Quoting drewpaukobe, "Kelly Dwyer - He's gotta say something to get noticed...if he writes that Kobe should win MVP, he's part of the army. This way, he's the COURT JESTER."

Exactly. Blog-sync-think again. Funny you capitalized the last because that's exactly the moniker I used when I used to pen those silly, inflamatory columns.

OK touchy subject. I wonder why Kobe gets no love from the league. He has been nothing but good for this league.

I think part of it goes back to the sexual assault charges. It might have been the higher the expectations the greater the let down. But, on some level, I think the league has never forgiven him for that.

I want to remind the league that HE WAS FOUND NOT-GUILTY!!! He might have strayed. That happens. But that woman was a nut. She blew it up. He is a hard working and decent guy, not to mention one of the most dedicated to the sport ever.

So league, I'm glad to see Kobe got player of the month. But he deserves more. If you have any grudge over him after all he has done for basketball, GET OVER IT. Celebrate Kobe!!!

Good points about Gasol in regards to strength, but here is the thing speaking as a guy who plays ball sometimes.

I play some center and power forward, and I am a pretty thick guy, I am 6'4" and I weigh about 240 to 245, and yes I do work out.

Now when I play as a player in those traditionally power positions and I am playing against a guy who can throw me around like Aldridge did against Gasol friday night, which doesnt happen often, I get pissed, I mean PISSSSED. And I hit the gym harder that next week.

And Im not a pro who gets paid millions for playing it, just some schlub in pick up games. So I guess its a matter of what is more important to you.

and I understand that bulking up can be detrimental to some people, but still doing some squats and getting stronger legs wouldnt affect him much and give him a better base strength.

Repost from Last Thread. Here's my opinion about Kobe and not getting the MVP award...

"If not this year, it may never happen. The bias is prevalent and the comet will pass and will be appreciated once it's gone."

Lakers start a new win streak!

Lakers undermanned with injury, underperformed by usual talented bench find a way to Win against Dallas, pretty awesome! The Kobe/Gasol doing a fantastic job, wait till they are joined by Bynum and I would not know how to describe it. One thing I know, I can't wait to see those games. It's like Magic, Worthy and Kareem all over again! But this time Kareem is only 20 years old, Magic plays much longer for us to enjoy and Worthy has turned Big Game Spaniard. Great times ahead for Lakerland!

johnnyP,

While I agree with your take, I do have to correct one thing...

The only thing that was "found" was Kate Faber with millions of Kobe's dollars!

The case was dropped. It never went to trial.

THE MAVS WIN WAS NOT JUST ABOUT KOBE…

Sometimes the bias against Kobe Bryant just turns totally laughable. Our hometown Kobe critics seem to want to take what was a great team win and use it as some form of proof of Kobe’s selfishness and evidence against his leadership and greatness.

Wrong! In truth, the win over the Mavs was a great team win. Kobe inspired the team to play with great heart, effort, and confidence. For three quarters, he played the facilitator, getting everybody involved, encouraging the team to believe.

And his teammates responded. Despite being seriously short-handed, the Lakers played great team defense overall and held the Mavs to under 37% shooting. Luke Walton shut down Josh Howard and Lamar Odom hounded Dirk Nowitzki for most of the game. The Lakers blocked 9 shots compared to 2 for Dallas and out-rebounded the Mavs 58-53.

Offensively, while the Laker players other than Kobe did not have good shooting nights, they still played aggressively and hard, earning 17/23 trips to the free throw line, better than the 17/25 for the entire Mavs team. The team also still racked up 20 assists versus 23 for the Mavs. There is more to great team play than just shooting.

Finally, Avery Johnson and Kobe both brought up the point that it was much harder for the Mavs to double team and stop Kobe now that he has spot-up shooters who can hit 3-pointers and big men who can finish at the rim to whom he can pass. Kobe even laughed that on one occasion he had a wide-open 3-pointer as the Mavs converged on Pau.

