so about those niners lol

Happy Birthday Kobe!

Hi, Lakerville.
This is my first time to post.
My friend's birthday is the same as Kobe's so I never forget it. lol!

Happy birthday, Kobe!

Wouldn't NOT writing about Kobe bring your birthday wish at least a little closer to fruition?

Or am I missing something?

kidding

Who else is not surprised that Kobe, the perfectionist, is a Virgo?

I wish for him that his knee gets better quickly so he can take us deeper into the playoffs this year haha

Happy birthday my negro. In my darkest moments, watching you play ball was the only thing that brought a smile to my face.

In Kobe we Trust,
Go Lakers

AK/BK,

wow I'm now being censored...lol...hopefully you won't object to just posting a link

Laker Nation,
http://www.yaysports.com/nba/2005/09/shaq_slapped_kobe_but_good.html

In Kobe we Trust,
Go Lakers

HAPPY BDAY KOBE.

28 WAS WHEN MJ WILLED HIS CHICAGO BULLS TEAM TO WIN THE TITLE. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

AK,

In my gripes about Kobe getting the wrong end of the stick in some ( not all )of your posts ( and mind u i still think that's true ) .... it may have gotten lost that .... you rock ( but that wasn't the point i was trying to make then )

Btw, I hope you guys don't split the cheque 50/50, BK seems to be slacking lately ... lol

In AK/BK we Trust,
Go Bloggers

Happy Birthday, Kobe.

My wish is for your 4th ring this year. And for a new starting point guard in Jordan Farmar to share your desire to win and your perseverance to be the best.

Los Angeles Lakers 2006/7 NBA Champions.

And many more.

Tom

Happy Birthday, Kobe!
I would wish him an injury free season (how much will that cost?) and true peace in his heart.

Go Lakers!!

Happy Birthday Kobe!!!

My wish for you: win this seasons' mvp, another lakers dynasty, be happy as you have this past months, injury free season and help you dad to help the sparks win this 2006 title.

Thanks for past, present, and future memories.

off topic but has anyone takin notice to how Melo is playing for team USA? I think this is going to be his blow-out season, his confidence is soaring! Which is the last thing we needed in the West but after all said I'm glad for Melo. It makes you really wonder how Kobe would have faired in international style of play, not to mention the impression of team play on him. On second thought that might back fire cause everyone on the USA squad will wish they had a team like the one they have now. Coach K is going to come to the NBA in a year or so, bets? anyone?

Feliz Cumpleanos 8/24!!!!

Here's to another MVP like performance on 06-07!

I've had many ups and downs in my life.From my parents separating,to me and my wife separating.But I always remember the goodtimes i had watching the Lakers.They always kept my spirits up.I've been watching the Lakeshow before Kobe was one,but some of the best times I've had watching was when Kobe and Shaq played together.Win or lose they still put a smile on my face.Hope Kobe gets a little help from Lamar and Kwame.Even MJ couldn't do it alone.Peace

KOBE, TANJOUBI OMEDETOU GOZAIMASU!!!

i'm sure he appreciates the notion, but if coach k was ever inclined to test the NBA waters, he would have done so by now. the older he gets, the less i'm sure he's willing to leave the security and virtual diefication afforded by his position at duke to step into that always-uncertain abyss of being a head coach in the nba. i would think that his experiences with the national team would only solidify that resolve to remain in the college ranks and be a teacher to the young cats who still feel, for the most part, that they have things about the game to learn.

i hope for for both college basketball's and coach k's sakes that he never succumbs to any curiosity about coaching in the nba.

Taliq,

BK's been holding down the Dodger Blog front a little more than me lately, so it all evens out. But I appreciate the concern for my economic well being. haha

AK

Hello Laker Tom,

I'm back sooner than anticipated, albeit for only a day or so. Here is my take on Bonzi and Kings thinking.

First off, I'm often in disagreement with many Kings fans and sports pundits, so I speak only for myself.

