It Appears the Lakers are back from their vacation. Upon arrival their missing defense was regained from the airport lost and found. It had been a while since the Lakers had shown some real defensive tenacity. Maybe they have the same outlook on the season as past Laker teams that would loose games to crap teams but win against the contenders. Its a long season and you can't win them all, but it's a good practice to make defense a habit.
For the most part, the Lakers played a great game on Christmas. The handling of the Boston Celtics and the snapping of their 19 game winning streak was by far the best gift I received for the holidays.
I for one love the rivalry and am very happy to see it alive once again but as good as the Celtics are now I don't respect them like the Celtics of the Larry Bird days. They have turned into a team of crybabies, complaining on every call, including the ones where they are obviously guilty. This is nothing new to the NBA but for fucks sake just shut up and play. Maybe they have never heard the story of the boy who cried wolf, maybe they still think that after crying to the refs over every call they still have some credibility or maybe they follow the lead of their ever complaining coach Doc Rivers.
Now this is not just pointed at Boston, so many players are looking like over-sized babies every time they step on the court. To make matters worse some of the refs out in the league look more like bad parents than NBA officials.
I cant help but recall a recent game against Orlando. Its good to see that team finally headed in the right direction since the Shaq and Penny days. Ok back to the point, Im not going to name names but a certain large headed bald hater of a ref during that game called countless technical fouls against the Lakers for complaining on calls even when no complaining was apparent. And to be honest most of the time they complained it was an obvious bad call. Conversly Dwight Howard and some other members of that team complained on every call under the sun , including the ones which were right. The funny thing is, I can't recall a technical foul given to any of the Magic player for complaining.Honestly that type of b.s from that particular ref doesn't surprise me at all.
I suppose in the end Im just waisting my breath or fingers in this case, I know it's a tough and mostly thankless job of an official for any sport and your not going to get every call right but damn at least be consistent.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Lakers-Celtics just another game? Yeah, right
Broderick Turner-LA TIMES
All parties preferred to downplay the significance of Thursday's encounter between the Lakers and Boston Celtics.
It's just another game, they all claimed.
It doesn't mean much this time of the year, they all maintained.
It's the journey that counts, they all said.
That's what the Lakers and Celtics were selling, whether one was buying it or not.
"No, I don't think it's any more important for either team," Boston Coach Doc Rivers said. "I think it's a great game. It's a great game to have and whether you win or lose the game, you're going to learn something about the other team and you're going to try to put that into the next time you play them."
The Lakers defeated the Celtics, 92-83, at Staples Center, giving them the upper hand, at least until the two teams meet again Feb. 5 in Boston.
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson was given his opportunity to explain what the victory meant to his team.
"I don't know," Jackson said. "We'll have to see what happens after this. It's a good win. We know we wanted to win it. We knew we had the ability to do that."
Maybe revenge is too strong of a word, but the Lakers had to want to show the Celtics something.
The Celtics had defeated the Lakers in the NBA Finals last June, 4-2, dropping a 39-point loss on the Lakers in Game 6 in Boston, the second-most-lopsided clinching game in Finals history.
The Lakers blew a 24-point lead in Game 4 at home, allowing the Celtics to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
So why wouldn't Thursday's win have special meeting for the Lakers?
"We want to get them back in six games, in the NBA Finals," Lamar Odom said. "This was for the fans. It was a big game because they had a big-time streak going on and they are one of the best teams in the league. Other than that, it was just another game."
The Lakers ended Boston's 19-game winning streak, the longest in the NBA this season, but the Celtics (27-3) still have the best record in the league.
The Lakers won their third straight game, their 12th in a row at home, and improved to 24-5, the best record in the Western Conference.
"It's just a game we lost," Rivers said. "But other than that, it doesn't mean that much. You wanted to win the game. It would have been great to come in here and to win another game. Our guys feel comfortable in this building. And they still do. That hasn't changed. But we lost the game and you've got to give them all the credit."
The Lakers still have 53 regular-season games left, the next coming Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.
The Celtics still have 52 regular-season games left, the next tonight at Golden State.
Boston also has to contend with a tough Eastern Conference.
"Listen, we have to get through the East," Rivers said. "We have the Cavaliers. We have the Orlando Magic. We have the Detroit Pistons. We have to get through the East just to see them again the third time. If we play them the third time, then that will mean a lot. And they have to get through the West."
Because the Lakers and Celtics play two regular-season games, a third time would be Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
That's if both teams get there.
"For us, we're confident already, but we feel confident that we can play with the elite teams," Ariza said. "But it is just one game and we've got a gang more to go."
