Wigging out or not? (Scale of 1-10)

AND THE DEBATE CONTINUES…
First, let me say this: I really don’t think that Chris Mihm is the answer to this Lakers team, not in the slightest. I also don’t believe that Kwame Brown is either, at least not for this year. What bothers me most is the mauling this kid has taken from most of the people on this blog and in the L.A. Times. I know that most of the Times writers are like in their 40’s and 50’s, and they have just been vicious to this Kid, who just turned 24 years old. I guess it’s all in the name of sports and it goes as “part of the territory.” I wonder if these writers would appreciate the same attitude they have towards this kid (Kwame) if it were directed at their own children from the people who observed their performance in whatever field they’re in. I think the answer is no. I’m pretty sure they would consider it to be appalling. Most people in this blog seem to want to vent their frustrations for this current Lakers season. The comments I’ve read concerning this kid, without justification, again, appalling. Let me make this perfectly clear. KWAME BROWN has very little to do with the Lakers woes. Most people, from what I gather, are disappointed with what can be called “unfulfilled potential” from Kwame.
THE BREAK DOWN
Kwame’s 1st season. Nothing really expected from the kid, especially with Michael Jordan at the helm, and Richard Hamilton as the 2nd banana.
He averages 14 minutes a game. 3.5 rebounds. 4.5 points.
Kwame’s 2nd season. Again, Michael Jordan and Richard Hamilton.
He averages 22 minutes a game. 5.3 rebounds. 7.4 points.
Kwame’s 3rd season. No more Michael Jordan or Richard Hamilton. Now his new teammate is Gilbert Arenas.
He averages 30 minutes a game. 7.4 rebounds. 10.9 points. (There’s progress)
Gilbert Arenas’ stats for that year were as follows:
37 minutes per game. 5 assists. 19.6 points. (Pretty good for a point guard)
Kwame’s 4th year he was injured. He played only 42 games and his numbers fell to:
21 minutes per game. 4.9 rebounds. 7.0 points, while Arenas’ averages were as follows: 40.9 minutes a game. 5.1 assists. 25.5 points.
My point being: Kwame was making progress for a guy who came straight from high school, but by the time Kwame returned from his injury with the intent of building on that confidence, Arenas’ personality/ego had already taken over the Wizards offense (from 19.6 points to 25.5 points per game is a huge jump for one year) This is from a point guard! This is the same point guard who got snubbed from being an All Star by the voters (this year). So, what did he do? He vowed revenge. He would make the fans realize that it was a mistake to leave him off of the All Star team. What did he do when the Wizards restarted their season after the all star break? He went on a scoring spree to prove his point that he was deserved, and it was a mistake for a player of his ability to be left off the All Star team by the voters. This is the type of players Kwame Brown has had to play with his whole career. How would you like to play with a point guard who goes on a scoring spree to prove to the basketball world that he wasn’t treated well by being snubbed by those who choose who is going to the All Star game. A FREAKEN POINT GUARD! They bumped heads and Brown was traded to the Lakers before that happened but you get the idea of what type of player Arenas is. NOTE: This is the type of player that gets invited to the National team????? But that is a different subject.
Let’s see, first Michael Jordan, along with Richard Hamilton, Gilbert Arenas, and now Kobe Bryant. These players, at least, Jordan, Arenas, and Bryant are domineering players. These players, whether you acknowledge it or not, feel, as if though, they had or have to shoot the ball to carry a team so that their team can be competitive. There is no room for any other. (This was Shaq’s complaint from the beginning of his clash with Bryant)
The Lakers, this season, had one stretch when they played excellent ball. When they went 5-1 on an early road trip. It was team ball and excellent defense that led the team to those victories. In between that road trip and now, the team has been up and down. There have been many things, which led to this up and down season, namely: a lot of needless 3 pointers, no mid range jumpers (outside of Kobe), and no defense, but mostly Kobe Bryant’s shooting, and trying to do too much by himself. I don’t mean this as a bash towards Kobe, it’s more of an observation, I love Kobe, but it’s the truth. My point being: Kwame Brown has game, but we will never see that game while he is buried under the likes of Michael Jordan, Gilbert Arenas, and Kobe Bryant. He is buried on this Los Angeles Lakers team as an after thought as an offensive option. Yet, we say, prosper! And do so, quickly. That reminds me of that old Biblical story, when the old Hebrews were in the land of Egypt, and the great Pharaoh (the media) demanded bricks, but provided no straw for the Hebrews to make the bricks. Gee, give me a break! If we ever want to see Kwame Brown as a solid scoring/offensive option we must provide the straw. The problem with that is, that he, Kwame, is so self-conscious about it that we would have to see the growing pains of that process before we see the results. We can thank Michael Jordan, Gilbert Arenas, and Kobe Bryant for that, or better yet, Doug Collins, Eddie Jordan, and Phil Jackson.