Bonzia can be an absolute terror. He can post you up and slam it, or can knock em' down under pressure from three point land. He scores a lot of points collecting offensive rebounds like a mad man. For the most part, he is consistent.

Bonzai instantly became a crowd favorite in Sacramento with his hustle and uncanny ability to be on top of the ball, anywhere on the court, but particularly in the paint. Against smaller guards (and most of them are) he is either a stopper, or a serious nemesis.

He is personable,smart, articulate, good looking, and seems readily adaptable (to the game being played) and is made to order for the Lakers at this point in time. There was some disagreement when I made that contention in an earlier blog, but I stand by it. Bonzai would make the Lakers an instant contender. Repeat, Bonzai would make the Lakers contenders right now. For that reason, nothing short of a sign and trade for Bynum or Lamar would offer any satisfaction to Kings fans, and for some, that wouldn't be enough.

Whether or not Bonzai will assume his old persona as a racist and general problem child remains to be seen. I hope not. In Sacramento, Bonzi was a model citizen and player and the Kings made him an offer which is still by far the best to date.

Many of us -against all odds- are hoping that the Maloofs, before all is said and done, will go into luxury tax territory and offer him a one year deal. Insomuch as he (according to my limited information) stands to make only 3 or 4 million, perhaps with a Denver or Detroit, Bonzi might be amenable to such an offer. He would again be a free agent after the season, and with a new agent, could test the waters again.

The nature of the Kings (non susperstar oriented) play would still give Salmon plenty of time on the floor. If Bonzi came back to us, Salmon would have to be patient. Remember too that Bonzi was injured for most of a month during the latter half of last season. Martin and Garcia stepped it up and the Kings performed almost brilliantly. (The Lakers weren't the only team experiencing a magnificient upside the latter half of last season).

Yes, Ron Ron offered up 1 mil to the Kings to keep Adelman and Bonzi. That spoke volumes to me. Duh!

Even so, Adelman and Bonzi are both gone. Many of us were stunned. Even so, with eight playoff appearances in a row with essentially three different teams, Petrie is like a god up here.

In the end, I have always regretted questioning his moves, however idiotic they may have seemed at the time. I have no choice but to trust his judgement, and probably should, Bonzai or no Bonzai.

An article in Las Vegas review Journal about Kobe's Basketball Clinic.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Aug-23-Wed-2006/sports/9219364.html

Sonny,

It was refreshing to see you talk about a subject, while respecting the Kings, and the Lakers. You have always been a good poster, even though you repeatedly dog us out. I know you are still a closet Laker fan, so I try not to bash you like some of our fellow blog members (even though you do make it hard sometimes lol).

HAPPY B-DAY KOBE!!!!!!! My wish for you is happiness, and respect. I would love to see at least one season where the media, and the general public give you the respect you deserve. They don't have to love you like most of us do, but just to show respect for your game, leadership, and overall growth as a human being would be a great birthday present.

It must hurt all those Kobe haters to see him working hard, spending time with the kids in vegas, even though it's his b-day. I'm sure they even have a problem with that.

Oh, well. Happy b-day to the best baller in the world.

B.
Thee Cali King

Happy B-Day Kobe.

I wish for you a ring and the undying respect of your peers, the media, and us fans.

--Fearless

sonny:

Thanks for your post and comments about Bonzi and the "Lakers." I agree with you that Bonzi would be a great addition to the Lakers and would make them an immediate contender. I still do not undestand why the "Kings" were not willing to re-sign him. I think he would have made them a contender also. I wish the Lakers had shown more interest in him. Undoubtedly, you are right that there is no way the Kings and Lakers could come to an agreement for a sign and trade for him at this point. In fact, have the Lakers and Kings ever made a trade? I can't remember any.

I was also happy to hear that Bonzi had comported himself well while a King. Did I also understand you to say that he played some good defense? I have always believed that toughness was a major component of being a good defender. You have to have a little meanness in you. Most of the fights that I was involved in as a younger man playing basketball always came as the result of battling on defense.

