A win so easy, it wasn't even worth Kobe's time
Which could explain his urge to take off early. Maybe catch the tail end of the Oscars, see how his pool picks were holding up (word is he picked upset Best Actress Marion Cottilard, which provides one's ballot a major boost), dish via text with friends over the fashion do's and don't's and who looked good while pregnant.
Or he was just pissed about the over the back's going unwhistled and figured, "My team's gonna smoke these chumps as it is, so this would be the perfect game to inform an officiating crew what a lousy job they're doing."
Probably one or the other.
In any event, this 111-91 win over the Sonics featured a quick Laker lead that was never relinquished or in jeopardy, with and without Bryant on the court. And frankly, Kobe didn't need a ton of time on the hardwood to put together a pretty good stat line (21/4/10, 8-13 shooting), work that help create the foundation for a cruise control victory in his absence. Plus, his teammates weren't exactly slouches with their two cents. Yet another double-double from Lamar Odom, 22 from Pau Gasol, and a baker's dozen off the bench from Sasha "I'm a Machine at any time of day" Vujacic were just the highlights of a roster greasing a box score from top to bottom. That action illustrates why your Los Angeles Lakers have leapfrogged past the recently embarassed Suns and currently sit atop the entire Western Conference (which ain't the only poll they're topping, FYI). When oats are being felt in such fashion, a team can even overcome refereeing botches that fester at a hereditary level.
Is it premature to start thinking about "34?"
The Lakers are a cohesive unit with everyone on the same page and enjoying each other's company. Which pretty much makes the Knicks the "Bizarro-Lakers."
Despite the positive impact of Cleveland's newest Cavs, if Danny Ferry is really serious about keeping LeBron James, it might be worth his time to spread a rumor about The King and Beyonce.
Ex Clipper Wang Zhi-Zhi may have been soft on the court, but he'll clock dudes on the street like nobody's business.
I just hope when Bynum gets back he wont disrupt the flow.
One thing I notice, Lamr does a great job with kobe and Pau. It might be a good I dea to keep lamar kobe and pau on the first team, unless matchup is a problem. Keep Bynum on the second team. To condition him slowly back to playing.
As much as I want to do Bynum, Pau Odom, kobe on the first team, I think it will really benefit us if we make the 2nd team stronger by putting bynum in.
I cant wait to see the playoffs...
GO LAKERS!!!
Posted by: jaworski | February 25, 2008 at 02:42 PM
SASHA THE MACHINE..KOBE THE MVP
“Vujacic has become a reliable three-point shooter, giving the Lakers an added piece on an already energetic and efficient bench.
He is averaging 11.9 points in 12 games this month and is shooting a remarkable 51% from three-point range over the same span.”
Of course, Kobe has had nothing to do with Sasha also shooting at an all-time high. Kobe has nurtured and trusted Sasha which is one big reason the Machine has been playing so well. More Kobe Bryant for MVP.
I am now totally confused. Where did “the Machine” nickname come from? Joel and Stu? Sasha? Faith? Anybody know for sure? Thanks.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | February 25, 2008 at 02:43 PM
Thanks to everyone who shared their all time fav Lakers--what is extremely cool is that the Laker Legacy is so deep there are too many great players to choose from--and then there is today and the future....
Puddle, yeah I always wished Eddie Jones would have been a Laker for life as well
If Barry wants to resign with the Spurs he has to wait 30 days after the trade so he will not be on the play-off roster because you have to be on the roster on March 1st to be eligible for the play-offs--isn't this true??
I would love to see more playing time for Sasha and Ronny--we HAVE to resign both of them this summer
Hey does everybody hate that commercial with all the bean town reactions to the aquistion of Garnet?
They really need to make one on Laker fans (world wide) reaction to the Pau aquistion.
K-Bros---any response to my question if Mbenga and or Pau is working with Kareem? Thanks
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Floyd | February 25, 2008 at 02:46 PM
>The Lakers have done very well against losing teams, something
>like 21-2.
was it bucks and hawks?
both were also very winnable games which lakers gave away in the 4th.
