Foyled
A few readers have been wondering whether the need for big-man depth could be filled by shot blocking specialist -- and one of the NBA's brighter minds -- Adonal Foyle. Well, scratch that plan, as he reupped with the Magic. Former lottery pick bust (and near big-house resident) Robert "Tractor" Traylor has been getting a look at Lakers camp right now. Traylor says his recent problems (including heart troubles) have helped rekindle his passion for the game, but until talk of rekindled skills becomes more prevalent, I won't get too caught up in his non-guaranteed contract status. We weren't given the specifics, but I imagine the same variety of deal was inked to bring Dwayne Mitchell into the fold. Don't know much about the ex-NBDL/Euro player, but he sounds like a training camp body.
Then again, I never thought Devin Green would make the '06 squad and was reasonably surprised when Coby Karl stuck around, so if I'm wrong, wouldn't be the first time.
AK
Who are the good, available big-man prospects who are left?
There IS this guy who is wicked on offense who could fill the gap, but I don't remember if is defense is up to snuff: Slava Medvedenko.
Posted by: Marty | August 02, 2008 at 08:51 PM
Xodus,
>>>>> You seriously think we're going to AVERAGE 120 ppg next year?
Hi, Karl. How are the new wife and dog doing? And yes, I do think we have a good shot at doing it for five reasons:
(1) I think we will run a lot more next year and not just off of the steals and turnovers that will come from playing an aggressive pressure defense on the perimeter. Drew is so dominant on the boards that we will get plenty of opportunities to run off of rebounds and even off made shots by leaking players down court. It’s going to Showtime 2.
(2) We now have 3 big scoring threats with Drew and Pau finally playing together. Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol are going to average over 60 points a game and give the Lakers a very balanced and more consistently potent offensive team.
(3) Moving Lamar and Vlade to the bench along with Sasha, Jordan, Luke, and Mihm will give the bench a lot more firepower than last year, where injuries really reduced the effectiveness of the bench in the playoffs.
(4) We are finally going to have all of the pieces healthy on our roster for the first time in 3 years, including Kobe and Fish who played injured at the end and Drew and Trevor, who would have made all the difference in the Finals.
(5) Our young players like Drew, Jordan, Trevor, and Sasha are still on the rapidly rising upswing parts of their careers and should all improve greatly over last year, especially with the experience that they got last year and in the playoffs.
120 points a game may be easier than winning in the playoffs or beating the Celtics. And it’s nowhere near the longshot as the Lakers winning the West last year,
Anyway, that’s just my optimistic take but I don’t see how we don’t do better than last year by a good margin in any event. Too many things pointing in one direction.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | August 02, 2008 at 09:05 PM
LakerTom,
Married life is treating me well, so far. And the dog has come along well with the house training.
I don't think we'll average more than 112 ppg. I see what you're saying but I just don't think there are enough shots to go around, nor enough teams that are looking to play as uptempo as us. A 4-5 point increase in one season is already a pretty large increase.
I see Kobe averaging 25-27, Drew 16-18, Pau 16-18 and LO 12-14.
Posted by: Xodus | August 02, 2008 at 09:40 PM
If the Phoenix Suns of 04-05 and the Warriors of 06-07 and 07-08 didn't do it, I don't really see how we can. I think they're going to rely more on the 3 than we will (I sincerely hope at least) and I think they'll have more possessions per game than we will.
We have the best player in the league. We'll have plenty of offensive assets. We have a great, flowing offensive system and a lot of players that now have good experience with it. But, it's the 2000s, no the 1980s or before. The league has allowed a few more previous unavailable zone defenses and it has made a difference.
120 a game is completely unreasonable.
112 a game is really killing it.
Posted by: Benjamin | August 02, 2008 at 10:33 PM
Marty - well there's lots of love left in Laker nation for Slava.... maybe his back will improve someday.
