The Lakers extended their record to 12-4 yesterday, excellent news, the only downside being the two losses to potential playoff teams. But in my view it isn't as big of a problem as it might seem. The loss to Denver wasn't great but the Lakers kept it close despite playing against an invigorated Denver team, sometimes losses happen. Then came Phoenix, who, in order to beat the defending champions, dropped 22 three pointers, the second most in NBA history, oh my. Even though the Suns dropped 22 shots "from downtown" the Lakers still managed to keep it close and if one or two three pointers fell for the Lakers in the last few minutes of the game it could have been a whole different story. The two teams that beat the Lakers this year had to score over 120 points. That's great news for the purple and gold but not so great for the rest of the league, especially with Lakers scoring a league high 112.2 points per game. To add further woe to coaches around the league, the Lakers are still waiting for the return of their defensive center, Andrew Bynum. With Bynums's return the Lakers will add a second 7 footer who will troll around the paint making sure no one trespasses on his turf.

It's good times for Laker land, everybody is playing most notably Pau and Lamar, but a special mention must go to the bench. The 'killer bees' (not sure on this nickname) Shannon Brown and Steve Blake are managing not only to hold onto leads but expand upon it. Brown has made an incredible shooting improvement this summer and the addition of Matt Barnes seems to have been an inspired choice. I can't really find fault with the Lakers at the moment except for maybe a few too many turnovers and some slack defense from time to time. Things are looking good and it will be interesting to watch the Lakers take on the Bulls tomorrow who will push the Lakers speed and see if the Lakers can control the tempo and execute their offense rather than run and gun with Chicago.

Let me know what you think, are there any key weaknesses that you see? Is there a player that you would like to see added in January? Did you also forget how good a passer Luke Walton is?

Ode to Artest

Trolling my way through the internet I came across a facebook group that is purely devoted to hating Ron Artest. I can understand some animosity to the rather eccentric Queens native forward, but hate seems a little strong. Can't we all just get along. Apparently not. The facebook page puts forward a case a Ron being nothing more than a violent thug that is, "detrimental to the world of basketball". Ok, so Ron has had some not so stellar points in his career,most notably the infamous brawl, but he is definitely not detrimental to the league. I find it difficult to hate Artest because, well, I think he's brilliant. Ron is a rather complicated man. He has a degree in mathematics, yes that's right a bachelors in mathematics. I can barely count to ten using my fingers, so I am instantly impressed. The brains are there, but Artest seems to be constantly battling with what can only be discribed as an insane little imp on his shoulder and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Are some of Ron Artest's actions questionable? Absolutely! But they are not malicious actions. His intesity may get the better of him at times but it also gives him character. From yelling "no soap, no soap" from the shower or having an iphone that Kevin Ding describes as "shattered" to yelling at reporters "acknowledge me"! or my
personal favorite conducting an interview of himself. That's right Ron Artest interviewed Ron Artest.
Maybe it's my twisted humor but I think these actions ar quite frankly hilarious.There is no vendetta or evil intent. Calling a former defensive player of the year detrimental to basketball is a little bit extreme.
I think Ron Artest brings humor to the Lakers, it's better than an interview with Pau, who, seems to be reading his answers from the book 'media for dummies'.

Ron is auctioning off his championship ring for charity, so there is a caring side. Can you guess the benifitting charity, that's right a charity for mental health. What else do you expect from a player who thanked his psychiatrist along with God and his parents for winning the championship.
I think we should all just lighten up and thank Ron for being Ron. Doing the crazy stuff so you don't have to!

No Complaints Here.

With the Lakers playing out of their minds right now it's fairly difficult to find anything to write about. Kobe got a triple double, Pau earned one today and Lamar, as MacMillan (Portland's coach) said, is "playing like an all-star". These are good times in Lakerland best described by Fisher "it's like disneyland".

The Lakers remain undefeated and every single player seems to be improving. There was even a rare sighting of the Slovenian Sasha Vujacic who recently got engaged to tennis star Maria Sharapova.