The definition of having a Kobe bias is interpreting everything that Kobe does is or involved in to support the preconceived bias that Kobe is a selfish player who cannot lead his team to a championship. Just ignore any facts that don’t fit the premise. LOL.

The Kobe critics claim that “you don’t win championships that way.” What those people need to do is put aside their bias and realize that the win against the Mavericks was just the Lakers showing everybody another way that this team has of winning big games.

Kobe led the Lakers to this victory in a lot more ways than just 52 needed points. Wake up, he is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this year…again.

Tom

"Pig" Miller

How are you man?

I feel this blog has a great amount of posters that are well rounded in terms of: Ethics, Education, Athletic and Life experience. We have experienced a few non-laker fans from up north to AZ, and once in a while a Dallas Cleveland. Most of them spew their hatred or lack of tact on the blog till they realize that they should leave their comments in a different fashion. Take example the latest victim "blingbling." He is one poster who will eventually learn.

In all honesty, I feel that particular Suns Fan just learned that the word "caliber" is also applicable aside from a bullet gauge. Kind of like the old mocking of the Prisoners who found religion by the Wayans brothers on their hit comedy show "In Living Color."

At least I can say, his posting caliber does not match yours.

Have a good one man.

JohnnyP, maybe the league (CONTROLLED BY MAN) is also hating on KOBE for snitching out Shaq, (violating the CODE) when he got interrogated for the Colorado thingy??? It is said that dudes are to stick together about those things, infidelities and mistresses and all type of stripper conquests with women not named WIFEY and Kobe called him out!! LOL Seriously, players who came into the league (Wade, Bogut) that didn't even know Kobe, were dissing him! Something IZ up!

Bottom line, I say what's that got to do with basketball, he still has been the best the last couple years, give him that dayum MVP trophy already!!

psychedlakergirl,

>>> what PJ said last night and was written in LATimes this a.m. LO and KB24 are logging serious minutes right now and he was worried about that. If he threw in Fish to that mix - I think it would be really dangerous as that's all our vets (ex Gasol).

This seems more like disinformation than the real thing. PJ is best known for what he doesn't say. For example:

a) It doesn't address Fish's prolonged slump. A great deal of his shots have been short. They don't consistently have that beautiful arc he is famous for.
b) If it's about bench minutes, Sasha is logging more than Jordan, since Kobe is spending so much time at the 3. You'd think he'd want their minutes to be about the same.
c) Again, Kobe has about 17,000 more NBA minutes than Fish does, even though they came into the league at the same time. Why would Fish need more rest?

I just think we have an incomplete picture of what's really going on.

I reiterate what I said in my post game comments: LeBron is more physically dominant than Kobe and a more natural passer. This allows him to dominate other teams in a similar way even though his skill level (by which I mean, shooting, intelligent, disruptive defense, intellectual domination and reactivity to defense, mental preparation and visualization, wiling himself to make crazy shots and get rebound in crunch time, etc., etc.) is not at Kobe's level (and may never be, or even need to be). He will always rebound better, and put up better stats because he can physically dominate. Yes, he is skilled, but not Kobe skilled.

What does this mean? If Dwight Howard averaged 30/20/4 blocks, he would be MVP even if he couldn't pass well out of double teams or shoot free throws in crunch time or whatever. I know this is true because I watched Shaq for his whole career. (OK, he could pass pretty well, but my point is:) Physical domination is rightly rewarded in the NBA.

That said, Kobe is the heart and soul of a legit contender. LeBron is the heart a soul of a decent but not great playoff team. To say that Kobe should not win because he has good help is insanely hypocritical base on the entire history of MVP voting. Also, it implies that he is not the driving force of this team. That this team is not always on his shoulders just as much as much as the Cav's are on LeBron's. This is completely and totally untrue. Kobe is the engine that makes this team run. No one who has watched any games (outside of blowout garbage time) this season could deny this. Kobe's better help means that his team wins more games with a much tougher strength of schedule. And that's the absolute beginning and end of that.