Re: Traylor - I've always been entertained by the guy's game - he can move suprisingly well for his size. At this point, given what's left out there in the big man pool, I think I'd rather go with a younger player... somebody with more longterm potential. Still, if it comes down to it, I'd roll with the Tractor.
Whatever happened to Guy Rucker? And what about Adam Parada? He played really well in the FIBA games for Mexico and then got picked up by Sacramento... didn't stick though. We had him in Lakers camp a couple years back. Hope that Caner-Medley and Mata-Real get camp invites.
Posted by: dave m | August 02, 2008 at 10:46 PM
Lakers will not average 120 points a game next year!
Posted by: zen | August 02, 2008 at 10:50 PM
Lakers will easily average 110 points a game. If this Olympic squad is close to averaging 120 a game during their exhibition play, no way we can do it. I will say the lakers will probably have ten to twenty games in the season scoring 120 points or more.
Posted by: wow | August 03, 2008 at 02:14 AM
By the way Kobe was quite clutch against the Russian team. When the lead was close, Kobe was the one making the shots to keep Russia away. Three reasons Kobe is key to gold on this team
1) Hes the go to guy. That is why I'm not afraid of Greece or Spain. If the game is highly contested, I expect USA to win because of Kobe being the guy to make all the big shots when it counts. If anyone saw the Russian game in the third quarter you can clearly see it. Even Lebron was scared to touch the ball. You know who showed no fear, you guessed it.
2) His intensity. Kobe always plays the game of bball like his last game
3) Defense. Kobe is the key to team USA defense. He creates so much havoc on the court. His whole defense pretty much Disrupts the offensive flow of opposing teams. I also have to give credit to Deron Williams. He plays good defense, and has the physical body to get a player of his game. Kobe and Deron should anchor the perimeter defense for team USA.
Posted by: wow | August 03, 2008 at 02:24 AM
team PPG doesn't matter.
lakers will limit opponents to 80 ppg next year. ^_^
(kobe concentrating more on D. bynum and gasol manning the paint. fish and trev on the wings. soooweeet.)
Posted by: jimjim | August 03, 2008 at 03:18 AM
I'd like to see us get 'Zo as a better backup than Mihm. Also he replaces Turief's energy. Other big men out there are Mutombo, Jamal Magliore, Francisco Elson, Scot Pollard. A back up point guard that would be worth a look is Shaun Livingston, but he probably wants too much $$$.
Posted by: rdlee | August 03, 2008 at 05:30 AM
It don't matter if you foos score 130 point per game. If you haddn't notice your problem is that your "team" does not play as a team.
Defense wins championships and yous don't play no defense son.
Yoos play individual defense, but Team Defense wins championships.
Your Starlet gambles way too much and is way overrated as a "defense stopper". Kobe sure stopped Pierce in the Finals. Kobe is nothing but a Faker.
"I can get off at anytime" Kobe Mr. Selfish himself.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-saslalgameone052208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
“I can get off anytime,” Kobe Bryant marveled of Kobe Bryant. “And … I did ….”
Geez what a hot head. And I wunder why Baron Davis would rather play for the Clippers than LA.
Pathetic.
You Fakers will never win a championship with Mr. I can get off at anytime.
ahhahahhhahhahaahah
Foos!
Posted by: LGC | August 03, 2008 at 08:19 AM
Ouch! Jordan b*itch slappes Kobe.
"In my prime? Not even a contest. Let’s just say I have a better chance of stopping him than of him stopping me.”
So much for this "Jordan vs Kobe" crap. You Fakers keep pretending that your Mr. I can get off at anytime will take you to a Championship.
Pathetic.
The game is waaaay bigger than one guy. Especially a guy who hasn't done jack without Big shack.
haahhhahaahahhaha
"Kobe can't do without me, hehe" Shaq
Posted by: LGC | August 03, 2008 at 08:27 AM
AK,
I double Marty's question. Who do you think are the good big men left?
("Good" being a relative term.)
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 03, 2008 at 08:29 AM
How about Paul Davis?
