Wigging out or not? (Scale of 1-10)
Been a bit of a ride lately for the Laker Nation. In the course of ten days, the Lakers have beaten Detroit and San Antonio, come up huge on the road against New Orleans, found themselves within spitting distance of the coveted 6th seed, signed Jim Jackson, saw Devean George and Chris Mihm go down with injuries, gritted their teeth during Kobe's current shooting slump and have fallen back to the eight spot, a mere game ahead of the Hornets.
Say that five times fast.
Information and emotion overload for the average Lakers fan, to say the least. And given how the blogging community's confidence is often as inconsistent as the team itself, I'm just curious: At 33-32, with 17 games left, has panic mode kicked in yet? You hyperventilating? Losing sleep? Putting in enough phone calls that your shrink needs a shrink? Or simply shrugging your shoulders and saying, "They'll make it happen. No worries." On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your panic level? 1 equals low blood pressure. 10 means you're this close to entering a bell tower with a rifle.
Me? I'm putting it at 2. I predicted the 8 spot from the get go and never expected them to get any higher. Therefore, my world hasn't been rocked. Plus, Houston's toast with T-Mac gimpy, the Hornets are on life support, the Jazz are DOA, and KG shouldn't be around any sharp objects with a teammate in his vicinity. As long as the Lakers maintain a .500 pace or slightly above, there's nobody scary in their rear view mirror. The only reason things merit a "2" in my mind is Mihm's injury. This team's too thin to lose anybody capable of consistent contributions, much less one of their bets players. And he may be out a long while. I don't see that costing L.A. the postseason, but it doesn't allow me to assess the situation as a lowly 1.
So there you have it. I'm giving things a "2." But that's just me. I'm a cool cat, after all. What number best fits your mindset?
AK
I dont know why guys talk so much mess about Kobe Bryant because he is the best. I seriously believe he is better than Michael Jordan. I mean we cant compare the kind of team Michael Jordan had to the team Kobe Bryant has or even the one he had that won the three championships. Michael had some of the best players of all time, Kobe has just been Kobe and Shaq and now just Kobe and seldomely Lamar. Kobe is expected to shoot 35 points every night and I dont know about yall but that is alot of pressure on the poor guy. 35 points every night??? When theres a night he scores 20 some odd points everyone starts critisizing him about how hes not a team player even if that same night he had 7 or 9 assists. Kobe is expected to shoot so we have to realize that. I mean have you ever really sat down and watched the Lakers play a game? Next time you watch a game notice how no one else, except for Kobe, steps up to shoot the ball especially if theyre down. So you all have to realize its not really Kobes fault they lose some of these games, its the rest of the teams fault for not stepping up to the plate and at least creating good oppurtunities. The difference between Kobe and the rest of his whole team is that he doesnt mind taking the ball to the hoop against a double or triple team when theres 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter and theyre down by 1, he just sucks up the pressure and takes the shot. He believes that hell make it and if he doesnt at least he tried his best. The rest of the team is to scared to miss and cant grow the confidence to take it to the hoop and give theyre team the win. Sometimes you see signs of hope. You see them driving to the hoop, taking good shots but then they stop because of their lack of confidence in themselves. Stop making Kobe the scapegoat for this teams shortcomings and start analyzing the game. Cut the poor guy some slack.
Posted by: Ralph | March 16, 2006 at 05:46 PM