Bryan is single. He likes music...all kinds. He drives a Toyota Corolla that is missing its left rear hubcap. He resides in West Hollywood where they are in desperate need of a people transplant. He does not watch or condone watching MTV, especially those wealthy automatons featured on 'The Hills.' He studied History at the University of Arizona and is unable to tan.
So the Lakers just came within two wins of an NBA title and they’re supposed to blow this thing up? Gimme a break. Even though it was more like a 6 game sweep in terms of Boston’s domination, the Lakers still MADE the Finals. Isnt’t that something? Umm yes it is. Especially considering the expectations heading into the season so spare me and everyone else the absurd over-reaction please.
Of course all of their flaws were made painstakingly clear as a result of Boston’s once a decade type defense, but if they want to get back to the Finals and fare better it will take some minor tweaks. Lets not forget Andrew Bynum will be back, though it is unclear just how far along he’ll be coming off his injury. Question marks aside, the Lakers could certainly stand to upgrade at a few positions. Most glaring would have to be in the middle, where the more physical Celtics manhandled them. Pau can shoulder some of that blame, but it was also his talent that allowed for them to be the Westtern Conference champs. The Lakers need some more muscle and should use the lame Radmanovic as bait. You might wonder, “Who would take that soft non factor of a Euro?” I would wonder the same thing except that teams are always looking for shooters and half the GM’s appear to be clueless. Too bad Isiah isn’t in New York anymore.
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So the Lakers are trying to make history and overcome a 3-1 deficit. After struggling to win a Game 5 home game they are now two wins away from an NBA title as they head to Boston. If you’re a Lakers fan you like what you’re hearing from the players. Translation, the Lakers are a 12 man cliche spewing machine right now.
Derek Fisher asserts that they must take it one game at a time. True, but hardly a revelation. Even the P.A. announcer got into the banality act after Game 5. “This is not over yet!” Phil Jackson’s advice to his team? “keep forcing the games and making plays, keep making one play at a time, one quarter at a time. Don’t think anything past this next opportunity on Tuesday to play this team again.”
Kobe Bryant put his own spin on the situation by explaining if someone had said the Lakers have to win two road games to win an NBA Championship at the outset of the season they would’ve taken that in a heartbeat. Was he talking about the beginning of the season when the Lakers were in total disarray and Kobe was wholly unhappy with management AND the personnel on the team? So again, no surprises there.
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June 14th, 2008 Written by: Bryan · 1 Comment
By now you’ve heard that no team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in NBA Finals history. The Lakers now find themselves on the wrong end of that 3-1. It doesn’t look good for Kobe and crew. It would be a monumental task for any team to come back from 3-1, but it would be damn near miraculous for the Lakers to bounce back from the greatest comeback in Finals history. The Celtics have controlled this series from Game 1 with their workhorse defense. The Lakers vaunted offense has been no match for the physicality displayed by Boston throughout this series. Want proof? How about arguably the games best offensive player since MJ going 6 for 19 against the relentless Paul Pierce. Who ever though that would happen? The answer is no one except the Celtics.
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June 10th, 2008 Written by: Bryan · 1 Comment
The Lakers came this close to pulling off what would have been the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history on Sunday evening or the world’s greatest collapse depending on what camp you’re in. Now the Lakers find themselves in 2-0 hole so I thought I would take it upon myself to compile a list of some things the Lakers must do to pull out a must win game 3 at the Staples Center on Tuesday night. So without further ado I give you my expert keys to victory against the stalwart Celtics.
1. Make sure to gather a different officiating crew so that the fans can force their will. As long as the officiating is going to be embarrassingly homerish, the Lakers must take advantage.
2. Do not allow Sasha to shoot a meaningful shot in the last 5 minutes of the game ever.
3. Dress Lamar Odom for the game not sure why he would want to miss the biggest games of his life. Guess he just doesn’t like Boston.
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Black Mamba is tough to figure. Has there ever been a more gifted yet enigmatic player than Kobe Bryant? Game 1 of these NBA Finals proved that Kobe Bryant, despite his colossal talent, still hasn’t completely figured it out. How does the MVP come up with a 9 for 26 performance that included a 1 for 6 fourth quarter effort? That’s excusable if he’s taking good shots, but he wasn’t. He’s shown the ability to make just about any shot at any spot on the floor, but that’s not the point. Not in the NBA Finals where every possession matters and a bad shot can turn into momentum for the Celtics. It’s something Lakers fans have probably come to expect. Still, after the strides made this season you probably didn’t think you would see it in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. You did.
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Not long ago the commish, David Stern, was asked what the best possible NBA Finals match-up would be. His answer? Lakers vs. Lakers. Turns out he got the next best thing. Stern was speaking tongue in cheek, but his comment was rooted in a somewhat desperate truth. Since Michael Jordan ended his playing days the NBA simply hasn’t been as compelling. Many would argue this kind of Finals is what the NBA needed. Certainly this is something the NBA wanted. Now they have their wish.