This season’s Lakers problems are not because of Kwame Brown.
What really bothers me about all of this is the hostility this young man has taken from the media and this blog. Yet, no one ever says anything about Chris Mihm. Chris Mihm is a serviceable center, at most, in this league. Why is that? Because there are problems with Chris’ game, that’s why. What are those problems? He seems to be able to score. He seems to be able to rebound. He seems to be able to block shots…why isn’t he an all star? Heck, why isn’t he even a boarder line all star? Because his game has shortcomings, or he would be considered to be a boarder line all star…why hasn’t anyone said anything about Chris? Why doesn’t James Worthy mention Chris’ defense on KCAL 9? Among opposing teams Chris has no defensive respect! Chris was injured because he got dunked on by Chris Wilcox. The force of a Wilcox dunk overpowered Mihm and Mihm went sprawling to the ground. Tell us, James Worthy, why isn’t Chris Mihm a boarder line all star? Show us in the Worthy spin why he isn’t a boarder line all star. What? Cat got ya by your tongue?
What’s my point? My point is that I can pick apart Chris’ game as well as anyone in this blog, or in the media can pick apart Kwame’s game. Yet, Kwame is the one taking the brunt of the Lakers frustrations.
It was and continues to be criminal, to me, to see this young man being mauled by the media and this blog, and then to see AK/BK feed that fire by making Kwame the subject of their blog line, the BOOING OF KWAME BROWN and yesterday’s IT’S KWAME TIME. These two guys know damn well, with all the hostility Kwame’s been getting, that these two subjects were nothing more than some sick way of having the fans continue their verbal hostility towards the young man, while preserving their blind loyalty to Chris Mihm. If I say anything about Chris Mihm, I’m accused of having something against Chris. I haven’t seen AK/BK respond to any of the bloggers when they berate Kwame. I haven’t seen any of the bloggers say to any of the Kwame bashers: hey, that’s enough! As a matter of fact, they had a ball with it. Hell, they’re probably salivating at the mouth whenever some one says something about Kwame. The truth of the matter is that in Kwame’s 3rd year he averaged 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds. Chris Mihm has never done that in 7 years. A raw 3rd year kid out of high school did what Mihm has yet to do. When I make my remarks about Mihm, it’s because they are based in facts. When people remark on Kwame, it’s based on hostility. (I know, I know, you have the tapes, James, but you also have tapes on Chris, too)
I had one blogger respond to me with this line:
MikeT, whatever horrible thing Mihm did to you, you need to find the courage to forgive him and move on with your life. Your bitterness against him only hurts yourself, not him...
I’ve monitored the comments. This person who wrote this to me is one of the biggest Kwame basher in the blog. My response that person was:
Guity, whatever horrible thing Kwame did to you, you need to find the courage to forgive him and move on with your life. Your bitterness against him only hurts yourself, not him...STUPID!
That’s how biased these idiots are. They can spew on Kwame without conscience, but say a word on Mihm and one is accused to have bitterness in his heart. It would be hilarious if it weren’t down right hypocritical.
IN CONCLUSION
Kwame is a Los Angeles Laker. Leave the kid alone, allow him to breath, PLAY TEAM BALL, and I’ll bet you we’ll see him blossom. He is not the source of the Los Angeles Lakers problems, he may not be the answer, this year, but neither is Chris Mihm. Chris Mihm will never be the answer for the Los Angeles Lakers, while Kwame is making 7 million because he has the potential to be that type of player. Of course, that’s if he isn’t run out of town by all these salivating media types who have nothing to say about Chris Mihm, a serviceable/boarder line back up center, at best.
The Lakers problems are with the DEFENSE and Chris was a big part of that problem!

