For the fans that never miss a game. Who pour over stats and know Kobe is coming in at the 8 minute mark.
Posted: June 10th, 2009 | Author: Ali Kazmi | Filed under: 2009 Playoffs, Best Teams In The NBA, Competitors, Kobe Haters, Laker Haters, Team | No Comments »
I’ll be the first to admit that i’ve been critical of the Lakers all season. Not out of spite, but more because of a lack of effort and resiliency. Last night though, I saw a Laker team that refused to bow out. I saw a Laker team that fought through adversity on the road. I saw a Laker team that came together on the biggest stage to show a nation of doubters that they were, in fact, the real deal.
So what if they came up a little short? All I know is that this was one of the easier losses for me to swallow all post season because I knew we didn’t give it away. I know that sounds terrible, but lets be real… the Lakers aren’t perfect. Time to step outside of the bubble and see them for what they are. The reality is the Lakers can be stagnant on offense sometimes and in such cases Kobe is our bailout. The reality is the Laker Defense can be shaky. The reality is that it would be nice to win it all at home. The reality is, the Lakers could have given up game 3 in the first quarter… but they didn’t.
Laker pride is a term that my friends and I throw around a lot, it’s one of those “we aren’t going to throw anybody under the bus” things. Laker pride is more of a state of mind than anything, it’s kinda like the Zen Phil throws around the locker room. It’s about not falling victim to the press, to the Kobe hating, to the never ending drama that is inherent to the Laker organization. Laker pride is about not giving up. In a postseason where Laker fever was no longer a pandemic, Laker pride seemed to be on the verge of extinction.
That is, until last night at least. Last night the Lakers battled through another storm in Florida. They went punch for punch with the Magic (who had an historic/unbelievable shooting night). Last night, Laker pride seemed to have infected the whole Laker team. They lost, I know… but if you are going to lose, that’s how you lose.
The Lakers went down swinging and didn’t show any signs of letting up until the final buzzer rang. The players were all confident, resilient, and ready to battle. They did everything to win a game nobody thought they would. I was proud and you should be too, the Lakers have come a long way from the beginning of the playoffs.
With game 4 tomorrow, I’ll put my money on the Lakers. The Magic played a perfect game and the odds of them playing another one like that are slim to none. I think a friend of mine said it best: “I believe in Kobe, not in Magic”. Laker pride.
Posted: June 2nd, 2009 | Author: Ali Kazmi | Filed under: 2009 Playoffs, Best Teams In The NBA, Kobe Bryant, Laker Haters, Team | 1 Comment »
“The Lakers are just not tough enough”, “They are a finesse team that doesn’t like to be pushed around”, “The Lakers are soft”… I can go on and on. These were the prevalent themes of the postseason for the Western Conference Champs. A postseason in which the Lakers, so far, have proven to be resilient, tough, and let’s not forget – soft.
But is that such a bad thing?
I think Muhammad Ali said it best. You know the line, no need to repeat. Arguably the greatest boxer to live, his style was unorthodox for a heavyweight. He wasn’t a big bruiser, but instead a relied on foot speed and quickness to avoid punches. Only to surprise his opponents with his power to close a fight. It won him 3 titles, and created a whole new legend in the process.
The Lakers are not all that different. Quick and athletic, with a swagger that’s undeniable, and are to some spectacular – to others, they are infuriating. The Lakers have proven in the first few rounds that you don’t have to fight the beast with sheer strength. That instead, you can pick and choose your spots to deliver your blows – and when that moment comes, make no mistake about it, the Lakers have a right hook that can take out anybody.
So how have the fights broken down for the Lakers thus far? Let’s look at their scorecards
Round 1- Utah
The Lakers came out swinging. Coming off a solid regular season they rode their momentum into the ring and took apart the Jazz. Bobbing and weaving, the Lakers pinned the Jazz to the rope with their size and offensive firepower. They dominated all the fundamentals and executed their game plan. It’s almost easy to forget how well we played against Utah because of the blown leads, but in the end, the Lakers took this round easily.
