You Said It Best.

I don't usually do this nor do I admit that I could not add a few points. However this article has everything that I could possibly say about the Lakers at the moment. Especially about Bynum and Lamar, if you don't believe me check the earlier blogs. Also this article is subtle but far more insightful than anybody or anything that you will read out there. Let me give you an introduction, this interview is with Craig Hodges, the shooting coach for the Lakers. I won't ruin anything for you, this man knows basketball and even more important knows the Lakers. Reread this as much as possible because otherwise you will miss lot of things. Now sit back, relax and learn!

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=5002714

Lend Me Your Ears.

A message with purpose, a statement without words, a full hearted testimony of the desires and wants of the people. This is what the Lakers and their fans are reaching for and the ascension of this quest is nearing its arrival. A five game road trip starting in San Antonio is on the horizon and what greater stage can be laid before us to make a resounding statement that we shall be champions once again.

This is more than just an end of season road trip, this is the time, this is the place where we lay our fist with force upon the table and declare to the world, that we will not lay down and watch idly by, we will not be threatened or intimidated. We will draw a line in the sand and proclaim that the NBA championship will go through us.

The road is ahead of us Laker fans and we will walk the entire path with each footstep more assured than the last. This is our era, our time in history, this is our dynasty!

Who's Doing the Math? Seriously Who?

When watching a basketball game the one thing that really stands out to me is the amount of numbers that are flung all around the place. The commentators love to hurl a barrage of numbers here there and everywhere. They seem to have an endless supply and they have numbers for everything. The last Laker game the announcer gave us numbers for the percentage of Jordan Farmar's shooting when Kobe is on the floor compared to when Kobe is off the floor. Who is keeping track of this? Who cares?

Well,not to be one left out (I'm going to do what the cool kids do!) I felt that we should bring in some friendly numbers just because I can.

The Lakers are averaging 102.6 points per game this season 6th overall in the NBA. Opponents are averaging just 96.6 points a game 9th best in the NBA.

The last game against the Wizards the Lakers grabbed 69% of the rebounds, which really shows how the length can just dominate a game. It's the highest percentage of rebounds won by a Laker team since the introduction of the 24 second shot clock.

Now it's the rapid fire round, shooting percentage 45.9%, three point percentage 34.3%, free throw percentage 77%.

The length of the starting five is thirty three and a half feet. That's bigger than King Kong who clocks in at twenty five feet.

Until next time!

Who Do You Think You Are?

RANT


Professional journailists often like to veer toward sensationalism to get noticed and get people to read their tripe. We here at this humble blog don't like to wander down that road. We like to go down the path of well written, informative and down-right hilarious. We've yet to manage any of our aims but perfection is something we like to leave to Kobe. And it is on that matter I want your ears. A Rollingstone journalist called Matt Taibbi has just written an article stating that Kobe isn't the best player in the NBA. We've heard all that before but this buffoon has gone one further and said that Kobe is only the third best player. 3rd. Third. However, you write it it's ugly. Ugly. Wrong. Slanderous and just plain stupid.
There's no prizes for guessing that LeBron James is Taibbi's pick for best player but he's gone for Kevin Durant as the runner up. Now I know none of you will agree with this complete and utter crap being written and that I don't think I even need to begin listing the eighty-one billion reason as to why Taibbi is wrong but I feel we should let this award winning journalist know that he can't get away with this. We have to stand up for our hero.
I've tried to hunt down an email address for all hate mail to be sent to but Taibbi considers himself too much of a celebrity to let me have one but here's his blog addresses http://www.rollingstone.com/blogs/taibbiunbound/ and http://taibbi.rssoundingboard.com/
send your hate mail there.

Fact Time Fun!

Here comes your second dose of Laker fact greatness, I'm not even sure that makes sense but I just don't care! Ok just to recap quickly I am providing a fact that proves Lakers are great so you can dazzle and amaze your friends and humiliate your enemies. Without further ado.