Mike

P.S. Actually, I’m not really posting these things for most of the bloggers on here. I do it more for just one or two of you who have responded to me through email with positive things to say.

I'm between a 1 and a 2. I love my Lakers and would do almost anything to avoid missing a game, but then again, it's just basketball. Whether they make the playoffs or not really has no influence over anything important in the world whatsoever, there's a heck of a lot more important things to get stressed out about than whether or not a sports team is successful. Of course I want them to do well because watching them brings me a lot of joy, but this is just entertainment guys, if anyone's losing sleep or stressing out to the point of distraction, they should get some help.

CBuck's wigging out scale: 4

i think that's healthy enough, i won't be walking the streets naked and mumbling to myself anytime soon, but i am a bit anxious

through all this inconsistency, we have recently shown a ability to win when it matters (i.e. guarding our 8th playoff spot) ... that didn't happen last night...

i understand mihm and george's absence played a role, but we showed that we could play with Sac in the first quarter... then that crappy defense started

so no mihm, no consistency, no defense = i'm concerned about our chances but still positive

I'd put it at a 6. Our schedule, though filled with home games, still contains some tough opponents to come - Without Mihm, many of the games we would have had and easy time with become tough games. And we still have Minny tonight (who we have yet to beat, even with Mihm, Spurs, Suns, Sac again, PHX twice, and the Clippers to come. Bynum is cute, and in a couple years will be teriffic, but he's a far cry from replacing Mihm. Kwame is a turnover machine. And Kobe's legs look done, based on his recent shooting slump.

I think there's a pretty good chance we go 6-12 in the last 18 games, if you assume we lose a couple easy games just because that seems to be what this team likes to do. The losses to Atlanta, portland, charlotte, etc. are going to come back and bite this team hard.

Wish it weren't so, but with teams figuring out how to play Kobe (crowd him inside the paint, make him dish to one of the kids who can't hit a wide open shot, or force Kobe to shoot poorly from 3 point land) and the refs showing kobe even less love than usual, I think we are in deep deep water here.

AK,

Oddly enough, I'm right there with you. The Mihm injury scares me a bit, but I was watching Sportscenter last night and even though the Lakers lost, they remain ahead of the next two teams, the Hornets and Jazz. I think it's more the fact that those two teams don't scare me at all as it is my faith in the Lakers ability to win a bunch of games that I feel pretty comfortable saying we'll end up in the 8th spot.

I should probably ask this on the other topic this morning, but since I missed the game and only get to read the highlights and box score, did Smush basically get schooled by Bibby in the fourth? Was it the usual Smush Parker "either get the steal or get blown by" defense? Just curious.

AK,
I kinda like you I guess because deep down I know this team will be in the post season.
My "wig-o-meter" is at 3 right now, I knew that Sacto was a better team then us, so I cant be that "wigged".
A loss tonight and I'll be a healthy 5.
And if we get blown out I'll be like a 7.

