Accentuate the positive

The Lakers are still gonna make the playoffs.

By then, they'll all be somewhat close to a 100%.

So the rest of the league should watch out! And all y'all trolls should just shut the f ck up.

I miss the big feller already.

The reason why the Lakers will probably lose sunday agains the Rockets thats because everyone is saying that they (Rockets) never played a good team during the streak.

2nd: They' (Lakers) will also lose because they don't play hard and are timid from the start of every game.

3rd: They forgot to play defense! and all of them want to have fantastic numbers in the score box.

4th: They shoot more 3s than I do when I am playing by myself for two hours.

5th: Other than Mr: 24, no one knows how to penetrate and put the ball in the basket (LO has been trying lately...but Gasol was there opening the lane for him)

6th: They think every other team are scared about playing 'em.

7th: Portland, Sacramento and New Orleans have descovered the formula to shut those lazy babies who in stead of playing through all the adversities, all they know is to cry over non calls!

8th: There'll be only one (football) team in which 10 guys will play harder to score and only five guys will be there to play defense

THIS MAN SEES AND SPEAKS THE TRUTH

Posted by: passionate Lakers fan

Go to espn.com.
click podcast.
listen to Gail Goodrich.
He states Houston is winning as a result of team defense.
To the bloggers who call me negative:
We will never win a championship with
Lamar/Luke/Vladimir/Jordan/Sasha.
Why?
They do not play defense.
If you feel the truth is negative, then I'm negative.
Lamar will not produce as a 2nd option.
Luke will not produce with an un-athletic body.
Jordan will not produce as a result of fatigue (too skinny).
Sasha will not produce when teams take away the 3.
Vladimir will not produce when teams take away the 3.
And don't give me the, "Drew and Trevor will shore up the defense talk."
Why do these players have to wait for help?
Yao is out; yet the Rockets play the 2nd best defense in the entire league (2nd to the Celtics).
"passionate Lakers fan, look at Lamar's stats."
What are his stats when he is the 2nd option?
"passionate Lakers fan, Lamar is not a 2nd option."
Then do not extend his contract and find a player who can handle scoring pressure in case of injuries.
Question: What has Luke done for us since signing that 30 mil contract?
Answer: do that stupid spin move under the basket (which is traveling) which leads to a brick or turnover.
And he plays no defense.
Vladimir is garbage on defense and useless when not hitting the 3.
Sasha is garbage on defense and useless when not hitting the 3.
Jordan Farmer needs to learn from Chris Paul: when you are short, compensate with weight lifting (he brags on the video at Lakers.com that he nevers gets hurt; well, I would stay healthy all season long too if all I did was shoot 3s and fear taking the ball to the rack).
Give me Andrea Miller (6'2", strong, plays D, penetrates, will rebound, 10 dimes a game, makes his teamates better, and at 31 years of age with no wear and tear on his legs from long play-off series, he would be the perfect fit for Kobe's remaining prime years).
Fisher-who is my favorite Laker-needs to come off the bench next season.
Do you want Jordan as your starter?
If your answer is yes, I feel sorry for the pain you will feel next season or the season after next if your answer comes true.
The point guard is your leader both on the court on off the court.
Do you see a pouting, ball hogging Farmar as your leader both on and off the court?
And going against CP3/Deron Williams/Brandon Roy?
Please.
If the Lakers-so how by a miracle-play defense these next 3 games, I will be the first to come to this blog, and say the Lakers manned up and I was wrong.
Please: prove me wrong.
In closing: when the Lakers where at their zennith (a healthy Drew and Trevor), I was smart enough to see that those 2 player compensated for a liabilities on Defense.
In the back of my mind I would think: "man, if Drew or Trevor went down, we will have defensive issues (if you remember: when Drew, Trevor and Kobe were on the court together, we were such a defensive force that the other 2 players on the court with them could overcompensate and the latter 3 would rescue them from their mistakes).
And that is why I want Lamar/Luke/Sash/Jordan/Vladimir gone.
They can not do for Kobe/Andrew/Trevor what those 3 will do for team: recuse them defensively when they make mistakes or they are hurt.
When the Pistons won the championship in 2004 they had the following 5 players on the floor together:
Rasheed/Ben/Teshawn/Rip/Chauncey.
Question: were is the defensive weak link?
Answer: they did not have a defensive weak link (which mean if one or two players when down, the remaining three would play D and hold the ship together even if the two replacements were not good defensively).
Defense/Defense/Defensive/Defense.
I will preach Defense with my last Lakers breathe.
I love Drew.
Not because the dunks.
Because of his defense.
I love Trevor.
Not because of the dunk on Grant Hill Xmas day.
Because of his defense.
I love Kobe.
Not because of the 81 points.
Because he is-not not pissed off at his teamates or management-the best defensive player in the league.