Posted by: | February 25, 2008 at 02:48 PM
Man I can't believe the Suns fans are still loving "The Big Myopic".
Posted by: JC Smith | February 25, 2008 at 02:49 PM
I read somewhere that the Lakers (last Wed game) are the only team to score at least 30 points in each quarter against a Shaq team.
Posted by: mel | February 25, 2008 at 02:51 PM
Korey! Korey! Korey!
"So Vujacic is actually keepable now. A good player.
So what happens if some team offers him $5 mill next year, do we keep him for that price?
What's out of range for his talent?"
Hello? You said you don't care how much we are paying odom? Why do you care now! Odom's salary is a total equivalent of Sasha, Turiaf and Farmar's signing. Now you understand what a deep bench is? One player for the price of three...
If you add the signing of Bynum and Ariza, how much you think you can offer Odom as a 4th or 5th option?
The way I see it.
Kobe 1st
Gasol 2nd
Bynum 3rd
Fisher is the 4th option, Sasha is the 5th and Odom is 6th option in offense, as in who would you rather taking the shot in the Finals? You really think Kobe when double teamed will look for Lamar? Everybody knows he will look for either Fish or Sasha to take the shot.
Wake up Korey? Wake up!
Posted by: Staples 24 | February 25, 2008 at 02:52 PM
Laker Tom, I cannot take credit for that one. I heard that in the mid- 90s and had really forgotten about it til today.
Pop is such a hypocrite. Just say it's all good an you can have Barry back after PJ does x-mas early for you.
Thanks for the Kudos Tim 4 Show and Frank Rizzo. It sure is nice to b a Laker Fan isn't it.
Speaking of nice to be a Laker Fan....Long Time Laker Lover? What is up? If you are a Laker Fan, you have to be a Kobe fan. The two have been synonymous since '96. I sense that you are one of those Shaq people who is still bitter, and I respect that, but if you're just a hater posing as a fan. Not good. Nobody gives more than Kobe. Nobody works harder than Kobe. Maybe it was a foul? C'mon,...maybe we won the game,...that is about how maybe it was. So Kobe left the waning minutes of an already out of reach game? As for your comment that at least this showed that we wouldn't be a lottery team right now without Kobe? What? We would be one. How is this an example of how we wouldn't be a lottery pick? We were -9 or -11 without him to the worst team in the West. That was just over a 20 minute period. Extrapolate that over the Game and it could have been -25 against the worst the West has to offer. I am not saying that we wouldn't win without Kobe, but this sure as heck is not an example of how they could win without him. Is it? Let me know.
BTW I am not saying that holding a 30 point lead is easy and staying focused is simple,I am just saying that last night's 20 min's without Kobe did not prove that we would not be a lottery team without Kobe
Posted by: Kobesbad | February 25, 2008 at 02:53 PM
Mamba 24 heck put me on the champ band wagon too please.
And Zakee, I dont know if the Lebrons can get to the finals this year, they have a much stronger Boston and Detroit to get through this year.
Personally Id love to see a Celtics/Lakers finals myself, I like KG but hes gotta lose on that account, and I want to see Ray Allen cry.
Posted by: BrandonC | February 25, 2008 at 02:54 PM
Man I can't believe the Suns fans are still loving "The Big Myopic".
Posted by: JC Smith | February 25, 2008 at 02:55 PM
Floyd--
I heard Kareem on the Loose Cannon's talking about working with Mbenga. Unfortunately we can Bynum"ize" him with our ray gun, eh?
Mamba 24 could you put me on the 60 win bandwagon ?
Kobesbaaaaaaaaaaad (and he is)
Posted by: Kobesbad | February 25, 2008 at 02:56 PM
BrandonC -
After Ray Allen made the olympic team over Kobe and all of his crummy remarks towards Kobe I would love to see Ray Allen Cry too.
What do you think? If TMac gets his team out of the 1st round this year, the pundits will start talking about how much more talented, valuable and (insert adjective)________ is than Kobe.