I just want to say that all this talk about Artest "owning" Bryant makes for great headlines (particularly in the breathless Sacramento Bee), but it's hardly true. Kobe had 30, 7 and 7, which is about LeBron's average. Hardly embarassing numbers. And it wasn't just Artest "limiting" Kobe (who doesn't play as well on the road anyway, and is currently mired in a mini-slump), it was the entire Kings team. Artest may have had a better shooting percentage, but who was triple-teaming HIM? Who was bringing the cavalry to the strong side of the floor when HE had the ball? And the fact that Kobe didn't get to the line last night was no surprise. The game was played in Sacramento, after all.

Hey, the Lakers gave Sacto a spanking when they came to L.A. Sacto just returned the favor. I expect the Kings to get the same treatment when they come to L.A. in a couple of weeks. The Lakers will be ok, playoff-wise. I just hope that when they secure that 8th spot, Dallas -- and not San Antonio -- is sitting atop the Western Conference standings.

1 but then again I'm a realist so I'm not worried about coming in 8th. It's all about next year, this team doesn't have enough healthy pieces or enough experience to get very far.

It's all about play time for the kids, and playoff experience would be great by not essential. I'd love to see a run like Miami made when LO was there but the West is quite a bit tougher than the East was then and now.

mark my word!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we would soon take the 7th spot back from the kings! has anyone checked the kings schedule lately? if not go take a look. bunch of road games, and some not so easy home games. patience my people, patience. it's not over until it's over!
GO LAKERS, GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Personally, I am not panicked at all. As much as I love the Lakers, I did not think they would even make the playoffs, especially after Ronny was diagnosed with a heart problem. What does worry me, is that we have players who need playing time to develop - players who might be our future, like Ronny and Andrew. If these players don't start to develop now, they will be like rookies all over again next year. Don't get me wrong, I want the Lakers to make the playoffs, but if we don't I would like us to be better prepared for next year. Chances are that we won't even get a first round draft choice, so we will have to go with what we got, barring some kind of miracle trade or player signing. I am hoping Ronny and Andrew can get at least 15 minutes each per game from here on out.

Lamar's playing great basketball the past 6 games avging 19 8 and 7.

last 6 games...
24 6 7
21 3 6
13 8 9
18 17 6
13 7 4
24 5 10
avging of 18.8 points, 7.7 boards and 7 assist

Artest
28 4 5
15 3 2
30 6 2
9 9 6
11 3 3
30 4 5
avging 20.5 points, 4.8 boards, 3.8 assists

Artest might provide a little more scoring and stronger D... there's no doubt odom is more versitle. i still think we should have trade bynum, george and mihm for artest (which indiana offered). now that odom got the green light to be more free, he's stepping up his game.

I am at 10 (and that’s bad since I was a Marine rifle expert)!! It’s one thing to expect these guys to get the 8th seed. It’s another thing to have them show brilliance one day and stupidity the next. Why am I at a 10? Because the grey hairs (not to mention the ones that have fallen out) indicate I am. My blood pressure is high and my wife thinks I am going insane. I would be at a lower level if these guys played consistently, even if it’s consistently bad.

Smush’s inability to keep his man in from of him gets my blood boiling.
Lamar’s inconsistency and nonchalant play makes me pull my hair out.
Luke’s sorry defense makes me spit blood.
Kwame’s horrible hands makes me punch the TV.
And PJ sitting on the bench smoking the peace pipe instead of making his team do push-ups for every bonehead mistake they commit makes me climb the tower and lock n’ load (J/K).

level 2 too

I'd say a 4. Lakers were already thin in the front court, the loss of Mihm really hurts (how valuable has he proven to be- and how scary is that idea). Kobe looks like he's starting to wear down, and the rest of their schedule is pretty tough.

Like AK said everyone below them is floundering as well, but you never know, a team can make a push. I still think they are going to make the playoffs, but the idea of being dismissed by SA in the first round rather than fighting it out with Denver doesn't really comfort me.