I was listening to a radio talk show a few months ago where the announcer was discussing how certain plays turned franchise's fortunes around. He called them destiny changing plays. Several of the examples he brought up involved some of your and my favorite teams. By the way, I hope you aren't an Atlanta Braves fan, too. Anyway, here's to some great memories for both of us and one painful one for you.

The first destiny changing play was Jim Layritz's World Series home run that jumpstarted the Joe Torre New York Yankees' string of championships and sent the Atlanta Braves toward their journey of championship futility. The second play was "the Catch" by Dwight Clark that vaulted the Bill Walsh San Francisco 49ers to greatness and returned the Cowboys to mediocrity. And the third play was the Robert Horry 3-pointer at the buzzer in the West Conference Finals that sent the Lakers' championship run soaring and closed the championship window for the aspiring Kings.

I appreciate your courtesy in responding to my posts and look forward to more mutual respect in the future. Hopefully, our Niners will take five steps forward this week against the hated Cowboys and the even more hated TO.

Until then. Go, Niners.

Tom

Sonny-

Do you guys even have money up there? Or would we be paid in cow chips and hay?

BK

JJ,

I'm a 20 year old junior at the University of Florida (I take every opportunity to rep my school lol), I'm one of the youngsters on the blog lol. I think I compensate for my age with a pretty strong knowledge of basketball though lol.

How old are you.

BK,

Haha that was a good one. BTW, where've you been you haven't been on the blog in forever.

jj, although I'm not one of the regular posters(although I started reading the blog the beginning of last season), I'm probably one of the youngest here at 18.

A very happy birthday, Kobe. I wish for you a year of growing closer to God, your wife and children, your city and your team. May God bless you abundantly!

Sonny,

Like LakerTom, I've been a Lakers fan since Wilt joined the team, and I've never looked back. It's hard for me to hate the Kings, though, because I was a big Nate "Tiny" Archibald fan when they were in Kansas City. I always thought he was better than Maravich.

I can't see the Lakers trading LO or AB for Bonzai. AB is a potentially dominating center for the future, and LO is dialed in to the triangle at this point. Yeah, Bonzi is explosive and can dominate at times, but I'm not sure how that would work in the triangle when that role is already assumed by Kobe.

I think I need Tex's book.

RespectMyAuthoritah (44)

Kobe, You've provided some awsome memories for our family. Many happy returns and joyful moments.

Purple and Gold: The Lebanese team just beat France! How are you doing? let us know.

Happy B-day KOBE!

Lakofan,

I was thinking the same thing. They say that pictures can add about ten pounds, but he looks like a ligit 220!

>_<

Sometimes we use cow chips to grow not what you call green, but hay. I dare say. The best in the world.

Shady-

Thanks. Sorry about the light showing. As AK mentioned, the internal Kamenetzky Brothers Division of Labor has kept me off for longer periods than normal. I'll be weighing in on more as we finish the summer and get into the season.

BK

I tried to think of something original to say but for once I'm in complete agreement with AK. A veteran point guard would be the perfect present. Next to that, a little peace so the man can spend his time battling Raja Bell, Genobli, and D-Wade instead of the press and ESPN.
Oh, and how about a Christmas game without him OR Shaq?

Happy B-Day Kobe!

May everything go well for you!

May everyday be a happy one for you!

AK, how about you calling out the latimes (editors, reporters, writers, etc.) for their biased coverage on Kobe as a gift for Kobe.

Funny how this local paper prints all perceived negatives about Kobe, yet ingonres all positives (teamwise, community contributions, charity activities, commercial appeals, etc.) about Kobe or even the Lakers.

Melo strikes me to be the hip hop version of Charles Barkley. He can sure ball but I just get the feeling he may come up short on the ring thing.