Ron Artest guarded Brandon Roy, who in Artest's words is more difficult to guard than Kobe (don't worry Ron's not quite sane at the best of times) kept Mr. Roy to a limited 8 points. Impress-much? I think so.

We can only hope that these trends continue making it even easier to be a Laker fan. This week will see a much more formidable Minnesota and an always bitter Denver trying to rock the Lakers' dream boat. If the Lakers keep their playing standard at it's current level, well you know what the means!

L.O. PoW

This week saw Pau Gasol be awarded the Western Conference Player of the Week award. Good news for Pau and the Lakers. Pau does deserve this award he has been outstanding the past three games. However a well earned award given to a Laker is not going to stop me from complaining. It may take a bit of digging but I'll find something and this time is no different.

So, with a little bit of digging, I found something to moan about. This time it's about Lamar or more accurately Lamar's absence in the consideration for player of the week. Other players were considered like Louis Scola(?) Montana Ellis(?) Brook Lopez(?) but Lamar was all but ignored despite his monstrous three games that have him averaging 17 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists. Those are some of the best numbers in the league and not even a consideration. I know! I can sense your disgust!

Now to try and curb my image of a grumpy old man, I'll try to say something positive. It's nice to see that L.O. is energized and stepping up to fill the void of Bynum. Also while writing this Lamar has just achieved 11,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 3,000 assists one of 29 players ever to do this. So, Lamar you have my consideration for Player of the Week(does that sound gay?)

They're back!

The first game cam and went and the Lakers scraped a win despite falling 15 points down at the half. No real surprise that the Lakers started in a seemingly distracted manner with the awesomely outrageous championship rings shining in their eyes. However the Lakers fought back in the third quarter leading to a final charge in the fourth.

The Laker bench provided their own momentum coming off the bench, with Blake and Shannon standing out. It's good to see the Lakers being able to rely on their bench to provide an offensive spark when called upon. If this continues then the Lakers will be very difficult to beat this season.

There was plenty of room for improvement with the Lakers missing open jump shots and lazy defense. Hopefully we can put it down to the distractions of receiving a ring that weighs more than my car.

But hey we got the win, job done.

The Land of the Rising Sun.

Two more days, that is all that is left between us and a brand new NBA season. Jam!
The Lakers will play Houston for their opener, or better known to Laker fans as ‘ring night’. It promises to have more diamonds then Kanye’s bottom row of teeth. This is the second year in a row that Houston has had to sit through ring night. I personally felt that it should have been the Celtics for the opening game by I’m still not allowed to draw up the NBA schedule and it’s not through a lack of asking. Damn you Stern.

Ok, back to reality it’s time to take a quick glance east and take a look at would-be challengers.

The Celtics added Shaq… hahahaha. Wait let’s take another pause...and another mocking…hahahahaha. Ok better…oh wait…hahahahaha! This does give the Celtics breathing room while Mr. Perkins heals up but don’t count on Shaq making significant contributions. Perhaps if Doc Rivers uses Shaq better than Cleveland did, the Celtics can tighten up defense which has always been a cornerstone of the team. The Celtics’ old age has a lot of critics ruling out Boston.
Orlando are always a strong contender with Vince looking ever more comfortable on offense and Dwight continually improving, it is hard to over look the Magic as possible finals opponents. If Dwight continues to remain a beast inside and all signs point to that being the case it will prove very difficult for teams deal with Orlando.

Coming out of the pan handle and further down to the tip of the state we arrive in Miami. Grabbing headlines and dreams of dynastic greatness, Pat Riley has put together a super team involving Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Lebron James. This indeed is free agent coup. The basketball world has been reeling from such of move leaving many wondering how the hell this happened. I don’t know and I don’t care. It happened, we’re just going to have to deal with the consequences. Obviously Miami has moved itself to instant contenders but if we scratch the surface a little bit there are some holes in the plan. There is no inside presence, Ilgauskas won’t be able to cope with teams like Boston or Orlando who have a string of bigs that like to pound the paint. There is no real team offensive depth, when the stars come off, the Heat’s bench don’t really have much fire power to go to. Opponents will seize this opportunity to make a run and in an 82 game season plus playoffs I think the lack of depth will show itself. Plus if injuries become a factor then Miami will really struggle. Defense will also be a major concern with Bosh at power forward his lack of defense and a tendency to sag off his man it will be difficult for Miami to deal with the likes of Kevin Garnett, Carlos Boozer, Rashard Lewis and my man Pau.
For me I think it is very likely that the Celtics will rise triumphant in the East don’t count on old age, their experience, skill level and bench depth will prove too much for other teams to deal with. Sorry Miami, it takes a lot more than three players to win a championship.

