ease on the defensive end. Seems like every aspect of the Celtic team is firing on all cylinders right at the best time possible. Yes, they're battered and bruised right now, but believe me NONE of that matters come game time.

Even though the Celtics have never looked stronger this year, and us Laker fans have a LOT of reason to worry about; their physicality, their ability to match up with our frontcourt, their success against Kobe, etc. Even though plenty of trepidation in my heart going into these Finals, I wouldn't have it any other way.

That's exactly what you want when it comes to a rivalry, the epic final battle. You want BOTH teams to be at full strength, having all their weapons in place, and their minds ready for war. You want the teams to say that they gave 110% and held nothing in reserve because when someone is declared the victor, the loser can find no refuge in excuses. So when the Lakers defeat the Celtics, Boston will have nothing else to say but that they lost to the better team. They lost fair and square, no complaining, no bickering, no shoulda coulda woulda's. The team that holds up that trophy can hold their head high, and proudly gaze into it's shining glow and say to themselves that they earned this. That they are the champion of the basketball world. Can we really do it? Back-to-back? The dream is so close, yet our toughest obstacle is yet to be overcome.

Lakers vs. Celtics

Thurs. 6PM

A Long Time to Wait

2010-05-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

The brooms are in full effect these playoffs. Good heavens. TNT and ESPN are losing a fortune not being able to air their 10 minute commercial breaks that are supposedly, 20 second timeouts. Not to mention us, the fans, are getting robbed of NBA playoff basketball, having to wait days, which feel like years, just to watch some dang basketball games. I mean is that asking too much just to be able to have some days just to watch some roundball? Sigh...enough complaining, on with the words of the Wong.

Listen to the radio, watch Sportscenter, go to a local sports bar, you'll hear talk about how the Lakers are just too big inside, too much size and length for the tiny little Suns to deal with. Or maybe you'll hear that we're just too experienced, and our regular season proves that we're no match for them, the Lakers holding a 3-1 edge over them. However, the Laker fans that cling to these points, while they are valid and good points, I think the Lakers have more to their advantage than just size and experience. Yes, we are huge inside, and yes we have been down this road a few times, but there's more than meets the eye with these Lakers.

1. LAMAR - Oh Lamar, where have you been, my man? You had a stellar performance in Game 2, but all the other games you were AWOL man. I pegged him as the X-factor, as many ESPN analysts feel the same way as I do, but he's been not the guy I thought he'd be. Maybe his shoulder is bothering him more than I think, but if that's the case he sure didn't show that in Game 2, with a solid 11 points and 15 rebounds, shooting 4-4 FGs, and 4 of those 15 rebounds were offensive. But if you look at his box score for the whole playoffs, its very underwhelming. 8.5 pts. 8.1 rebs, 1.8 assts, shooting .444 FG%. Not too good if you ask me. Yet, the Lakers are killing and looking great doing it. But we're steamrolling the Utah Jazz without even having Lamar Odom playing his best and the versatility was one of the biggest advantages we had against the Jazz. Odom historically has given the Jazz fits and going into this playoff series, people thought that this would be the series that Odom awakens and starts putting up big numbers.

Some may be disheartened by his box scores, but I see it as, man that guy is due. He's due to have his huge double doubles, maybe even having a near-triple double in the mix. Who's going to guard him? Who poses a threat to slow him down? Yes, Amare has made strides in the defensive department, but he's no Emeka Okafor. Plus, he saves his quickest, most powerful moves for the offensive end, where the ball is in his hands, just how he likes it. Lamar's the guy that can put Amare to work on the defensive end, get him in foul trouble, tire him out. Who can keep Lamar off the boards? Keep him out of the paint, from attacking and setting up teammates? But the only person that will stop Lamar Odom in this upcoming series with the Suns is Lamar Odom. I'm thinking we're going to see a different Lamar, a determined Lamar, the potent weapon Lamar, the X-factor Lamar.

2. Chemistry between Kobe & Pau - In Game 4, I saw a wonderful thing that brought a tear to my eye. Early in the 1st half, Kobe caught the ball on the right corner three, isolated against Wes Matthews. Of course, Matthews was right up on Kobe, and Pau came over and posted up on the right block and had decent position, looking hungry for the rock. Kobe jab stepped to ward off Matthews, and threw the ball into the post. That struck me as strange because there was double team coming towards Kobe, he had the whole wing to himself, and usually that means a jab step, stutter move and to the baseline he goes. But this time was different. He threw it into the post, Pau catches it in the mid-post, scans, and throws it back out to Kobe. That's where I was like, okay, here comes Kobe driving to the rack! But instead, Kobe threw it back to the repost, and Pau had even better positioning and made a quick move and scored with a beautiful hook.

There had been tiffs between these two superstars, but on that play, I can safely say that it's all in the past now. Kobe submitted not only to Pau's wishes, but also the Phil Jackson's game plan of working it inside and running the offense through the post. It was a sight to see, men conforming and giving up what they want in order to achieve a goal that only they can as a team. Kobe knows he can't will a team to win all by his lonesome on his legs with all that mileage, he needs Pau more than the Lakers need Kobe. With Pau putting up these kind of gaudy numbers, the 1-2 punch is near invincible and we become incredibly difficult to even stay with (just ask the Jazz). During the regular season, there may have been times they didn't see eye to eye, but now that they're in the playoffs, all that stuff is behind them. Their eyes are fixed on the main goal, of repeating, and they know that together they can accomplish that.

Game 1 is faaaaar away.

I Can See Clearly Now, The Rain is Gone...

2010-05-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Game 2 :Pre-Game Thoughts

What a difference a series makes, huh? Some noticeable changes from our opponent being the OKC Thunder, and the current Utah Jazz.

The Awakening of Lamar Odom - Many NBA analysts were saying just how big of a non-factor Lamar had been in the Lakers first round series, and it was hard to watch him struggle so mightily against the Thunder's length and versatility. It was almost like their frontline was built to slow down Lamar's multi-faceted game, and he could NOT have struggled more in that series. Bring on the Jazz, please. The Jazz have absolutely no shot-blockers to speak of, unless you want to speak about Fezenko who is just getting his first taste of NBA basketball in the playoffs, averaging more minutes these past few games than in his career total. With the Jazz's frontline, Lamar is free to be the versatile point-forward that he's been his whole career. He's slashing, driving to the hoop, and best of all, rebounding like LO is known to do. Key moment for Lamar was when we were up only a point with less than a minute, and Kobe shoots a tough free throw line jumper, and it rims out. Carlos Boozer leaps in the air to get a routine defensive rebound when all the sudden Lamar swoops in, getting inside position and rips the ball downwards away from the hands of Boozer and lays it in, falling to the ground soon afterwards for style points. I'm thinking this is just the start of what we're going to see from Lamar. His shooting touch still wavered, but the aggression was there, and that's what we like to see.
Lamar's stats:
vs. OKC 7.8 pts, on .417% FG, 6.8 rebs (1.8 offensive), 1.8 assts.
vs. UTH 8 pts on .400% FG, 12 rebs (5 offensive), 2 assts.

Lack of shotblockers - Whenever they drive to the hoop, the Lakers seem to be smiling the whole way there, as they are able to slash to the hoop, look towards the rim and see nothing but open space. Whereas against the Thunder, you had Ibaka waiting for you at the rim, with a trailing Kevin Durant with 8 foot wing span coming up behind you, and Nick Collison camped right smack dab in front of you to take the offensive charge. The Jazz play a lot closer to the men they are guarding and thus leaves the key wide open as we all saw Kobe in the late 4th quarter just simply drive to his right side and get a uncontested right handed scoop layup. For Bynum and Gasol, we can see their eyes just light up whenever they get position in the post because they know with one drop step or quick move to the rim, they are either going to get fouled and shoot a pair, or be able to elevate and it'll just be between them and the rim, no hands, no shot-blockers; it's just them and the hoop and all they have to do is throw it in the cylinder. They can see clearly now that the Thunder, and their monster athleticism and incredible length, are gone. And Pau does that with efficiency better than any power forward right now in the playoffs.

Game 2 Tonight @ 7:30 PCT. "You said that we could do it, you know I want to do it again!"

Make it the Last Flight Home

2010-04-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

Spanked 'em. From beginning to end. And I got to hand it to Doug Collins, he called that. The Lakers came out with that sense of urgency that we have been begging for. However, Kevin Durant mentioned something that I thought was interesting. He said that the Staples Center was louder, more in to the game than it was the first two games they played there. So even though us TV-fans have been begging and pleading for that sense of urgency from the Lakers, I think the Staples Center was missing that sense of urgency as well, thinking that it would be a clean sweep, or that we would do what we have done in the past simply because we're the defending champs.

Coming into Game 6, are we going to show how much we've grown from last year's mistakes? Or are we going to fall into the same traps, the same pitfalls as we did in our championship run in 2009? Yes, some may argue that everything worked out for the best last year because we won the darn thing, but I believe we made things a lot harder on ourselves by letting the Rockets push us to 7 games or letting the Jazz show us up on that one night in Salt Lake City. Let us come into this game with that same fire as we did at the Staples Center and let's send this young Thunder team home packing. Cancel those flights back to LA for a Game 7 bout to the finish, let these young fellas' stay home for good tomorrow night. On a side note, I absolutely loved the game our bigs' had the other night. Huge double double for Pau and 21 points for Andrew Bynum with both of them patrolling the paint like they were, it was a sight to be seen. When both those guys have that intensity, and really lock down the paint, we are unstoppable. What's nice for them though is that the Thunder don't really have any post up players so they can save the "banging" for the next series.

We know that not only are the player's going to bring it, but the Oklahoma City crowd is one of the loudest, and we know they're going to be pulling for the team. That's why we have veterans like Pau and Kobe and Lamar to look to. When things get noisy and cluttered, their minds should be clear and focused on the task at hand.

Daniel's Game 6 RANDOM PREDICTIONS:
+ Kevin Durant double double, scoring in the low 30's. He's due. Ron Artest has been doing a stellar job on him, but I think the guy is due.

+ Jeff Green continues to struggle. Can't quite put my finger on this one. Maybe the Lakers frustrate him in a way he isn't used to, maybe the moment is too big for him but the guy has been lackluster from the get-go and it's a shame because his team is lacking firepower as it is and he's an integral part of their offense. Without him hitting shots, that leaves Durant and Westbrook and semi-James Harden to pick up the slack and that's too much to ask for every single game.

+ Kobe and Pau lead the charge, of course, but I'm predicting Kobe comes out hot as fire. He's the one with the killer instinct, and I'm counting on a black mamba game from him. 3-5 three pointers, and lots of attacking the rim to get to the line. Double digit attempts from the line.

+ Lakers win a close one by 5.

Game 6 Friday night! Let's do it right!

The Upcoming, Series Deciding Game 5

2010-04-27T01:19:00.000-07:00

I don't think I need to stockpile a bunch of past NBA playoff 7-game series and statistics for people to know the importance of a Game 5 when the series is tied 2-2. The Lakers are saying all the right things as of now, saying they feel the sense of urgency and they are getting physically and mentally prepared for battle tomorrow.

But I'm not comforted. I'm worried. I'm worried for these Lakers. But give credit to the Thunder, they did what good teams that deserve to be in the playoffs d0; hold it down on their home floor. But for the Lakers to get spanked like they did in Game 4 truly gives me quite a fright. Kobe is banged up more than ever, Lamar looks like a disaster in this series, and the bench isn't contributing on a consistent level. Everyone can see that.

The one thing that I think the Thunder has that many teams before them being the 8th seed, is they have nothing to lose. Not only that, their whole starting lineup has an average of 0 playoff games played in their adolescent careers. I feel like this benefits them in a way that some may not even recognize. They have no fear. No previous knowledge of fear. They are too young and too naive to think past the present moment that they are in. They all play with such passion as if every possession is their last, and at this point, it's the Kryptonite that is revealing the mighty Lakers weaknesses. Why do you think it's so hard for defending champions to repeat? It's so gosh darn for them to think of the present moment until the present moment is the championship game. The thrill, the excitement is mundane because they've been down this road before. They believe they can overcome it all because they have done it all last year. And unfortunately, too many of the Lakers are just too young to know just how foolish this mentality is. I'm sure Pau is well aware of this pitfall, and DFIsh and Kobe, but what about Jordan Famar? what about Shannon Brown? Even Ron Artest? I fear that too many of them won't feel that sense of urgency until they are on the brink of elimination and even then, will it equate to their sense of urgency last year? I believe in them. I believe they can turn it around and maybe they just needed a wake up call. Whether the Thunder is the wake-up call or not we'll just have to wait and see. But I'll hold on to hope. We all will.

Game 5 tomorrow. Pray for the Lakers!

Game 2: Short & Sweet

2010-04-22T01:47:00.000-07:00

My Predictions for Game 2:

Kevin Durant bounce back game, but not too bouncy!
Pau Gasol monster game with Kobe team leader in assists.
Russell Westbrook has near triple double (boy I hope this one is wrong)

RESULTS:
Kevin Durant did bounce back, and it wasn't too bouncy! Shot 12-26, 3-6 from downtown, 5-6 from the line on 32 points but with 8 turnovers

Pau Gasol finished with 25 pts and 12 rebounds so it's a pretty monstrous game for him but he's been doing that night in and night out with Bynum out of the lineup so I wasn't spot on here. I thought he'd have at least 30.

Kobe was NOT the team leader in assists by a long shot; he had 1 assist. Boy, I could not have been more wrong on this one. The monster game goes to Kobe (who else?) with 39 pts on 12-28 shooting.

Westbrook had 19 pts 6 rebounds and 3 assists so I was not even close on this one either, predicting he would go for a triple double. But then again, I was hoping this one wouldn't come true so win-win!

Final Thoughts:
The Thunder have the personnel in the frontcourt to be a incredible defensive team, as they demonstrated in Game 2. They finished with a Laker opponent playoff record 17 blocks, surrendering only 36 points of the Lakers 96 in the paint. That's only about a third, and in my book that ain't too shabby for a starting lineup that has been in as many NBA playoff games as me.

With their size, length, agility, and freakish athleticism, they are challenging bigs and guards alike on every shot attempt from free throw line in. And any ball they get their anxious fingers on, they are sending to the rafters in a hurry. I was quite impressed with the combination of Ibaka and Durant taking turns swatting away weak finger-rolls and soft layup attempts by the Lakers. With these kind of jumping jacks, you have to utilize the pump-fake because they are young and eager to make a highlight block. One little pump-fake will send them shooting up in the air rendering them ineffective in protecting the rim.

The Laker guards, however, when attacking the rim have to do a much better job attacking the body of the defender. Kobe did this extremely well against Nick Collison, where he will leap in the air and direct his shoulder into the defenders chest. This not only gives you some more airspace, but also renders their long lanky arms useless. If your body is in close proximity to their body, they can't use their gigantically long limbs to thwart your shot attempt. Like boxers, you gotta work the body, work the body, then finish them with a haymaker. (That would be Shannon Brown dunking on them).

Game 3 [ Daniel's Random Game Predictions ]
+ Russell Westbrook has a breakout game
+ Jeff Green catches fire and makes his first impact in the series
+ Kobe deters and leads the team in assists (there has to be one game where this comes true)
+ Pau Gasol leads team in shot attempts and points
+ Bounce back game from Lamar Odom

2-0

Game 1 Thoughts

2010-04-19T14:58:00.001-07:00

Feels weird that the 2010 NBA Playoffs are here and that I'm here blogging about it because it feels like just yesterday I was blogging about the Lakers 2009 playoff run to the title. And oh what a glorious run it was. But here we are and things have changed around, yet surprisingly in some ways, history has repeated itself. The first example being Andrew Bynum.

Now I was only to watch the first half of the Lakers first playoff game. but upon firing up my DVR recording of it, I was very curious/nervous to see our young fella, Bynum back in action. He's just one of those guys you can see totally dominate a game on both ends of the floor almost effortlessly, yet consistency is something we have yet to see him demonstrate for long periods of the regular season. However, I think the majority of Laker fans agree with me in saying that this year was a huge step for our boy Bynum.

So back to the game. Lots of ESPN analysts and some Laker blogs already talked about his play and his stellar return to the hardwood, some even saying he was a "one man wrecking ball in 15 minutes in each half". He finished with 13 points on 6-10 shooting with 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, (4 BLOCKS!!) and 1 assist in 30 minutes of play. What I like most is the rebounds and blocks because that's been the biggest knock on the guy the whole season. Yes, he's next to Pau Gasol and rebound machine Lamar Odom at times, but a lot of the times, rebounds are just about who wants it more. And Bynum showed that he wanted his presence felt in this game and he made a huge impact.

One thing that I loved most was his tenacity. Some will talk about his defensive presence that he brought, some will talk about his offense and his touch around the rim that looked like he didn't miss time at all, but I want to talk about the fire in Andrew Bynum's eyes. On one play in the first half, Jeff Green was going for a rebound and Bynum followed him in fighting for position and Jeff Green got caught up with Bynum's leg and Bynum fell over. When Bynum got up, he gave Jeff Green the 'ol shoulder bump to let him know,"hey man, that wasn't cool." I loved that. To me, it looked like a total accident, and Jeff Green didn't mean to trip Bynum, but I loved Bynum's retaliation that he wasn't going to take no crap from nobody. The fire of Bynum struck again in the first half when he received a pass low in the post and decided that layups are for sissies and decided to pivot and jam it right down the Thunder's throats emphatically. And afterwards, he had a little bounce in his step and proudly held his chest out jogging back on defense. That was what was missing from the Lakers title run last year; a healthy, confident, and fiery passionate Andrew Bynum. Bynum's play in Game 1 not only sent a message to the Thunder, but to the rest of the league inserting fear into their hearts and letting them know that along with the championship Lakers you're going to have to deal with a healthy Andrew Bynum at 100%, and he doesn't play very nice. Jeff Green found that out the hard way.