We talk about players and rings, but not a one of them that's got one, got it on his own. My Kobe Bean birthday wish: 8 APG.

gerry b, exhelodrvr,

thanks for catching the Python reference, i didnt think that many people would catch it haha

isn't Bonzi on the wrong side of 30? I'd hate to offer a long term contract to someone who would only be worth it for 2/3 years (a la Ben Wallace and Shaq)

Xodus,

Yeah, Denver definitely ain't helping Melo's MVP candidacy. There's some bad mojo going on with that team. I was at a few of the Clips-Nugs playoff games, and in the locker room after the losses, they looked somewhere between shellshocked and miserable. Some housecleaning is clearly in order. Ruben Patterson was a good start. Obviously K-Mart needs to go (although who'll take him is another story). And I'm also not so sure about George Karl. Clashes just seem to follow him everywhere he goes.

It's not like they have nobody good besides Melo. I think Andre Miller's a very underrated PG. Camby's done a very nice job. And Nene could be good if he can stay healthy (but he hasn't in a long time, making his 6 yr/60 mil deal nothing short of insane). A change of surroudings could make J.R. Smith a great pickup. Joe Smith, another new guy, is solid and supposedly awesome in the locker room. But for now, they seem like a team that's pretty lost. Melo's stepped up, but that may not be enough.

AK

greek dude

haha yeah i turn 18 in october
itl be cool being the 17year old college kid for a while tho

Sonnybelfast
The big thing about Bonzi is that he is very inconsistent. For the amount of money that he demands he has to be consistent and thats probably the reason why most GMs dont want to pay up. It was the same reason with our current Kwame "no hands" Brown but the difference is that Kwame still has that "potential" and "upside" still surronding him as excuses. Plus he's a big guy which is a bit more rare than a 6-5 athletic SG/SF. The other problem with the Lakers not going after him right now is that we dont have a spot to rotate him in so he could get a lot of minutes. He is mostly plays the 2-3 spot and Kobe has the 2 covered while LO and Vlad will be sharing the 3-4 depending on the lineups specially if we keep Mihm. If Mihm is not the starting 5 he could either be Kwame's backup or move down to the 4 moving LO to the 3 and bringing in Vlad as LO's backup. The only way I could see Bonzi comign to L.A. is with a sign&trade where you would take Mihm/McKie for Bonzi (if he took the $7-8mil) and we could even throw in Cookie to free up some roster space. This would be our lineup.

1. Smush/William/Farmar
2. Kobe/Evans/Sasha/Bonzi(leftovers 2-3)
3. Vlad/Bonzi(leftovers 2-3)
4. LO/Turiaf/Walton
5. Kwame/Bynum/Cook

Bonzi also bring baggage as does Miles. He is also a better defender but lacks that 3pt shot threat that Vlad has and is what we need. However if Bonzi can be our defense specialty (which i doubt since he's only decent) then he could be a good guy to rotate in except he wouldnt be a starter and would get the leftovers. He wouldnt be a bad 6th man if he's willing to accept that role but I would rather save the money for the next offseason and pray that KG demands a trade to L.A. I dont want to seem like a mean guy but I want the Wolves to have a bad season (ya kinda messed up on my part) so KG finally gets fed up and decides to move to beautiful southern Cal.

What's with the Bonzi talk? Great, he exploded in the playoffs, but so did Jerome James(that's not a very good comparison, but it'll do) and we all no how well he did last year. Don't forget, he is a 2/3, as if we don't have the best 2 guard in the world, one of the most versitile small forwards, and spent $30 million on a 3 this summer.

joninjapan,
although this has nothing to do with anything, what college are you going to?

Me=Cal poly San Luis Obispo(actually, i'm there right now taking summer classes)

Dan The Man,

I don't know that much about Gore except to say that he, along with Hicks, spelled Barlow last year. He's a fire stump from a good program who averages almost 5 yards per carry, and very seldom fumbles the ball. The Niners (Nolan and Turner) made him their primary, so hopefully, they anticipate good things from this young guy.

Check out the fantasy section of this link:

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/players/playerpage/411568

At any event, just in case Alex catches on fire, Gore has moved up several spots on my fantasy cheat sheet.

Absolutely, go Niners!

Go Kings!

