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?)