Game 2 random predictions:
Kevin Durant bounce back game, but not too bouncy.
Pau Gasol monster game with Kobe team leader in assists.
Russell Westbrook has near triple double (boy I hope this one is wrong)

Game 2 tomorrow!

Random Thought of the Day

2010-03-05T01:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I was posting a comment on NBA Fanhouse about Renaldo Balkman and I realized that I'm in the mood to talk about some basketball. I was just going to post that if your head coach is subbing Malik Allen and Joey Graham before you, then you're not a very high on your coach's list when it comes to playing time. But then after I typed that I just went into this rant about how I wasn't a fan of his game and how the Knicks are incapable of picking someone actually good in the draft. But I digress...

As I was watching another "Hardwood Classic" on NBA TV, I had another random thought that I wanted to write about. It was Game 4 of the 2006 NBA First Round playoffs with the Golden State Warriors up 3-0 against the #1 seeded Dallas Mavericks with reigning MVP of the league, Dirk Nowitski. The thing I realized was how much both these teams have changed when it came to personnel. The Dallas Mavericks coach back then was Avery Johnson and he now is a TV analyst. Almost the whole starting five for the Golden State Warriors were in a different home now in 2010. It's absolutely incredible how much loyalty is a thing of the past nowadays. If you watched an 1981 classic game between the Suns and the Magic and then watched an 1989 game between the same teams, I'm sure you would see the almost the same faces in the same places.

What has happened? Is it because players in today's society get tired of a certain scenario or maybe decide just to go where the most money is? Or maybe management is to blame, giving up on players they drafted quicker than you can say "Darko", instantly turning stale to players on their current roster and salivating for the new, hot commodity in the free agent market. Their willing to trade, give up their own money, even sacrifice years of success to get a big-name player. Just look at the Nets, and the Knicks. Both of those franchises are doing everything in their power to lure LeBron James away from Ohio.

Is it fair? I guess so. Is it right? I don't think so. If players are taught and influenced by media and their agents to go where the grass is greener, than no one will ever learn the value of persistence. The kids these days watch on ESPN about the latest trades and faces in different places every time February rolls around and whether they realize it or not, they are being influenced. Seeing a grown man leave a team that spent time, money, and a lottery draft choice on you for more cash is a slap in the face and sends a message to all, saying "I don't care about loyalty". Heck, if that were the case, every single married couple would be divorced by now, am I right? The divorce rate is incredibly high as it is and little instances in the NBA like this only add fuel to the ever-growing fire that is burning loyalty to the ground.

Changes must be made. Time has made us all uglier and more displeased with life turning sour on us that at the slightest hint of trouble, we flee. It's time that we take a stand. No more going to where the grass is greener. Instead of focusing on the the future and moving forward, I think we need to take a stroll down memory lane. A place where Magic Johnson begins his career and ends in the purple in gold. The way it was meant to be. A place we fell so far from. The NBA, where loyalty dies.

"I Can Live...With Or Without You"

2010-02-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Much talk and analysis has been about how the Lakers fare with their perennial superstar, Kobe Bryant, and how the team was a rock solid 4-1 without him in the lineup. The Kobe-haters say that it's because without Kobe there, the Lakers play more team ball and share the wealth, making sure everyone gets involved. While that is very true, it doesn't mean that Kobe takes that "team aspect" away from the team when he's in the game. He's averaging 4.6 assists per game, and it's a well-known fact that in the first half Kobe is in "distributor" mode, trying to get Bynum, Ron-Ron, and Gasol involved first. I think Kobe does this because he knows he can flip on the switch whenever he needs to; he has that kind of out of this world talent that out of nowhere he'll just drop 5 buckets on you in a row.

While the "team aspect" is a very good point to why the Lakers were so good without Bryant, I like John Hollinger's PER Diem piece that revealed something I would've never thought would be the reason for our success: our defense. With Kobe out of the lineup, though are offense took a slight hit stats-wise, our defense didn't skip a beat. When people look at our roster on paper, they tend to think that our offense is the main reason why we win games, simply by having too many weapons for the opposing team to handle. This may have been true in the past, but as Bill Russell preaches, he don't win championships with offense. "For all the talk about the triangle and Kobe and the power of their post threats, the 2009-10 Lakers are, first and foremost, a defensive juggernaut".

The Lakers are stellar in not allowing three pointers, preventing opposing players to go to the line, and allowing offensive rebounds. The rebound portion is a no-brainer, I mean, we have 7 foot Pau Gasol averaging 14.4 rebounds in the past 5 games, 7 foot Andrew Bynum averaging 8 rebounds in the season, and 6'10 Lamar Odom who rebounds better than most 7 footers grabbing down more than 10 game, "warranting special mention for his Dennis Rodman impersonation". Heck, even Kobe despite living in the land of giants averages a solid 5.6 rebounds a game. That doesn't leave many rebounds for anyone else.

The acquisition of Ron Artest has John Hollinger convinced that that is the reason why we have been so good at not allowing 3's or teams to get to the free throw line. One thing Ron Artest does exceedingly well is body-up and not letting his man go by him. He has the unique incredible blend of being light on his feet yet having a strong build which allows him to deal with both quick guards and heavier set forwards. Whoever is guarded by or guarding Ron Artest is in for a long night because he wears his defender out on both ends of the floor, banging and pushing for 38 minutes. Also, another great thing about Ron Artest is that he knows when he's beat. If he had to help on a defensive rotation and was slow getting back to his man, he never goes for the cheap foul unless he knows he can take the guy down without scoring. He never allows the "And-1" and if you don't know already, those and-1's are momentum shifters in close games.

If defense wins championships then I've got a great feeling about this Laker team. They are committed to closing out players, and shutting down high-powered offenses everywhere. "As a result, the Lakers are miles beyond where they stood three or four seasons ago. Whereas the Lakers once were a one-man show, the resilient D and post attack now make the team an ensemble cast -- one that's strong enough to succeed even in the ringleader's absence." I may have had my doubts when Kobe was playing on 9 fingers and a leg and a half, but whether injuries pile up and or opposing teams stack up their team, our commitment to defense will prevail in the end.

- 4 c

The Return...

2009-10-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a long break, summer has passed and it's time to get back in the swing of things. Time to dust off the desk, warm the typing fingers up, pull out papers and pens, see if my printer still has ink because school is back in session. But as everyone knows, there has to be evil in order for their to be good, and the good in my life is the NBA season is just about here.

Many transactions and events have occurred over the offseason and much to be talked about. Much is anticipated in this 2009-10 season. Many questions are lingering around the league as this is the last season before the monumental "free agent splish-splash of 2010" including LeBron. Well, to say the least, I can't wait for the season to start. And like always, we'll have our in-depth look at not only the Lakers, but all around the league.

The break is over, school, and the I'm Wong, You're Right blogging is back in session. Hooray!

Appversity: We Touch & Tell

2009-09-24T13:54:00.001-07:00

I'm officially apart of the Appversity team where review all kinds of iPhone and iPod touch applications. I'm currently specializing in the "games" department but in time my job responsibilities will expand.

It's an awesome site and I encourage anyone and everyone who's into iPhone and iPod touch apps to go and check us out. We're an up and coming site with developers already asking us to review their products.

http://www.appversity.com

go and check it out!

NBA season starts soon, get your DVRs ready!

Free Agent Fiasco

2009-07-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

Breaking news today about the Ron Artest agreeing to terms with the Los Angeles Lakers along with Trevor Ariza agreeing to terms with Houston Rockets. Funny how we just "traded" players but not really. We just stole the other person's starting 3 guard.

As there are in almost every single trade, there is always two sides of the story and two sides of 0pinion of the trade. On Hoopshype.com, Trevor's agent said that the Lakers "never really offered Trevor a contract" and basically said just to go out and see what you get offered and then come back to us. Both Trevor and his agent felt that the Lakers disrespected him and felt his services would be better appreciated elsewhere. However, there are other reports saying that Ariza's agent was asking for more than the Lakers were in the ballpark of offering him so they decided to go somewhere else for their starting small forward needs. Enter Ron Artest.

Ron Artest, to me and to millions across the sports world, has always been an enigma. However, one things for sure, I've always admired the player that he is. I always loved his tenacity and his ferocity that he brought each and every game. Everyone has their issues, Ron simply has issues that are out there for everyone to see and scrutinize. Adding him to our team is definitely a risk but a risk that I don't mind taking. Phil Jackson was able to control Dennis fricken Rodman, who makes Ron Artest seem like Mr. Rogers. You don't think that the pride and egos of Jackson and Kobe will be able to restrict the wild nature boiling deep inside Ron Ron? Ron has said many times that he has an enormous respect for Kobe, and I think he genuinely does. If he ever gets out of line, threre's no way that he will be able to go unpunished.

When it came down to it for the Laker mangement, I think that they just viewed their window of opportunity and that's what drove their decision. Trevor Ariza will be a fantastic player in the upcoming seasons and he already is a wonderful role player who contributes in a myriad of ways. However, Ron Artest as of NOW is the better all around player. He can handle the ball well, shoot the ball at a decent clip, and is a lockdown defender that can guard the beefier of players (Paul Pierce, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James etc.). Kobe Bryant is 30, Lamar is 31, and Pau is 29 and recently acquired Ron Artest is 29. Mitch and Jerry Buss figured that Trevor will be the better player of the future in the later years, but as of right now, they don't need a player of the future. They already have their big man of the future to build around for later years in Andrew Bynum. So when Ariza asked for more than they were willing to, they decided to be opportunistic and jump at the best possible solution for their 3 guard needs. Ron Artest does everything that Ariza could do last year but in some categories slightly better AND brings in the intimidation factor that Ariza could never bring to the table. Ron brings toughness and undying fierceness to the Lakers that is now looking to be an unstoppable force for the next few years. And that's what it came down to for the Lakers management; the next FOUR years compared to the distant future.

About Ariza, it truly breaks my heart. From the Lakers standpoint, we've seen this player evolve right in front of our very eyes. I've always loved how he never complained, never got emotional, and always seemed to want to do anything that helped the team. His demeanor towards the game was unlike the generation of players of today and that was something I truely admired. He was a great player for us and was the absolute X-factor in the postseason. I am greatly downcast to see him leave our team. I know it must be hard for him to leave his hometown and all the fans that have grown to absolutely adore him, but that sometimes is the NBA business. His agent wanted more than the Lakers wanted to give so he had to go elsewhere for his financial needs. I understand that. I wish him the best on the Houston Rockets and I hope they utilize his strengths to his fullest potential. You will be missed, Trevor.

Nothing Will Ever Be The Same...

2009-06-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Aah...the offseason. It's the season where NBA fanatics check their local blogs every single hour of the day as if it was their cell phone and they were awaiting a call, or text from the girl they gave their number to at a bar the other night. They can't help themselves. The regular season is in the past and the images from the year of their team's shortcomings are jettisoned by fans and in come the thoughts of the "What if's" and the "I can only imagine having this guy on our team...".

Monumental trades of vast proportion happen during this time, which is not to say they only happen during the offseason but it is the time where GMs and coaches and even players have time to mull over their past, present and future. The Cavs, Spurs, and Magic so far have fished their wish and the T-Wolves are somewhere in between. Not quite sure what their fans think but I got one clue from a local blogger who is intrigued by the thought of Ricky Rubio in a T-Wolves jersey:

"I just flat-out love the way Ricky plays basketball. He's fun to watch and he brings a dynamic to the game that no other player does. I'd really like to see where he'd be able to take this team. Our guard play for the past three seasons has been beyond pathetic. We haven't had a legit point guard since the day Sam Cassell was traded away. Maybe, just maybe, having somebody who can orchestrate the offense the way that Rubio can will finally help all our other players reach their potential. He himself may not be better than the other players I've listed, but if he indirectly makes Jefferson better, and Love better... Now we're talking something special. Maybe I'm just pulling this out of my rear, but I'd really love to at least what the kid can do before we just ship him away sight unseen."

All in all, I don't feel too threatened by the trades that other teams have assembled. I'm glad to not have to use the 'R' word (rebuilding) or the other 'R" word (restock) when describing our Laker team for next year. I'm hopeful for next year and looking forward to having Ariza and Odom back in our lineup and ready to defend our title. Will we make trades or moves for the upcoming season? I have no idea.

But going into this year, the fans, the management, the players, and even the opponents know that the Lakers have a tough road ahead of them. Defending the title is no easy task, just look at the years of the Spurs championship runs: '99, '03, '05, '07. Some say repeating is harder than winning it just once and I believe it. The teams are getting stronger each day and are putting together teams built to destroy the Laker empire. Almost every team we face will have a different 'face'; whether it be a different impact player, different coach, or even a different scheme to take down our triple post offense. We must be steadfast during the this season and consistently make sure every game is a test. Make it a statement each game to go out and prove to the league that you are the champions for a reason. Why can't this be the start of something great? Why can't we be the start of the new Laker dynasty of the millenium?

Cobra, Mamba, Boom Boom Pau, LO, and DFish.
Average age of first championship together: 29.8 yrs.

Byron, Magic, Coop, Big Game James, Kareem,
Average age of first championship together: 28.2 yrs.

Draft Thoughts

2009-06-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted and I apologize, you know how summer is. The NBA draft 2009 came and went, and what a summer we've had so far. Hard to believe that more trades could be coming even though names like The Diesel, Richard Jefferson, and Vince Carter have now all relocated in different climates. The massive trade trend took stole much of the draft's thunder, however, thanks to the added controversy of the T-Wolves selecting not 1, not 2, yes 3 point guards in the first round. What will they do with all those point guards, one might ask. Ty Lawson already has been shipped to the Nuggets for a 2nd round pick. Now comes the hard part. Rubio and Flynn are excellent prospects but rumor has it that the T-Wolves only want Flynn and haven't quite figured out what to do with Rubio. Weird man. Happy I'm not a T-Wolves fan right now.

For the Lakers, ESPN's Chad Ford slapped them with a 'D' letter grade for their efforts. Ouchie. Quoted by Mr. Ford,

"The Lakers traded away the draft rights to Toney Douglas and Patrick Beverley for cash and future second-rounders. The argument is that they need every penny when trying to re-sign Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom. And besides, will a rookie ever get any minutes for the defending champs?

I understand the rationale but I also think it's short-sighted. Good teams have to restock at some point, and I think Douglas in particular could have helped the Lakers. He could be a Derek Fisher type of player down the road.

I see his point about having to restock at some point. But this was a weak draft. Why restock at this point in time? Why not cash in and get some money while people are desperate for some picks (thank you, New York!). The Lakers had the 29th pick in a weak draft, so it was the best option for them to focus on the free agents they have to lock down. Yes Dejuan Blair and Sam Young were on the board still, and yes they would've been lovely to have on our bench for security and to develop over the years. However, that's money that we'll have to give to them thus taking away from the loot we have to reward our heroes, Lamar and Trevor. I think this was a great move by the Laker management. We'll see how this pans out for us.

PREDICTION:

Rookie of the Year 2010: Tyreke Evans

dwong said it first.

Random 'T' Of The Day

2009-06-21T12:00:00.001-07:00

Random Tube of the Day

So while I was slumbering, I came up with an idea that I wanted to implement immediately. It's called the 'Random 'T' Of the Day'. And every so often I will have a Random something, maybe a trend, a tip, a tidbit, a timeout, a thought, etc. Sound good? Let's begin.

Before we glorify our 2009 World Champion Lakers and crown them the new dynasty of this generation, we should take a look back in yester-year and take a gander at the road that brought us here. This was the first dynasty, and as movie critics say, "there's nothing like the first one". As quickly as the team was rescued from the depths of Brooklyn to the brighter lights of Los Angeles as did Magic and the Laker team of the 80's take the franchise and made them a championship organization. In a time where mesh shirts and neon colored tank tops were the skinny jeans and plain white tee of today. Unforunately I didn't have the great fortune to watch the late great lakers of the 80's because I was just born in '88 and you don't enjoy basketball as much at that age than you think. So sit back and relax and enjoy 'Showtime'.

Random Food for Thought

2009-06-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

The NBA; Where Coincidence Happens.

I'm a strong advocate in believing that everything happens for a reason, that they are no accidents in life. Funny how just random actions or events work out perfectly in the end and we had no control over the picture perfect outcome.

For example, when I was in my freshman year of high school, for no apparent reason I asked my sister if she would teach me how to play the guitar. Being the amazing sister she is, she willingly agreed and proceeded to take me under her wing and I became her apprentice. On a side note, my sister Kristen self-taught almost every single skill that she possesses. Rollerblade? Yup. Basketball? Yup. Guitar? You bet. How to win every argument? She's the queen.
Getting back to our story, I learned the guitar and practiced for a whole year and was able to play songs reasonably well but was still learning. Little did I know that coincidence would have its way with me and this new found skill I just picked up. My cousin, Tim, was the head music director for the high school youth group and currently had a worship team of 4 people but now was in the process of a major overhaul needing to select a whole new team of newcomers as the majority of the team was leaving for college. I and 4 others were selected to join the team. Tim was planning on having my position on the team be a "singer" and teach me guitar in the off time as to groom me for taking over the team leader of the worship team in the future when I was ready. Hah! But I was ready then because I had the guitar skills already in my repertoire to go along with my killer singing voice (sarcasm added here). So from the get go I was able to play guitar with Tim and get hands on "team leading" lessons every time the team played altogether.