Score: Lakers 9, Jazz 6
Round 2- Houston
The Rockets struck first blood here. The Lakers came off a 6 day rest unprepared for the attack of the Rockets and, consequently, were taken advantage of. As any boxer knows, it’s hard to recover from a bad start at the beginning of a round and this definitely showed in the Lakers struggles here. They were hit by a steamrolling Rockets team and taken down early in the round.
The Lakers stayed with it though, fighting their way out of the corner and off the ropes with a gritty uppercut punch delivered by Derek Fisher. From there the Lakers, with a cut above their eye exposed, battled to win the round. It wasn’t pretty, but you can’t always deliver the knockout punch in every round. Sometimes you just have to use your jab and wear your opponent down.
The Lakers did just that, they wore the Rockets down thin, but were still unable to deliver a knockout– they were in a dogfight. In the end the Lakers managed to salvage this round. They beat their bloodied opponent, but in the process showed cracks in their armor. As Muahhamad Ali once put it after a fight, “It was the closest thing to death I could feel”. Suddenly the Lakers were not so invincible, but maybe their near death experience was the wake up call they needed.
Score: Lakers 9, Rockets 8
Round 3- Denver
After coming off a convincing few rounds, the Denver Nuggets were ready to fight. The Lakers, with sporadic play and a few cuts, were well aware of the challenge that lay ahead of them. This was going to be more fight club than boxing though. Here a tired and insomniac Kobe and Pau proved to be a one- two punch (a la Brad Pitt and Ed Norton). The Lakers, caught in the glare of the flashing cameras and stage lights, were struggling with themselves in the ring as much as they were with their opponent.
Staying true to their strengths, the Lakers jabbed their way to early round success. The Lakers found a way to protect their cuts but in the process opened up their body for easy shots. These body shots were starting to add up, however much prepared they were coming into the fight for them. Their months of training taking shots to the side and stomach were nothing compared to the action in the ring. Unable to put together a consistent round, the Lakers took another hit and found themselves jabbing their way into Denver.
The air wearing thin, the Lakers know that they cannot afford to go down early. They fight with everything they have to keep the fight even, going punch for punch with Denver. However, Denver had a few dirty tricks up their sleeves and the officials seemed to let them slide. Now the Lakers have two options: 1) make excuses or 2) Find a way to win. The Lakers chose to dig deep and make no excuses. This is what they trained for, this is where they wanted to be, this was the time to show the world what they were made of. They want that belt.
In what seemed like a moments time, the Lakers put together a barrage of combos that proved to be too much for their opponent to handle. With Denver against the rope, the Lakers swung for the sky and delivered a knockout punch. Again, what started off as an ugly round, ended with a win.
Score: Lakers 10, Nuggets 8 1/2
The Lakers have learned a lot about themselves during the first 3 rounds of the fight. Nothing more important than the fact that they know they can win playing like they want to play and they are capable of taking a punch. The Los Angeles Lakers are able to win a dogfight in the ring and at the same time know they are still skilled enough to dance their way to a championship ring.
So what’s next? It’s the final round for the Lakers and they had better expect a punishing fight. With one more obstacle between them and the championship the Lakers will see Dwight Howard and the Magic. It’s not the dream showdown everybody expected, but you better believe it’s still a tough heavyweight fight. Come to think of it you might as well start calling it the Rumble in the Jungle because Kobe-Dwight could be the new Ali- Foreman. Who will win? Who knows, only one thing is for certain and my man Muhhamad Ali put it best: “It will be a killa… and a chilla… and a thrilla.”. God, I love this game.
Posted: May 27th, 2009 | Author: Ali Kazmi | Filed under: 2009 Playoffs, Bench Mob, Laker Haters | 2 Comments »
Just when Laker fans worked up enough courage to poke their heads out of the door, game 4 came along. It was one of those games that I’m sure all Laker fans are used to by now. The kind of game where they think to themselves, “just get it down to single digits before the next quarter”. The kind of game where every time the Lakers get into a defensive stance or tussle, you knew the whistle is going to blow for the other team. The kind of game that, quite frankly, makes it hard to be a Laker fan. It wasn’t pretty but it seemed like on memorial day the Lakers paid memorial to the Lakers of the Houston series. Knowing that game 4 was a chance to ut some meaningful distance between them and the Nuggets, the Lakers feel into the Nuggets trap.