Would also love to see Bron Bron cry and Nash again and Shaq and...just about everyone else actually
Posted by: Kobesbad | February 25, 2008 at 03:02 PM
SBPimp,
Beautifully said my man, beautifully said.
Kobesbad,
Nice joke. lol.
Mamba24,
Great to see you back, keep up the fine job.
Posted by: bozz | February 25, 2008 at 03:03 PM
Fire
"That's the spirit, that's the confidence I like to hear
much better
ready to face any team. No bashing of any signing or trade, simply accepting a challenge with total trust that your team IS the best team out there."
You better believe it! We are the Los Angeles Lakers home of the bla bla bla bla! You know what I mean! while Suns is the Valley of the NONES.
Posted by: Staples 24 | February 25, 2008 at 03:03 PM
GO LAKERS!
I love the optimism....but can we not get too ahead of ourselves with counting victories? Let's stay with the team and support their one game at a time and keep making good strides attitude. GSW and @ Sac are always tough games - Lakers have to be on for each of those. GSW will be playing for the 8 spot again and old Nelly always has tricks up his sleeves.
Posted by: psychedlakergirl | February 25, 2008 at 03:04 PM
Long Time Laker Fan,
I like Jelani McCoy.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | February 25, 2008 at 03:05 PM
Marty Burns at SI is a Laker Hater, every power ranking he lists no matter how good the Lakers do he disses them.
This week every power ranking I can find has the Lakers at #1 but not Marty the douche, he has the Lakers at FRIGGEN # 3 behind Houston and Utah WHAT???!!!
My cat knows more about basketball than Marty Burns
Heres the link:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/marty_burns/02/25/power.rankings/index.html?eref=T1
Posted by: BrandonC | February 25, 2008 at 03:06 PM
Staples 24,
I looooove it how you assign phantom options to people. lololol...
I'm in a good mood, but c'mon this is ridiculous:
"Fisher is the 4th option, Sasha is the 5th and Odom is 6th option in offense, as in who would you rather taking the shot in the Finals?"
Actually, I want Rad or Farmar taking a open jumper before Odom but that's not the point of "option".
How much basketball have you played in your life? Well, lets just say I know you played pickup at least. If it's game point, you dont give the ball to Sasha or Fisher and say win! You give the ball to a creator like ODOM to make a play for himself or somebody else. If Kobe can not get the ball, we will give it to Pau to create a double team or Bynum and then Odom.
You can only be an OPTION if you can score at will in a one-on-one situation and create for yourself first of all. When has Sasha or Fisher done something like this?
What is your infatuation with assigning the label "Scoring options" to players who dont do anything but spot up and shoot?
These are finishers, these are guys you have on the court not to run plays for but to capitalize off of the defense over-committing to players who do make plays! The guys who will get a high % if they are left 1 on 1!
Why dont you understand this?
Why must you be so ignorant on this...
On salary cap stuff,
Ariza is not as high a priority as Odom as he has barely played this year. Sasha is obviously a higher priority as he is a good bench presence to score and provide spark. He is a guy you might pay 2.5 mill for but I could see a team overpaying mid-level for him (like Toronto or PHX). So in that case do we spend considering Bynum needs to get paid still? What about Turiaf?!
Dude, you dont just go fiscally responsible with the big contracts. Management has to value every player to their level or you will have less money to offer to the players that really matter...
Posted by: Korey | February 25, 2008 at 03:06 PM
Staples, Wake up!
We will pay Sasha whatever we need to keep him in purple and gold. Just like we will do for Lamar. And Bynum. And Ariza. And Farmar. Winning will cure everything. It’ll load Buss’ pockets with the cash he needs to keep the team together and still post the second biggest profit in the league next to the Knicks. The cash cow from the championships totally trump any luxury tax we have to pay. The Lakers are like the Yankees and Knicks. Between appreciation in the value of the franchise and net income from local TV and other marketing, they still make more money even with huge salaries.