I love Tractor Traylor's name, but I just don't want to bring on another "project" and by that I mean psychological project. Too much baggage.
Elton Brown sounds pretty good. I'd like to see more of him.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 03, 2008 at 08:31 AM
Zen,
You're right. We'll average 115 points a year.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 03, 2008 at 08:34 AM
AK/Marty/Laker Nation,
In all seriousness, what is going on with Slava Medvedenko? Is healthy again? Has he been playing in Europe? Is he trying to get back into the NBA?
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 03, 2008 at 08:36 AM
Regarding Mitchell.
It would appear he was given a non-guaranteed, camp invitee contract.
But......the Lakers are not always clear on these announcements. Its not specific.
So NBA.com and ESPN are headlining the signing. Even Lakers.com is featuring the signing as a major story.
Why would these sights do this for just a camp invitee? Each NBA team will have 5-6 invitees, that's 150-180 total and none of them will have these type of stories on a camp signee.
Has he really been signed guaranteed or is this just an incomplete announcement being misunderstood by the press? Why can't the Lakers be more specific to avoid confusion?
Posted by: Fatty | August 03, 2008 at 09:30 AM
We can't really gauge how good the USA team with this exhibition game b/c they're just playing the "hotdogging game" instead of taking it to the hoop there is over passing on a crowded lane, Kobe learned a lot of few tricks of Waltonian basketball of hotdogs. Of course, it's premature to declare them as the gold medalist yet, but I don't see Gasol, Calderon and Navarro get over Wade, Kobe and Howard. Right now Team USA is avoiding any injuries so coasting along with the past games and they're all blown out including the AKRussia. However, in the last thread I read that Kiwi compared Kidd to Magic.....no, no, no. Different frequency, different eras but supposing we compare them at their peak Magic have 5 rings, multiple MVP's and one of the best PG ever played the game. Kidd is not even the best PG in Team USA but he's the Confusius out there providing wisdom and experience.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | August 03, 2008 at 09:37 AM
-A long Sunday morning "Troll" in Lakerland-
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?th&emc=th
Sonnybelfast
Posted by: Sonnybelfast | August 03, 2008 at 09:37 AM
I remember when I was a kid I used to think: If we had this player and that player (all scorers) we would run away and win the Championship. But if you watch the nature of the game you realize that there has to be balance between offense and defense.
The idea that the Lakers will average 120 points is just laughable. That's like a 12-15 year old having these fantasies about having all stars on their teams.
I mean look at the USA team. They just scored 89 points against Russia. And the USA team is full of the best scorers in every position. Yet the Lakers team is better than the USA squad and will average 120 points? LOL! My oh my!
Push them back! Push them back! Waaaaaay back!
LOL!
The Phoenix Suns at their best run and gun day averaged 109 points. And that was with RUN AND GUN! Now the Lakers, who intend to play defense this year and operate out of the triangle are supposed to score 120 points per contest? LOL!
The Lakers if they play defense will be lucky to score in the range of 106 points per game.
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 09:54 AM
But that 120 points per game just goes to show how "someone" interprets the game. Like a kid!
LOL!
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 09:56 AM
kind of reminds me of Chris Matthews of "Hardball" saying: " I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often."
LOL!
I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often...I'm sure the Lakers will average 120 points per game next season. I just feel it running up and down my leg in the form of a chill!
LOL!
