Is this a "fun time" killer, or a fun "time killer"?

I need to know, because that will affect how I post.

Fire32,

"But just maybe thats how you all think around here, perhaps you guys do know how very FRAGILE your team is, you guys do think/know that if you lost kobe or bynum or whoever goes down, you would fall off the edge."

I don't see what you're saying, we've been playing w/o Bynum for nearly 3 months and we've been near the top of the west the whole time. If you want to make that analogy, I'll contend that the Suns are "FRAGILE" because Nash's back could give out any minute and Hill has yet to make his yearly extended trip to the IR. Ridiculous? And the Suns are worse than us defensively, so your comments about our D apply even moreso to you guys, than it does to us.

Every team is flawed and fragile to some extent. I don't see what point you're trying to make. Other than being a troll on a very enjoyable board, of course.

The Kwam! The Kwam is in the building!

Can the Jackson Journal be far benind?

Memphis owes Washington a 1st round pick, (top 19 protected in 2008, top 16 protected in 2009, top 14 protected from 2010-2012, top 12 protected in 2013).

so basically memphis doesnt owe anything to anybody since theyre not gonna have picks as low as 14 right?

BK/AK,

Any idea on how Andrew is doing? Any word on when he'll at least return to practice? Thanks guys for the great job you do.

Warriors are sleepwalking in their game against the Blazers right now. They look like the Lakers did last night. Stephen Jackson passed up a couple of threes that he normally takes. Maybe the back to back with the Lakers has tired them out. We shall see.

Good post off the Mavs Blog:

>>>>>>Are the Mavs the NBA version of Job? In June 2006, did the devil say "Of Course the Mavs fans like you, you're about to bring them their first ring" and God said "Watch me take their ring away, and they will still have faith."

In April 2007, Satan said "Of course they still have faith, they won 67 games this year." God told him, "I'll make them the first 1 seed to lose to an 8, and they will still believe"

In Febuary 2008, God said "See, these Mavs fans still believe, even though they've had a fairly mediocre season" Satan said "Of course they do, you've given them a hall of fame point guard, and anything is possible in playoffs"

and God said, "Oh yeah, watch this...."<<<<<<<<<

Although technicals don't carry over to the playoffs, if Kobe were to get his 16th technical foul in the last game of the season, he would have to serve his suspension in the first game of the playoffs.

If Kobe hasn't picked up that 16th tech by then, that last game's gonna be really interesting to watch in regards to Kobe's demeanor towards the refs.

All,

I've been thinking about the last game, the standings, and the proclivities of one Phil Jackson. I'm sure he's aware, as we are all coming to realize, this race for the top seed is taking a toll on at least 6 (7?!) of the playoff teams in the West.

This pressure has resulted in the top team at any one time completely unable to maintain that position and subsequently falling as many as 4 positions almost immediately after achieving that goal.

Then, as a reward for all this effort, these same teams get to beat up on each other all over again in the playoffs!

That said, I don't think PJ is going to do anymore "pull out all the stops" games anymore this regular season, unless the Lakers are in danger of falling beyond number four. He is going to try his level best to get to the end at about 85-90% effort and then put the hammer down during the playoffs.

He sort of has to anyway, with so many pieces coming back into the lineup all withing a couple of weeks of each other.

I use the analogy of NASCAR when the leading few drivers pull back off the throttle ever so slightly waiting for the inevitable yellow flag somewhere around 50 laps from the end. Where they them put the pedal to the metal after that final pit-stop.

So, I've had my couple of days to mourn the fact that the 60-win bandwagon completely fell to pieces before it even left the parking lot. I'll survive.

Now, somehow PJ has to convince Kobe that not *every* play is critical to the whole season. He's got to pull Kobe back and get him back to seeing the big picture and sort of "re-charge" for the final push and the March to the Championship.

We fans gotta do that, too. As evidence to my theory that the pressure of being #1 cracking every team to achieve it, notice that the Lakers are playing only .500 ball the last ten games and have thus only lost one game on the leader in that span. Also, the Lakers have lost that position, I think, three times, reacquiring the top spot within a few games or so each time.

So, lets try to relax over the next few games. Wait on Gasol, and let us turn the heat back up again.

--FearlessWhackJob

HmrHed,

Nice sharing. Good info to know. Keep up the good work.

--FearlessWhackJob

PJ needs to put he and Vlad beef to rest real quick or our hopes of a strong championship run will be short lived. Phil has a tendancy to chose a whipping boy to berate the entire season and of all people Vlad, why not Luke?

I do believe that when AB and PG,TA, return things will smooth out but will Vlad's mental health be intact?

P.S Should Lakers have signed Steve Blake instead of DFish?

I think Chris Webber has potential being an analyst. Challenging Barkley already...

