He was never going to be Shaq, but when the Lakers signed Vlade Divac in the off-season my reaction was that he would be a good bridge between the old Lakers and whatever they team would evolve into in a few years. But Vlade’s back blew up that bridge before the season started, and now […]
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On Tap: The San Antonio Spurs
Let’s face facts here — the only part of this game Los Angeles sports fans are going to see tonight is when the Orange Bowl is at halftime or at commercial and they flip their bar stool around to squint at the television over in the corner with the Lakers’ game on. But this should […]
He’s A 40-Point Man
“Kobe The Aggressor” has been the Christmas box office release at Staples Center, a movie where the guy already the focal point of the Laker offense tries to play an even bigger role (leading him to score more than 40 points in each of the past three games). Teammates requested it behind the theory that […]
On Tap: The Denver Nuggets
It was a shrewd move by Kiki Vandeweghe — fire the coach to spark the team, but time it to make sure the interim coach starts his first game at the same time your star player returns from injury. It worked — Denver beat a hot Sixer team to break a five-game losing streak behind […]
Trade Talks
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 […]
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 […]