It remains to be seen if this Finals will reflect what Stern and the rest of the suits think, that this will draw the casual fan back and bolster ratings. No matter who watches or who doesn’t, one thing is certain. The Celtics and Lakers are the two of the most storied franchises in league history and one of these teams will add another championship to their already crowded trophy case.
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May 24th, 2008 Written by: Bryan · 1 Comment
The Lakers finished the first half of last night’s game 2 against the Spurs with a 9-0 flurry that proved to be the crucial tipping point. Los Angeles went on to dominate the second half putting a virtual stranglehold on this series if history is any indicator. When Phil Jackson led teams win the first game of a playoff series they simply don’t lose. Phil is hovering around 40-0 in that scenario making game 1 a veritable closeout situation. It’s the equivalent of Phil Jackson putting on an afro and quoting Ezekiel 25:17 to the opposition. You can’t get much better than 40-0 which makes game 2 seem kind of moot. It would be moot except that these are the defending champion Spurs. These are the same Spurs many so called experts wrote off after two blowout losses to the Hornets…exactly one series ago. So have we learned our lesson about never counting out the champs? Let’s hope so. The precedent set by Phil Jackson coached teams makes this series even more compelling when you consider the opponent, a proud San Antonio team that has won 4 championships in the last 9 years.
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If the Lakers are going to win an NBA title this season, how appropriate it is that they will have to take out the champs to do it. The Spurs forced their championship will on the youthful Hornets of New Orleans on Monday night winning a road game for the first time in that series. Luckily for them it happened to be the game 7 clincher.
So now the Lakers must battle their toughest foe yet, a bend but don’t break San Antonio team with as much moxie as ever. These Spurs are older, but certainly wiser and its going to take the Lakers’ best shot to take them out. Los Angeles was the better team all season long and look to be the stronger team in the post-season thus far. However, to steal the words right out of Jalen Rose’s mouth, you can’t bet against the Spurs until you actually see them lose.
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Apparently belittling the non Kobe’s through the media did wonders for their confidence. Lamar Odom continued his strong play. Pau was the Pau everyone knows and hearts. Sasha at least shot the ball with confidence even though nothing went in. D Fish was stoic and solid. No one can ever second-guess Phil’s psych 101 acumen, no matter how obvious it may seem. He knows his players and he consistently pushes the right buttons.
In a very rough and tumble game 5, the Lakers continued the trend of home teams absolutely dominating the second round of these here playoffs. The story of the game was Utah’s playoff high 19 turnovers. Another storyline that wasn’t touched upon by either Harlan or Collins was the inconsistent officiating, which benefited the Lakers on just about every pivotal call. There was a missed goal-tending call, a phantom foul on a Lamar Odom dunk, another phantom foul on Kirilenko as the ball bounced off of Vujacic’s leg out of bounds, and a litany of missed over the back fouls. The refs blew calls on both ends, but clearly this was a Lakers home game. That’s not to say they didn’t deserve to win. They did. However, something must be done about the quality of officiating in the league. No matter, Kobe and his pals are ready to close out this pesky Jazz team in Utah no small task. Good thing they have home court in their back pocket.
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Pre-game: Kobe wins the MVP and says, “We gonna play till June. I love you. Now lets get this party started.”
I think he just said the Jazz are chopped liver.
Back to the TNT studio after showing footage of Barkley’s MVP acceptance, Charles mentions David Stern is getting better looking with age and good lord he’s right.
Tip @ 7:47 p.m.
1st QUARTER
- 11:52 Fisher starts it off with a deuce less than 10 tics in.
- 8:40 Okur nails a three then promptly gets abused by Odom on the defensive end as Odom get the lay in.
- 7:15 Kirilenko hits an open jumper then gets a steal on the other end did he just find out he gets to cheat on his wife?
- 5:40 Boozer’s eyebrows making their presence felt. The rest of Carlos not a factor.
- 4:34 MVP hits a 3.
- 3:38 Sloan yelling at someone seems unhappy
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May 6th, 2008 Written by: Bryan · 1 Comment
No one expected the Los Angeles Lakers to be in the position they are at the moment. That is to say no one except maybe the Lakers. The start to the 2007-2008 NBA season brought with it a legion of doubters and for good reason. The off season catalyzed an already uncertain situation between Kobe Bryant and management that culminated in Kobe demanding a trade. He also publicly lashed out at management by belittling poor defenseless 7 foot Andrew Bynum. Now things seemed to have worked out just fine as the Lakers are just five wins away from a trip to the Finals, where they will be commanding favorites no matter who the Eastern representative is. All the off season tumult eventually gave way to some shrewd moves by Mr. Mitch (hello Pau…goodbye Kwame!).
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When the seeding was finalized and first round match-ups were announced, Laker faithful had to be salivating. The odds for Kobe to lead the Lakers to their first championship sans Shaq increased tremendously. Los Angeles benefited from a Phoenix vs. San Antonio first round match-up, perhaps the only two teams with the ability to beat the Lakers. Now that Phoenix is out, they can only meet San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals, a proposition that seems more likely as these Playoffs go on. However, its no lock that the aging Spurs will beat the Hornets, who have a point guard playing at a historical level.
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