It’s the time of year when we can look at the Clippers and ask, “Who is leaving at the end of the season?†This season’s leading free agent contenders are: Bobby Simmons, playing the three (or maybe the two). He’s got a PER of 16.81 and a is averaging 17.7 points per 40 minutes, he […]
News
Does Reggie Miller Belong In The Hall?
I’ll miss Reggie Miller. He is no longer the great shooter he once was (not that the Pacers still don’t run him off multiple picks, just like the old days), but since he played at UCLA he’s been fun to watch. And I’m sure he’s still on Spike Lee’s Christmas card list. Last night during […]
Fast Break
Bunch of thoughts while watching games, seeing plays and house hunting this weekend: • Defense, which was nonexistent on a recent three-game road swing, was the key to both wins this weekend. Against Dallas they held the eighth best shooting team in the league (48.8% eFG%) to 40%. Against Indiana, the Lakers played great defense […]
On Tap: The Indiana Pacers
The big number against Dallas was 40. Kobe had 40 and took charge in the fourth quarter, but that was not the biggest 40. While Dallas had 103 points, they shot only 40% (eFG%) from the floor — they were not efficient, they just scored points because this was a fast paced, 107 possession game. […]
On Tap: The Dallas Mavericks
Last time these two met it was a fast-forward on TiVo evening — the Lakers were down 13 in the first quarter and the Maverick’s shot 59% (eFG%) for the game. That tells you all you need to know. Since that Jan. 5 meeting, the Mavericks have been playing better and better, the Lakers have […]
Bill Sharman
Bill Sharman didn’t like to lose. Jerry West tells a story from his rookie season where he came down and hit six consecutive shots against Sharman, a Celtic. On the seventh, Sharman took a swing at West. The punch missed but the message had been sent, and West was far more cautious around Sharman the […]
Lakers Finish 38-44
I’m not above stealing a good idea. Matt over at Bulls Blog recently looked at Chicago’s schedule through March using an “expected wins†system he got from his father (which is inheritance in his case, not stealing). The idea is to count wins by assigning a number between 1 (a sure win) and 0 (a […]
On Tap: The Boston Celtics
Sure we only played them one week ago, but this is not the same Boston team the Lakers beat. The next day the Celtics went and got Antoine Walker, then a couple of days later went and beat the Suns. Celtic fans are ecstatic. There’s going to be a playoff atmosphere in the building tonight, […]
Insider Status
First a bit of NBA news: The word out of Boston is not only has Gary Payton’s contract been bought out by the Hawks (as was expected) but also he has already resigned in Beantown. We’ll see if this all pans out and he is back in the green uniform before tomorrow night. And now […]
Fast Break
That was a punch-in-the-gut loss last night in New York, and I’m a bit too shaken for another long post about the lack of defense for most of the game or how the Lakers had 4 turnovers in the five minutes of overtime compared to zero for the Knicks. Here’s an assortment of thoughts from […]