I also think that it is entirely possible that we will see Kobe opt out and re-sign a final long term contract to retire as a Laker, say maybe 7 years for $150M, which will be the equivalent of a home town discount. Mitch will appeal to Kobe with the same argument that Riley used to get Shaq to agree to $20M and drop his $30M demand. If Kobe does this, there will be a nice trickle down effect throughout the team. Drew will probably sign an 5-year $80M contract like Howard. Maybe Lamar will sign for 3-years and $35M. Sasha will probably get the equivalent of the MLE or what Kapano got last year.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | February 25, 2008 at 03:07 PM
Mamba24,
I think all of us on the 55-Win Bandwagon should automatically
get bumped up to the 60-Win Bandwagon... after all, the acquisition
of Pau is automatically worth another 5 wins. Anybody disagree?
Oh and put me on the Laker Championship bandwagon as well
as the Kobe for MVP (or No Peace) bandwagon.
Thanks!
Bzar
Posted by: Bzar | February 25, 2008 at 03:09 PM
LakerTom and others,
I think the rule is that a player must be waived (and not on a roster) before March 1, not that he must be signed. Thus, Barry could join the Spurs just in time for the playoffs and right after he's recovered from his injury.
And I definitely think the Lakers will get to 60+ wins this year.
Posted by: DK | February 25, 2008 at 03:09 PM
If I knew Mitch email address I would send him a email telling him how sorry I am for the thing that I said about him before the PAU TRADE
Posted by: ANTHONY JOHNSON | February 25, 2008 at 03:11 PM
Mamba24,
I've been a reader of this blog for the last year and just submitted my first post last week.
I've been telling everyone up here in Reno to be prepared for the Lakers to win a few in a row...so please add me to the:
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK LAKERS
CHAMPIONSHIP BANDWAGON
Peace
Posted by: renoLaker | February 25, 2008 at 03:11 PM
LakerTom,
I heard Sasha made up his own nickname. Keep in mind "Mamba" is also self prescribed...
Posted by: DK | February 25, 2008 at 03:13 PM
Laker Tom-
I agree with your salary takes and how winning cures all.
Anybody remember Don Ford? That was a beach bum (i hard somebody callingLuke that earlier).
Posted by: Kobesbad | February 25, 2008 at 03:13 PM
LTLF,
"I'd go with adding either a SF or a big.
Lamar is presumably going to take over most of the minutes at
SF when Drew comes back, but it's looking more and more like
Ariza won't be back this season, and Rad and Luke are
perenially injured."
Scottie Pippen! Lakers has been looking for a Scottie Pippen to Kobe Bryant and will never find one, so might as well bring the real one.
That or...
Nick Fazekas for a big, he does play like Gasol.
Posted by: Staples 24 | February 25, 2008 at 03:17 PM
Kobebad,
No doubt about it Kobe will get snubbed by MVP voters again this year, your summation is correct, he will get hosed no matter what.
For example all the MVp voters will say Kobe has to Yin to win MVP, he uses too much Yang, Yang never wins chamionships only YIN.
Next year Kobe is a Yin machine, he Yins onto the court, he Yins over to the scorers table he Yins all over the opposing teams night in and night out but suddenly it will be, Kobe is ignoring the Yang of his game. Never before has a player gone out of his way not to use his Yang on a basketball team. He needs YANG to get out of the first round of the playoffs.
Next year Kobe is the perfect balance of Yin and Yang, he is a Yin/Yang machine, no one has ever before seen such subtle use of Yin and such explosive Yang, its true mastery, the Lakers are the favorite. But the voters?
Kobe achieved his Yin Yang mastery with help, he is not the true Yin/Yang master his team mates are making the Yin/Yang balance possible, Chris Paul or Lebron are the only true Yin/Yang masters.
Watch its gonna happen.
Posted by: BrandonC | February 25, 2008 at 03:20 PM
BrandonC,
I never like clicking on links that go to articles written by haters (such as Simers and now Plashke)...
