Kobe Bryant

Ok, sure LeBron and Kobe are the 2 best players on the planet, but why this rivalry all of a sudden?  Yes, it's good promotion for the league, however, the 2 have never played really meaningful g

Continue reading "Why LeBron vs Kobe?"

p;        After hitting a three with less than 15 seconds to go, Kobe Bryant (who at this point was so hot that I'm surprised he didn't melt through the floor) nailed a contested three-pointer to give the Lakers a 111-109 lead, and a timeout was called.  In celebration, Kobe struts down the floor and sets an NBA record for consecutive chest bumps in a regular season game.  Kobe celebrated so exuberantly; you’d have thought he’d won the Spanish National Lottery or something.  Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought for sure the game clock read all zeros. 

Continue reading "A Quick Aside... (NOT!)"

d is actually worse.  The first warning sign is when Alex Rodriguez started being compared to Kobe Bryant (by the way, I'd like to thank Jamele Hill for constantly being my own personal cannon fodder every time I need a sports media punchline.  Honorable mention: Simmons).  Yeah, that sinking feeling in your stomach is the painful realization that despite Manny's bizarre antics and all of the baggage he has been forced to carry by the Boston Sports media (say it ain't so, Shaughnessy!), Ramirez doesn't stack up.  

Continue reading "Just Hit"

igh school players to go to college to mature, where do players like LeBron James, Martell Webster, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Rashard Lewis, Amare Stoudemire, Monta Ellis or Al Jefferson fit in?  What about those guys with NBA ready bodies and/or minds?  Is it fair to keep them from something that they're obviously ready for just because some of their peers are not?  How can we really justify robbing those players (and many others) of several years (or potentially a lifetime, if a player gets hurt in college) of NBA salary?

Continue reading "Bull-Plop!"

, no better.  Now you’re probably saying, “But Dave, Mark Jackson said that ‘Kobe Bryant is the best basketball player on the planet’ 73 times in the first quarter alone, it must be true.”  Don’t get me wrong,

Continue reading "Defense Dominates"

I'm somewhat at a loss for words today (surprising, no?).  All I can say is that the Lakers got lucky last night in more ways than just the favorable officiating (Kobe just about hacked Paul Pierce's arm off on the decisive steal, but the game was not lost there).  The Lakers are lucky that KG missed two crucial free-throws (which, should the Celtics lose will become the mother of all albatrosses hanging around the Big TIcket's neck), and especially lucky that 3 of 5 Celtic starters are hurt during the biggest games of the entire season.  Knowing that, the Lakers should be ahead, they should be cruising to a championship, but they aren't.  The Celtics botched game five and spoiled a brilliant performance by Paul Pierce that could have, and should have clinched the series. The bad news for LA is that the Celtics know that, and they won't let it happen again.

Continue reading "Redraw"

...  (pause) ... Did that really happen?  Was I dreaming (or possibly too fucked up to really see the TV)?  You mean to tell me that the Celtics rallied from an 18-point halftime deficite to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 97-91 and put a hammer lock on this series?  And Kobe only scored 17, in LA?  You can't be serious.

Continue reading "Hallucinating in Tandem, or Real?"

verybody not named Timmy Legs or Simmons the Homer picked LA to win easily, citing the dominance of Kobe Bryant and the superiority of Phil Jackson.  The predictions ranged from Lakers-in-5 to Lakers-in-7, but nearly everybody thought that LA would steal one (or both!) of the first two games in Boston.

Continue reading "Cyclical History and Boxing Tips"

ped, I'm guessing).  Despite his electric third quarter and the lock down defense he played on Kobe Bryant, I'm scared as hell for the Celtics in the coming months weeks of this year's Finals. 

Continue reading "Joyful Panic"

  If Odom and Pau are ineffective, the Lakers offensive system will break down and turn into a Kobe Bryant chuck-fest before most of the Lakers fans are even in their seats.

Speaking of defending Odom and Gasol, this is why Kendrick Perkins will be a huge factor in this series.  He has played good, physical basketball against the Lakers this season, and played very well in the last few games of the Conference Finals against the Pistons.  His size and length should be irritating to a slender, finesse player like Pau Gasol if Perk can stay out of foul trouble for the majority of the series.  perkins is also great at using his body to show on the pick & roll and disrupt the rhythm of the play, which could be crucial against the high screens for Kobe that Gasol will set.  Finally, if Perk can force Gasol to work a little bit on defense, fatigue could be a factor down the stretch for the lanky Spaniard.

Continue reading "Middle Men"

depth and talent that they have on their roster.  The Lakers feature the league's best player, Kobe Bryant, as well as the NBA's greatest living coach, Phil Jackson, as well as a host of other talented players that make the Lakers an efficient and exciting offensive team.  How do you build a team that good?  Simple: You have to have two GMs, in this case Mitch Kupchak, who was responsible for building the Lakers' supporting cast of Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom, Sasha Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic, and Chris Wallace, who was responsible for gift wrapping Pau Gasol for Los Angeles (seriously, Pau for Kwame Brown, there should be an investigation into that robbery).

Continue reading "Throwback"

If you don't know what the scoop is for today, I suggest you take a look at my first post from today (the one before this post about the Wizards/Cavs).  For anyone who says that San Antonio plays boring basketball, I refer you to this game.  The atmosphere is intense, and the level of play couldn't be higher.  It's overtime, Suns up by 3 butStoudemire has just fouled out.  San Antonio has the ball with 12.6 left on the clock, and after Phoenix blankets Manu Ginobili, he finds Tim Duncan who just drilled the game tying 3-pointer (his first of the season) with three seconds to go (Mike D'Antoni's  facial expression was priceless).  This season's NBA playoffs are already surpassing all expectations, as we are now headed to double overtime in just the second game (LeBron's throw-down in the first game was also unreal) of this year's playoffs.

Continue reading "Playoff Extravaganza Part Two: Suns v. Spurs"

Don't blame me for this, it's just that time of year.  Sadly, the Celtics are still in cruise control and I have to do something to fill the void between now and Saturday.  So, for lack of anything better to write about, I suppose I'll put my two bits in about the various award races going on in the NBA.  If I eventually tail off and stop writing mid-sentence, it's because I'm just as bored with the subject as you'll be (actually, if you stick with it longer than I do, I'll be impressed!).  And I suppose it is the popular question du-jour, so let's get down to it.

Continue reading "Award Tour"

You can't spell "Los Andgeles" without a 'd.'  Oh wait, yes you can!  "Los Angeles," see?  No 'd,' there you have it (Look what my college degree gets me!).  Maybe that's why the Los Angeles Lakers (no "d" there either!) don't play it very well.  I don't even need to back that statement up, either (but fear not, I'm going to!).  The proof is in the pudding, and by pudding I mean last night's loss to the Trail Blazers in Portland.

Continue reading "There's No 'D' in Los Angeles"

Gasol had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and seven assits in his first game in nearly 3 weeks.   Kobe Bryant scored his first 14 points of 36, in the fourth quarter, which may have led to the Blazers defeat.  Travis Outlaw and martell Webster had 23 points each playing better offensively most of the night.  As with the last three games, Roy was out via his strained right groin.

Continue reading "L.A. Lakers Take Portland Blazers"

'm sick of is everyone who wants this game to be a victory telling me they wont be able to stop Kobe Bryant.  Saying that it is inevidable wtih Brandon Roy still out on his hip injury.

Continue reading "Portland Blazers @ L.A. Lakers!"