The silhouette on the NBA logo is the that of Jerry West.



Jerry West was a great Laker and is still heavily involved in the Laker franchise. Let's break it down shall we.

NBA=Great
Jerry West=Great Laker
Therefore;
Lakers=Great

It's just that easy!

The NBA chose a great LAKER to use as their symbol, a picture (or silhouette) is worth a thousand words!

If I were a betting man...

I'm feeling good, are you feeling good? Good. The Lakers are feeling good too, beating the Suns and the Warriors all the while Denver lost giving us some extra padding for that number one seed that is calling our name.

It's almost playoff time and that means we are getting to that time of the year when we get to see whose predictions were right (mine) and those predictions that were wrong (everyone who disagrees with me). So, just to have a little fun I'm going to map out the Lakers' Western Conference playoff run based on current seed positions.

First round and first up for the mighty Lakers we have Portland. The one we have to watch out for here is Brandon Roy (good name by the way) an incredible player who gives any defense problems, we need to be on him early. However, Roy's not armed with the best backup since Portland's starting big men are out for the season the Lakers are going to use their size to really pound on the Blazers and over a series that will be enough to break down Portland's defense, my prediction: 4-1 Lakers, I put the one in there because the Rose Garden has kryptonite under the floor boards.

Second Round, now we are at the point where I get to just make things up, I like this part. I've put Utah up next and here we have Mr. Boozer, however once again the matchups are going to prove our ace in the hole. The Lakers length really bother Utah and Lamar is a paticular thorn in their side. If the Lakers are playing to win then there is very little Utah can do, my prediction: 4-0 Lakers.

Third round and here comes Denver! It's a Western Conference finals rematch but this time Mr. Billups is around, but that's ok we've got Ron Ron. This is going to be the series to follow. Denver are not too pleased to have waited yet another year to see a trip to the finals and they've got a chip on their shoulder. The Lakers need to be ready to stand up and brawl it out (not literally Ron). The Nuggets aren't going to go away easily but we do have the deeper more talented bench. Lamar needs to really push himself on this one because he is the key to wearing down the Nuggets over the series. Energy and execution off the bench are key we can't afford to let Denver build momentum, they won't give it up easily. Our bench will win this for us, my prediction: 4-2 Lakers. Home court advantage is a wonderful thing.

Hey, look at that the Lakers are back in the finals, who would've guessed?
We'll have to wait and see who the East throw up as a road block but there are plenty of contenders wanting a piece of glory. All we can do is sit back and enjoy the show.

Fact Time Fun!

We here at Purple and Gold know what it is like to be there in the big bad world and to be up against the 'other' fans of the NBA. I feel it is important that Laker fans are armed against all types of Lakersoganists (yes it is a new word that I have created, it means Laker haters, another first at Purple and Gold, alright!). The articles that we write are designed to help people have a better understanding of Laker basketball with an insightful look into the general overtones of the Lakers. However, I think it is also important to have cold hard facts to throw in the face of all those doubters in the world. When an argument has reached a head and there is no convincing the stubborn idiot then a swift reliable fact is always a good way to end the conversation as the victor. That is why I have decided to implement a new theme to the blog. Twice a week I'm going to supply you, the reader, with a fact about the Lakers greatness to use how you see fit. So, to start it all off I will give you your first fact.

Kobe Bryant has as many game winning shots as the Nets have won games.

Kobe game winning shots this season = 7
Nets total games won this season = 7

Therefore Purple and Gold deduce, Kobe > Nets

What do you think Laker fans, is it more likely for Kobe to get another game winner or the Nets to win another game?
Can Kobe defeat the enitire New Jersey Nets by himself? Yes.

Basketball Diaries.....continued.