But I did anyway. I wanted to see what this guy says. I see that last week we were #5 and we're #3 right now. I don't mind the #3... it's who he puts ahead and why. BOGUS.
Here's what he said, "Gee, Kobe Bryant's pinkie sure had a miraculous recovery, didn't it? The Lakers' star pumped in 21 points in 26 minutes Sunday as they won at Seattle to make it eight straight. He also had 41 to slay the Suns last Wednesday."
Notice how he insinuates the pinkie not being a big deal? Never mind what the trainers in New Orleans said a week ago... that no one should play with a finger that bad. And yet this idiot of a journalist is minimizing this aspect. The fact that Kobe can play through the pain and play with a TORN ligament and bone that's been ripped off, only speaks to greatness.
#3? Okay. I'll take it. But put us behind San Antonio & Detroit... maybe the Rockets, but no way put us less than Utah in a power ranking at this stage.
Marty Burns... what a fool. Now we know who Laker Lover really is.
Posted by: Tim-4-Show | February 25, 2008 at 03:23 PM
I don't really understand why you guys would worry that much about salary caps. True, that they might increase the ticket prices, which ulitmately affect us. But we are not paying the luxury tax or anything, so in the end our ultimate concern is winning championship and not building the most profitable team for the Buss family. They are already rich...so they will have to adjust to a smaller net profit. no biggie
Posted by: du ma | February 25, 2008 at 03:23 PM
I know some people have been speculating on who the Lakers should add before the roster cutoff, and since they're a little thin at Healthy SF, is there any reason why they can't sign Sean Banks off the D-Fenders? He's having a great season - check out his stats:
PPG - 22.1
FG% - 47.5
3P% - 35.8
FT% - 75.1
RPG - 5.5
In his last three games, he's scored 31, 29 and 22. He's 6'8 according to his player info, and from what I've read, he plays really hard. Plus, he comes out of Memphis, which is clearly a good program these days. For the bottom roster spot, I think he'd be a nice insurance policy for V-Rads leg issues, Luke's ankle issues and Ariza's broken foot issues. Does anyone know if or why the Lakers can't do this?
Posted by: Tully Moxness | February 25, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Laker Tom & DK -
the subject of Sasha's nickname "The Machine" was brought up on another Lakers website and the general consensus was that Joel & Stu coined it during a telecast (Clippers or Nuggets game) saying that in practice he was referred to as a "scoring machine" - during that game or the next, Sasha grabbed a few boards in a row, and they called him the "rebounding machine" And then they just chopped it down to "The Machine."
-this was just the general consensus of a number of fans, so I would love to see what Joel & Stu say for an official answer. Maybe one of the K Bros. can ask them??
Posted by: Lakers Legacy | February 25, 2008 at 03:28 PM
Staples24,
My first post on this blog was to sign Nick after his release by the Mavs last week.
Just FYI, we have Coby Karl (whom I really like) on our team and he played for the Boise St Broncos whom Nick's team played 2x's a year in the WAC while playing for the Nevada Wolf Pack. Nick dominated Coby by all measures and would be cool if we picked him up. He has a great shot and can do some rebounding as well.
Either way, we will win the championship this year and I get to gloat in Sacramento Queens land up here!!
Peace
Posted by: renoLaker | February 25, 2008 at 03:28 PM
If Luke can get $5 million a year for SIX frickin years, without even testing the market, than Sasha might demand a twenty year contract at $18 million a year.
Posted by: LAKER TRUTH | February 25, 2008 at 03:35 PM
I would rather have Kobe never wins a regular MVP honors and win the next 4 MVP Finals and 7 NBA rings...
That way, the MVP voting takes a huge worldwide criticism! The KOBE effect will change the way MVP voting is done in the future.
Posted by: Staples 24 | February 25, 2008 at 03:36 PM
Interesting Interview with PJ today.
http://tinyurl.com/yo6yng
Toward the end of the interview the assumption is made that Bynum will be back in couple of weeks and Phil does not dispute the time line.