Where Castoff becomes the X-factor happens. Didn't anybody realize (well, besides us bloggers) that the Magic traded Trevor Ariza to the LAKERS for Brian Cook and Mo Evans last year? That may not sound that bad to the regular fan. They may say, "Dude, Ariza got traded for TWO PLAYERS!! That's an honor!" Uhm, no. Brian Cook was one of the Laker players that you just love to see on the bench and hate to see on the court. The Houston Rockets know what I'm talking about, as they were shorthanded in this year's playoffs by losing Yao and Mutombo and they still hesitated to use their newly acquired 6'9 Brian Cook. Mo Evans is a solid rotation player but didn't produce much for us. Not only that, but the Magic didn't even keep the people we gave them for Ariza. Both are on different teams, Cook on Houston and Evans on Atlanta. And now, Trevor Ariza of the Lakers was guarding the Magic's best player in Hedo Turkoglu and was a major proponent in knocking them off in 5 games. Coincidence? I don't think so. (You could make the case that Brian Cook was traded to Houston for Rafer Alston so the Magic did get something but Kyle Lowry was packaged with Cook and believe me Cook was just added to make the numbers work. Cause his butt rides that pine now.)

In the same way, in 2008 of October, I decided that I would follow the NBA closer than I ever had before. And not just the Lakers, but the whole entire league. Usually I just watch the Laker games and some of the games they show on TNT and ESPN, occasionally read the LA Times about the Lakers shannanagins. But not this year. I had a new Macbook to my disposal along with cable television so I won't miss a single Laker game or any other nationally televised game. I had bookmarked all my favorite Laker blogs and found "Truehoop" midway during the season which turned out to be a ultimate bridge to all 30 teams blogs. I knew that this season would be the NBA season that I would be able to follow intently. All during the season I checked scores, stats, blogs, analysis, standings, etc. And it just so happened that the season that I devoted my life to was the season that our Lakers won the Larry O'Brien trophy. Crazy how that works, huh? Sometimes life just works out for you, and other times the Magic just gets sucked out of life and makes you feel like a sloppy 2nd. =P Coincidence? I don't think so.

The End Of Our Journey

2009-06-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

Because Kurt over at "Forum Blue & Gold" said it better than I ever could...

"Love it for (as Dex said) Kobe’s Dostoevsky like life of sin, suffering and redemption.

Love it for Phil Jackson for stepping back and seeing the forest in the trees, and teaching a team to grow as men in an era where that is considered dead.

Love it for Gasol for showing the world what we knew — just how good he was. How he is more than 7,473 post moves, that he is toughness and defense and heart.

Love it for Fisher for reminding us all what character and heart are all about.

Love it for Trevor Ariza for showing how much a player can grow in a year.

Love it for Andrew Bynum winning and learning and growing into a man.

Love it for Lamar Odom showing off just how much his diverse game fits and matters for the Lakers.

Love it for Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Josh Powell, Sasha Vujacic for getting to taste a rare level of victory.

Love if for a great man in DJ Mbenga getting a crown that fits with him.

Love it for a great city. A great fan base.

Soak it up Lakers fans. This one is ours."

We did it. 15th. 105 games later and we're hoisting the one thing that separates us from the rest of the pack. Success.

2nd Thought of the Day by Daniel

2009-06-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

Stumbling upon an article on NBA Fanhouse by Gary Washburn about "revisiting" the 1999 NBA draft, I found the content interesting. Gary basically took the article and pretty much made it a "what should have happened we're going to do it all over again" fantasy re-draft. He ridiculed GMs and teams for taking on busts instead of studs, and Gary isn't the only one who's criticized teams for their bone-head draft picks. There has been tons and tons have ridiculous articles that proclaim the ludicracy of a certain draft pick. 10 years after the draft, it is plain to see who was a solid draft choice and who shouldn't have had their name applauded for when they made their way up to the podium. However, it's the "hindsight" part that made me think for a second.

In hindsight, it's obvious who the duds are and who the studs are. And we as fans have no idea how many tapes and games that the scouts attended to scope out the NBA-hopefuls. So I thought maybe for a week we could be the scouts. If there was someway to block out the players faces and numbers and even skin color, then we would be able to judge a player strictly by talent. For example, say we still had all the tapes from the all the players from the 1999 NBA draftees. And we implemented this new "making players anonymous" technology; we'll call it the MPAT. So we would watch film after film after film all different players in random order, and then we place the best players in order from best to worse. Because of the MPAT, we wouldn't be able to tell who the player was or what school he played for. The only information given would be the division he played in and whether he played in the US or not.

That would be interesting.

Only then could we see if some of those scouts and general managers, like the Los Angeles Clippers, are as dumb as we've been saying for all these years. We'd be able to see firsthand what they saw and get fooled by drafting Aleksandar Radojevicor or make the right choice and pick AK-47. I wonder if my list would have Elton Brand at the top and Many Ginobili followed right after him. That would be quite amusing to see how many people fall into the same mistakes as past general managers have made and see for themselves just how hard it is to draft a stud.

Thought of the Day by Zephoid

2009-06-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

This game is proof as to why we keep the faith in our players. This game is proof as to why we don’t bury our own guys; we don’t throw our own guys under the bus. Because our faith is rewarded. Everyone under the sun was calling for Phil to bench Fisher and play more Shannon Brown (myself included). Tell me, does anyone honestly believe that anyone outside of Bryant could have made those two shots other than Fisher? Through all his struggles, all the 1-8, 1-7 shooting games, our coaching staff kept the faith in Fisher. Even when he was getting crushed by Deron Williams, Aaron Brooks, Chauncey Billups, and Rafer Alston, the coaching still kept calling his number, sending him in during crunch time, sending him to battle when the games were on the line. And for their faith, they were rewarded with the most crucial victory of the season, delivered to us by one and only Derek FIsher. This is the stuff of legends; the stuff that only becomes more endearing when you’ve lived through his struggles as we all have.

Game 5 Sunday @ 5 PM (PT)

Rising To The Elation

2009-06-12T01:30:00.000-07:00

As a fan, there are some moments watching your favorite team that you remember forever. I recall the exact location, the time, and even who was around me when DFish hit the 0.4 shot against the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Same place different day for the Robert Horry 'I'm da man' pose shot against the hated Sacramento Kings. These are one of those games where I'll never forget. The shot that DFish took to tie it with 4.6 left in regulation, took my breath away and I didn't even shout. I couldn't. I was stunned. When he hit the dagger in overtime, I couldn't hold it in once again. I had to let it out. DFish was just too good to keep it all bottled up. I had to jump, and I had to shout because I couldn't believe it. Witnessing a game that we should've lost, the game was handed to the Orlando Magic on a silver platter by the refs. The last minute of the 4th quarter I was just trying to detach myself from the game as to stop the severity of the pain. But DFish was the savior again. He alleviated the pain and took away those lingering thoughts of "what if the Lakers lose this game AND lose game 5?". He put a stop to those doubts.

Being a fan, you go through some hard ups and downs. Somedays, it makes you sick to your stomach. But on this day, we celebrate. This night, we stand with our heads held high and we can say that we took this game for ourselves because the Magic didn't want it as bad as us. The Lakers survived fatal blows that some other team would've shriveled up and focused on Game 5. On this stage, every little inch counts, every little hustle play matters, and the size of a player's heart is on display for millions to see.

On this stage, excitement and emotion can no longer be held in. Celebration is no longer a casual clap of the hand or a little shout. On this stage, hands are held high in triumph, shouts are hollered louder than ever and desire of the heart is made transparent to all. On this day, we finally answered the NBA's burning question. Where will amazing happen? "Amazing" happened here tonight at the Amsec Arena, Orlando, Florida. The smile of DFIsh after hitting the shot in overtime shined brighter on this day than any other picture of game that showed his pearly whites. We saw Derek Fisher grab the team and holster them on his back and carry them to victory. On this day, we saw a Laker team plagued with foul trouble, misery, a hostile environment and seemingly impossible odds to overcome, but they made the impossible the improbable and overcame. On this day, we saw the heart of a champion. His name is Derek "Little Rock" Fisher.

One game away from euphoria.
3-1

Derek Fisher fave moments:

Pre-Game Four: Gettin' Ready To Be Steady

2009-06-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

Like all the other Laker fans, I have an unshakable feeling that we are going to prevail in Game 4. So many factors went the way of Orlando, and we still only lost by 2 points. I would be a little nervous if I were the Magic. At times, it seemed the whistle favored the Magic almost for the majority of the game, they shot a Finals record 62.5% from the field, 20 points on 8-12 shooting from Rafer frigen Alston which, mark my words, is not happening again amonst other things. The Magic played the best game of the entire postseason arguably and they still only won by a single possession. Still, there are things the Lakers need to tidy up on.

Where go, my ego?
--> Shrink the ego of the roleplayers must be up there on the Lakers priority list. Too many times we let Rafer shoot the open shot or drive it unmolested to the rim because of his previous games where he shot a grand total of 3-17 for 10 points. He's an emotional kind of guy that heats up when things are flowing for him. As his scoring numbers increased, so did his confidence and the effectiveness of his drives and moves around the hoop. Even though he shot a blazingly good percentage, I still would love to see him shoot more outside jumpers and force him to hurt us from out there. Don't let him go into the paint and screw with our big men though, keep him out of the key and let him fire away out there.

The force shouldn't be with them.
--> There forced shots, for instance, Mickael Pietrus' crazy 'I didn't even see the basket' 17-foot fadeaway shot was huge in crunchtime. However, we should keep forcing them into those tough shots and see if they're falling because chances are those forced shots won't go in tonight.

Kobe carrying too much of the burden. Let it go.
--> Kobe is doing too much, whether he is too concerned with letting the game get away, letting his team down or just overall legacy of Kobe Bryant that is getting to his head and effecting his play. In my opinion, Kobe is too much in his head. Isn't playing with that loose killer-instinct that he was in Game 1. His passing at times has been picture perfect, for example the hilarious in the air jumpshot lob he threw to Pau, fooling every single person on the court almost including Pau. However, at times it seems he is hesitant to pull the trigger and sometimes he pulls the trigger too soon and fires away without even looking at another teammate, let alone running the triangle. I know Kobe is our closer and the man with ice in his veins but he doesn't have to do it alone. There's no need for us to run the PnR with him and Pau everytime in crunchtime. Pau will get guys open shots simply by posting down low. What we can do differently is set Kobe up on the sideline with Pau posting and work it in and out. And if they want to run the PnR then isolate that side and see if that gives them a different look. Because last game was ugly and we had some mental lapses that cost us the game. (Not to mention free frigen throws, Kobe. What happened, dude? That won't happen again.)

Overall, I like our chances. We've demonstrated that we can hang with the Magic whether they're shooting the lights out from downtown or just simply making shots around the inside. Also, the Magic haven't discovered a "fatal flaw" or weakness in our Laker team that they can finally say they know how to beat us now. (Like for example in Game 5 against the Nuggets, when we figured out that if we move the ball around quickly on offense then their defense falls apart. And w/ that new discovery, we then proceeded to close them out and end series). So to sum up, we're looking good and the Lakers know they can win against the Magic. There's nothing that they bring to the table on offense that baffles the Laker defense or anything they shellack on defense that dumbfounds our offense.

Pau Long Till He Gets The Ball?

2009-06-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

What does a man have to do? He goes out of his own realm of comfort and proclaims to the media that he wants more touches (but not in a jerk-kind of way), he had 23 points on 9-11 shooting continuing to shred whatever defender the Magic throw at him and in crunch time, he still not getting deliberate touches. Hollinger even says how crazy it is that the Lakers forget about him considering how amazingly effective he's been:

"Orlando's best weapon against Gasol seems to be his teammates' maddening reluctance to pass him the ball...Gasol averaged 13 shots in fewer minutes in the regular season, so it's a little odd to see him getting so few touches when he's been so absurdly effective. And I do mean absurd.

The dude has three turnovers in three games while averaging nearly two points per shot -- 21.0 per game on 11.3 field goal attempts. For all the focus on Kobe Bryant, in many ways this series is as much about Gasol and whether his teammates -- including Bryant -- can be bothered to keep involving him."

So that's why I ask the burning question, what does he have to do to prove his worth? Down the stretch, Kobe was a disaster, turning the ball over multiple times and not sinking the shots he was in the 1st half. (That might be due to too much sitting on the bench in my estimation). I don't understand why they have to run the pick and roll with him and Pau. Why not just get Pau down on the block and get him to draw a double or if the double doesn't come, to take advantage of the any defender they throw his way. Even Dwight Howard.

By not instilling that sort of confidence in him to go at Howard in crunch time hinders his own confidence in himself. Give him the rock and trust him with the team's success. Pau averaged 13 shots during the regular season and look how that turned out. We had the 2nd best record in the NBA. Let's go to what has worked in the past. Feed him the rock. He is starving.

Game 4 Thursday @ 6 PM (PT).

Game Two: Initial Reaction

2009-06-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

I had a whole laundry list of points to blog about from Game 1, but never found time to actually sit down and type them all out and post them. And as a result, now its too late and Game 2 already came and went, making all those points "yesterday's news". *sigh* Well nothing I can do about it now. It's in the past.

What's not in the past is the championship hope for the Lakers. It is real and it is here in this arena. People can feel it, they can just taste it. It's there for the Lakers, now all we have to do is take it.

The game, in my opinion, was an ugly one. No one really was able to get into a rhythm in the first half because of all the ticky-tack foul calls by the refs. Even the calls on the Magic I was saying to myself, "Really? Wow...". It was pretty brutal, the first quarter score (15-15) combined for the lowest score in NBA Finals history. That's pretty sad and says a lot about how the refs were calling the game. In every quarter, both teams were in the penalty early and there were countless times that the ref called a foul simply for players going after the ball. There's going to be intensity from the game and the refs have to acknowledge that and realize that the audience paid tickets to see the players, oh I don't know, PLAY!

The only player that actually was cookin' was Lamar Odom and that sizzle was burning the whole game. Inside game, outside game, defense, offense, it was all on display tonight. We saw the Lamar Odom that we have all grown to love. His outside shot was falling, and he didn't miss those little chippies that he has the tendency to miss when he isn't focused. In crunchtime, he even showed off his cool, calm, and collected side and sank 2 clutch free throws to put us up by 5 for good. He is unmatched when it comes to his versatility and NBA analysts say that when he is playing aggressive, the Lakers are invincible. he finished with 19 points 8-9 shooting, 3-4 FT, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal. He hustled on every play and brought that energy off the bench that is so crucial to winning these basketball games. He even held his own going head to head against Dwight Howard and Superman has at least 50 pounds on him. Excellent game from Lamar. If he's playing injured it wasn't known on this night to a single person. Keep bringing it.

Leaving the frigen fracken three point shooters open. I thought that in Game 1, watching the game film and seeing that we left so many three point shooters wide open for shots that we would learn our lesson. Even though they missed those wide open looks in Game 1, we can't expect them to miss them every game and they didn't tonight. Rashard Lewis led the way making 6 threes out of 12, and 3-6 from Turkey. The only person we can sacrifice leaving open is Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee, as it was evident that both of those guards can't seem to find the net enough to be a threat. We have to find those shooters and close out hard and not fall asleep on rotations (Lamar, I'm lookin' at you; you're not exempt just because you had such a great game). Be mindful of where the shooters are and don't give them too much space because that's exactly what they excel at. Right when you think that you know exactly where they are and you turn your head towards Dwight, they shift and cut behind defenders eye line, and get ready to fire. Dwight sees the target, delivers the ball and there ya have it. An open three. Our defensive rotations have to shift faster and close out harder on the shooters. Perhaps we should take a page from Shane Battier and stick a hand in the person's eyes because that way the defender doesn't have to be as close.

The Yetti vs. Superman. Even if Pau isn't as physically fit as Dwight Howard (Who is? Besides LeBron James...) and doesn't come close to the athleticism as him, but he is taking it to him on offense. I'll have a further breakdown of his offensive array of slick moves and dynamite footwork to get the better of his defender in the next post.

The games aren't always going to be pretty, but what's important is winning and being successful. Winning the ugly ones are what championship teams do. And now we're up 2-0 going to Orlando.

2-0

Random Thought of the Day

2009-06-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

Music is sort of a tricky thing. You have such a wide range of variety and an even wider range of opinions about the music of this generation. The youth glorify music, making it apart of their daily lives as did many in the past decades. However, the majority of the older folk seem to think that music today is "dead" and that there are no more original thoughts to their songs. As much as I want to deny this as I am an avid listener of the music of today, I can't help but realize the awful truth. It settles in my body like the feeling when you know that what you've done is wrong even though it felt right at the time, like eating an shamelessly unnecessarily "double-stuffed" Oreo cookie.

So I was listening to my iTunes on shuffle and I came upon a song by Driving East, called "Backseat". The song is catchy enough but I only rated it "3 stars" out of 5 because it was what it was; average at best, nothing special. But that's what made it horrible. The chorus, (that's right the MAIN chorus), the guy sings, "You and me in the back seat, with your head down, if you know what I mean, singing whoa, oh, whoa". Hmmmm...now you don't have to be in the music business to know what he is implying. So I immediately paused the song, and looked up the song meaning on "Songmeaning.com" to verify my suspicion. One comment left by a user was that he went to one of Driving East's live concert and the lead singer admitted that the song was about oral sex. Shame. Shame on them. Shame on the people in the crowd that jumped up and sang with him. Shame on me for listening to them. It just goes to show you the dearth of fresh original ideas that this generation is for a song. The old fogies couldn't have been more right about us, and it's a darn shame. I feel dirty. Time to listen to the good ol' Beach Boys and have them wash away my filth in the ocean of classic tunes.