So what went wrong? I think the main three things were:
Rebounding
We got out rebounded 58-40. The Nuggets attacked the glass, especially on the offensive end where they had what seemed to be at least 2 shots every time they went down the floor. They had 20 Offensive rebounds to our 9. Looks like instead of getting offensive boards we got offensive “bored”. Looking at the way the Nuggets played, these 2nd chance points ignited the crowd/players and took away our easy transition hoops on the other end.
A lot of this comes back to our bigs. A box out is basic and instead of looking for touches on the offensive end, maybe they need to create their own touches off the glass. Basketball is a game of fundamentals: rebounding, defense, and free throws (we were 24-35). If the Lakers do those three, they have a shot at winning.
The Mob
The bench mob combined for 24 points while the Nuggets combined for 42 (24 by JR Smith). Offensively, you can live with 24 points, but defensively we cannot give up 42 points to their bench and expect to win. The bench needs to come into the game and play with a sense of desperation and with tenacity.
On a side note, what’s up with Sasha? I mean Derek went through a drought and still got plenty of playing time (he still sorta is in a slump). But that’s Derek. He’s got a resume. Sasha, on the other hand, has been nothing short of awful. I don’t see the logic in him shooting his way out of his slump in such close games…games where we need those clutch shots. In this series he is 4 of 17 (23%), which is actually even lower than the 18 for 64 (28%) he was coming into this series. The playoffs are not a time to find your game Sasha. I’m seeing a long off season of “tradesasha” websites on the horizon if he doesn’t stop complaining and missing shots.
Refs
The officiating has been questionable, to say the least. This postseason, more than any other I can recall, has been defined by the referees. It seems that with every game instead of getting it right, they just get it more wrong. Granted, I’m a Lakers fan, but regardless there has been an air of uncertainty blowing through their whistles. I think Phil said it best post-game,
“Basketball is a game where the aggressor gets the advantage, and tonight we didn’t know what a foul was and what wasn’t a foul. Start of the game, we got guys knocked around going to the basket, they said, ‘We’re going to let those things go.’ By the end of the ballgame, little fouls were being called all over the place.”
This was apparent by the 31 team fouls the Lakers accumulated. It’s not just Phil either, each coach in the final four has made their own case. For the refs to choke on their whistles at the beginning but then to go whistle crazy at the end (or vice versa) is, not only inconsistent, but detrimental to the integrity of the game.
Eerily resembling the 7 game fiasco in Houston, the Lakers circus is headed back to LA with a tied series. Essentially a best of 3 now, anything is possible and with what appears to be an inability to put together back-to-back solid efforts, you have to think that this series goes to 7. The Nuggets are pushing us around and hopefully the Lakers will find a way to channel their frustration into two more victories. Hearing Kobe and Pau after the game, I think it’s safe to say that game 5 will be the Lakers to lose…but then again, so have all the others this postseason.
We’ve seen the Lakers play like champs and have seen them play like a Deer lost in the headlights. If it’s one thing the Lakers have proven it’s that they are good enough to win but not great enough to be counted on.
Posted: May 10th, 2009 | Author: Jeff Miller | Filed under: 2009 Playoffs, Derek Fisher, Laker Haters, Team | 2 Comments »
I read an interesting comment made on my Reasons Why Game 3 is Important article and decided to respond.