Posted by: HmrHed | February 25, 2008 at 03:37 PM
Tim-4-Show,
THats what I thought when I read it, UTAH!?!?!?!
I agree Houston is HOT right now and the Spurs are always tough, but UTAH who lost to the Clippers the other night?
And he always disses the Lakers, the only reason I look any more is to see how much he hates the Lakers from week to week. But this one stung, especially after literally every other power ranking has us at #1.
Posted by: BrandonC | February 25, 2008 at 03:37 PM
I also remember Joel & Stu coining the phrase "The Machine", but if AK/BK could check....
Is it just me, or is anyone else thinking how great it would have been for Chick to be calling these games?!!! I'm sure he would have had some fun with the nicknames we have like "The Machine" and "Kung-Pau" and "Bynomite", not to mention "THE MAMBA"!
Posted by: justanothermambafan | February 25, 2008 at 03:37 PM
Justanothermambafan,
Joel and Stu did indeed come up with "The Machine." I was talking with Sasha about it after Saturday's win.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | February 25, 2008 at 03:40 PM
Phil on KLAC today.
Ariza will be back with about 3-4 games to go before playoffs.Plenty of time for Trevor to get into the swing of things. Is excited to have Ariza on team. Will be a key player in our playoff run.
Posted by: AN 1 | February 25, 2008 at 03:43 PM
Korey,
>>>So Vujacic is actually keepable now. A good player.
>>>
>>>So what happens if some team offers him $5 mill next year,
>>>do we keep him for that price?
>>>
>>>What's out of range for his talent?"
I brought this up right after the Pau trade. It's not so far-fetched
that someone would offer Sasha that much. Toronto gave Jason
Kapono a full MLE deal last summer, and Sasha is a better all-around
player than Kapono.
And there are two other facets to the problem you left out:
1. They also have to re-sign Ronny Turiaf this summer, and I could
see someone offering him MORE than an MLE.
2. The Lakers existing salaries already put them in the luxury
tax for next season. So if they matched 5 million for Sasha, they'd
really be paying TEN million to keep him. and if they matched
6 million for Ronny, they're really be paying TWELVE million to
keep him.
My proposed solution was to trade Lamar for a player who makes
less. When I proposed this was before Lamar had had this string
of stellar games.
I would now tweak my suggestion slightly.
If the Lakers could make the finals this season (or maybe even
the WCF), then I'd prefer to keep Lamar for one more season
and try to get Sasha and Ronny to sign for slightly less out of
loyalty (and desire to play for a potential championship team).
OTOH, I would still consider trading Lamar for certain things:
1. If they could trade him to a team with a lot of cap space and
a top-5 draft pick. That would get them a BIG salary dump
which would mean they could re-sign Ronny & Sasha & be
under the luxury tax. Plus they could pick up a really good
player in the draft who could start contributing in a couple of
years and would be low-salaried through most of Kobe's remaining
years with the Lakers
2. If they could get a top-notch wing defender SF who had at
least some semblance of offense (e.g. Trenton Hassell bad,
Shane Battier good, Ron Artest better).
But we can worry about the future of Sasha and Ronny and
Lamar with the team after the playoffs. It's too late to trade them
now this season, so let's focus on the rest of the regular season
and a FO-FO-FO-FO post season. :-)
After that we can talk about luxury tax and contracts and trades
and such.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | February 25, 2008 at 03:46 PM
Laker Lover,
Thanks for the reply.
How would you expect me to react to someone who doesn’t leave their blog name? We have enough cowards who perpetrate into the blog and leave random insults to our team and the best player in the league.
"Now u obviously think Kobe can do no wrong, defend his ever action and assume his ejection was good for the team."
The funny thing is you may listen to the Pod cast’s and you will find that I have admitted to being a Shaq sided fan in the past years, and openly embraced Kobe this year. (I have even posted it) I was a Shaq guy that thought that you can never replace 7'1" 340 and 6'6" 210-220 was a common find. I have been critical of Kobe and I was one of the few bloggers that came up with several trade scenarios for Kobe under the assumption that he wanted to leave.