"Oh we could make this moment ours
And I could hold you, touch your scars
I can't believe that I have you, yea"
-This Providence (Waste Myself)

Pre-Game 1: Chatter

2009-06-04T01:23:00.001-07:00

Getting out early out of the gate. It's important for us to set the tone and show that we don't have any rust from resting all those days. No doubt it's been good for our legs and our wounded bodies from banging around w/ the Nuggets big men, but we need to come out sharp. Not only is it vital for us to get a good start against a streaky team like the Magic, but also it gets the crowd involved immediately. Every single individual in Staples will be bursting with excitement, ready to let out a roar as soon as someone jams on Superman. Let's settle into our triangle and ease the tension and excitement that might be in some players such as Bynum and Ariza because it's the first time. They've been waiting for this moment and watching on the sidelines last year made them want to get to this stage even more. Both those guys want to show that their presence is the difference. Run the triangle through Pau and get people involved.

Prevent the Magic from getting their confidence up. Dwight Howard is a man that gets easily rattled. In the series against the Celtics, what Perkins did extremely well was frustrate him and limiting his movement in the paint. He didn't let him drive and spin back to the hoop and get good position to do his signature two handed slam. Bynum has to watch those game tapes and mimic exactly what Perkins did when he was able to force Dwight into a tough fall away hook shot. Body him up and try to use your fouls wisely, we need Bynum in the game as long as possible. Frustrate him, get into his head so everytime he touches it he feels he has to prove himself on the block. That's one thing I noticed about Howard. If he doesn't have much going in the first half, in the second half he's extra eager to make up for lost time and tries extra hard to get his. As a result, many times he rushes his shots or boulders right into the defender and picks up silly fouls. Also on another note, the three-point shooters of the Magic are just as streaky as Dwight. We absolutely cannot let them warm their stroke up at the line or with a wide-open three. Close hard on the shooters and force them to rush their shot. Come crunch time they won't know whether they got "it" or not, and the coach won't know who's got the hot hand for their next play. Most likely, whether he's hot or not, they almost always go to Hedo so we got to make sure to clamp down on him. Keep him from being a playmaker and take away the passing lanes. He can hurt you in so many ways, he's a fantastic talent. Some foolishly think that they only way he can kill you is by his scoring, but no his passing is at an NBA-point guard level and we must be weary.

X-factors. Mickael Pietrus of the Orlando Magic and Lamar Odom for the Lakers. For Pietrus, he is a gunslinger, never saw a shot he didn't like behind the three-point line especially, and is the epitome of streaky. If he gets going, he can absolutely light it up as the Celtics and Cavs will attest to. Similar to J.R Smith of the Nuggets, he can easily shoot his team right back into the game, or shoot them right out of it. Pietrus is one of those short-term memory loss shooters. He's the kind of guy whether he swished five in a row or if hes 1-10, he's still going to be shooting at the same rate. He forgets his misses as soon as it grazes off the rim and immediately relieves himself of the burden of his inaccuracy. These kind of shooters are dangerous for they rarely are discouraged whether it be by the image of missing 5 shots in a row or a scolding from the head coach. They're going to get off their shots at the end of the night, period.
For the Candy Man (LO), we need him to get going as soon as he enters the game. Whether that be early in the 1st quarter because AB was unable to control his foul-proneness, or later in the game we have to get his juices flowing. It'll be interesting to see what effect the candy will have on his mental game because, as we all know, Lamar has times of brilliance and will follow that with a slap-your-forehead "DOH!" moment. The Lakers need him to be hungry, visualizing that each rebound is a gummy bear that he must nab and scarf down before the competition can get their hands on it. He's got to be greedy like the grammar school kid who won't share any of his candy at lunchtime with his fellow cronies. Lamar's got to put his stamp on the game and let it be known that that ball is his. Seeing a double-double and stingy defense from our X-factor would be as sweet as candy.

The "accidental" miss = Assist. I noticed something very interesting that I'm sure other avid-NBA fans have taken note of as well. As we all know, the most popular play in the postseason has been the pick and roll. When the Magic run it, they do something very pecuiliar, but it is extremely effective. They'll run the pick and roll with Lewis, or Hedo, and sometimes Alston depending on the matchup. Howard will set the screen, which is more like a huge brick wall for the defender because of Dwight's boulder shoulders, and the person with the ball goes right off Howard's shoulder. The dribbler will take several hard dribbles to the basket but will veer off wide slightly more towards the block rather than the rim and attempt a layup. In their attempt at the shot, it's more like a floater and it's taken farther out than usual and is less like a layup and more like a runner. The shooter will ALWAYS use the backboard, as this is extremely important to the effectiveness of the play. At the moment of the release of the shot, because of the pick and roll, Dwight has prime positioning for the offensive rebound and has his man sealed behind him. Because of the dribbler veering off wide instead of taking it straight to the rim, wherever the ball falls off the rim, Dwight has the WHOLE key to patrol and slam the ball back home. It's just him, the ball, and the rim under there. If the dribbler, makes the shot, than success! However, since he used the backboard, the ball usually banks hard off the backboard and hits the front of the rim, and guess who's right there to gobble it up? Usually Hedo runs this play, almost always going to his right and is usually heavily guarded running this play. But because pick and roll puts Dwight Howard at such a great position for the offensive rebound, Hedo doesn't even have to make the shot. All he has to do is throw it up there and hit the backboard and some of the rim, and their big man will take care of the rest. It's a beautiful sight to see, and it's almost as if Hedo misses it on purpose because the ball bounces right to Superman.

Game 1 on ABC @ 6:00 PM (PT)
"One is the loneliest number..."

Where Are We Now?

2009-06-01T12:40:00.001-07:00

Where are we now? On our way to the NBA 2009 Finals even after being there the previous year. The stats of past teams that went to the NBA Finals and lost, very few in NBA history ever get back to the Finals the following year, let alone ever again. Laker fans, let's just soak it in. Take it in. Don't take this moment for granted. We have been spoiled by the riches of our franchise's success over the past 20 years. As Laker fans, we expect our Lakers to succeed every single year that we cheer for them and sport the always-hip purple and gold. Let's be content being able to say our team is going to the FInals and 28 other teams aren't. Millions of other fans are writhing in pain, facing utter depression, or thinking which collegiate player can help get their team out of the stink hole. We are blessed. We are the fortunate. Our Lakers have gone to the last step not only for their "Road to Redemption Pt. 2" but for us fans, who have stood by them amidst the ups and downs. So on this day, take a moment out of your busy day just to thank the Man upstairs for where we are now. It's a beautiful day for the Laker fans to show our appreciation in unison for this truly special Laker team. We are there. Now, let's bring it home. Number 15.

Game Four: Reaction

2009-05-26T14:09:00.001-07:00

I sent a text to a buddy of mine after she called me superficial, saying "Ouch baby...very ouch". Those are the same exact words I would use to describe my thoughts after watching this game.

So much has been talked about our bench; the depth, the talent, and the chemistry that they had established over the regular season and so on and so forth. But now, the burning question is what the heck happened to that bench and who's playing now? What happened to the Machine who in last year's playoffs brought the backbreaking three pointers and would come in and bring instant offense and peskiness on defense? What happened to ol' Little Rock who could be counted on to hit big shots in crunch time and bring unwavering leadership to the starting unit? What happened to my "Lovely Lefty Lamar" who claimed every rebound as his during that stretch in the regular season and who's versatility is unmatched in the forward position in the West? Where art thou ShanWoW who was a reliable bench player, stepping in to hit open threes and solid foul-less defense? Kurt Helin said it best in his blog, Forum Blue and Gold:

"Fisher is struggling on both ends, but at least he is battling. Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown have looked better in stretches, but they have far from been the answer or been consistent. For the playoffs, Walton’s PER is 9.65, Fisher’s is 6.74, and Sasha’s is 3.82."

In the fourth quarter with about 8 minutes left, I was screaming at the television pleading to Phil Jackson to put the starters back in the game. Instead, he just shuffled around different bench players, seeing who's ice cold butt would warm up the fastest and it was a 8-way tie. No one did. On offense it was hot potato, no one wanting to take the shot because each and every one of them had their confidence and their manhood stolen from them. I thought we were over this hump, this psychological block in our minds that makes these players whimper at the sight of adversity. We can only hope that this game is an anomaly and that Kobe and Pau can get some assistance come Game 5 because we need all the weapons we can get against this loaded Nugget team.

What hurts the most is that we know we are capable of much more. The shooting woes of Sasha and Fish couldn't have come at a more troubling time. What I saw more in Game 4 was that people who were stuggling were trying to single-handedly bring themselves out of their own slump. Lamar tried to attack on dribble drives and shoot 3's and mid-range J's on Kenyon Martin. DFish came out gunning and wanted to show that he can still light it up. And the list goes on. However, we have to get away from our own selfish endeavors and get back to the basics. We have two guys in the low post who have size advantages over their defenders and now it's no secret, they want the ball. Everyone that's been watching the Lakers knows just how Pau's been "pretty effective all season long and in the playoffs" and all Pau wants is for the team to take "more advantage of [their] height and inside game, because it's pretty effective". Run the triangle and work the post. Let's say we establish the post early, and both Bynum and Pau get going early with some easy buckets. As a result, the Nuggets will have to send double teams their way, thus opening up cuts and spot-up threes for the guards and forwards. This game sometimes can be so simple, but the problem is that a lot of the struggling Laker players are in their head too much.

They need to focus on the team aspect and do what's working best and right now the post is what's effective. By feeding Pau on the block, that'll open up the perimeter for DFish and Sasha to have more open looks, for Lamar to cut to the hoop and get some easy buckets, and for others to get going as well. Let's feed off Pau and Bynum on the block and FORCE the Nuggets to stop the post. The Nuggets can't handle our 7-foot two headed monster that is Bynum and Pau. Pau made it clear both in Game 3 and 4 that no Nugget, whether big or small, white meat, dark meat, medium size or tall, could guard him. He would chew up that McNugget like it was for lunch with a baseline spin move, and eat it up by finishing with a scoop for two points. Let's see more of that Game 5, give him the ball because he's proven that he wants the rock and he's hungry for some Nuggets.

Eat 'em up.

Random Picture of the Day

2009-05-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

I don't really have anything else to say, and I just found a random picture on the internet. I like it. Kind of makes him look, dangerous. "Grrrr....I am a hairy yeti, you must do as I say!"

Pre-Game 4: Thoughts

2009-05-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

I watched Game 3 about three times because it was just such a magical game to witness. From Kobe's majestic three pointer over J.R Smith to put us up by 1 with a minute left in the fourth, Pau's triumphant return to glory sinking crunch time mid-range shots, or Trevor Ariza's "that's mine, foo'!" late game steal/interception and him sinking the two free throws thereafter. (As improbable as people say Larry Bird's stealing the inbound pass play in the 1981 playoffs was, how is it possible that Ariza has two of those improbable steals in the same series? Both of Ariza's were just as huge and critical in the game and both were less than a minute left in the 4thplayers have over the NBA elders.) It was an awesome game to watch if you were a Laker fan, and the tenacity and persistence of these Lakers was on display that night. I hope we get to see the same team tonight as we were privileged to witness on Saturday night.

Free throws. Boy, that would've made last game a whole lot easier for us but of course we want to make everything much more dramatic than it needs to be. (Hey, we're the Lakers from the land of Hollywood! That's what we do, alright?) In my own opinion, I think the coaches got on the Lakers for their free throw shooting after Game 2 (missing 4 crucial free throws down the stretch, 5 in the 4th quarter alone). As a result, they game out Game 3 thinking about sinking the free throws way too much. Most players come up to the line and are quite calm and poised, for example, Steve Nash. But I think because they were ridiculed for their inaccuracy, they tensed up and focused too hard on trying to put the ball in the hole, instead of letting their mechanics take care of it. Too much going on in the head and not enough confidence. We gotta sink our free throws tonight. The Nuggets aren't going to hand us this game, so we have to take advantage of everything we're given and free throws are a must.

Our vets are tired and worn after waiting till Game 7 to put the Rockets away, and it is crucial for their championship chances to wrap this up as fast as possible. I know that this is no easy task, but the Magic and Cavs series looks like it could go 6 or 7 and it would be a major benefit to be able to rest just a few days at home. There can be no letdown. If we have to come back to the dreadful altitude and weather of Denver it'll take even more out of our veterans and we can't have that. We need them rested and focused on the game, not their injuries and aching bodies. "Let's get down to business, to defeat"...the Nuggs.

Game 4 tonight @ 6 PM (PT) ESPN

Game Three: Reaction

2009-05-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

- What else can be said about Pau Gasol? If it weren't for his heroics in the fourth quarter, I don't believe Kobe would've had the legs to finish the Nuggets off in the end. Sportscenter is going to revolve their highlight reel of this game around Kobe, but much credit is due to the big man. Being matched up against Chris Andersen, he was aggressive and took it right at him. The shots he took were contested and sometimes had a second defender coming from the weakside and he still hit the shot. Huge plays but a momumental player. Not only did he step up offensively, but the man he was guarding went 0-6 in the 4th. Kurt from Forum Blue and Gold said it best when talking about Pau, saying "He’s such a cerebral player and sometimes he waits to analyze before he attacks. When he made up his mind and went he was almost impossible stop". Great to finally see Pau crack that 20 point game. Vamos, Pau!

- Boy, were my predictions of the night wrong. I don't think I had one right, unless you count J.R Smith scoring 10 points on 15 shots a big scoring night. I thought Kobe would be the assist leader for both teams, but instead he was the assist leader for the Lakers with 5. So I award myself a 1/2 point. But Bynum, I wasn't even close. I guess I was more hopeful than an actual estimation.

- I like seeing DFish be aggressive, I do, but when you've been in this league for over 8 years you figure out your strengths and your weaknesses. DFish cannot finish in the lane. Simple as that. He's like the anti-Tony Parker. Fish has one of the worst FG percentages in the league for inside the paint. He's undersized and when he's up in the air among the trees, he gets too over anxious and shifts his body drastically, which offsets the fluidity of his body attempting the layup. When you go up in the air for the layup when it's contested, you must have concentration and body control. DFish loses both when big men fly in to try to block the shot. In my estimation, I think he tries more to draw contact than actually make the shot. What he should try to do more is if he decides to dribble drive, come to a jump stop and see if the big man commits to him and try to dish off to a cutting big man. I like the penetration and I like the ferocity, but it's not your strength, DFish.

- The Cobra strikes again. I really couldn't believe it when I saw it because it was a mirror image of what preceeded Game 1. Even Trevor said it was "like deja vu". I'm starting to think that if Lamar is our so called X-Factor, than what is Trevor? Our Y-Factor, as in the reason Y we didn't win last year was because we didn't have a healthy Trevor Ariza? The defensive mojo he has brought into this postseason has been phenomenal and he's having a great series on both ends. Melo has about 25 lbs. on the guy, and never in the game did we see Melo backing him down in the post and having his way with him. Ariza is playing to the defensive schemes perfectly, funneling him towards where there is help and contesting the mid-range jumpers. Not only has he been the "Cobra"-like man on defense but he's had the hot shooting hand in the series. He's shooting 55% from deep, 14 ppg and 3 steals per game in 31 minutes. With the hot shooting, he's been able to open the floor for Kobe's drives to the hoop and iso on the corner free throw as well as Pau's post ups on the block. He's shooting with confidence and defending with pride and that's exactly the kind of flair we need to be a championship team.

Game 4 Monday @ 6:00 PM (PT) ESPN
"C'mon, c'mon what are you waiting 4?"

Pre-Game 3 Chatter

2009-05-23T15:07:00.001-07:00

Prediction of the night:
J.R Smith has a big scoring night. / Andrew Bynum gets a double double / Kobe is assist leader

We already know all the things the Lakers need to do to win this game. One of the aspects that I really hopes change is the subbing rotations. Is it too much to ask to see a longer leech for Bynum? A teeny tiny leech for Fisher, say everytime he pulls up for a selfish jumper or takes it to the rack and misses, or shoots 0-4? More ShanWoW, more Farmar, and less Sasha. The man is, "Ice, ice, dentyne ice" cold. And it's apparent to everyone that he's only in there to benefit himself, to make himself feel better and to get HIS groove back. Instead of trying to find his shot in the rhythm of the game, he's creating his own beat and jacking up shots to his own melody. You're not going grooving very long when you're only dancing by yourself.

Phil needs to stop going with what USED to work and what WORKS now. It's obvious that the rotations he used hurt our chances late in the game two nights ago. George Karl went to little used Linas Kleiza and he gave the Nuggets a totally different lineup, forcing Pau and Lamar out of the paint because of his shooting ability. Not only that, he scored 16 points (4-7 on threes) and had 8 rebounds, which calculated to a team high +16. The Zen Master has to stop going back to old rotations, because there in lies the problem; they're old!

I pray to my Lord and Saviour that the Lakers can keep this close. Most of the games that the Nuggets have played at home have been blowouts; every game they won in the playoffs in this arena they've beaten the opponent by double digits, averaging 113 ppg. In the Utah series, we did fairly well on the road, winning 1 of 2. However, the Rockets series, as we all know, is a totally different story. A lot of that was the terrible matchups that the Rockets had on us but some was the environment, although I can't see the Rockets arena being any less noisier than the Energy Solutions arena. The biggest factor that the Nugges have on the Lakers has to be the altitude. Kobe, Pau, and DFish have all had their times of looking fatigue and the Pepsi center is no place to rejuvenate your tired body.

