As Mrs. Bueller asked Principal Rooney
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Nine times?
And similar to her reaction upon learning her son Ferris had missed school nine times, Laker fans are amazed learn that with last night's 96-83 win over the Blazers, their purple and gold have now emerged victorious on nine straight occasions. But while a nonet of triumphs would hint towards an unbridled roll at hand, in truth, this Laker win was anything but a cruise control cake walk. For starters, bad start. The first quarter featured various sluggish elements, whether shooting, defense and overall energy. Jordan Farmar's insertion late in the frame provided an adrenaline shot in the arm, but despite the upped pulse on display, the Lakers were still prone to mental lapses and weak execution, often the reaction to Portland's physical style of gamesmanship. But despite these factors, the contest remained tight, a scenario where fans have typically counted on Kobe Bryant to take over. The Mamba didn't disappoint. Already having laid the foundation for a terrific second half, Bryant dropped 11 in the fourth quarter and helped his squad pull out of reach. The confetti may have fallen a mite early, but as the box score shows, it were more "glitch" than "jinx."
Performances such as last night's are the fodder for continual "Kobe:MVP" chatter among the fans and pundits (even those who once vehemently questioned Bryant's legitimacy for such hardware). Phil Jackson is on board with a nod for his star. Kobe's main competition for the award includes LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Chris Paul. There's little danger, however, of Luke Walton siphoning away votes from The New Jack Bauer.
The Lakers being on top of the Western Conference would be an achievement during any season. But in 2008, it's absurdly hard to pull off, ridiculous to the point where tinkering by the league might be required. Then again, the curmudgeons aren't all that impressed with a .702 winning percentage in a conference where ten teams are above .500, so perhaps everything is hunky dory as is.
Hey Houston, the Lakers feel your pain.
The Smushcalade remains on blocks in Miami. William Henry and Sam Cassell should get together and go bowling. Aside from the general complications that come with asking Donald Sterling to part with casheesh, there's a potential wrinkle up north and in the desert.
Dallas is now in the Jamaal Magloire business.
We really need to take that Celtic team down hard.
So much for the ridiculous argument that they wouldn't find enough quality players to fill out their roster. Not only do they have every free agent in basketball wanting to play for them, but the players they already have are so experienced and clutch that their rubbing off big time on the youngsters.
Big, loud, tough team those Celtics. And we're just the guys to bring them down.
Let’s go Bynum. I want to show Mr. PJ "I could have been a Laker 14 separate times but never wanted to play in LA" Brown and Mr. Cassell and Mr. Allen what it's like to face Kobe and Phil in the postseason.
Let’s do this already.
Also,
I don't know if we need this Mbenga guy as much as we could use another shooter off the bench. Cassell might look good as a backup.
Wes
Wes
Posted by: wesjoenixon | February 27, 2008 at 09:50 PM
Thanks, Jon.
Slow day at work...
Posted by: Sean P. | February 27, 2008 at 10:10 PM
let's just ignore Laker Lover obviously he's seeking for attention... in the real world, he cant get it... maybe for reasons of personality differences. so he came to the blog and this is the only way he knows how to get it... by being the antagonist...
its his right to let us know his opinion... we can't tell him to shut up...however, if we find his opinions and comments annoying, so let us just ignore him.. hehehe
Go Lakers!!!!!
Posted by: sque | February 27, 2008 at 10:12 PM
go lakers we can do it!!! we have all the TOOLS we need: a paper thin spanish guy who can't post, a young 7ft fat kid with no foot work who can't shoot. oh-dum who curls up into a ball when the big game is on the line and a cast of no name unproven losers with no real play-off experience. oh-yeah, and the biggest TOOL of all a self absorbed ball hog, who will not share the ball when the game is on the line. sure we can beat the 4 time world champs. GO LAKERS GO!!!!!!!!!! HA HA...
Posted by: #1SPURFAN | February 28, 2008 at 09:30 AM
u laker fans r a joke, the spurs r the champs #1, we beat u fools w/shaq and we will beat that ass w/gasol. u fools have just won a few games in the regular season. what will u do when the bringers of doom come calling cool as ice and play-off tested, dressed in back for a proper laker funeral. when paper thin gasol gets hammered into the 3rd row by thomas and young bynum cant get the easy opportunities, when odem does what he always does and folds over and just fades out 10 pts 4rebs. yeah, kobe goes for 35 or 40 but thats it.
another empty season for the lakers. U KNOW U LAKERS DON"T WANT ANY PART OF THE CHAMPS!!!!!!
say what u will but u know its true!! SPURS 5 TIME WOLD CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: #1SPURFAN | February 28, 2008 at 09:32 AM