Now, you obviously think you know whom the blogger you are posting with, and assume you can do no wrong with your assumptions.
I never assumed his ejection was good for the team. Lest you forget it was a reaction to your post that:
"Lasts nights ejection showed once again that Kobe acts immature when things dont go his way and is not a great leader."
I don’t see me posting (Wow, Kobe’s ejection was great. Way to go leader! I am now in linear thought with Laker Lover KL and Gunner. Amazing. Pancake Syrup sandwiches on me! The ejection is just what we needed. Yum! Bring out the kool-aid and tang!)
“Either way its no reason to get ejected and the team never lacked for intensity in the game so I am not sure how Kobe getting ejected helped in that regard.“
Kobe keeps the intensity and killer instinct for the team. That’s why the team never lacked intensity and propelled momentum for the Lakers in defeating the Sonics by 20 points. Maybe you have forgotten Phil Jackson getting thrown out of a San Antonio Playoff game and the Team carrying and vowing a win for PJ. Maybe PJ was being immature too my fellow Laker Fan.
You also have to consider that ejections are decisions also bestowed upon the referee. Another great player that whines a lot that has won championships is Tim Duncan. Do you recall Joey Crawford being reprimanded for that? Or maybe it has slipped your mind that the referee’s of the games are also human and capable of mistakes. (Or just plain biased.) You may do a Boolean search on google under “Tim Donaghy.” See what you find. These refs’s do make mistakes too.
“Did any laker or coach say that was the case?”
I don’t know, did any Laker coach say that Kobe was “immature” for the ejection? I’m not with team. Perhaps while playing dominoes on the plane; Rambis could’ve said “Ronny trim your beard like mine, Sasha use hair conditioner, and Kobe, you were immature but thanks for the intensity.” I plain and simply can’t hire a court note taker to trail the Lakers coaching staff…
Then you follow up with: “I will say the one good thing about Kobe getting ejected was it showed the lakers can play well without him even while some posters here say the lakers would be a lottery team.”
So you add a paradigm to your question. You are asking how Kobe’s ejection helped in a sarcastic yet antagonistic manner; then you find a positive behind it. Do you see the abysmal swirl?
Thanks my Fellow Laker Fan.
Charles
Posted by: Charles | February 25, 2008 at 03:55 PM
I may be mistaken, but I read that "the Machine" was self-coined in an LAT article.
Posted by: DK | February 25, 2008 at 03:55 PM
Roky,
>>>The early members of the 55 win band wagon, myself
>>>included, the GHF crew, is the most meaningful
>>>bandwagon expression, since most of the bloggers were
>>>still unwilling to trust our teams growth.
Yeah, it's funny. At the time they started the 55 win bandwagon,
I jumped on early and posted why. I was predicating their potential
to win 55 on a set of potentials for improvement (Farmar, Bynum,
Turiaf, Vujacic, etc) and on staying healthy. What's funny is, other
than Bynum's big injury messing up the health potential, all of my
most rosy views were exceeded. Farmar and Bynum both improved
MORE than I expected, Sasha improved about as much as I
expected (which is why I started the Sasha Breakout Bandwagon). And the injury bug has hit, but it hasn't crushed
the team like it did last season.
>>>Sasha, what can you say about him? He was brutalized
>>>by our blog,
Yep. I can still remember heated discussions I had in November
with someone (don't remember who) where they STILL didn't
believe in Sasha despite how well he was playing in limited
minutes at that point. Now that he's getting bigger minutes,
it's undeniable. I remember they kept calling him Vujawack.
I haven't seen that nickname used in awhile.
I'm more than happy to welcome all comers to the 55 win bandwagon
and the Sasha Breakout Bandwagon.
But... I'm sad to say that I won't be joining the Lakers 2008
Championship Bandwagon. Between the pinkie, the kneecap,
the ankle, and the new faces, I think the Lakers will fall just a
little bit short this year. At the start of the season, I was thinking
Western Conference Finals. Now I'm thinking either that or
Finals, but not quite a championship.