What the Nuggets do well at the Pepsi center is speed the game up and get out in transition. What makes them so dangerous when they do this is two major things:

1.) Their big men can run. Nene and Kenyon Martin make one of the quickest tandem of big men in the game. Add Carmelo to complete the frontcourt, and you have a dangerous flurry of extremely nimble big men. Nene especially, both are extremely light on their feet and can run with the fastest of forwards. That's what makes them so dangerous. They get out on the break with Billups in the middle, Martin trailing, and Nene on the left and Melo on the right. Pick your poison. All of them are tremendous finishers in the paint, often finishing the break with a thunderous jam. In addition, when Chris Andersen is in the game, he is their defensive spark who usually upstarts their fastbreak with a huge block or deflection and then sprinting down for the alleyoop dunk.

2.) Nuggets pushing the tempo up means the heavier legs down the strench and burning the live out of the opponent whose bodies are not acclimated to the altitude. The coach will not only need to burn more timeouts because of the run, but because of the fatigue that the players are suffering through. A prime example being the Mavs in the semi-finals. In the first two games of the series in Denver, the Mavs were right there in the first 3 quarters. But because of the faster tempo and the high altitude, their legs all the sudden feel like they're holding the body of Uncle Phil from the "Fresh Prince" and unable to catch theiri breath. In the 4th quarter alone, in the first two games they averaged +8 over the Mavs. The Lakers have to be weary of this and be mindful of the pace of the game. Don't go too fast, but don't bring the game down to a jog either. Work the post and regain control of the series!

Game 3: ABC @ 5:30 PT

Game Two: Breakdown of our Break down

2009-05-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Let's break down that 2:40 of the 2nd quarter to show our great letdown:

2;40 (53-40, Denver ball)
P&R with Chancey and Nene, DFish and Pau. Chauncey uses the screen goes right to the corner free throw, Pau comes out and helps on Billups leaving Nene open. Billups darts a pass to a cutting Nene and Lamar jumps in front to contest. Nene takes a hop to the dotted line and drops a bounce pass to the baseline cutting Kenyon Martin, who Lamar was guarding which led to a dunk. Pau was left in no man's land and should've seen Lamar going to help and sag to a the cutting Martin. 11 point lead

2:22 (53-42, Laker ball)
Kobe works the baseline cut underneath the basket and DFish decides that Kobe is wide open and fires an awkward pass to Kobe, I say awkward because the place he put the pass Kobe was not in rhythm. Not a terrible set, but not a wonderful one. The shot lands short.

2:08 (53-42, Denver ball)
Billups shoots a pass down to Melo down court and he takes it one on one against DFish but misses. Kleiza gets the rebound and they reset. Carmelo iso's on the left wing, and the ball gets stripped by Lamar but rolls right to a wide open Kleiza and hits the open three. Bad frigen luck.

1:45 (53-45, Lakers ball)
Kobe iso on the left corner free throw extended, jab steps a few times and takes a mildly contested jumper with Carmelo's hands resting on Kobe's sweaty head. Bounces off the rim. Could've gotten better than that. Pau had good positioning against Martin which would've caused Billups to collapse leaving Ariza open for the right corner three. Shot misses.

1:28 (53-45, Denver ball)
Billups posts Nene, who had decent position against Lamar. DFIsh foolishly double teams HARD leaving Billups open for three. DFish sprints and jumps right past Billups. Billups side steps takes one dribble and bangs in a three. Terrible decision by DFish. No need to double Nene when Kobe and Pau were right there on weakside.

1:10 (53-48, Laker ball)
Swung the ball to Lamar at the right corner three with Martin guarding him. Takes a couple dribbles to his left, and DFish sets a screen and Fish flares out for the three and Martin switches on to Fish and Billups on Lamar. Odom spins right past Billups towards the middle of the rim and goes up for the easy dunk. Well, dunk for some, but our Lamar Odom decides to do a George Gervin wanna-be finger roll at about 5 feet and it hits the heel of the rim. Nene rebounds. No comment.

:52 (53-48, Denver ball)
Billups draws the foul on Fish. DFIsh was just caught being flat-footed and lazy. Why is he out there? He is a liability. Not doing anything to help the team. Billups hits 1 of 2.

:44 (53-50, Laker ball)
Ball goes out of bounds and the out of bounds play, Brown cuts left baseline and goes in for the hard bank shot at about 3 feet with Martin guarding him. It's banks off the rim too hard and loose ball foul called on Pau. Not a fan of the call because both guys had the ball but Kleiza just brought it down and Pau was caught behind him so it looked like Gasol was hugging him. Kleiza makes both free throws.

:30 (53-52, Laker ball)
Odom catches it right corner three while Pau is posting against Chris Andersen and had decent position. Lamar takes one dribble and shoots the mid-range and swishes it.

:20 (55-52 Denver ball)
Billups drives and Lamar makes a spectacular block, although the shot probably wasn't going in. Billups tried to draw the foul but wasn't happening. Billups inbounds, passes it OFF Bryant's back and lays it in before defense could recover. Just a bad awareness on Kobe's part and a great heads up play by the savvy veteran Billups. Kobe has to have at least a corner of an eye on the guy inbounding the ball. Shame.

End of half (55-54) End of momentum.

Game Two: Reaction

2009-05-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

I used to hate free throws. I would over think every single time I was at the charity stripe. Especially when it was a close game, say for example if we were up by 2 and with my two free throws I could put the game away, for some reason my muscles always tightened and I would get so tense I couldn't even feel my toes. As much as I tried to tell myself how good I was at free throws, I knew I couldn't fool myself. I would try to think positive but the only thoughts surrounding my brain was how I'm going to feel if we lose this game because of my missed free throws. Sometimes, I would even have the (insert sarcasm here) awesome pleasure of having a mental "youtube" player in my mind, streaming clips of NBA players choking at the free throw line in crunch time. That always helped. It's like saying to yourself, "Dude, if he couldn't make it in crunch time and he does this for a living, how can I make it?" Man, try shooting those so called "free" throws after picturing Gilbert Arenas clanking two crucial free throws in the playoffs two years ago against Lebron and the Cavs. You may be free of defense on that charity stripe, but you are not free from your own thoughts. And that sometimes is a lot worse.

The Lakers had this in the bag. As I mentioned in my earlier post, all we needed to do to seal the game was come out in the first half guns a blazing and defense as tight as Steve Urkel'ssuspender hanging pants. We did that for 21 minutes, but the other 3 we let them crawl their way back and bring the game within 1. Big mistake. The Lakers deflated them in those first minutes of the game, drawing 4 fouls on Jones and shooting 57%. But once again, the Lakers decided defense was homework that they didn't need to do, so they procrastinated and put it off for the rest of the first half. In two minutes and 40 seconds, our 13 point lead had vanished. The Nuggets pressed 2:40 on the microwave that is Carmelo, and in an instant he was on "Full Heat". So the Nuggets took full advantage and Carmelo heated up with once swish of the net and they went on a 14-2 run.

If that wasn't enough, we even had the game down the strench in the fourth quarter. This is why I rambled about me hating free throws when I was in high school. The Lakers seem to have the same mentality as I did during this game. 5 missed free throws in the FOURTH QUARTER alone. This cannot happen if you want to be a championship team. There are so many things that this Laker team gets away with because their talent is so astonishing, but not tonight. They couldn't mask the hideousness at the line and Denver Nuggets exploited every single point the Lakers didn't put on the board.

- Shannon Brown got fouled at 5:47 with us up one, with a chance to put us up 3. Misses 1 of 2.
- Pau gets fouled with game tied(questionable and late blocking foul on Nene). Misses BOTH.
- [On the other end, folllowing Pau's pair of blocks, Nene a 63% postseason free throw shooter makes BOTH.]
- Trevor Ariza gets fouled with us down by 2. Misses 1 of 2.

4 missed free throws = 4 points in the last 6 minutes. 5 missed in the fourth quarter. 106-103.
Lakers --> 7/12 (53%)
Nuggets --> 13/14 (93%)

Game Two Pre-Game Chatter

2009-05-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Prediction of the game: Pau Gasol has a big scoring night. / Billups has a comeback game with something in the mid-late twenties. / J.R Smith doesnt have a big game till he goes back home, because there's no place like home.

- This would be a great opportunity to have a good, solid game to give us commanding control over the series. The Nuggets had their hearts broken these past couple days, hearing all the chatter about how they should've won, and that the game was right in their hands and they let it slip away. If the Lakers can come out strong, hitting shots, defending hard, and controlling the boards and get out to a double digit lead in the first half, the game will be theirs. The Nuggets NEED to have some confidence booster, they need to have success in the first half in order to stay competitive in the 2nd half. They probably think that Game 1 was lucky, and that they can come in Game 2 and do what they did in the first half of Game 1. They cannot let them have that swagger back. Show them that it wasn't a fluke win, and prove to the world that you are the superior team.

- Alright, you're comfortable now, you're settled in now let's see some production Pau, Bynum and Lamar. What frustrates me is that although some people underestimated the Denver big men versatility, they still don't match our overall talent and skill as ours. We severely underperformed and still pulled out a win, Pau's rebounding playing a big part in that. However, we need to exploit them, get them into foul trouble. Kenyon Martin is known to reach (great proof in Game 1 when he reached on Kobe and pretty much gave him 2 points). Take it to him and use pump fakes and long strides to get by him. Same with Nene. In the postseason, Martin averaged 3.5 fouls a game and Nene averaged 3.9. Their frontcourt is foul prone as a unit and we have to exploit that weakness. Who do they have after Chris Andersen to guard our big men? Renaldo Balkman? Lamar Odom has to use his speed to get the bucket and finish strong. Same with Pau, mix it up with the face up game and the back to the basket game. Nobody but Andersen is a strong shot blocker. Don't settle, attack.

- Because of his 40 point explosion, look for Kobe to be a distributor in the beginning of the game. It's just natural instinct that when you see a guy drop shot after shot that you want to draw towards him. Yes, Coach Karl is probably preaching to his guys to stick to the defensive gameplan, which was NOT to double team Kobe. But do the Nuggets have the discipline to stay on their man when they witnessed Kobe efficiently shooting 13-28 on them? I don't think so, and the other Lakers have to cut and position themselves to be ready to score. Because it's coming.

Game 2 @ 6 PM. It takes two, babay.

Game One Pros & Cons

2009-05-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

- What we did well:
- Kobe on the block. Busting Jones and Smith on the block was a necessity. Kobe had to use his size and veteran savvy on the block and numerous times he punished them. On some occasions however, he didn't get the calls that a superstar usually gets, which is bewildering. But even with the no calls, Kobe got the better of the matchups and dropped 40 on the Nuggets, out-dueling Carmelo's 39. Mamba did a little bit of everything as advertised in his new documentary, "Doin' Work". Rebounds, assists, and efficient shooting, Kobe was firing on all cylinders and it was the only thing that kept them in the game amidst Melo's scoring barrage. He was the only one that seemed to not get caught up in the moment and that worries me because these Lakers have been on this stage before. They should know how this whole thing goes, and be able to contribute. Not much else to report from the other players.

- Offensive Rebounds. We kept them to a minimum which is crucial against these guys. Their big men thrive on second chance points, especially Anderson who seems to always gets a hand on rebounds. We held them to only 7 while we had 17 and we controlled the boards besting their 37 with our 46 total. A big part of the dominance on the boards was Pau Gasol having 14 rebounds, 6 offensive. There were some where he even showed a little nasty side, grabbing the rebound with force and keeping it high so the little guys can't poke it away. The key points before the game was we have to control the boards against their big men because they finish extremely well in the paint on easy buckets. LO, Bynum, and Pau combined for 28 rebounds and 6 blocks. That's exactly the kind of presence we need to exemplify each game. We can't control the ball going in the whole, but we can control who's hands are grabbing the balls when they come off the rim.

- Shooting percentages from 3 point range and free throw line. The charity stripe was key because they uncharacteristically missed a lot, shooting 23-35. Billups, a 89% career free throw shooter, missed 3 in the first half, which we should take a picture of because that gift is never going to be given to us again. We shot 20-24 and every single one we made was absolutely necessary in the succession of our comeback. Those missed free throws by the Nuggets may be one of the most overlooked aspect to why they lost this game against the Lakers. What also helped was our hot shooting from downtown. We shot a Orlando-like 11-25 (44%) from 3 point range however, they weren't too far behind with 42%. Got to close out better than that next game.

- Stopping the hot hand. J.R Smith was the X-factor for this Nugget team and we completely took him out of his game. He had some deep threes in the 2nd half, but those you can live with. What you can't have him doing is shooting, driving, AND distributing. That's what the Mavs saw all series long and he was the one of the main components that fueled their offense. He finished with 5 fouls, 8 points, and 1:1 assist to turnover ratio.

What we didn't do well:
- Foul trouble. We had 26 personal fouls and as a result they shot 35 free throws. Luckily, they didn't shoot them well but the fact still remains that we struggled with contesting their shots without fouling them. (Andrew, I'm looking at you). Bynum could NOT stay in the game to save his life, playing only 16 minutes and somehow racking up 5 fouls in the process. It's like he got defensive lessons from Travis Knight. We can't send them to the line and put ourselves at a major disadvantage putting them in the bonus early in the quarter. I guarantee that they won't miss this many free throws again and we got lucky this time, but I wouldn't count on it happening again.

- Stopping the hot hand. Melo had his way with every defender thrown at him. Kobe did a decent job, and Trevor did the best he could, but Carmelo still got his 39. However, we did do a good job taking away the distribution aspect of his game. Even so, we must do a better job slowing him down and forcing him to catch the ball in places he is least comfortable. He is such a dynamic scorer, one who can score from anywhere but on the block he is most dangerous. His first step is one of the best in the game and we must force him as far out of the key as possible. When he drives, we didn't do a solid job rotating and forcing him to pass until the 4th quarter when we made our run. Lamar made a key block when Kobe forced him baseline and that was one of the plays of the game. The Lakers have to notice what worked and what didn't work against him and utilize their length to cause problems for Melo. That's what Game 1's are all about. Trial and error, feeling the opponent out, searching for their soft spot.

Game 2 Thursday! I'll be watching the Orlando Magic against the Cavs tonight hoping for some suspense but will probably be disappointed. Pre-Game 2 post coming up next.

Pre-Game 1 Chat

2009-05-19T17:03:00.001-07:00

Watching Marley & Me, unfortunately put me in a somber mood for today. But what put a smile on my face was thinking about all the matchup problems Lakers pose against the Nuggets. Length, overall talent, and experience gives us just a few "edges" over these super charged Nuggets who have found their groove in the past couple weeks.

Everyone would agree that the Nugs are playing the best ball of the year right now and I bet that all coaches would LOVE to see their team peak here at this time in May. And many Laker fans will point out that we have had success against the Nuggets during the regular season. But as I mentioned before, they're a totally different team right now and have finally defined each individual's roles and are doing them at an extremely efficient rate. Billups as always is the team's constant; he can be looked upon when things get shakey and right the ship and he has certainly done that with these Nuggets. Fear not though, Laker fans, we still have plenty to be optimistic about.

Length -->
There's a quote that says, "you can't teach height", and it couldn't be more prevalent now. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol gives many teams fits especially ones that don't possess the same kind of length and size as them. Bynum and Pau have to able to utilize their size to the best of their ability and control the boards. In the postseason, we average 12.4 offensive boards per game while Denver averages 9, which shows how much we should be able to dominate the boards and load up on second chance points like its going out of style. That's where we really flourish. Pau got going in the 2nd half not by simply hitting mid-range jumpers and hook shots, but by getting the garbage points and tipping it 2 or 3 times to himself and finishing at the rim. Same goes with Bynum, as he has a great ability to use his incredibly long lanky arms to go over defenders without getting an over the back foul. He displayed the soft touch that has been missing and we need him to get easy buckets early as to boost his confidence. He's a young'n so he needs to see the ball go in the hole a couple times to crack a smile on his face.

Kobe -->
The Kobe factor plays a incredibly large role in this series, much more than against the Rockets. The Shane Battier-type of defenders do well against Kobe but not the athletic ones that seem to have something to prove to themselves on every possession. Dauntay Jones, J.R Smith are the types that will draw the Kobe assignment and since Mamba only had 14 points Game 7, he's due. Against Jones, he must go to the block where he can show the audience first hand what his documentary, "Doin Work" was all about. He must exploit Jones' overeagerness by giving him a series of pump fakes and taking it hard to the rack and rack up some fouls on him. There's nothing more than Jones and Smith and the Denver fans want to see more than someone shutting Kobe down. Jones had great success against a tired Chris Paul, but CP3's game plays more into Jones' forte. He can't handle Kobe's post game and does not have the discipline to stay on his feet if Kobe pump faked several times. Punish him.

Brown on the Bill-->
Billups strikes fear into the hearts of many Laker fans, the memory of him torching us in the 2004 Finals and winning Finals MVP is something we have never forgotten. Not to take anything away from him, but its 5 years later and yes, he is smarter and wiser, but he is a step slower and that plays to our advantage. Enter ShanWoW. He matches the size, the physicality and the speed of Chauncey and not to mention that he can get up higher than Billups ever could. However, one of the aspects to Billups game that he has to be careful of is the "wily ol' veteran" in him. Brown has to have discipline and stay on his feet and not get too anxious and go for every shot fake. Because knowing Billups, he will be fully aware of Brown's athletic ability and will do whatever he can to get Brown to leave his feet. Other than that, I like our chances with Shannon on him and we couldn't ask for a better type of guard to be on him.

