Notes and thoughts on the Lakers and the opening of camp — while I keep an eye on the Dodgers and Mets: • The first day of training camp focused on defense. Good. So should the second, and the third, and the….. • I was less than thrilled this summer when I learned that John […]
News
Just how much better?
The opening of NBA training camps is, well, pretty cold and professional, especially when compared to the youthful exuberance of “midnight madness†for college teams. But, just like the Dodgers at Vero Beach in the spring, optimism abounds — Laker fans just feel their team is going to be better this season. Logical reasons can […]
30 Teams in 30 Days
All the best ideas seem like simple ones — there are so many NBA blogs now, so much quality information and different perspectives, why not band together for our own previews of the coming season? Thirty teams in 30 days — an idea to make Morgan Spurlock proud. And so NBA Blog Previews was born. […]
A key Laker to have surgery
Before this week, when I served on a jury for a “trip and fall†case, I knew nothing about hip replacement surgery. Now I know plenty (for a layman). And that makes me appreciate what Phil Jackson is about to go through even more, Just watching Laker games last season it was pretty clear his […]
The Turbulent Pacific
As of next Tuesday, it is no longer the off-season — the Lakers open training camp. No trip to Hawaii for camp this year, which means new Laker Vladimir Radmanovic will not have a deep bronze tan when the season starts (instead he’ll stick with the Casper white look). How do you feel as the […]
We Built This City On Basketball?
This week I’m on jury duty, actually impaneled on a jury in a civil case at the Redondo Beach courthouse. This means during the day I’m awarding old ladies who spill hot coffee millions doing my civic duty, and at night doing the day job, so if my posting lacks this week I apologize up […]
Things to do this weekend
While you are reading this over the weekend I will be at a bachelor party in Palm Springs, drinking some single-malt scotch, trying to count cards through a drunken haze at an Indian casino and, um, whatever else one might do at a bachelor party. But, here are a few things worth reading this weekend, […]
Crystal Ball Time
I’m pulling this out of the comments and making it its own topic because, well, it made me laugh (and has a lot of potential). It just feels too early to start predicting who will finish where in the West and what team will make it out of the Eastern Conference. But it’s not too […]
Suggested Reading
While we suffer through what feels like the dullest NBA off-season of all time, there are still few things worth reading out on the Web. That starts with the latest Carnival of the NBA, which is now up. • Over at the very good Blazer’s Edge, he posts something we should all remember as when […]
The Twenty-foot Lay-up
The ball would swing back behind his left ear and, in a circular motion, move back behind his head, held high above his wiry 6′ 6″ 190 lb. frame. A slight bend of the knees and, without ever passing the crown of his head, it was gone. Released skyward, still moving, in a slow motion, […]