“I personally am sadened that derek fisher put himself out there like that. I know they are trying to prove they are tough, but I don’t know that toughness is why the lost last year. All they need to do is play hard and intense on defense every night and execute. They are already more talented than most teams. If they execute and play hard for 48 minutes and win a title, no one will be questioning their toughness whatsoever. I have never seen a champions toughness come into question. I don’t really think of the spurs as a team that was particularly tough, but i do think of that as a team that played hard and executed. I don’t know how the Lakers ever even got the moniker of not being tough enough. It’s not a street brawl. It’s not like they went into the locker room at half time and refused to come back out. They had the opportunity to win every game in that Finals last year with exception to game 6. They lost because they didn’t execute or sustain their effort on defense for an entire night. That is how you give up 20 point leads. All the Lakers did the other night was put another bullseye on their back for the refs in the NBA who already seemingly have a bias against the lakers.”
– bigwes71
And my response:
First of all, we are without question more talented than every other team, not talented than most teams. Talent will not be what determines the champion and I agree with you on a couple points.
Playing hard on D — consistently — and executing on offense will be more important than “getting tough.”
I do disagree with you on your point on the Spurs. Have you ever seen Tim Duncan back down from anyone or any challenge, or shy away from contact? No. That team is a good defensive team and mentally tough because of Duncan (and I guess coach Greg Popovich too).
Our toughness is being questioned because this team is not a champion…yet.
Toughness is not necessarily as simple as who is the “strongest” or “biggest” team. Toughness is more a sense of will.
When the going gets tough…push me and I’ll push you back…
I do not think we were mentally tough enough last year.
When Boston got physical, challenged every shot, made a big rally, instead of playing harder and pushing back, we put our heads down between our legs, blamed the refs, and felt sorry for ourselves.
I’m sorry, but you blow a 24 point lead at home in the Finals, and the media wants to claim you are a soft team, I agree with them 100%.
We were not “tough” enough to win a ring.
The better move to show that we are “tough enough” is to stop blowing 20 point leads — like we did in round one vs the Jazz.
Look, Fisher made a statement.
Was it the right way to do it? Of course not.
The statement has been made nonetheless, and was one that had to be made.
We are not backing down from anyone, rather we will keep coming at you.
Realize, though, that it wasn’t meant for the refs; it wasn’t even meant for Luis Scola or just the Rockets.
That statement was directed at the Rockets, the Nuggets, the Cavs, the Celtics, the Magic or whoever else might stand in our way of a championship.
Could it have been costly to lose Fisher for a game? Sure.
However, we still won Game 3, Jordan Farmar is back, Fisher is still the same good-guy, and the refs will still be as biased as ever toward us.
All-in-all, I would say it was a good move, but one that should never be made again, nor does it need to be.
Posted: April 29th, 2009 | Author: moe | Filed under: Kobe Haters, Laker Haters | 1 Comment »
Earlier today I clicked on an article by Bill Simmons that was suppose to be about Rondo’s hard foul against Brad Miller. Although I didn’t think it was possible, he found a way to take a shot at Kobe and Stu(surprisingly).
…Eeveryone has to pretend Kobe Bryant is a good guy at all times, even if it means lying to family members, friends and media members or convincing Spike Lee to make a full-fledged gushing documentary about him. The third is the NBA doesn’t “fix” games per se; the league just “orchestrates” them a little with referee assignments, and teams are not allowed to complain. The fourth is Stu Jackson and Ahmad Rashad must always remain employed with jobs that are well beyond their means. - Fouls, Flops, Fiascoes … but not flagrant
I’m getting to a point where I don’t even want to read Bill Simmons blogs/articles on ESPN. He is a one trick pony that is being played out. I think Mr. Simmons writes his blogs/articles to be an attention grabber rather then informative writer. Don’t get me wrong, he has written some decent stuff, but I’m tired of him using his “I”m a Kobe Hater” to market his articles. He knows that Kobe is one of the world’s most popular players, who has a devoted following, and he can use that to get a view more eyes on his blogs. He even took a shot at Stu this time, which was really pathetic.
His strategy has worked so far, but will catch up with him. I don’t think he realizes what is happening to the world of sports news, more importantly, how people are getting their news. People can get their news from more then ESPN now. There are sites, just like Lakers101, that are producing solid content and growing exponentially. As these legitimate sites get larger readers will be able to see through Simmons tasteless tactics and self promotion.
