By the time the NBA draft ended — when Portland couldn’t find any more dance partners and Steven A. Smith was forced to shut up because the cameras were turned off — the Lakers ended up doing well in my mind with Jordan Farmar, a trade for veteran Maurice Evans and J.R., err, Danilo Pinnock. […]
Lakers Analysis
Playing GM
It’s kind of a fun game to play: “If I were GM of the Lakers, I would….†It’s the idea behind the NBA GM Fix It web site, which today is focusing on the Lakers. The guys behind the site asked me to take part, I agreed, and today they are focusing on the Lakers. […]
The NBA’s Intelligent Design
Everywhere from Bristol to blogs, Dallas and Phoenix are being touted as the future model for an NBA roster — multi-talented and athletic big men, strong perimeter teams, and the ability to play at pace. Versatility, match up nightmares, speed. Personally, I think the hype about the “new NBA†is a bit overstated — in […]
Season review — the Centers
This is the last in a series of season review articles. Which, for me, is like being done with my finals. I’m going to get a beer now. Will the real Kwame Brown please stand up. In the first half of the season, Brown shot 46.3% and grabbed 13.6% of the available rebounds. In the […]
A few stats for the guards
Since I got a few compliments on the Synergy-based stats for the forwards (and my oversized ego needs all the watering from complements it can get), here are some stats for the Lakers key guards. Kobe: The first thing you have to say, when you look down the list of shots Kobe took (whether going […]
Season Review — the forwards
For the Laker forwards, it was a year of adjusting to changing roles. Lamar Odom became the point/forward in the triangle, running the offense at times but becoming a post-up force in the playoffs. Luke Walton, after a pre-season where he looked like a starter then got injured, regained that role at the end of […]
Season Review: Kobe (and other two guards)
Yes he led the league in scoring — and there was the legendary 81 — but I’m willing to bet that for Kobe Bryant it is less about those or other stats and more about the big picture, and how the season ended. This season Kobe started to rehab an image that was tarnished in […]
Season Review: Point Guards
Here comes the first in a series of pieces over the next few weeks breaking down aspects of the team’s players and management, looking at both last season and the future. There’s something compelling about Smush Parker that makes you want to like him. Maybe it’s his name — or that he named his SUV […]
The Last Word on Game 7
After everyone else has had their say on the Laker “effort†in game 7, Phil Jackson chimed in a email interview with Hoopsvibe and essentially said what many (myself included) said — the Suns worked to take the ball out of Kobe’s hands in the second half, no one else stepped up. But the best […]
The Vision Thing
In the heat of the playoffs, I got an email from a new Web site asking bloggers to play GM-for-a-day and tell us what their team should do in the off-season. I’m not sure how you do that in any serious detail yet — free agency signings can’t happen for two months (July 10) and […]