--------------------

FEED THE TROLLS

CHINESE ANYONE?
tomorrow after the Lakers lose I will have to purge

I'm back and better than ever.

Wasn't it Phil who insinuated that New Orleans would have trouble because Chris Paul woulld be viewed as too much of a ball hogging, selfish scorer by his own teammates> Last night line: Paul: 27 points, 17 assists. The REAL Ball Hog: 36 points, 3 assists.

And which team won?

Hey Phil: You're talking out of your $%$&$ again!

Troll man I agree 100%.... Everything you noted has been the very same fact I've been preaching for the last 2 months.... Lakers to win a championship need defensive minded players... THe above people you mentioned are not it...

However, I would not discount AB and TA.... THose guys will defenetly fullfill their roles....I believe in them

The Spurs are strugling
The Nets just beat the Jazz
The Worriors barely won against Memphis

The Lakers just need to regroup and they will be fine they can not win a championshi without Bynum anyway so lets hopes he will play...

It does not matter what seed you start with 3-4-5-6 as long as you are playing your best ball at the right time and are healthy

The thing that is anoying to me is when the lakers loose 2 games playing shorthanded and people come to the forum to post what a bad leader Kobey Bryant is
Why don't you go to the Spurs Forum and talk about Duncan and Ginobli
or go to the Jazz forum and talk about Boozer and Williams
But it is like Kobe and the Lakers are a magnet for all the hate.... I live all the way in Russia and i i come to the blog to listen and talk to people who love the Lakers and who are passionate about them it just gets anoying reading 50 "Kobe is a ballhog Lakers suck posts"

why is it so hard to play defense? goodness, just get in the guys face and move your body around. pretend ur dancing with him. geez. just view tapes of bruce bowen and u'll get it. there's really not that much to it. let's trade sasha and jordan for baron davis.

Troll man I agree 100%.... Everything you noted has been the very same fact I've been preaching for the last 2 months
-GIno-

By all means Sir..if he love these players so much..then why does he hope for our demise..or have you been in a slumber for his last 30 sum odd post!..Oh...and by the way..when you say you been preaching something for 2mnths...be sure to add "I..along with several hundred other bloggers have been preaching defense". I wouldn't want you to fell like your the only one with eye and cable television who see our deficiancies.
Bloggers..it doesn't matter what yall think they need to do (cuz I'm more than sure they have a pretty good idea) What they don't need to do is start slumpin and letting teams exploit every players skill or non-skill(which I'm pretty sure they will try to do) Pau went down..FINE!!! They need to Man Up!! Go out there and get what they came for. Intestinal Fortitude Folks!!! If this collection of Lakers can't play D..then they need to be shotting close to .650 from than freaking field!!!

p.S. Jon K...Yes you have mentioned it!..No I mean really..you bring it up everyday..so ill just say shut the ish up about it...that way the "Popular Bloggers" won't have to say it even though they thought it once or twice.

With the western conference so tight, and with all the "other" teams gunning for the Lakers, this blog isn't much better off than it was a year ago!

A year ago we had "Laker Lover" types; guys who claimed to be Lakers fans, but were haters. (yes AK, real life, actual haters)...

While the blog became the land of the free and the home of the brave once again, shortly thereafter some significant injuries and subsequent trades (plural because I'm talking about more than one team) caused the floodgates of troll city to open.

People have noticed that this is THE best basketball blog in the country & as mentioned they're all gunning for the Lakers. What they don't realize is that we endured the lord of all trolls.... homegrown ones.

If we can live through that era, we can live through a scattering of troll poop here or there.

GHF expectations today... Lakers will play hard and keep the game close. It will come down the final minutes where you will see a coaching dual between PJ and Stan, and perhaps (but less likely) a duel between T-Mac and Kobe.

I put our odds at about 30%. Maybe that sounds a little GHE, but I see it as optimistic.