Experience -->
This is a controversial topic, one that many different NBA coaches and bloggers would argue how important it is, but in my estimation, it plays a crucial part in the playoffs. Melo and his Nuggets haven't been past the first round in this decade. We creamed them last season in the first round, sweeping them on their own floor. Yes, they will be bitter with that nasty thought in their head and will come out with a chip on their shoulder. But that doesn't give them any more "playoff" experience that is needed in these types of situations. They remind me of the Timberwolves when they had Latrell, Cassell, and Garnett in the Western Finals against us and we dealt with them in 6. It was the first time KG had gotten past the first round as well and his Wolves were going against Shaq, Kobe, GP, and Malone. They found themselves overmatched and searching for answers in crunch time. That's what experience gives you. You go through crucial situations that can't be simulated in practice or in the regular season. You go through the crowds and fans of the other team, shouting and screaming every shot. You learn from your mistakes and they're plentiful in the playoffs. These Lakers have been through all of that and came up successful; they know what will work and what won't in different types of situations. If you've been through it once, you know what to expect the next time. They know this time around.

Let's kick Denver in their Nuggets this Game 1.

Semi-Finals Wrapup (LAL vs HOU)

2009-05-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

To find uncertainty in this Laker team would be like finding trash on the side of the sidewalk in Hollywood. They're everywhere. Hard it is may swallow all the issues this team has, we still are advancing. What seems to amaze me is even though our laundry list of problems are a hot topic for sportswriters to attack like a bunch of sharks, they still say that we can win it all. How is that possible? Perhaps our talent level that astonishing that we can still succeed amongst inconsistency, much like our past championship runs. In the past, we've had a tendency to play down to the level of our competition, and that trend persists today. This tendency is an incredible plague during the regular season and maybe even bleeds in the early rounds of playoffs. But as history proves, as you advance further in the playoffs, the competition gets fiercer. So, stats say that now we're going to reach the peak of our talent because we are facing the cream of the crop now. Denver, and afterwards, either Cavs or Magic. I'm optimistic towards our chances against the competition. I would much rather have our problems DELAY our success by pushing us to a Game 7 than facing defeat and having to think about all those problems "fishing" in Lake Arrowhead. Which leads me to my next point -->

These Lakers, I call them, "The Young & The Capricious", seem to only seem to use the best of their abilities when they face in their opinion, teams that match their talent level. Just wanted to let people know that I made that up, and yeah some people may think its stupid and not creative but I don't care. I like it.

In this post, I will talk about all the aspects of our opponent that scares the willies out of me. Denver Nuggets are all over ESPN and NBA blogs padding them as the great team of the West. They were absolutely too much for the Mavericks to handle in the 5 games that they played. Let's let the stats roll. J.R Smith per 48 minutes averaged 27.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 5.6 APG with an assist to turnover ratio of 8.50. What he is doing in these playoffs is amazing, subbing in for Billups and taking over the point guard position while providing the same scoring punch. Coach Karl has been able to drill his instructions into the Smith's head finally and it has paid dividends. Defenses draw to him like a moth a flame because of his remarkable ability to put the ball in the whole in a myriad of ways, and he has used that to distribute the ball to open shooters when they over commit to him. That worries me as Lakers do a horrible job at times having the discipline to NOT over commit to the dribble penetrator and stay on the 3 point shooters. The Nuggets are no slouch from downtown, Melo shooting a scorching 44%, Billups 44% as well, and Smith shoots 39%.

A Reason to Celebrate

2009-05-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

Numbers are just numbers. Statistics can only tell so much of the story. Even the plus/minus stat they added to the box score can sometimes be misleading, as some stat geeks will tell you. What can never be analyzed with numbers or statistics is confidence. Can't teach it, can't buy it in a store, and you certainly can't throw it in your backpack and save it for later. Confidence is a tricky thing, however. It's like wealth; have too much and you'll spend your time thinking of all the things you can do and never truly be happy, but not having any at all you'll be distraught in thinking of all the things you WISH you could do. There are people out there who maybe saw the box score of the Laker game, maybe some who watched half of the game, and some who watched the whole thing. Everyone has their own opinion on how important that game was. The folks at ESPN seem to think that that was to be expected of the Lakers after they got embarssed at Houston. Some other blog people think that this was only one game, and the one that really matters is Game 6. But I think there's more than what the box score entails. In my opinion it gave the certain Laker players something they've been missing. Lets take things into perspective for one second:

Lets take down a few facts -->
--> The Rockets without the Great Wall of China (Yao) was surprisingly 4-0 against the Lakers! Those numbers may be a bit unreliable however because that stat doesn't take in account trades and updated rosters. In other words, just because they didn't have Yao doesn't mean that they were without T-Mac as well.

-->This win gave Phil Jackson his 200th post-season win and he's the first coach EVER to do that. And if you think that this accomplishment isn't a big deal to a guy like Phil, you're mistaken.

--> Andrew Bynum - How beautiful that I just wrote a post about the importance of his game to our success and he goes and does a thing like that. Absolutely marvelous. It brought a tear to my eye when I saw him be aggressive and assert himself as the big daddy on the court. Every time Bynum got the ball and rose to shoot his patent hook-shot, the hands of Chuck Hayes couldn't even reach his eyes. He was especially fiesty getting rebounds, having that look in his eye that the ball is his and his alone. That grit and toughness is what's been missing in his game. No more hesitation, no more "Oh, when I have the ball I don't want to touch anybody, because whenever I do, I pick up a foul! Phooey!" That's why this game was so important. For the first time in a series and a half Bynum look happy and hungry. This game told him that he can do this every single time down the court. We got to keep feeding his confidence and letting him see his success and feel what its like to play well in the playoffs. He's got to start somewhere and this was a great stepping stone for him to build off of. (Stats: 14 points and six boards on 5-of-6 shooting, and had only two personals in 20 minutes).

Grounded R' Us

2009-05-12T00:38:00.000-07:00

Pre-Game [5] Thoughts & Feelings

-->When we lost the first game of the series against the Rockets, I avoided ALL ESPN and NBA highlights and talk shows for the next couple days. The disbelief and shock that hit me when I saw the end score really didn't sink in, and I was quite content pretending like it never happened. I was in denial, my heart refused to accept the fact that we were DOWN 0-1 to the Rockets, a FAR inferior team I don't care who you talk to. However, after the train wreck that was Game 4 ended, I found myself wanting to watch every single ESPN analyst and NBA talk show host rip apart the Lakers performance. I wanted every single Laker (except some, like Pau and ShanWoW) to watch the game over and over again. I wanted that imprint of the game to be permanently melted to their hearts forever so they could never again show up to a game with the same mentality that they did that game. I was frustrated beyond belief by their lack of effort, lack of heart, and total disregard for the talent level of the Rockets sans Yao. In Game 2, didn't we still have trouble sealing the deal against the Rockets even though Yao couldn't stay on the hardwood because of foul trouble? What gives the Lakers ANY right to dismiss a team that doesn't have their star center? Even RON ARTEST their arguably second best player played miserably and we still got our butts handed to us. It hurts me to think that they could show up and think that the Rockets weren't going to play with any heart. Didn't any of the young Lakers think maybe, oh just MAYBE every single one of those guys with a red jersey on devoted this game to Yao personally? And they did exactly what they set out to do and avenged the loss of their comrad.

--> What they lose in size, they gain in speed and agility, they being the Rockets. That's why Phil seems to not be sold on giving Andrew Bynum heavy minutes. Even with Lamar Odom day-to-day with that back injury, Jackson still was apprehensive when asked about the minutes maybe shifting to Bynum's corner. At this point, however, I would love to try anything. Why not counter their speed and tininess with the mass that is A-Train? Let's just go with it and maybe a spark will ignite underneath his feet. Maybe, oh, maybe he will look in front of him and see a man 6 foot 6 "trying" to guard him. I still believe in him, and I hope not only Phil and the Lakers do, but he does as well. We believe!

HOME Improvement

2009-05-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

Game 2 Post Game Reaction -->

Grit. Toughness. Tenacity. Urgency. Those were things lacking from not only Game 1 of the last game, but also from last years NBA Finals. Even though our lead fluctuated and we never had a firm grip on the game until the last 4 minutes, one thing that never let up was our passion. This kind of physical play last year would've shellshocked many of the Lakers, but this time they met that the physicality of the game head on. They would not be intimidated this time around and in this game it seemed that for once, they were doing the intimidation. This year, they are a different team mentally, they aren't letting the little things get in their head and mess with them. After dealing with the Celtics face to face in last years Finals and getting bullied around, there will be no player, no team, no coach that can strike fear into these Lakers. If you got attacked by a 8 foot werewolf last year, coming into contact with a coyote with a weird shaved fur this year wouldn't scare you one bit. As I said it before, the only thing that can get into their head is own self.

Andrew Bynum - Charles Barkeley was looking all around his desk, underneath his chair, behind the walls, wondering where it could've gone. Ernie Johnson asks him, "What are you lookin' for Charles?" Barkeley answers, "I'm looking for Andrew Bynum, I can't find him anywhere." Ouch. The truth hurts. I'm wondering the same thing there Charles and it worries me. I'm not ready to write him off or anything like that, I mean this is his playoff debut and many players don't do well on their first outing. But I'm concerned that if he can't get it going in this series, what team will he be able to breakout against? If we get past the Rockets and he's still ineffective, how is he going to be any more effective against the likes of Nene and Kenyon Martin, although both are not as tall, they are just as quick as the Jazz big men who gave him fits. I believe in him but he has to start settling down and finding that balance between being passive and attacking Yao. He's got to start somewhere and why not meet Yao head on and give yourself a huge boost in confidence, there Bynum eh?

Derek Fisher - All I can say is well worth it. I'm not one to retaliate on the court. I like to get into the other person's head and let him worry about it. But I think somewhere you got to make a stand and that's exactly what DFish did. Lamar Odom drove to the lane and got fouled on the way and Luis Scola continued to pull his jersey as their momentum carried them out of bounds. Luke Walton had some words, saying, "Sit the f*** down" and Scola turned around and got up in his face and immediately DFish interceded and pushed the two away. I thought that Scola was trying to play the big bad bully, trying to mess with LO's head and also Luke Walton. But DFish wasn't having any of that, as it showed on the next play DFish gave him the cold forearm shiver with a side of elbow and a headbutt to the face for the cherry on top. DFish received a flagrant two and got ejected but it was a message both to Scola and for his teammates. To Scola, it was, "Nah, I'm not having any of your Euro-trash talk around here." And to his teammates it was, "I got your back, guys. The Big Bad Scola won't be bothering us no more".

The Yao factor - Seeing Pau in action against a slower, bigger center is a sight to see. You never really appreciate the speed, intellect, and craftiness of Pau until you see him pull a sweet move on an All-Star forward/center. For example, against the Carlos Boozer in the previous series, Pau had his back to the basket and Boozer had his forearms resting on Pau's back, shifting his weight to prevent Pau backing him down any further. In the blink of an eye, Pau spun baseline, faced the hoop, leaped up and jammed it home with two hands before Boozer could recover. As Pau spun, all the weigh that Boozer laid on Pau's back was taken away and he was completely out of the play as his momentum carried him forward away from Pau. Pau Gasol did the same thing against Yao, constantly leaving him in the dust, and it worked even better on Yao because he is considerably slower than Boozer. Yao had no play on the ball and had no choice but to either foul or give up a layup. As a result, Yao picked up two fouls in the first quarter and played only 26 minutes because of constant foul trouble. Credit that all to Pau. That's a matchup we HAVE to milk for all its worth. Pau Gasol is just a prime example of how size doesn't always matter if you're that talented.

The Sun Will Come Out...

2009-05-05T12:37:00.001-07:00

As dreary as some people are feeling about the Lakers hope, I found some solace in the loss and posted an entry that left me feeling hopeful. Their apathetic approach to defense, and their total lack of respect for Houston is what did them in, not to mention their long layoff which contributed to airballs and wide open bricks. I thought this Laker squad would be fresh and ready for this game, that they could use a layoff like this to prepare their mind and body and rest those little nagging injuiries that the Utah Jazz hackers err i mean players may have inflicted on them.

But as I realized, this team is a LOT younger than most. Farmar, Vujacic, Walton, Ariza, etc. are all on the side of still drinking from the fountain of youth. I fear that coming into this game, this Laker team was looking too far ahead. I think that because they had such success against a very dangerous Utah Jazz team, the thought of beating them in 5 games got into their head. They were successful. As a wise man once said, "success breeds complacency" and that's exactly what seeped into each and every one of their heads. They weren't worried about the Rockets, heck they beat them 4-0 in the regular season no problem, right? They probably were even starting to overlook the Nuggets, our probable opponent for the Western Conference finals, except that they are dismantling opponents like we should be doing. But that's why i woke up hopeful, because losing the FIRST game at your own arena, losing the precious home court advantage, you NO longer can look ahead. They have to focus on the here and now. The Rockets aren't just going to lay down and hand them the series, they have to take it. I'm tired of seeing this team being content with it's current state and I know that this loss is more than just a loss. It's a sign of change.
"There can be no growth without change, no change without fear or loss, and no loss without pain." -Rick Warren

We've felt the pain. Now, it's time to change our ways and start the growing process.

I Ain't Worried

2009-05-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

Game 1 Post Game Reaction -->

There's a lot that can be said about the Lakers tonight. Lack of any sort of spark, any sort of urgency, missing WIDE open shots, blowing opportunities, just to name a few. I don't want to take anything away from the Rockets, they played an excellent, well-rounded game and executed their game plan on both ends to perfection. Every starter played a stellar game and their defense absolutely suffocated our triangle like John Goodman standing on someone's neck. But Laker fans, let the Houston Rockets have their day in the hay. Let them bask in their glory. Welcome the Rocket fans that will scream and shout "I told you so!" to everyone, and ignore EVERY second of Sportscenter that's going to tell you that the Lakers or no longer "in control" after one game. Let's take a stroll down memory lane in 2001 NBA Finals, Philadelphia Sixers vs. Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers didn't lose a single game coming into the Finals. They were 10-0 and heavily favored to not only win the series against the 76ers, but sweep them right out of contention. But a fresh, motivated Allen Iverson scored 30 first half points, dropped 48 points, took them to overtime and defeated the Lakers 107-101. The sports world was in shock and people started to say, "we have a series!". But what happened? The Lakers won the next 4 and took the crown, winning 2 out of the 4 games by double digits. So don't fret Laker fans, the wake up call has been set off and they, like the Lakers in 2001, no longer think they can just waltz their way to the championship. They will answer the call and everything in the basketball world will be back into place by the end of game 2.

The Fall of Farmar

2009-05-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

Several analysts on ESPN and other blogs say that Jordan Farmar is a very talented point guard who would have a starting point guard position on several other teams, probably East teams. John Hollinger in his report before the season began saying he "had a breakout year [in the 2007-08 season] and now must be considered among the game's top backcourt prospects".

However, the Farmar we see now is a completely different player than we are used to seeing. Sure we knew that Jordan made his mistakes, missed layups, couple bad decisions here and there, getting beat by a quicker man etc. But now it seems that these once small issues have become enormous nuisances that are preventing him from earning any playing time. As we look back, Jordan started the season right where he left off his promising 2nd season, averaging around 7.5 ppg, but only shot 43% from the field. Late December he injured his left knee and needed surgery and sat out 17 games but returned quicker than projected. His first game back he scored 14 points on 5-7 shooting, 2-3 threes, and 2 assists and immediately looked like he was right back on track. But that's not how the story panned out the rest of the season. His minutes hovered around 15-19 minutes a game throughout the course of the season never really gaining any traction and his stats suffered tremendously. Throw in the factor that Shannon Brown, a prototypical point guard for the triangle, was traded to the team and Phil instantly fell in love with Brown's defensive tenacity and combination of size, strength, and quickness.

When I watched games where Farmar came in early for Fisher, every decision, whether it be a little one or a major one, he seemed to question himself. Laker fans aren't sure if its his nagging injury continuing to bother him or if its a complete confidence meltdown but one can see that he isn't the same player he used to be. When Farmar puts his head down and drives to the lane, he used to be very creative and elevated over his man and finished above the rim, sometimes with a thunderous dunk. Post-injury Farmar seems to force his drives, usually because he isn't sure whether to drive or not and that split second of doubt throws his whole rhythm off. Not only is his aggression an issue, but its also his decision making and thought process. Phil said he wanted Farmar just to be aggressive and not to be in his head too much, but the constant pressure to "redeem" himself from the last crappy game has left him trying to do too much in the limited time he's on the floor. I'm not sure if it's because he spent so much time and focus on rehabilitating his knee but his arm strength seems to be lacking as well. His turnovers are through the roof as a result of careless passes that don't quite make it to his destination and on most of his jumpers they're 75% short in my estimation. That might tie in to his apprehensive decision making as well.

It's hard to say that we absolutely need Farmar to be "Farmar" in order to succeed against the Rockets because we have ShanWOW but when i think about it, we really do need his speed and quickness in this upcoming series against the Rockets. He needs to get early easy points off transition (by playing solid defense) and not only building his confidence, but also gaining more playing time minutes from Phil. We need to push the pace and that is music to Farmar's ears as he is much more comfortable in transition than he is in a halfcourt set. That's where he excels where he can get out in the open court and finish in transition. Going up against the lesser athletic Houston Rockets it'll be up to Jordan to right his ship and get back to being the Farmar of old. We hope we see more of this.

Laker Team Stats

2009-05-04T11:47:00.001-07:00

Muscle Memory

2009-05-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

Watching that Game 6 of that Bulls Celtics game was an utter amazing experience. Going into 3 overtimes, you just know that both these teams are dueling it out and giving it all they got. It's true that you never know just how special something is WHILE you're going through it. Players like Joakim Noah and Ray Allen both said that they were glad to be apart of something special, and I bet the thousands in attendance probably would agree. However, it's hard even for sports analysts to even judge just how special until they weigh it against the other playoff series of the past.
But you probably can read blog after blog, article after article about this series so I went divulge into the details. The only thing I want to discuss is what David Amber talked about in the Daily Dime for ESPN.