Quick side note, keep an eye on the Bulls this year they be I a good position to surprise and upset some of the bigger teams.

In other news it turns out that Gilbert Arenas faked an injury to give more playing time t a rookie. Hmm would you ever see Kobe faking an injury? The man would play in a wheel chair if they’d let him.

Celebration Hangover Time

I'm back, nanananana (insert batman theme here). If the NBA can take some time off, then I can too. Shouldn't I be able to take a break from the half an hour a day it takes me to do this. Phew! What a break!

Well, let's take a look, has anything happened?

Lamar won a gold medal at the World FIBA Championship, well dome Lamar. Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Theo Ratliffe, Derrick Caracter, Devin Ebanks, Drew Naymick and Trey Johnson have all joined the Lakers, welcome.

D.J. Mbenga, Jordan Farmar have left the Lakers, thanks guys, enjoy the rings.

Well, what has this done for the Champions I hear you cry out!

In my opinion and the only one that matters on this blog, is that the Lakers have addressed certain aspects and weaknesses present through the last season and made moves to hopefully quell these problems.

The Lakers biggest weakness was our stability and reliance coming off the bench. Bring in Mr. Blake, who is one of THE most under rated guards in the league. When Steve is given the green light he can light up the court. I first noticed Steve during a Laker game against the Clippers in the 08/09 season where Steve put up an 18 point game with 12 coming in the fourth quarter alone. Leading the Clippers to a rare victory against the Lakers. Playing what will probably be split minutes with Fisher, this remarkable talent will keep intensity and offensive momentum throughout the game. Something that was painfully noticeable last season. Plus add the athleticism, quickness supplied by Shannon and Ebanks it gives Phil more flexibility to adjust to opponents. Phil can shorten the line up and add speed when necessary, PERFECT!
Plus more defensive intensity has been added on the perimeter with Matt added to the roster. Phil is always preaching about defense, at least when he is not pretending to be a frog on a lily pad,(that's not even a joke).

It looks like the Lakers have become better on paper but this will take to time to come to fruition. The recent signings add some real depth to the bench a key component that wins championships. Ooooh was that a cheap shot and Miami, yes it most certainly was, we will get to that later though.

How are the Lakers looking over the past few weeks? Terrible. With a lack of court time and conditioning practice the Lakers are looking lethargic and out of shape. To best explain, Ron Artest gained 20 pounds in the two months off. The Lakers lost two pre season games, Phil is extremely unhappy with the players energy and thinks " the Lakers are not ready to play games that count just yet."

With Kobe recovering from knee surgery he has looked out of rhythm but seems to have much better movement, I wouldn't worry about Kobe, he'll be ready. Andrew Bynum is also recovering from surgery and won't be expected back until late November. Now, Bynum has been under criticism for delaying his surgery in order to go to the World Cup. Come on it's the World Cup and you're criticizing an athlete for going to one of the biggest sports events in the world, it happens every four years, cut him some slack. Plus Bynum doesn't even need to start playing for the Lakers until playoff time to earn his contract money. That is when we will need the 7 footer and coming back in November doesn't seem like such a problem. It will also give Bynum more time to work on his core strength training. No real problems here.

So all in all things are looking up for Laker land. Let's hope Phil can bring the team back to fitness and fluidity. If that is so, it should be a very good season for the Purple and Gold. The Lakers are in a good position to repeat their championship run. Good times may be in store yet again. Excellent news!

Tomorrow we will have a look at some other NBA teams that may want a parade of their own.

Tune in, same time, same place for more of the caped crusader. (Yes! Another batman reference!)