Jon,
I'll take your word for it on that story. I don't think it bodes well for him. Lakers fans know more than anyone how far and hard a star can fall.... and it seems that star is being propped up so high there's no where else to go but down...

--- SELECTION SUNDAY SPECIAL ---

so in honor of selection sunday, and as a way to get my mind off of the pau injury(3 NBA caliber 7 footers lost to injury), i was wondering who else follows the college game well enough to assess what we need, and who we could get at the bottom of the 2nd round.

i put myself down with the Lakers squeezing out,

Josh Shipp, UCLA
6-5 SG,207 lbs. Long, Rangy, Learned how to D- up iunder Howland. Very Underrated as a player, and definite upside. (had to throw the U-word in there). Played point in HS, so could point it up in the triangle.

DeMarcus Nelson, Duke
6-4 SG 205 lbs. A veteran of the college ranks. Built like a tank. I can see him coming in and doing the Derek Fisher thing. Strong cat too, can probably play the point. Hard nosed defender, could "take care" of little gnats like parker, barbosa, paul, nash, williams and the like. All he needs is a bit of a shooting touch and we'd have a total steal at the end of the draft.

I love it. All the injuries, and the Lakers still #1 in the conference.

Just be healthy by playoffs, or have at least 1 center for the playoffs and we'll be fine.

Don't forget, we had Kwame Brown and Smush Parker as starters last year! This year, and the future is much brighter.

Lakers by 10 or more over Houston and Kobe will finish with 72pts 8reb 8ast! You Play to win the game!

How do you, as a Laker Player, maintain a positive outlook when it appears clear that the team is Snake Bit by the injury bug?

Even with Fish and Kobe, this is a really young team mentally.

What I'm about to say, I've said before, unfortunately. But it appears to apply again:

*sigh*

--FearlessWhackJob

Tim-4-Show,

I've got two more stories of similar classlessness. Other first-hand stories told to me about how LeBron's a jerk.

In one, LeBron refuses to autograph his jerseys unless he was paid for it. However, the people asking were little kids from poor families who had saved all their money to get official NBA LeBron James jerseys. (This happened at a high school basketball game LeBron's brother was playing at.)

In the other, my friend's sister (not the martial artist friend, another guy I worked with) asked LeBron for his autograph. LeBron responded "What's in it for me?" and grabbed his crotch lasciviously. (This happened at a party.)

So, LeBron hasn't done anything so stupid that he's been arrested (which would mean he'd have to kill 10 school girls in this town since King James is treated beyond reverence by most.) However, I wouldn't be surprised if he slips up sometime soon and the Son of Nike falls from grace, especially since his posee is composed of "hood rats" so I'm told. That can't bode well for him.

Let me put it this way, I've so far heard three personal stories from people who have met LeBron and all three of them have been highly unflattering.

The guy's a jerk.

NO MVP? NO PEACE!

GO LAKERS!

Why is it when the truth is spoken (the Lakers do not play defense and Lamar/Luke/Vladimir/Sasha/Jordan are not championship caliber material) you are a troll?

passionate Lakers fan,

You're a troll if you focus almost exclusively on the negative when the Lakers are on top of the Western Conference with several key players hurt after three years of terrible struggles.

You're a troll if you can't celebrate when good things happen.

You're a troll if you act like you are personally OWED a championship despite being overwhelmingly negative.

You're a troll if you get more pleasure out of complaining than rooting for your team.

GO LAKERS!

I just looked over the standings. This may be the best run for the playoffs in Western Conference history. Just unbelievable.

GO LAKERS!

Jon,

Is there any evidence, from your experience, that the people of Cleveland of have caught onto the type of things those stories suggest? Or, would you say the masses out there are pretty much oblivious to it?

passionate Lakers fan,

You're a troll if you focus almost exclusively on the negative when the Lakers are on top of the Western Conference with several key players hurt after three years of terrible struggles.

You're a troll if you can't celebrate when good things happen.

You're a troll if you act like you are personally OWED a championship despite being overwhelmingly negative.

You're a troll if you get more pleasure out of complaining than rooting for your team.

GO LAKERS!

Posted by: Jon K. | March 16, 2008 at 09:31 AM

If wanting Lamar/Luke/Vladimir/Sasha/Farmar off the team makes me a troll then I'm a troll.

PASSIONATE LAKER FAN.............