So, if you want to reward LeBron's physical domination as much as Kobe's skill, I can't argue with you. But if it if the race is close, and you can't accept skill level as a tie breaker (which I certainly do), record and strength of schedule must be, otherwise, you would have to start removing MVP's starting with KG's candidacy this year...Dirk '06-07? Gone (and how), Nash '05-'06? Too much help, sorry...etc., etc., ad infinitum. Kelly Dwyer can suck on it, but that's the truth.

Go Lakers!

With regards to true position of Pau....

What was his position during the FIBA games? I think he was in 5, if I'm not mistaken. It is best to confuse the coaches of other teams, if we don't identify the positions of pau and socks when both will be available. Just keep them guessing whether Socks will be in the Bench Mob or the Starter; whether Pau will play 4 or 5. Strategies and tactics should be part of deception so as to confuse opponents. Besides, if Socks is in the Bench Mob, he will also play a great role with Farmar, Sasha, Ronnie and Walton finishing the game because most of the best teams in West have a shallow 2nd stringers, they can't match that strenght. Lakers will just keep up the pressure from Rd. One then Rd. 2, By the time they reached 3rd & 4th Q's., the starters of other team have acquired too many fouls while Lakers have spread out their strenght.

What matters most, is the 4th Q. As you saw the game yesterday, PJ played the best players on the floor at 4th and OT.

Although I don't condone bullfights, if you watch a matador, he takes out his sword and lunce it to the neck straight to the heart of the bull in the end, not in the beginning. (I personally don't condone the traditional sport in the Mediterranean because it is too bloody and uncivilized to kill the bull just for the show.)

What are you saying LakerTom?

"Blog-Sync-Think is coalescing and converging into powerful Blog-Deja-Karma that is restoring and reinvigorating the powerful mystique of the Lakers great legacy"

Your passion and optimism got inter-mixed again, so the blog-deja-vu twists could not decide whether to promote Championship or Dynasty or Obama? We won one game on a overtime, that was the headline. LOL!

Kinda funny how you can judge a person's "caliber" just by looking at them in their favorite team's jersey at an away game. I hate the Funs.

Pig

"Pig" Miller....

I sometimes check the Suns" blogs and come away with a definite sense of a negative, racist type of vibe. Sad, really that some folks take what should be a diversion and entertainment and project such tasteless ideas. In addition, most of the comments there offer no Bball analysis...just rants.....either for the Suns or against other teams...mainly the Lakers.

Mamba24 -

You're the best! Thanks for including me in the Rolllllll Calllllll!!!!

bronxlakerfan,

"I sometimes check the Suns" blogs and come away with a definite sense of a negative, racist type of vibe."

Noooooo, really?? That just can't be!!! Let's let Chris Rock give some insight...

"Kevin Nealon: This Monday, America celebrates what would've been Martin Luther King's 63rd birthday. Most people will get the day off work, except the residents of Arizona who voted against the King holiday, more on this from SNL news correspondent Chris Rock.