Speaking from a basketball player's point of view, you always remember the bad things. Whether it be a missed layup, a rebound that slipped through your fingers, or a buzzer beating game winning shot that rimmed out, those images are forever burned into your memory. Ray Allen had an incredible night, one of the best performances ever in a playoff series. He shot 18-32 from the field, and a career playoff high of 51 points and a record tying 9 made three point field goals out of 18. He was sinking shot after shot and was an unstoppable force to be reckoned with in the game. Even though it was probably the best game he has ever played in a playoff series, his team lost and he was left with nothing but the highlight reel of every single shot he missed. "All I could think about in the shower was the shots I should have made." His thought process is the same for every single basketball player who wants to get better and has the highest expectations for their game. For me, whether its a win or a loss it truly weighs me down thinking about all the missed free throws or missed layups that I failed to connect in the game. We could make 100 shots in a row and have one airball and our team could win by 20 but the memory of that ball flying off my fingers and hitting nothing but the hardwood floor when it came down would be the only thing filling my thoughts. The good players are never content with the shots they make or completely satisfied with their game. I'm not saying I'm a good player but I understand their mindset. But on this night, we should give Allen a break, a pat on the back, because he played one heck of a game. Game 7 should be one to remember. I'm sure he'll be practicing every shot that he missed tonight so that he when he's launching those 'Js' on Saturda, they'll be hitting nothing but nylon.

We Have Lift Off!

2009-04-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like we're opening up our second round against the Houston Rockets, thanks to the Blazers coming out flat in Game 6 tonight. Hard to blame them when the Rockets looked so focused and sharp the whole night, having only 8 turnovers and forcing the Blazers into 15. The first game will be hosting the Rockets at our beloved Staples Center, 7:30 PM Monday night! Matchups and key points to the game coming up in my next post!

The Art of Footwork

2009-04-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

The great minds of the NBA say that it's a game of inches. Whether it be an inch from Andrew Bynum's hand getting a piece of a Brandon Roy fadeaway, an inch from Kobe's elbow jumper rattling around bouncing in or out of the hoop, or an inch from Shannon Brown's foot being in or out of bounds when he makes his spin towards the rim. It's really a game of the smallest fragments of measurement. That's what makes this game so special. Kobe Bryant is arguably the best basketball player on the planet and amongst all the gerat things he does well, one of the elements to his game that particularlly goes unnoticed is his phenomenal footwork.

Stu Lantz talks about this all the time when watching KCAL 9 Laker games and they use the "X-Mo" to show every aspect of the replay. I will use a play Kobe used to set up Pau Gasol for the dunk against the New Jersey Nets a month ago. Kobe was goign against Chris Douglas Roberts on transition and attacked him on the right side baseline. Kobe brought the ball down past the halfcourt line and took a few dribbles and took one hesitation dribble and froze Roberts. Kobe, using his right dribble, gives a hard right dribble to suck in the defender and draw him towards the baseline. In a blink of an eye, plants his left leg toward the baseline and swings his right leg and his body follows doing his fancy spinmove into the key right leaving Roberts in the dust. Josh Boone was there inside and sees that Chris Douglas Roberts is beat and is about to embarass him so Boone comes over and tries to help defend. As soon as he commits, Kobe jumps in the air as if he's going to do one of his signature up and under moves but instead hooks an around the back pass right to Pau Gasol who was sprinting down in transition, trailing the play, and slams it home. Highlight play. Puts them up 39-27 in the 1st and the Nets had to call a timeout. What Kobe did to the defense is something that he and the great players of this game countless amount of times. The footwork of Kobe immediately put the defender at Kobe's mercy and Mamba knew exactly what to do with the ball. To have this kind of footwork takes time and practice in the gym hours a day at a time adn that's what separates the good players and the great ones. It's a prime example of some of the things that go unnoticed during a basketball game but makes all the difference in the game.

Here's the clip -->

Zen vs. Hobbit

2009-04-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

When disaster strikes, who do you turn to? During a mass panic, the last thing people want to hear is someone screaming and shouting. If a disaster is about to strike, you don't want you're captain to be as shellshocked of the moment as you are. You wouldn't want them whining and crying about how horrible the situation is and waste precious time wallowing in self-pity. What people look to is a person who is calm, cool, and collected during the most arduous of times. People cling to leaders who can give guidance and whether or not it's the right thing to do, it at least is something for the person TO do. The good leaders provide comfort and poise in any situation.

That's the difference I see in coaching styles. Word around the league is that Stan Van Gundy can't hold in his emotions too well amidst pressure and turbulation. During the regular season, the last 5 games the Magic crumbled and foiled their chances of taking the second seed from the Boston Celtics, which was basically being handed to them after Celtics were in a drought. He failed to rally his troops together for one final push and they clearly looked content on just being in the top 3 in the east. You can see the many different sides of Van Gundy during the games; him throwing his hands up in the air while screaming, him leaping off his chair while screaming, oh and him calling a timeout and having that grimace on his face as if to say, "Gosh, how did we get in this mess? Everything is falling apart and I can't take it anymore!" Quotes from Marcin Gortat and Dwight Howard proves this theory to be at least a little weight. On the other hand, Phil Jackson takes a different approach. While he is not exempt from the scowl on his face or the screaming his players, we all hear from the "InsideTrak" on TNT that he is not screaming and yelling at his players for the entire timeout. Especially after the Lakers blow a lead, or make a critical mistake, or when they're In the Bible, Jesus was completely ASLEEP amidst one of the most disastrous storms while his disciples ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. But when he woke up, He acted like nothing was wrong and made the waters still while the disciples stood there in silence.

Phil reminds me more of a guy that you would love to have on your bench when you're in a hostile environment and the opposing team is on a 16-2 run in the fourth quarter. What players need is a voice, and it can't be the complaining, "Gosh, look at the disaster that you guys have caused", kind of voice, but the voice of direction. To sit the players down and let them know that everything will be alright if you just follow these instructions. I think that separates the legacy of NBA coaches between people saying you were a good coach, or a great coach. Ol' PJ has been in countless situations with all his years with the Bulls as well as the Lakers so it's easier for him to assess the situation and know what the proper steps to take. Whereas Stan Van Gundy's career coaching record is 210-120 and he has only been in the postseason twice. His statistics can't compare to the Zen Master.

Some Thoughts After the Lakers First Round

2009-04-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

Looking back at our the Jazz's elimination game, i guess i was anticipating more from them yet, the starters for the Jazz were the one's holding the team down while the subs were playing like there was no tomorrow. Kinda makes you think that this team was thinking more about the offseason and where everyone is going via free agency than the actual series at hand. Good for us, bad for Utah.

Phil Jackson touched upon this earlier and I just wanted to reiterate it I guess to comfort myself and inform anyone else who'd like to know or who is concerned with our stud Andrew Bynum. As we saw in games 4 and 5, the Utah Jazz big men absolutely leave him in the dust. Paul Millsap during the late stages of their comback, abused him and had layup after layup without any sort of resistance. I remember on one occasion they replayed, Millsap was dribbling the ball and just killer crossed over ANdrew and he was left in the dust and Paul blew right by him for an easy lay in. That's how it's been for poor Bynum. Whether it's the injury or his conditioning, or maybe a little of both, but he hasn't been able to "match the intensity" as Phil says it, of the game and or flow. He couldn't match the pace of the bigs nor of the whole game and constantly looked like he was rushing every single shot he took after his stellar performance in game 2. However, I don't worry for him because as it's looking we will face Houston and that series will play right into Andrew Bynum's realm. The play at a crawl, not fast-breaking much at all because of Yao and their age, so Bynum will have his chance to redeem himself. Let's hope he hasn't lost too much confidence though to do so.

I think for every fan, we can say that we would absolutely LOVE to face the Houston Rockets over the Portland Trailblazers. Not only because it's notorious that we can't win in the Rose Garden, but for several other reasons as well that the common fan might miss. The Blazers are incredibly young, and it's a testament to what Nate McMillan has done with such youth, and every single one of them are in their first postseason ever. For them to win against a Houston team that has gone to the playoffs for the past 3 years would give their confidence an incredible boost. Their confidence in succeeding against us is already incredibly high, they don't need any more confidence boosting for them to instill in their minds that they can win against us. Yeah that would probably be tired and banged up, but everyone is and they're younger and can recover their wounds faster than the likes of a Yao Ming. I'm not saying that they can beat us in a 7 game series, and i'm also not saying that the Lakers can't beat them in the Rose Garden because I believe they can. But as we notice from other series there are bigger fish to fry with Denver playing the best ball they've played all season albeit against a heavily overwhelmed injury-plagued Hornets. So in summary, I want to see as little of Brandon Roy as we possibly can. Bring on 6 foot nothing Aaron Brooks!

Who can look me straight in the face and tell me that they knew Shannon Brown could shoot threes so efficiently before he came to the Lakers? Okay, now who can tell me they knew he would perform in a hostile environment (Energy Solutions arena) and in the postseason in crunch time? This man, ShanWOW, his nickname around these parts, is simply amazing me every single game he plays. After Brown's 2007-08 season, Hollinger's scouting report said that, "[t]hough he's a bit undersized for shooting guard, Brown has the athletic ability to do a decent job defensively and is quick enough to get his own shot. Alas, that's proven to be as much a curse as a benefit thus far, as his overeager offense has only dribbled him into trouble in his two pro seasons."
Hollinger went on to say that he is far too aggressive for his skill level and that he is too erratic. And us Laker fans know what happens when you enter the realm of the Triangle. All you're shot happy ways go to waste because now you're playing as one. Passing and cutting and looking for the open man at the right time is what it's all about, therefore leaving no room for ShanWOW to chuck it up. He's getting the ball where he can instantly score, whether it's by a cut, spot up for three, or an alleyoop off a screen from Pau. As a result, his PER has doubled to 12.7 and is looking like an absolute stud and he's only 23. It's all working for this man and his shooting stroke hasn't disappointed one bit. It had me thinking one game that he is making shots that i guarantee Radmonovic would NOT have made as consistently as Brown did. How is that possible? He shot 67% in that series from downtown, good for 3rd in the playoffs for three point FG percentage, and averaged 7 points and is stealing crunch time minutes from the swagger-less Jordan Farmar. All i can say is, Wow.

The "Cool" Breeze From the Fans

2009-04-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

What's a tragic sight to see is one of my favorite columnist talking about the raucous crowds that shout at the top of their lungs for all 48 minutes (50 if you include the Star Spangled banner and their player introductions) and my Lakers aren't one of them. Me being in Los Angeles i took offense to this and wanted to find out what's going on in the Staples Center. Places like Utah and Portland leave the visiting team shaking in their boots, praying they don't do anything amazingly stupid, giving the home crowd a reason to pry into the player's soul and rip out his pride. After reading all the "greatest" home crowds of the NBA, it got me wondering, what's wrong with the other crowds? Why is it that all the home crowds aren't all around the same sound level and excitement?

Upon further scrutiny, we can see a assortment of reasons why things are quieter in other places. One of the reasons being attendance, it's hard for a team to match the sound level of a packed Energy Solutions arena if it only has a little over 3/4 of the amount that Utah has in its arena. Places that suffer from that are Minnesota, Detroit, and Washington. However it's not all just from no fan support or lack of talent on their team, some of it is because of the wretched economy robbing the city of all it's worth. But these teams make sense. Less people = less noise. But what about the teams that have almost packed arenas every night and people coming to support them and cheer them on, yet it's just not very loud in there. One of the greatest examples of these are the fans of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Because of the Hollywood status of many people in there, it's almost as if they feel it's a club, just a brief 3 hour event before things really get started when they go to the clubs and paint the town red; or purple in this sense. This is what i like to call the "TOo Cool For School" syndrome. Effects include forced apathy towards the outcome of the game unless it includes free tacos, lack of excitement towards any play, and the only way to celebrate is whistle or clap loudly and shout "whoo!" but not too loud, you don't want Kanye to hear you and him think you're not cool. I mean, God forbid you cheer for your team SO loud that other people in other rows hear you! Now that we're in the playoffs i thought that would all change, but i see the people in the crowd NOT even having the DECENCY to WEAR the dang yellow Laker playoffs shirts that they leave on the seats, uhm i dunno FOR YOU TO WEAR TO SUPPORT YOUR TEAM! So sad. People are more concerned with how they look, and their designer jeans or their hottest jewelry, and not breaking the cardinal sin of hiding the "perfect" outfit. I mean you can't hide your new boob job in a extra large shirt now can you? Who will check you out then? Then Dustin Hoffman won't check my rack out and then forget me in a millisecond as I pass by and never think of me again. Which comes to my resolution - STOP making the prices for Lakers and other elite teams so high that the TRUE fan can't come and support their team the RIGHT way. The teams DESERVE to be cheered for and the opposing team DESERVES to be booed at these events. An airball from one of the visiting teams player can't go without the classic, withstood the test of time, "AIIIRRBALLL" and not stop AT LEAST until we see him shed a tear. Change is needed however there's not much hope to my theory because everyone knows that every year the prices don't drop for us fans, but they go rise to new heights. That's how they reward such good attendance to their fans. Because you've supported our team throughout the WHOLE regular season and playoffs so well and we made the most money we had in years, we'll reward you by making the prices higher so we can try this again and get MORE money! As i said, it's a tragedy. The real fans need an outlet, they need to see their favorite players grind it out on the hardwood instead of watching it on the television, high definition or not. It's not fair to the fans and it's really not fair to the home teams that have to play in an arena where people are more concerned about themselves than the actual game. So let's get some sense and crank up the heat and let the cool fans have a rest. It's bloody chilly in here.

A World Bound in Chains (Revised)

2008-12-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

Daniel Wong
Prof. Wexler
ENGL 312
12/11/08

A World Bound in Chains

In society these days, as the economy is plummeting down to an all time low, people tend to analyze how the world works in an attempt to foretell what the future of the United States is going to be. In the novel, 1984, although is placed in the 1980’s there are elements in the novel that parallel in the world that we live in today. 1984 is possibly the definitive dystopian novel, set in a world beyond our imagining. A world where totalitarianism really is total, all power split into three roughly equal groups--Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania. George Orwell made numerous predictions in this novel that are prevalent in today’s world and the society surrounding us. In my opinion, there are three aspects of society truly are shocking once you actually think about it. The three aspects are the extinction of middle class, censorship of society, and surveillance of all people of the United States.

Censorship is something that was not only a monumental issue in the book, 1984, but is also very present in today’s society. The powers of security police in Western countries to intercept mail and tap phones have often been extended, police agencies keep numerous files on law-abiding citizens, and more and more public officials have the right to enter private homes without a warrant. Many government departments keep computerized information on citizens and there is a danger that this information will be fed into a centralized data bank. The corruption of language described in 1984 is widespread in the media today, with "Newspeak" terms such as democratic, socialist, fascist, war criminal, freedom fighter, racist and many other expressions being used in a deliberately deceptive, propagandistic way to whip up mass hysteria or simply to ensure that people can never achieve even an approximation of the truth. Even watching television, or listening to the radio, or reading the newspaper, censorship is prevalent. People tend to think that what they hear, watch, or read from the news or from other mass media that it’s the full story and the information given is all that the news station has attained. However, that is probably one of America’s best kept secrets is that an abundant amount of the mass media that is displayed to the world, is filtered through many processes beforehand. Information is withheld to keep the people of this nation ignorant. A wise man once said that “ignorance is bliss” and that’s precisely how America is viewed. On one hand, information about events and tragedies even admitting fault about a decision made certainly would cause doubt amongst the people about the government, society or worse the people in power of this nation. On the other hand, information is withheld and filtered for the producers and corporation’s benefit. Certain events, issues, plagues, or products are put in the front of the newscast for a purpose. Every news station, newspaper, or corporation has a motive and it’s usually for financial purposes or a promotional purpose instead of the basic desire to inform the people.
Orwell wrote that,

“Indifference to objective truth is encouraged by the sealing off of one part of the world from another, which makes it harder and harder to discover what is actually happening. There can often be doubt about the most enormous events... .The calamities that are constantly being reported -- battles, massacres, famines, revolutions -- tend to inspire in the average person a feeling of unreality. One has no way of verifying the facts, one is not even fully certain that they have happened, and one is always presented with totally different interpretations from different sources. Probably the truth is undiscoverable but the facts will be so dishonestly set forth in that the ordinary reader can be forgiven either for swallowing lies or for failing to form an opinion ... 3”
It’s almost as if we are blinded by our own vision of ideology. This, however, is through no fault of our own. The majority of the occupants of the United States feel as though they have a preconceived idea of what a successful healthy society is and they themselves like to believe that they are in that kind of society. However, that thought of what a healthy society is merely in their mind to comfort them and in actuality, its blinding them from seeing the truth. By the government defining what a healthy democracy should be through the Constitution and written documents, in a sense they create a security blanket for the general public to feel secure and safe under their rules and restrictions. For example, in the film 1984, towards the end, Winston Smith is blinded by the visions that O’Brien is creating in his mind, inhibiting Winston to be able to decipher what is right and what is wrong. The government in the same way is O’Brien, force-feeding the people, the Winston Smith’s of the world, images and theories in order to keep us under their wing and to have a more powerful reign over our minds and our loyalty.