Ok, it's rant time, I've grown frustrated and annoyed, I know it's hard to believe but that is where I find myself. I was in a bar, once again, to find myself talking to a 'Lakers' fan. Finally I found an ally, or so I thought. The filth that was coming out of this guy's mouth was just despicable. He had the audacity to criticize Pau, for all that scruffy Spaniard has done for us, I was not about to hear these unjustified accusations. He was telling me that Pau, was a terrible player and that we should trade him. "Ok", I said, "who do you suppose that we should get to replace Pau?" His response typified his understanding of basketball and his basic reasoning skills. A quality point guard was his answer. I'm not even going to go into all the details of why this was a stupid response but I will give you the main reasons. The triangle offense doesn't require a traditional point guard to run it's offense. It relies on the guess what, the triangle, that is anchored in the low post. Also why give up one of the best big men in the league. Pau's too soft his constant cry, yes, Pau is too soft but everybody has some weakness you don't just trade someone and screw up a team just for one weakness, you won't have any players left if you do.

Then came his cries of the Lakers suck, hah! Yes, he actually said those words! My reply was, "Yes, I see how you can say that about the team with second best record in the NBA and the team at the top of the Western Conference, point well made, thanks for that." I couldn't take it anymore so I left. However, it didn't end there, during the game against the Raptors, he was text messaging me and I shall quote the exact words that were written.
"Lakers aint not goinga to win. Artest looka like Charlie Murphy. Im diein with lafter."
I ignored the spelling atrocities that weren't necessary, even in a text message,I also just ignored the message. Then at half time the next message was:
"Laker loosin. we goinga keep loosin game ovar. Lebron wins."
Now, this was just butchering the English language and that's just not right. Loose, means it's not tight, lose with one 'o' is the opposite of win, please to all those people that spell it like he did, get it right. Anybody with an education of a ten year should be able to get that right and if they don't, then it will be a word I'm sure they will become very familiar with in life. I'm not even sure what he meant by Lebron wins, we were playing Toronto! We won by the way.

Now Serving Number 17

It's no suprise that the Lakers are playing slack right now. No, a three game losing streak isn't good. No, being eight points down to the Raptors at half time isn't good. But worry not good people. All will be well. I'm sure of it and if I'm sure then you should be sure too (this is Tom writing by the way).

My favourite number just so happens to be the reason why. 17. There are 17 games left before the playoffs. Anything can happen in that time. Celtic fans will tell you we could lose all of them. Save your breath and let the deluded leprechauns dream. Bynum's jersey is also 17 and every game he plays he is becoming more and more dominant. Don't believe me, well, just keep watching.

Right now our heroes in purple and gold are coasting. We are all painfully aware of that. They don't have much to play for right now and every team raises their game against us. They'll play harder against us than anyone else. We are the Champions after all. So in the next 17 games, expect to see the Lakers up the ante as the business end of the season nears. Phil may try a few new combinations and plays. Some little niggles and strains will also be sorted and rested. When the playoffs arrive the boys will have their groove and be ready!

If that doesn't seem good enough and you want more right now, then let me draw your attention to this. Even though we lost against Orlando, it was a tough game. We played hard and lost against a good team. No harm in that. We didn't play our best but showed some metal. Good enough for me for the time being. Against Toronto, after a dismal first half and a half time rallying cry from Fish, we came out and played much better and won. Again, we didn't play that well but improved. Improved is good enough for the moment. Let's keep improving and in 17 games time, we'll be world beaters again. 17.

Charge!

A three game road trip against Eastern Conference teams ended in disaster with nothing but losses to teams that we should beat. This has left laker fans reeling in the wake of such an atrocity. I, as I'm sure many of you, feel that the Lakers should win every game they face, why not? We are the defending champions, we are a deep and talented team, then why all the losing? There are only excuses to be offered and to be honest excuses are not enough. The team has only themselves to blame. What is really going on is arrogance and complacency.

The Lakers have realized that they are incredibly talented and can stroll through games. They play when they want and still win, however there is a flip side to this, sometimes, I hate to say it, they lose. They lose not because they are the inferior team but they get out hustled, out worked and have no sense of urgency resulting in sub-par performances. This isn't good enough, playoffs are around the corner and it's time to start hitting our stride.