Posted by: Charles | March 27, 2008 at 08:51 PM

Hey Charles,

What was it that Webber challenged Barkley on? It's funny how many of the analysts from ESPN, TNT and NBATV jump up and down when another team other than the Lakers jump ahead in the WC standings. When the Lakers are sitting on top it seems these analysts begrudgingly acknowledge it but continue to foam at the mouth for the Hornets and Spurs. It's amazing how none of them comment on how the Lakers have stayed at or near the top with the injuries they've had. How many teams would be able to keep winning while starting their third string center?(it can be argued that Turiaf would be our emergency 4th string center if we had Pau, Andrew and Chris Mihm healthy)

I won't take anything away from how great Chris Paul and the Hornets are playing, but I think we've had to deal with much more in terms of offseason turmoil and uncertainty(Kobe), two trades(Ariza, Pau), major injuries to key players(Bynum, Ariza, Mihm, Pau)and our best player playing injured and yet we're only one game out of the top spot in the West. Last year the Hornets didn't make the playoffs because of injuries and yet these Lakers have gone through the same thing this year and yet may still finish on top. We can argue that losing Bynum and Pau would be like the Hornets losing Chandler and West. How would the Hornets fare then?

Bzar, if you go to google--advanced search.

And type in the blog website under "search within a site or domain" you can find whatever you want within the specific blog itself.

Good luck!

They got to get over the bickering and get back to playing lakers basketball like they did last most of the season. We got to earn that respect of being a great team to get those calls. The lakers got to finish these 10 games strong for confidence in the playoffs. Most importantly, they got to be strong at home against weak teams in the NBA.

Posted by: ca999 | March 27, 2008 at 08:09 PM

I agee with the stop bickering part but not the calls. I think that goes back to the flawed thinking that calls have to be earned by some criteria. Like respect, tenure in the league, all star or rookie whatever. Wrong the calls have to be called consistently by the rules regardless of who you are. The Bets need to be trained or replaced not the criticism.

JLF

============================================

Amazing...

Are you sure about that? I would think it would count as a suspension for the first game of next season. I wouldn't worry about it though, If he plays 9 games without one, he's not dumb enough to get one against Sacramento at home.

Posted by: drewpaukobe | March 27, 2008 at 09:11 PM

Sorry to interject but that is from LATimes story this morning. See below;

In addition, he has racked up $22,500 in fines associated with technical fouls this season. He was sent a warning letter by the NBA after he picked up his 12th technical foul earlier this month.

If Bryant received his 16th technical in the last game of the regular season, against Sacramento on April 15, he would be suspended for the first game of the playoffs.

Bryant left without talking to reporters after Thursday's practice.

JLF
==========================================
PJ needs to put he and Vlad beef to rest real quick or our hopes of a strong championship run will be short lived. Phil has a tendancy to chose a whipping boy to berate the entire season and of all people Vlad, why not Luke?

I do believe that when AB and PG,TA, return things will smooth out but will Vlad's mental health be intact?

P.S Should Lakers have signed Steve Blake instead of DFish?

Posted by: chuck23 | March 27, 2008 at 09:12 PM

Excellant post. I will give my opinion on Fish vs Blake.
this would be a case of younger talent with experience over savy veteran with leadership intangebles.

No doubt Blake is very good but then he has no rapport with Kobe. Kobe was upset over summer and the Lakers were in turmoil.

Fish is a very good player butolder and declining. What he did/does have is a rapport with Kobe. They came into the league together and and developed a bond. Kobe TRUSTS Fish. so Fish could get into Kobes ear and let him know he is there to help and also listen to what Kobe has to say.

no one really knows what way would have been better but I would tend to favor trust here over younger talent as Blake could notgo to Kobe like Fish could without the established trust.

exhelodrvr,

>>>Is this a "fun time" killer, or a fun "time killer"?

Or is it possible that BK forgot the punctuation and it was one
of these:

"fun time, killer"
"fun? time killer"

HmrHed,

>>>Dallas just looks done. Im my wildest dreams I never
>>>though adding Kidd would destroy that franchise.

Mitch Kupchack is looking more and more like a genius, isn't he?

Lets hope the best of the East can exterminate the Hornets.

I hate the thought of cheering for the Celtics, but I hope they
beat New Orleans tonight. Then NO faces Toronto and Orlando
on the road for their next two games. If they lose 2 or 3 of
those games, it will help the Lakers chances of a #1 seed and
help Kobe's chances of an MVP at the same time. If NO
ends up as the one seed, I'd bet dollars to donuts that CP3
wins the MVP.

As for the other top competitors in the west:

Houston: @San Antonio, @Sacramento, @Portland
Other than the Spurs on sunday, they'll probably get two
easy ones from teams that are jockeying for lottery position.

Utah: Clippers, @Minnesota, Washington
Pretty easy schedule. Lakers are 2 games ahead of them,
so they should stay ahead of them for now.

San Antonio: Minnesota, Houston, Golden State
Let's hope the Warriors are fighting for their playoff lives,
or the Spurs may be back in first by next Wednesday (or
even tonight, for that matter)

Phoenix: @Philly, @New Jersey, Denver
medium hard. Philly's playing well lately, Jersey and Denver
should both be scratching and clawing to try to get their
way into the playoffs. Lakers should be able to hold them
off and keep the top spot in the Pacific. (at least for this week).

If the Lakers can avoid playing down to the level of their
opponents, as they did against Charlotte, they should be
able to maintain one of the top 3 spots in the West, and
possibly climb back to the top.