The difference between Bill Simmons and the guys at Lakers101 is that we won’t use a marketing ploy to get a couple more hits on our site.
Posted: March 17th, 2009 | Author: Jeff Miller | Filed under: Kobe Bryant, Kobe Haters, Laker Haters, Team | No Comments »
Oh the lonely path of an ex-Laker who didn’t quite make it.
I was watching Rome is Burning — Jim Rome a fellow Guacho — and he started the show off with a quote from ex-Laker Smush Parker, recently of the Guangdog Southern Tigers in China:
“Playing with the Lakers was an overrated experience. The problem was never with Phil Jackson. It was with (24), formerly known as K.B., Kobe Bryant. The problems with that team start with him and end with him…Everybody thinks that playing with Kobe Bryant is the best thing since sliced bread, but it’s not.”
First off, who does Smush think he is?!? I don’t think anyone outside of his family, friends, and, unfortunately Lakers fans, even knows who this guy is. Rome goes on to rip him a new one saying we wouldn’t even know who Smush was if it wasn’t for Kobe and he probably wouldn’t have a contract with his Chinese team if it wasn’t for Kobe. Does he know he’s Smush and Kobe is Kobe???
I got a nice kick out of that one. I thought it was real big of Smush to take zero responsibility for how that Lakers squad performed that year. He has to go down as Kobe’s worst back court mate ever (now I will admit there was a time early that year where I thought he had potential). Of course the problems with that Lakers team never had to do with Smush who showed up 3 games a month; who got beat night in and night out because he was too focused on trying to get steals; who turned the ball over more times than the Pistons did that whole year!
(Oh no, I just saw the photos of A-Rod kissing a mirror. That is so offensive to athletes and men worldwide).
I only wish I was still driving to STAPLES Center in the morning, so I could have heard the response from fans on Rome’s LA radio show.
…and now I am regretting spending even this much time on a guy like Smush…
Posted: February 12th, 2009 | Author: Jeff Miller | Filed under: Andrew Bynum, Competitors, Kobe Bryant, Kobe Haters, Laker Haters, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Standings, Trevor Ariza | No Comments »
Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com: “Great win, Los Angeles. Congratulations. You win a lot of big regular season games, Los Angeles. But while you may fool some of the ex-player suck ups at ESPN, you’re not fooling me again. We’ve seen this movie before. The Lakers and Ko-Me Bryant will impress in the regular season, maybe even get to the Finals. That’s what they do. Then the postseason will arrive and they’ll get bullied and punk’d by one of the tough teams from the East. Just like last year. If the Lakers play Boston in the Finals, they’ll get smoked. Just like last year. Los Angeles still doesn’t possess the inside toughness to beat one of the great teams from the East when it really counts. So congratulations, Los Angeles. You’ve earned a title. Best team in the regular season.”
After reading this, as a fan of the Lake Show, I almost didn’t know what to say or do. I wanted to email the guy and go off on him. Instead, I write.
I never understand why people give so many excuses for a loss. Man up already! Why down play the wins when they may in fact be the reason the Lakers win it all this year, who now own the tie breakers and home court if they face either Boston or Cleveland in the Finals. While even I will admit that I get a little excited when my team goes 6-0 on a road trip that includes the two best teams in the league, and I will also admit that this in no way guarantees a championship. However, let’s not take away from what they did. As stated by ESPN.com, no team has beat back to back +.800 teams, this late into the season, on the road.
More importantly, I saw three big problems that were glaringly obvious in last year’s loss to the Celtics:
1) No Andrew Bynum
SOLUTION – reports are he should be back by the playoffs and, for now, we will assume he gets most of his form back come Finals.
2) The team was weak on the inside as Mr. Freeman notes above
SOLUTION – defend the paint, something the Lakers did to LeBron throughout and as far as being “bullied” or “punk’d”, is it me or did the Lakers defeat the two best teams in the league on the road under impossible circumstances?
Could Ariza be the wild card that pushes the Lakers over the top?