Wig factor of 8. As in #8, eight spot in playoff race.
Kings got much better with Artest, Lakers stayed the same, 50/50, up and down.
If Jazz, Hornets, get hot, LA in trouble. Lakers lose games they should win, especially at home, not a good sign going down the stretch.
Kobe looks down last two games, anyone else notice his body language?

I think the Lakers are playing well below their potential. How can Phil stomach the periods of play he has seen from this team? I'm hearing the players mention chemistry a few times. Changes need to be made. Playoffs? Not likely this year. This team can't "turn it on and off". As a die-hard Laker fan, this year is worse than last year because there was hope for this year. All we've seen is bad bad defense and very poor shot selection. A good lottery pick might be the answer.

OK, thanks to "Hurt" I think I have settled down to a 9 on the wig-o-meter. I’m still laughing over this comment Hurt made:

"I love the Lakers and no other but this cuurrent team is killing me. I don't think they can sweep the LA Sparks in a five game series. That's how F#$@**N' incosistent they are. what the hell is wrong with these guys??????"

Mike,

I don't think AK/BK are trying to take shots at Kwame, but then again maybe they are. Or maybe they do it to get you fired up.

I don't think the bloggers are all Kwame haters either. They talk about Lamar and Smush A LOT!

1---because I know they're going to miss the playoffs and I love it...

Kobe, are you starting to realize that your selfishness and inflated ego has cost you one (and soon two) postseasons during the prime of your career ? I can't wait until he goes into whine mode in the offseason, 'I want Yao' or 'I want a trade' which one will it be...

Phil, do you now realize that you can't coach any team that doesn't have a hall of fame superstar combination ? Larry Brown has more coaching talent is his left toenail than you do in your entire body.

I just want to know why no one has brought up the fact that this Laker team is following the same path as last year. Weren't they .500 at the break last year ? Didn't they collapse in April last year ? Hey, but this year we have Odom and Phil is back...huh, coulda fooled me...looks like the same win/loss count...

I'm a 2, too. :)
Kinda worried with the injuries myself but I always thought they'd sneak into the playoffs with the 8th seed. It's not so bad if we get either the Spurs or Mavs. They can't run with the Suns anyway.

Go Lakers!

I tried Laker Fans. I tried to put an AllStar Calibar Player in your midst. Your Owner NOT your GM turned it down. So I had to do what was best for my Team. I didnt even ask for Odom. Can you imagine That! You could have had Kobe, Artest and Odom playing for a Championship! Can you Imagine That! As much as I hate your Team, You had a Chance! Dont think Im not sitting back and smiling right now. You had a Chance!
And you can owe all to your Great Owner and His Son. Oh and by the way Peja has been just great for us. Thank You Lakers for not making that trade. Thank You very much.

I still have faith --- 3.

Lamar Show

Was that deal ever on the table? Wasn't it LO or nothing?

It could have been LO, Artest, Brown, Kobe, Smush and Buss said no????????
Seems unbelieveable cause that team could go deep into May, maybe June and not waste the best years of our superstar's career. Anybody else know if that was an option?

Oh my lord, oh my Jesus. Oh Mother Marry.. bless Lakers with you mighty power.

I'm not panicing, but I'd give it a 5 as in 50/50 they'll get in the playoffs. I think without Mihm they will have a tough time staying above .500.

It's also tough to beat anybody when they shoot 3 pointers at 52% and 54% for the game. I really think this is a training ground for next year. I think it will be great if the Lakers make the playoffs, but realisticly, getting out of the 1st round?

Speaking of next year, we are seeing the potential of Smush. I think if this kid continues to develop, he could be very special.

Mihm needs to continue to develop his post moves with Kareem and shoot a bunch of 15 footers a day over the summer. There is no reason he can't be as good a shooter as Brad Miller. He's already better in the post.

And Cook needs to strengthen his post offense to go with his shooting ability.

With a commitment to defense, the experience of a year working with the Triangle, and hopefully some free agent help, the Lakers could be ready to make a serious move up the standings next year.