Chris Rock: Now there's a lot of talk about the people of Arizona being racist. So I went to see for myself, I went to Arizona and I'm walking through the streets of Tucson pushing my little baby brother in a stroller when a white woman comes up to the baby, smiles and says 'Boy what a pretty niglet.' Now if you don't like black people, that's one thing, but what I can't understand is why people in a hot-ass desert town like Tucson, Arizona wouldn't want a day off work. It's not like you have to do something black on that day. You don't have to ready Ebony magazine, you don't have to watch Soul Train, all you have to do is not work. Now if this was an Elvis holiday, they'd take that off. It would be like another Christmas. With big fat white guys coming down chimneys with Elvis jumpsuits on, giving out qualudes. Now, everybody doesn't get Martin Luther King's birthday off, even the states that celebrate, some people still have to work. Now one group that never have to work are prisoners. Criminals. Every criminal in every jail gets the day off work, which means even James Earl Rey, the man who killed Martin Luther King get's the day off. He's so crazy, he's probably walking around prison saying, "Everybody get's the day off today and nobody even bothered to thank me. " Now what Arizona needs to do is give Dr. King somebody else's holiday. There are so many holidays we celebrate every year that mean nothing. Like Columbus Day. Nobody celebrates Columbus Day, nobody puts three ships in their front yard. First of all, Columbus discovered the West Indies. Second of all, the land he discovered had occupants on it. That's like discovering someone's back yard. All Columbus did was discover a West Indian back yard. He got his little flag and said "I claim this land for Spain." And the West Indians are like, "Hey, Mon, get your darn flag off me lawn now. Move it now!" So Arizona, get your act together and hail the King! Thank you very much. "

hobbitmage-

Personally, I think there are a lot of similarities between Kobe this year, and Kobe last year before the wheels came off the wagon... but I'm not sure what you're getting at. 24 was getting all sorts of very positive press about how he had changed his game and his leadership abilities. Then, of course, it all went to hell when everyone got hurt.

Had the Lakers stayed healthy and kept winning, I think Kobe could/would have won the MVP.

BK

As others have noted, the most likely reason for Fisher's recent shooting is that he is coming back down to his normal level. This was on track to be his best year ever (at least in shooting); pretty unusual for someone at his age to make a significant jump in performance like that.

hobbitmage,

Nicely put.

look, Kobe didn't rat out Shaq.
believe me, there's a man club, lodges even.
Kobe was speaking man to man to the cop. those words would have normally never hit the outside, they would have always been in confidence, but the transcript was leaked by unknown sources(so the world runs).

people need to stop acting like a bunch of cackling hens repeating the scenarios played out by clowns(literally) who are supposed to define manhood on radio, tv and in print.

other than this, Kobe has been a good citizen, the charges are dropped, there's no reason not to believe his version. the temptations out there must be enormous, and it's no secret that there are many affairs on the road. indeed, it's a sign of virility and manhood for many of us, even when we cluck about it in public(in front of our wives, mothers daughters and sisters, though they think it's all pretty exciting too...). nobody seems to remember Big Game James, arrested in Huoston with TWO, count 'em TWO(!) hookers. James is a great guy, as is Kobe(for a bunch of dumb@ss jocks..). we don't need to hate him for that now. personally, i hope he's over whores, i mean i like whores too(or at least women in general, and they seem to need to be whores to get along these days, but that's another subject), i just don't think think it's really that healthy for everyone's psyches in the long run, if you know what i mean. after a while of whatching someone debase herself, one becomes debased, but that's not basketball, and THAT is my point.

"personally", when i see Kobe with with his family, or i look at my wife, i know what he did was a breach of faith and wrong, but he does get the pass for admitting his mistake. so as a human and not knowing him personally, i have to suspend judgement and respect him as i would any other stranger.

but "personally" doesn't matter. i only came to care about him because of the way he played ball for my favorite team. on that basketball level, i have to love him, he's played his @ss off for my team, he's always played at a high level even while hurt. it will be difficult when the basketball relationship ends to replace him, though the Lakers will have to move forward and find the next glory(we hope)...

i've seen the Baylor/West years(the end of them). i've seen the Wilt/West years, the Magic/Kareem/Worthy years, the Shaq/Kobe years and now and i can say Kobe's a unique talent. enjoy it while you can Lakers fans, this doesn't happen everyday, you may never see better, though it'd be awesome and amazing if it happened... [laughing emoticon]

If the Lakers win it all, Vlad Rad should not get a ring. The guy has missed 5 more games for a strained calf. I hear crickets.

$20,000 gets you a brand new unregistered KB08MVP license Plate from CA. Its on EBAY for the ultimate fan or Kobe camp