3) Lack of home court advantage
SOLUTION – by becoming the best team in the regular season — which clearly we are seeing that CBSSports.com writer Mike Freeman so eloquently proclaimed us to be — the Lakers would secure home court come Finals and thus can exploit an advantage they did not have last year.
These three factors (four if you count a healthy Trevor Ariza; five if you count Pau & Lamar playing tough like they did the past two games; six if you count the fact the Celtics are missing both Posey and PJ — two tough guy contributors who “bullied” the Lakers last year — and the Cavs continue on with players that have never won anything, while Kobe has three rings and Pau has a gold medal, along with that guy Phil who has nine rings) all contribute to a solid bet that the Lakers are primed for a strong finish to the playoffs!
Posted: February 11th, 2009 | Author: Jeff Miller | Filed under: Laker Haters, Team | No Comments »
The day after the Lakers/Celtics game I heard Skip Bayless – well known basher of anything that is good – give his two cents on the topic on ESPN’s First Take. I was immediately compelled to send them the following email:
Lakers use suffocating defense to top Celtics
“Oh no, I just had to listen to Skip Bayless again talk the same old nonsense that gets him on tv. He actually had the nerve to downplay last night’s Lakers/Celtics game? Claims he was “embarrassed” for the way the Lakers celebrated. He says stupid things all the time so that ESPN will keep putting him on tv. Otherwise, why have him on if he isn’t going to stir up controversy. LA sports radio is the same way and it used to piss me off. You know Skip is a damn fool b/c he started off saying yea they won a game that could give them home court if they meet in the finals (how do you possibly try to downplay that when it looks like that is EXACTLY what is going to happen) only to follow it up with they didn’t gain any psychological advantage this early in February…what a fool! I wouldn’t go as far as the Celtics are scared of the Lakers, but I think they have to be in their heads. How could they not? I guarantee you Danny Ainge spent all night restless thinking if this year’s squad cannot beat a Lakers team on our home court without Andrew Bynum (who will be there come Finals) and on the end of a back to back…how are we going to beat them in a 7 game series, when we probably won’t even have home court now??? Not that he will panic and trade KG…but he will be trying to do something. If you can win a game in February and make the GM go out and make a move he wasn’t previously inclined to make, then how can you not say the game meant something, something big. Try and deny that! Then he tries to make excuses for KG that he was “clearly sick,” not 100%, reaching, didn’t bring the same energy…look at the man’s stat line and you will see he played very well. This isn’t KG from his MVP season anymore and he doesn’t put up 30 and 20 with this current team, so 16 and 6 with a couple assists, a steal, and 3 blocks…I think he was ready and healthy enough to play. Besides, the Lakers did not have Bynum and you will try to make the KG excuse and the point was made for me! Last year in the Finals the Lakers got pushed around and beat mentally, so to say that this game does not play a factor is crazy. Even if the Celtics are not scared, the fact remains the Lakers are no longer scared, so maybe it will play a bigger factor for the Lakers mental make up then for the Celtics mental make up.”
Lakers top LeBron
Now I missed what Skip had to say the day after the Lakers/Cleveland game, but I would hope he would finally give the Lakers their just due. Not every team could pull off what they did, especially after losing one of their best players to injury (Bynum) and essentially playing the Cleveland game with a sick superstar who became more of a decoy by the end of the game (Kobe). The Lakers are on top because of their supurb offense and multiple weapons, able to play big or small, fast or slow, able to win games with skill or by grinding it out. With Bynum in, the Lakers have a shot blocker who allows them to stick to perimeter shooters; with him out, the Lakers D sinks in to protect the paint, giving shooters more open shots. A perfect example of this was in the Cavs game. You probably noticed LeBron went 5-20, even with most of his shots coming in the paint, while his shooters started 10-16 from three.
It’s safe to say the Lakers are tougher this year and more prepared to win it all, even if they get a rematch vs the Celtics. This team will not be pushed around any longer. They may even do a little pushing of their own.
Recent Comments