I have put off writing about potential Laker trades so far for two reasons: 1) We needed to see 20+ games from the team’s new configuration before forming opinions about what we should trade for; 2) Meaningful trades are rarely made before the first of the year anyway (this year had the exception to prove […]
Archives for December 2004
For The Record
In my preview of Tuesday’s game between the Lakers and Raptors, I mocked the Raptors posting a Playstation2 prediction of the score on their pregame home page. The last laugh is on me. Playstation had the Lakers winning 110-99, and Kobe being the game’s high scorer with 28. The real final score was 117-99 — […]
It’s All About Ball Control
Throughout this season many Laker watchers — myself included — have harped on the volume of three-pointers taken, the poor shot selection and the lack of flow in the offense as problems. And they are. But when you look at the numbers, it’s not the Lakers offense that’s holding them back — it’s the defense. […]
The New Stats, Part Deux
With no Laker games until Sunday, this is a good time for some reflection and breakdowns of the team and its coaching thus far. But to do that properly, I believe I should lay down a little more foundation of the new statistical thinking in the NBA (call it “basketball money ball†or “NBA sabermetrics†[…]
On Tap: The Toronto Raptors
If we use Playstation2 as our Nostradamus, then the Lakers should win 110-99 tonight. The Raptors are the only team I’ve run across to list the results of a Playstation match up on their game preview page. But I guess it makes sense — with what’s left in Toronto, you’d probably rather play a video […]
Coop-a-Loop
ESPN is reporting that the Denver Nuggets have fired coach Jeff Bdzelik and given the interim job to former Laker Michael Cooper. I’m happy for Coop, the former Pasadena City College star, who in recent years coached the Sparks of the WNBA to two league titles and has been eager for an NBA head job […]
Christmas Day For Hoop Fans
You know how on Christmas Day you open that one present that makes you ohh and ahh (and makes you wish you’d bought that person something better than a salad spinner), but three months later its another present that you use every day. Well, while the Lakers and Heat provided the ohhs and ahhs on […]
My Christmas Day Diary
In an absolute rip-off of the Sports Guy, here is my minute-by-minute diary from Christmas Day. (Well, not the entire day, unless you want to read about how many times you have to change a six-month-old’s diapers in an afternoon. This just covers game time, sparing you some ugly descriptions of smells.) 12:10: I sit […]
On Tap: The Miami Heat
Near the end of the Christmas Day game, I expect to hear Al Michaels utter this sentence: “Our Chevrolet player of the game is Dwyane Wade, who opened a lot of eyes with his 38-point performance today.†Shaq is going to have some 5.0 on the Richter Scale dunks. Kobe is going to make moves […]
Merry Christmas
Whether you came here as a regular reader or just wanted to find out more about Kobe’s shoes, I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday. Enjoy the food, family, gifts and the game today. I just want to take this chance to say thank you to the loyal readers I’ve picked up — […]