There is a difference in the Laker team this year than last year. Last year, though we did have a similar problem, we always rose to the tough occasions set out for us in regular season. We beat Boston and Cleveland last year, we put in the extra effort when it was required. This year it's just not the same, I've rarely seen the sense of determination that would flash up last year. Only when Kobe was injured did I see such a thing. Now, there are some reasons why, last year we got humiliated in the finals (it still hurts to think about it) and we had something to prove. This year we are champions, there's nothing to prove. All we have to do is get by and that is all we are doing. It is not something that Laker fans want to see, a great team just 'getting by'. We should be out crushing and destroying. Teams should fear our arrival like a coastal town being raided by Vikings. We should be looting and plundering all in our path!

It's time for the Lakers to rise and take what is rightfully theirs! The sleeping giant must awake before it's too late. Let out the battle cries! C'mon Laker fans it's time to get ready for the onslaught!

By the way have you seen Ron Artest's hair recently, what goes through that man's head?!

Please?

Dear Mr. Bryant,

Hey man, how's it going? I'm glad that your ankle is feeling better, hopefully that finger will get better too. I see LA is looking good this time of year, good weather, I'm not sure I can handle another Cleveland winter, man it's too cold!
Do you remember China last year? Good times, I can't believe we won gold it was great, you really pulled us out against Spain, thanks man.
Now the reason I'm writing to you is because I just want to ask you a favor, being good friends I don't think it's too far out of the question. So let me just get straight to the point, can I win the championship this year? Please? C'mon man, you've got four! Do you really need five? Shaq's too old man, I can't do everything by myself. We even got this Antawn guy but it's not enough. What more can I do? You just got to let me have it, every one is starting to talk, it's embarrassing, I just can't seem to pull it out! You won last year, it's time to pass the torch, it's the only way I can do it. What do you say?

Sincerely yours,

Lebron James




Dear Mr. James,

No.

Regards,

The Black Mamba

Calling Mr. Doom!

As I was watching the Laker game a few hours ago, I was left thinking, why is Lamar Odom not an all star? Now, before you start calling me names, insult my intelligence and just plain hurt my feelings, let's take some time to think about this. I'm not saying that he should be an all star, I'm asking the question why doesn't he play like an all star?

Lamar Odom is a damn good player, there's no denying it, he can do everything. He can legitimately play every position. Jerry West calls him a swiss army knife, Kareem talks about how he can get a rebound then run the whole floor and make a play. He has good ball handling, unselfish play, aswell as being athletic and strong enough to bang in the paint for boards. Since Christmas, he has been averaging a double double. When he needs to, he can score twenty points and on the flip side if he needs to, he can get twenty rebounds. Why doesn't he get more love? I'll tell you why, inconsistency. Lamar has not played with substantial consistency, he is known to almost disappear in games and whole series. This is not all star style play, the reason people vote for players to be are all stars is because they bring big numbers night in and night out (did you hear that Iverson). However, Lamar's two month stint this year is definitely all star quality and if he keeps it up for the rest of the year and carries it through to next year then he has to be considered as all star worthy.

Even if Lamar played like he is at the moment for the next year, would he ever get the nod? I'm not sure he would, I doubt that those barbarians and heathens that are not Laker fans wouldn't vote for yet another Laker to be an all star. They couldn't be expectd to appreciate such a complex player like Lamar, it's not their fault. He may get in with the coaches vote but he has to have that consistency. Perhaps to get some votes he should change his name to DOOM, you only have to change two letters around, I'd vote for that!

He has the quality let's see if he can bring the quantity (see what I did there), let's see if Lamar can rise up and take the praise that is rightfully his, I believe Lamar I believe!

Before I leave you let me give you another point to consider. Do you think Bynum in a few years will be a legitimate all star? I do, give him a couple of healthy seasons and I definitely think that he will be a regular all star. You heard it here first!