But if there is a Lakers Dynasty Starts in 2009 Bandwagon, I'm
on it. And if there isn't one, I'm starting it now.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | February 25, 2008 at 04:01 PM
du ma,
You're right. We ought not worry about salary cap... the day we're under the salary cap is a VERY BAD DAY because it will mean we have no stars to pay big salaries to.
The thing we should concern ourselves with (maybe) is the luxury tax. To quote the articulate character named Beavis, "we're there dude." From here on out, every dollar in salary counts double... half to the player and half to David Stern.
It doesn't matter to us really, as long as:
Buss makes enough money to keep his motivation up
We keep winning.
We don't get locked into a HORRIBLE contract that we cannot get rid of without stealing Riley from the Heat to do some crafty negotiations on our behalf.
In other words, we don't want to ever become the Knicks.. .a team that's at like double the salary cap threshold because they paid the wrong guys a lot of money.
Signing Luke to a 6 year, 35 million dollar deal certainly does not bode well for us if this trend continues. At some point, we will see salaries such as this contracting instead of expanding... here's to the hope that Luke's contract will be the last of the "bad" contracts we ever give out.
Posted by: Tim-4-Show | February 25, 2008 at 04:01 PM
It's a good time to be a Laker fan...
About our 15th roster spot, I don't see the Lakers signing anyone unless we suffer another injury/setback. PJ favors stability and there will be enough flux with the returns of Bynum and Ariza in April to deal with.
I'm more concerned about Turiaf's diminished play the last 3 weeks. But, keep this in mind, Turiaf is essentially a rookie when it comes to playing a whole season. He didn't join the team until January last year, so he's never been through this physical toll before, and could be hitting the wall a little emotionally as well. But we need his heart and energy and I think he will round back into form by playoff time. WE LOVE YOU RONNY!!!
Also, I can't wait for the "Stat Geek" articles in 2-3 weeks that break down how damaging the Shaq trade ends up being to Phoenix. On the offensive and defensive ends he is costing that team big time and Steve Nash is realizing how disastrous it was right about now. Steve Kerr might have to move. I'm just saying. On the plus side, I thought he was a good analyst for TNT, so it'll be nice to have him back calling games someday.
Mamba24 - Thanks for getting me on the bandwagon! (but there's no "L" - just DrewPauKobe. Thanks!!!!!)
KOBE FOR MVP!!!
KOBE FOR MVP!!!
KOBE FOR MVP!!!
Posted by: DrewPauKobe | February 25, 2008 at 04:01 PM
Re "The Machine":
It was Joel Myers who came up with that.
Posted by: HmrHed | February 25, 2008 at 04:03 PM
Just saw AK's post. Since you went to the source, I take it as fact. Regardless, I'm glad to see Sasha is starting to live up to his nickname.
Posted by: DK | February 25, 2008 at 04:04 PM
"Lasts nights ejection showed once again that Kobe acts immature when things dont go his way and is not a great leader."
Jeez, people post the stupidest things.
Some people will never understand the game of basketball. PERIOD.
Just keep posting babble like this. Its entertaining to read. HaHa
Posted by: frank rizzo | February 25, 2008 at 04:09 PM
AK/DK - looks like you guys need to get together on your posts about who REALLY coined "The Machine" for Sasha - LOL!!
Posted by: justanothermambafan | February 25, 2008 at 04:09 PM
I'd only sign Sasha again only if we include a "No Hugs" Clause in his contract.
If he doesn't go for that, we should comeback with "Hip Hop Hugs-Only When Solicited by Other Team Members" Clause. Its the right thing to do.
In all honesty though, he's turning out to be a nice player. If he get's a fat contract I hope he keeps up his game better than Luke did. Luke has really fallen off from being the league leader in 3 point field goal percentage to the garbage we see today.
Posted by: #4 | February 25, 2008 at 04:10 PM