Kobe some would like K.G. to be gift-wrapped to you:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14467468/

That would be nice, but with or without him, we all know you've taken on the responsibility of carrying us back to the championship...and to quote eminem, even if your shoulders fold up you'll never crumble.

In Kobe we Trust,
Go Lakers

Lakerfaze,
I feel you on that. I've been watching the TEAM USA games and Melo has definitely the best player for the USA. He's the captain now that Kobe (the real captain) sits out for now and he's showing why. I swear Im not just saying this now that Melo is having a break out basketball period, but I alwasy said from the very beginning that Melo was the best player from the draft 3 years ago. He's showing the world what i've know for like 4 years now. Oh and did the best basketball player in the world just said in an interview that melo is the toughest player to guard? Umm yes he did!

GO TEAM USA and GO LAKERS...I cant wait for the damn season to start already I feel like a crackhead in need on that rock!

PHIL JACKSON:

"Jackson described Chamberlain as "a gentle man for all the size and power that he possessed, but had a great deal of pride in his accomplishments. I think Alex Hannum and Bill Sharman reached him as no other coaches had ever done in the NBA — interestingly they were also teammates at USC and ran the [triangle] offense that gave him a lot of options."

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone brought the triangle up concerning Chamberlain. LOL!

mike

Jayjay,

Speaking of the need of a veteran PG, the Nets has recently invited Jay Williams formerly from Duke (who got into serious accident and got rehab.) to play again during the preseason. So in effect, Nets will have premier PGs like: Kidd, Eddie House and probably, Jay Williams. Compare that with the Lakers starting from our current roster: Smush, Sasha, Shammond and Farmar.

I don't know whether you're watching the FIBA games. I commented in my previous posts that in those two games of Team USA against Slovenia and Italy, I saw a lot PG or SG who are fast, reliable shooters who could fill the Lakers need.

Jayjay, you should also consider that we are making these kind of comments cuz' we've not seen the real potentials of our new acquisitions. Whatever it is, it's always advisable to have a contingency plan or grand strategy to keep the Lakers roster competitive throughout the season and very important to COMMUNICATE or at least UPDATE the Laker fans now that there is a blog.

QUESTION FOR THE BLOG (at the end of this post)

First, Edwin -
Couldn't agree more - I've been lobbying for a PG upgrade since BEFORE we let D-Fish get away to the Jazz. We need someone who:
1) can play D on small fast guards like Nash, Parker, Terry, etc
2) is an outside shooting threat so the opposing PG can't always double Kobe
3) has some experience in or can pick up easily the basics of Phil's triangle
The only two that I can spot are T-Lue (who is underused by Atlanta and by the way led all NBA guards in 3-pt percentage last year) and the Glove (who despite chemistry problems on his last year here is still unsigned by Miami).
WHO do you (or the rest of the bloggers) see as a possibility???

Here's an interesting perspective of the ROY, betting wise. http://www.theonlinewire.com/articleView.aspx?ID=1375

Apparently it does not look good for Jordan Farmar:
" Jordan Farmer of the LA Lakers is a possible long shot +2500.

He is expected to compete for playing time and if he gets it, he sure has a great finisher for his playmaking, in Kobe Bryant. Plus nobody sneaks under the radar in LA. Just wearing the Lakers uniform gives one a strong advantage in garnering the publicity needed for the award."

Greek Dude

I'm going to Trinity Western University in Vancouver BC. from what I've heard their sports program is amongst, if not, the top atheletic programs in Canada

not that thats significant or anything

The lakers should invite D. Wagner to training camp. I like his game even tho he's kind of on the small side.

I think our roster is set for next year. we will be much improved compare to last year when Cook was our starting PF.

Happy birthday to Kobe! Thanks for all the great memories so far and here's to more championships to come!

P.S. Congrats to Kobe's dad and the rest of the LA Sparks as they head into the WNBA Western Conference Finals. This is Jellybean's first year coaching in the WNBA and his team had the second-best record in the league, and best in the West. Go Sparks!