All parties preferred to downplay the significance of Thursday's encounter between the Lakers and Boston Celtics.
It's just another game, they all claimed.
It doesn't mean much this time of the year, they all maintained.
It's the journey that counts, they all said.
That's what the Lakers and Celtics were selling, whether one was buying it or not.
"No, I don't think it's any more important for either team," Boston Coach Doc Rivers said. "I think it's a great game. It's a great game to have and whether you win or lose the game, you're going to learn something about the other team and you're going to try to put that into the next time you play them."
The Lakers defeated the Celtics, 92-83, at Staples Center, giving them the upper hand, at least until the two teams meet again Feb. 5 in Boston.
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson was given his opportunity to explain what the victory meant to his team.
"I don't know," Jackson said. "We'll have to see what happens after this. It's a good win. We know we wanted to win it. We knew we had the ability to do that."
Maybe revenge is too strong of a word, but the Lakers had to want to show the Celtics something.
The Celtics had defeated the Lakers in the NBA Finals last June, 4-2, dropping a 39-point loss on the Lakers in Game 6 in Boston, the second-most-lopsided clinching game in Finals history.
The Lakers blew a 24-point lead in Game 4 at home, allowing the Celtics to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
So why wouldn't Thursday's win have special meeting for the Lakers?
"We want to get them back in six games, in the NBA Finals," Lamar Odom said. "This was for the fans. It was a big game because they had a big-time streak going on and they are one of the best teams in the league. Other than that, it was just another game."
The Lakers ended Boston's 19-game winning streak, the longest in the NBA this season, but the Celtics (27-3) still have the best record in the league.
The Lakers won their third straight game, their 12th in a row at home, and improved to 24-5, the best record in the Western Conference.
"It's just a game we lost," Rivers said. "But other than that, it doesn't mean that much. You wanted to win the game. It would have been great to come in here and to win another game. Our guys feel comfortable in this building. And they still do. That hasn't changed. But we lost the game and you've got to give them all the credit."
The Lakers still have 53 regular-season games left, the next coming Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.
The Celtics still have 52 regular-season games left, the next tonight at Golden State.
Boston also has to contend with a tough Eastern Conference.
"Listen, we have to get through the East," Rivers said. "We have the Cavaliers. We have the Orlando Magic. We have the Detroit Pistons. We have to get through the East just to see them again the third time. If we play them the third time, then that will mean a lot. And they have to get through the West."
Because the Lakers and Celtics play two regular-season games, a third time would be Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
That's if both teams get there.
"For us, we're confident already, but we feel confident that we can play with the elite teams," Ariza said. "But it is just one game and we've got a gang more to go."
Monday, December 1, 2008
Andrew Bynum and the Lakers Have Fowl For Dinner Defeating Raptors 112-99
The Los Angeles Lakers are that much closer to the best season start in their long history. They are currently 14-1 after their 112-99 victory last night over the Toronto Raptors. If they can pull out wins in the next 3 games, they will take bragging rights for best start from the 2001-2002 Lakers team, although that team won a championship and this season still has a long way to go.
When I say if , it's not a very big if because their next 3 games are not exactly against the cream of the crop. In fact Indiana, Philly and Washington have together won only 1 more game than the Lakers have, so I look at this as more like a trip to the grocery store than a road trip.
Now to get back to last nights victory over the CRaptors. Pau , Kobe , and Bynum all had great games out of the starters. Pau scored a team high with 24 points. Big Drew came to play with 18 points and 10 rebounds while mr. consistent, Kobe hit 23 points and 7 assists with his eyes closed.
Lamar had a very quiet 3 point 6 assist game despite the Lakers being +19 with him on the floor and Trevor Ariza had a great game with 14 on 6-10 shooting.
The Laker defense wasn't bad overall , keeping the Raps barely under 100, but there were a few lapses. It would have been nice to see the Lakers hold the Raptors sans Jermaine O'Neal to around 85-90.
The lakers did a great job on Chris Bosh, limiting the MVP campaigning forward to 12 points but Toronto had some nice balance with 6 players scoring double digits. The most notable was Anthony Parker, brother of WNBA star Candace Parker, who had 19 points on 6-12 shooting including 4-6 from the the 3 point line.
The Lakers haven't had a very tough schedule to start and have been toying with teams by stepping up the intensity in the second half, but to me that's a sign of complacency. Sure with the ease at which they have been beating teams some complacency is inevitable but it's always safer to make defense a habit rather than a necessity to break the game open in the 3rd or 4th quarter.
We all know that this Laker team has dynasty potential , but I am anxious to see how they take to the tougher schedule that begins later this month.
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