The book's hero, Winston Smith, works in the Ministry of Truth rewriting and falsifying history. The Ministry writes people out of history -- they go "down the memory hole" as though they never existed. The Ministry also creates people as historical figures who never existed. Big Brother, who controls the State of Oceania, uses "thought police" to ensure that people in the inner and outer Party are kept under control. Oceania is at perpetual war with either Eurasia or Eastasia. Alliances between these three states change without rational explanation. "Hate weeks" are organized against Goldstein, the leader of an alleged underground opposition to Big Brother, and hate sessions are organized against either Eurasia or Eastasia. O'Brien, a member of the inner Party, pretends to Smith that he is part of the Goldstein conspiracy against Big Brother. He asks Smith what he would most like to drink a toast to. Smith chooses to drink a toast, not to the death of Big Brother, the confusion of the Thought Police, or Humanity, but "to the past." Both Smith and O'Brien, the main characters of 1984, agree that the past is more important. Unfortunately, almost all of last year's media commentary about Orwell's greatest book ignored the importance of the past and control of the past as a theme in 1984.

Surveillance was another important aspect of 1984 that is prevalent in today’s society, especially in the United States. In the novel, Big Brother put up poster signs that displayed the words, “Big Brother is watching you!” to instill fear and trepidation in all the people of Oceania. Also, the telescreens were omnipresent and were watching their every move and keeping track of their every thought. Surveillance is key to obtaining and maintaining control over people. Prison systems of the panoptic type were designed to keep out the infected individuals from the other population and were kept a close eye upon. Keeping the contaminated people away from the general public has been present in our history since biblical times. During that time, the unfortunate men and women who were infected with the disease of leprosy, which was a mildly contagious sickness that made the person develop ulcers throughout their body, were locked up and kept away from the others. When reading about the telescreens in the novel, the readers tend to have fear in their hearts because it parallels to some experience they’ve had of being watched. Howe said in his piece that, “the fictitious telescreen is horrible precisely because it is so close to reality.” In the same way the security of America is somewhat like Big Brother. As a result of the 9/11 tragedy, security at every airport has tripled and the scrutiny of their security checks has heightened to such great lengths that people are forced to show up hours before their flight even takes off. There are security cameras watching each and every individual’s every move, and at every security check in, there are at least 5-8 guards keeping a close watch. The telescreens from 1984 are similar to the metal detectors that the security guards have you walk through. Each has its own way of detecting suspicious content from each person that is exposed to the machine. For the individuals that are placed in front or through these devices, it’s nearly impossible to hide your intentions from its mechanical brain because if its ability to see right through you, figuratively and literally. In day-to-day activities people subconsciously fall prey to the fear of the omnipresent surveillance. Students are hesitant to cheat off their fellow classmates in their proximity during a test because of the fear of the teacher seeing them. Consumers in shopping malls and stores are reluctant to just take what they want and leave the store because of the cameras surrounding every corner of the facility. The eye of society is everywhere and the majority of the population can feel the fear and it prevents them from committing such acts and binds them in a ball and chain. The fear and the consequences that follow are enforced in order to create an equal society, a society where everyone has the same opportunity and same privileges. The chains of surveillance bind every single individual, and when every single person is restricted, than in retrospect, no one is. Just like in the movie, “The Incredibles”, when the main bad guy wanted to make every one a “superhero” and quoted, “…and if everyone is a ‘super’…no one is.” If everyone has their own handcuffs and ball and chain linked to their feet, than no one will know that they are being restricted from anything. It’s just as if everyone in the entire world was happy, than how would anyone in that world know what the definition of happy is? How will they know that what they are feeling is happiness when there is nothing to compare it to?

The extinction of the middle class is something that Marx and Engels talked about in their “Communist Manifesto”. Upon reading it’s content I found that a lot of the elements that make up their argument for this certain point was relevant for both Orwell’s novel in 1984 and in the world we live in today. Marx talked about how the middle class person is in competition with the higher classes, and when that occurs, nothing good for the middle class ever presents itself. It is always an uphill struggle for the middle class working person. Marx says that, “[t]he lower middle class, the small manufacturer, the shopkeeper, the artisan, the peasant, all these fight against the bourgeoisie, to save from extinction their existence as fractions of the middle class” (7). The middle class is therefore “not revolutionary, but conservative” (7). In 1984, power that the upper class held over all the other people was so devastating, that it eliminated any potential uprising or rising of one’s status for everyone involved. With the idea that the people of Oceania cannot think for themselves, it is made clear that, “Thoughtcrime does not entail death; Thoughtcrime is death” (27) The restrictions and chains of slavery that they figuratively put on the people of Oceania made it so that there were only two divisions, upper class and lower class. The lower class people were the working class, going from one task to another, ignorant and brainless in doing so without any sort of thought of purpose for their lives or for what they were doing. For the upper class, they were people above the system. They lived in comfort and indulged in acts such as smoking that the lower class couldn’t even dream of in their sleep without being punished. When reading 1984, one may make the argument that the proles could be the middle class because they have much better conditions than the Outer Party. “They are allowed greater amounts of privacy, the telescreen does not…watch their every movement, and the secret police seldom bothers them…” (Howe). However Orwell shows that the workers as a class have “become so helpless and demoralized that the state need no longer fear them” (Howe). There are just as meaningless as the Outer Party because there is no opportunity of attaining the upper class status. The chances of the proles achieving upper class status and the Outer Party is exactly the same; zero. Thus, they have no separation in class or division; they serve the same purpose in society and are both slaves to the upper class.

"Imaginative fictions stir us because they are distorted and thereby more distinct versions of our experience” (Howe). In conclusion, George Orwell almost look like a prophet in writing his novel, 1984. It stirs the readers because they experience the exact aspects that he is describing in his story in everyday life. With the aspects of surveillance, censorship, and the lack of middle class that he displayed in his novel and how they are relevant to this very day is extraordinary. Sources such as Marx, Howe, and even Orwell himself can attest to the analysis and arguments that I have brought up. One can draw many parallels to from 1984 and the world we live in today, and from my analysis I proved how these three elements of Orwell’s book is not only relevant, but is on display daily.

Works Cited

1. 1992.03, Karl Marx, Frederich Engels, The Communist Manifesto.
2. Alldritt, Keith. The Making of George Orwell. London: Edward Arnold Ltd., 1969.
3. Howe, Irving. 1984 – Utopia Reversed Orwell’s Penetrating Examination of Totalitarian Society
4. Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engles. "From Capital, Volume 1. "The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. By Vincent B. Leitch. Boston: W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated 2001.

Ethnography @ CSUN Library (Revised)

2008-12-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

Location: Library

Observation:
Sitting here in the CSUN library, they're many aspects of the facility
that reflect elements of "dystopia". Observations such as students
walking in and out like drones and robots, security cameras hanging down
from the ceiling display the theory of Panopticism as well as the
organization and order of the whole library. People can choose to be
isolated from the entire library by entering the Study rooms. The whole
facility, at every level, the rooms aren't very colorful or bright, the
surroundings are very bleak and the only color that the room has is from
the books. It is very quiet in the library almost eerie at times and
people are glaring at their laptop screens as if it shows the meaning of
their life on screen. As I look around, I rarely see a smile or a
laugh, because it's almost forbidden in a place like this. Sounds like
music, talking, or even laughter are "frowned upon" in a library
depending on the volume.

Analysis:
It is amazing that so many even in this day and age, we can still have
so many elements and aspects of a dystopian society. It's simply
astonishing how easily one can point out aspects of Dystopia in almost
any environment. The drone-like walking of the students coming in and
out is how I envisioned people were like in the novel, 1984 when they
were constantly on surveillance by Big Brother. As the people in 1984
were emotionless and oppressed as it seemed were the people that I
observed in the library. No smiles or emotion, its just people going
about their lives and following according their schedules. No one really
conversing with anyone and it’s usually just a lot of people all by
their lonesome. The people dared not to talk aloud or make any loud
noises to draw attention to themselves because they don’t want to get in
any kind of trouble. This instance reminded me of when Winston was
trying to plan out his mission of talking to Julia at the cafeteria.
They had to be strategic and couldn’t just walk up to each other and
talk aloud because they were being watched constantly and both would be
punished if they did so. The library was also filled with security
cameras and big poster signs telling you “Not to eat or drink” and not
to be too loud or a disturbance to others just as there were billboards
telling the people they were being watched in 1984. As people studied
there in certain sections many had laptops facing them and that reminded
me of the telescreens in 1984 because of how intensely most of them were
gazing into the screen. It’s almost as if nothing else mattered than
what that screen had on display and that was true in 1984 when the “Two
Minutes of Hate” aired on the telescreens.
The structure of the library reminds of the format of Oceania in 1984. They divide and structure certain every single floor of the facility for the purpose to have "order". Structure is essential to having order and control. There are "group" rooms for the people who maybe want to be loud and talkative in order to accomplish a task. Also there are separate individual rooms for the people who desire isolation. The desks are perpendicular to the chairs and some are more comfortable than others and in my opinion, they put the more comfortable chairs in specific areas for a reason. All these elements parallel to 1984 and the environment that the occupants of Oceania live in. The proles are isolated and they have their own separate space to themselves where they can be detached from the rest of humanity in order to prevent infestation of regular people. Oceania also has individual rooms for their residents like Winston Smith to live and dwell. It is not hard to see the similarities between the two upon further scrutiny. From these points, we can draw that George Orwell believed that structure was an important part of any kind of governmental control and America has adopted this concept into building facilities as well.
I enjoyed this exercise as other students have and I look forward to possibly doing other
assignments like these.

Five Minutes of Film

2008-11-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

In the movie, American Psycho, in the scene when Patrick Bateman is doing is morning workout, before he begins he places an ice pack mask upon his face. In my opinion, the ice pack represents something as a symbol. It serves as a symbol that before he goes about the world, he puts on a facade to do whatever he can to convince everyone he is normal, and that everything in his mind is clicking. However, this mask that he hides behind is simply at utter fake representation of who he really is, and i believe that the minute he put on the "ice pack" mask, it has a greater representation than people realize. As he stretches and does his morning workout, he says, "if his face is puffy, [he] puts on a ice pack mask". His insanity and mental instability is hidden beneath the cool and calm non-shalant smile and confidence in his swagger. The ice pack is symbolic of his deception of his outer appearance. No one knows the complexity of his thoughts and he deceives everyone by putting on this "ice pack mask".

A Clockwhack Orange: Response

2008-10-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

Not sure what to say after seeing the first half of that movie. I wasn't able to see the greatness of this movie or the cruel sense of humor that makes it so witty and clever. All i saw was nudity and mindless senseless violence and brutality. I'm kind of the sensitive type so this movie wasnt really my cup of tea. As a student analysis, however, it is easy to see the aspects of Dystopian society and how the director portrays the future in this movie.

In his movie, the law that usually punishes without hesitation or remorse is suddenly as useless and meaningless as a sweater in a heat wave . The people of this so-called society do whatever they please without any fear of punishment or consequences. The main character skipped to school just because he didn't feel like going and his parents didn't care one bit. They just accepted it and moved on with their lives. In my opinion, i think the director was trying to portray parents this way to kind of show the world what may happen if parents become uninvolved in a young adult's life. If the parents have no involvement in their own kid's lives, then who knows what kind of trouble will ensue. There are an abundance of parents today that go from work, drive back home, and retreat back in their bedrooms, eat and then go to sleep without ever checking up on their child. If you brought a person into this world, you have a responsibility to follow through and form their child into a civilized adult. If two people are unwilling to do that, than don't do it.

Fear and oppression were things of the past in this movie, unlike how things were in 1984. As people were so terribly afraid to do anything other than the ordinary in 1984, the people in A Clockwork Orange never did anything of the ordinary because that wouldn't be as fun as doing whatever the hell they want. All in all, the movie outright creeped me out and im not really waiting in suspense as to seeing what will happen next for our so called hero, Alex.

-D

September 17th WebCT Post: On Howe readings...

2008-10-06T16:29:00.002-07:00

On Howe -

"His book is not really a novel: Smith and O’Brien and Julia are not
credible human beings. Seldom are they characters involved in dramatic
action, too often are we told things about them rather than shown their
interior experience in depth. But that does not really matter, since
there is no reason to read 1984 as a novel. Exactly what genre to assign
it to I don’t quite know, but that doesn’t really matter either."

I agree with Howe on his point that Orwell's 1984 isn't really a novel,
in my opinion it's sort of like a theory or maybe a premonition of
events to come.  I hate reading sad books, but this one just intrigued
me from the very beginning because it's just so creative and its just so
far fetched i think that's what makes it so magnificent.

Like Howe said, the main characters are rarely involved in activities or
dramatic action like other novels.  Instead, the narrator simply
explains what's going on in their day to day activities which basically
includes eating, sleeping, and drinking.  Orwell doesn't focus on the
exterior or what's going on with their physical bodies but inside of
their minds.  Because of the telescreens always watching their every
movement, much of 1984's pages talk about what is going on
psychologically and how some characters are conflicted in their own
mind.  The influence of Big Brother and Goldstein and O'Brien is more
than Winston can handle inside his own mind and finds that having Julia
as a friend and lover is sort of a release valve where they can share
the same thoughts.  That's what's so fascinating about 1984 is the
psychological battle is the main conflict between the characters.  Their
bodies are just going day to day routines but their minds are somewhere
else fighting the battle between what is true and what is "untrue". 

-Daniel W.

September 3rd WebCT Post

2008-10-06T16:29:00.001-07:00

i agree with you too eric.  i really wish i was there first day and i
wasnt a late addition to the class because i feel sort of behind or
almost lost in the class.  maybe that's not really your scenario in
relationship to this class but i too am trying discover what this class
is all about. 

i enjoyed the westside story clip, but i failed to put the relationship
between that and foucault together and when one of the students
mentioned the answer, i felt stupid.  i failed to see that the gang
weren't contributing to society and that's exactly michelle foucault's
point, well one of her many points that she brings up in her book.  i
guess that's what this class will help me do, think in a deeper sense,
maybe have a different perspective when it comes to literature and film.
i'm extremely worried about how i'll do because it seems like the room
is filled with english majors and i'm the lone person who is kind of an
outcast.  i guess i'll just have to wait and see.  i'll try to think
optimistically.  heres hoping...

-Daniel Wong
thewordsofwong.blogspot.com

About the Group Presentation: 1984

2008-10-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

Approaching the group project I felt extremely nervous. I think many students can attest to this, because group projects can be and usually are a nightmare. They're usually a set number of people who do the majority of the work, while others either don't know how to help, don't truly understand the assignment, or don't really care to help out at all or sacrifice their spare time. I was incredibly intimidated by this class and especially this project because I felt like everyone was so much smarter and were on another level of "intelligence" than I. But upon meeting everyone, each individual was so nice and kind and everyone participated. People happily volunteered to find the scholarly article which isn't easy at all, and every single person had their own unique way to contribute to group.

One of the things that we did to research as a group was that we sent out a chain letter to each person's CSUN email and to write their thoughts on certain themes that we picked out in class. We each would write our thoughts and ideas and our OWN research about the themes, "Manipulation" and "Censorship" and we collaborated to put them into one main topic to share on the presentation day. I contributed a few paragraphs of my own research when reading some articles on 1984 and George Orwell work. I also submitted to them some articles that I thought would be useful in presenting the 1984 book and comparing it to how things are today. For example how dysptopia is a factor today and examples of this now and how they parallel from the book.

*What we wanted to achieve as our 1984 book group is that we wanted to involve our other classmates and get their attention and keep it. We wanted to show the parallels between 1984 and movies and film today and of the past as well. From Brazil to Mean Girls, we wanted to show concepts, theories, and themes that George Orwell first fabricated in his novel. We also wanted to make sure that everyone knew what point they wanted to make and divide duties so that everyone contributes.
Overall, I think everyone did a great job in coming together as one and giving a great group presentation. I do think some people worked more than others but I think every single group will have that problem and there's no remedy for that. However, I feel like everyone had their own unique way to present an idea to the class and I think we did an above average job at presenting our novel, 1984 and also being the very first group to go up there in front of our peers. 1984 was an awesome read and I was glad to have worked with my group and I look forward to all the other groups who have yet to present and wish them the best of luck.

1984: the anti-novel

2008-09-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

On Howe -

"His book is not really a novel: Smith and O’Brien and Julia are not
credible human beings. Seldom are they characters involved in dramatic
action, too often are we told things about them rather than shown their
interior experience in depth. But that does not really matter, since
there is no reason to read 1984 as a novel. Exactly what genre to assign
it to I don’t quite know, but that doesn’t really matter either."

I agree with Howe on his point that Orwell's 1984 isn't really a novel,
in my opinion it's sort of like a theory or maybe a premonition of
events to come.  I hate reading sad books, but this one just intrigued
me from the very beginning because it's just so creative and its just so
far fetched i think that's what makes it so magnificent.

Like Howe said, the main characters are rarely involved in activities or
dramatic action like other novels.  Instead, the narrator simply
explains what's going on in their day to day activities which basically
includes eating, sleeping, and drinking.  Orwell doesn't focus on the
exterior or what's going on with their physical bodies but inside of
their minds.  Because of the telescreens always watching their every
movement, much of 1984's pages talk about what is going on
psychologically and how some characters are conflicted in their own
mind.  The influence of Big Brother and Goldstein and O'Brien is more
than Winston can handle inside his own mind and finds that having Julia
as a friend and lover is sort of a release valve where they can share
the same thoughts.  That's what's so fascinating about 1984 is the
psychological battle is the main conflict between the characters.  Their
bodies are just going day to day routines but their minds are somewhere
else fighting the battle between what is true and what is "untrue". 

-Daniel W.

Not a fan...

2008-08-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well i've never been a fan of blogs. I kind of thought i was just like another livejournal or xanga, not saying there's anything wrong with those, but i just never really got into them. but i guess i have to now thanks to this english class. maybe it won't be too bad. i guess we'll just have to wait and see.