I agree with half of what your saying.........
DEFENSE WINS GAMES PERIOD..........
LO.....makes to much to be a 4th opt when all is healthy.......
VLAD........if his shot is not falling what else can he do........
luke is TRASH PERIOD.......AN GOTTA GO.......
SASHA.......the same with VLAD
JORDAN.......still trying to find out who he is..........

I read your post the past couple of days an heard you out.......can you listen to me know.
LO.....has been playing great basketball of late........
But he has been playing the 4 spot when healthy he would move to the 3 an that kinda scare's me........beacuse he doesn't have a consistant jumper..... an he can only drive left an......... he is not a good finisher.
luke is trash if I forgot to mention it.
That's what I agree with you on........AN DEFENSE......A MUST.
But VLAD AN SASHA........These are our shooters........every team needs them......we didn't sign these guys for their defense.......we signed them because they can spread the floor.
VLAD -SASHA......can go 0-10 but that dont matter.......no team want's to leave these guys around the 3 point-line alone....that's force's teams to play KOBE-PA 1-1 with there man.......an that's why were #1 in the WEST.....because there is no answer for that.
JORDAN......was playing his best basketball when DREW....ARIZA with him........he'll be alright.....this is only his second year.

SORRY SO LONG BUT IT'S BEEN A WHILE......HAD A LOT TO SAY.

COMPTON

James Worthy stated Friday during the post-game show that Pau's injury is no excuse for not playing defense and he also stated that defense is all about effort and desire.
Would you consider James a negative person?
I swear, some of you bloggers are sad.
I'm negative because I speak the truth.

Tim-4-Show,

I've heard grumblings from people who have heard stories, but among those who haven't heard any stories LeBron is a Living God in this town.

Among those positive fans, the irrational enthusiasm for LeBron's play is beyond anything I've ever seen. The fact that he's from Akron is a big local boost for him.

Among the repeated grumblings I've heard include the complaint that LeBron hasn't donated any money to the private Catholic high school he attended, despite never having to pay tuition during his four years there.

But among the LeBroniacs, they refuse to acknowledge LeBron's statement that he would stay in Cleveland "as long as it didn't interfere with [him] becoming the first billionaire athlete." They just don't want to talk about it. However, there is a tacit acceptance among most that someday LeBron is going to leave the Cavs and go play for the Knicks. Most people seem to think that.

I'm not sure why they assume he'll specifically go to the Knicks, but that's the concensus belief.

It's a bit odd. Cleveland fans are kind of fatalistic in that way. They also admit that if/when LeBron goes to play for the Knicks, he will go from being revered to being reviled. So, if that happens, expect a LOT of vindictive dirt to start coming up on LeBron. When Cleveland fans go negative, they really negative.

GO LAKERS!

Tim-4-Show,

It seems that LeBron has an abnormally dysfunctional attachment to money/being wealthy (e.g. Statements in Sports Illustrated about being a billionaire, demanding that poor kids pay him to sign his official jersey, not standing up to condemn the genocide in Darfur over concerns that it might hinder endorsements, not donating money to the Catholic school that kept him out of trouble for four years and paved his way the NBA...)

To me, he just seems to embody the worst in the modern professional athlete: Someone of incredible athletic prowess, but no real competitive soul; no real over-riding love for the game above all else.

When I worked on set a few years a go, a gaffer who was a huge Laker fan and I had a conversation. This guy had worked on public service TV ads which had included Shaquille O'Neal and Magic Johnson.

He told me that he could tell by the way Shaq acted and the way he held the ball, that, for Shaq, basketball was really a means to an end. He was competitive, but there wasn't a true love for the game, more a love for "being the man."

This is why he wasn't a Shaq-fan despite being a lifetime Lakers fan.

He told me the opposite was true for Magic Johnson. He told me that Magic "cradled the ball in his hands like he was cradling a child." And that when Magic would talk about the game, his eyes would light up with childlike enthusiasm.

That's a player I can root for. Someone who loves the game instead of simply using it a vehicle for narcissism. From everything I've heard, LeBron James is using the game of basketball as a vehicle for narcissism and greed. To me, that just plain sucks.

GO LAKERS!

Love of the Game,

Thanks for the support. Several thousand people visit this blog daily. SOMEBODY has to have an in with the Lakers and their training staff.

Just as you've seen yourself, I've seen myself. Dit Da Jow works and it works for the injuries presently suffered by our team.

The fact that it's not being used frustrates me to no end.

GO LAKERS!