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 10:03 AM
With regards to the new Lakers, I will still go with what Faith said, we need defensive mentality as a replacement of Ronny who will be the enforcer. I will lobby again DK Mbenga. Let Kareem, Kirk train this guy, DJ is adept in martial arts so learning some b'ball moves is not that impossible. Can't rely so much on Bynum, he can't play 48 minutes and what happens when he's fouled in the 4th Q, Can LO, Pau, Mihm and Vlad execute the dirty game? That's why we have role players they handle the D and R in the low post. With regards to Tractor, no way man he's too old not even good to trail the blazing Lakers, no way he is too heavy and if he steps on the foot of any player that will be a sure injury. lol! anyway, I'll reserve my comments when preseason comes. Why not go with young turks like Mata-Real, Caner-Medley and Davon Jefferson they're 6'8" - 6'10" and as they play more, they get adjusted with the NBA hustle? I will go with youth anytime than a retarded staying in a halfway house.! Now on Dwayne Mitchell signings, there is a subliminal message being sent to Farmar, the old man is not too impressed with his game and his inadequacy in height so he's being surrounding by royal reserves just in case he become ambitious after his rookie years. huh!
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | August 03, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Hey you Mr. T you're provoking another round of posts with LakerTom. There is nothing wrong on scoring 120 pts., it only shows there is no D on both teams. Now not all teams that score 120 pts or more go farther in the playoffs see the Suns or Nuggets, they score 120 pts, their opponents score 123. Let's preserve the Taco threshold score w/in a 100 and the opponent at low 90's that's good enough for the paying audience get a Taco in return than scoring 20 pts more. What LakerTom did in his rosy forecasts, he treated the players like a bunch of salesmen w/ quota of pts. but he missed the inconsistent players ditching games by equally surpassing their contribution with T/O's & couple hotdogging nights w/o the ketchup and the mustard. LOL!
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | August 03, 2008 at 10:39 AM
In case I wasn't the only one wondering why all the threads this week have been authored by AK, here's the answer:
Man of Action
By Brian Kamenetzky
EXPN.com
"Tune in to ABC Sunday on afternoon at 3 p.m. EST to watch Travis Pastrana race in the Rally Car Super Special Final at Games 14 in L.A.
"If King Midas had been an action-sports athlete instead of royalty, he still wouldn't have a touch so golden as Travis Pastrana. He is the greatest freestyle motocross rider, with an unmatched combination of technical skill, killer imagination and a robust reservoir of crazy that has allowed him to constantly push the envelope -- not to mention the lifetime X Games Moto medal count. He has six Freestyle gold medals from X Games and another in Best Trick: 2006's Double Backflip Heard 'Round the World."
Gotta say, BK, that's some really outstanding writing.
Posted by: Rick Friedman | August 03, 2008 at 10:51 AM
One deluded guy posts a fantasy post about the Lakers scoring 120 points per game and thats what all the posts are all about ???
I thought this thread was about the Lakers calling back-up big men into camp for tryouts ???
And could someone out there please write a program and hack into the LA Times website so all of "Lets Go C's" posts are displayed white text on a white background.
I'll pay real money!!!
Posted by: tomK | August 03, 2008 at 10:53 AM
Wow,
Kobe is not the g- to-guy in Team USA, currently, he is the 6th man in scoring.
His overall percentage of FG are low, he has more assists and employs lots of the D in the high post on the best player on the other side, mostly the man who distributes the ball. Kobe is still handicapped by his injury, does not use the right hand in grabbing balls but considered as the best defender and getting kudos from his teammates like Boozer who stays in the bench longer than anyone. The go-to-guys are: D'Wade, Melo and LBJ and Howard in the low post. The zone busters are Deron and Redd. Deron and CP3 are alternating PG's while playing together which confuse the opponents, both can go for the surgical procedures in the posts do some p & r plays or go for a teardrop. Russia exposed USA weakness in the zone and this can be dangerous if Greece or Spain can connect their perimeter shots. I don't see the Gasol brothers controlling the boards although I have not seen them played yet except for Pau. Greece are greek to me, I think they won last time b/c Team USA were so individualistic in previous international or Olympic games. Today, they are over generous in distributing the ball.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | August 03, 2008 at 11:00 AM
BK,
I read your X games article on the front page of ESPN. Good stuff.
Posted by: laker hopeful | August 03, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Maybe LGC should be "disemvoweled"?
Posted by: McGarnagle | August 03, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Edwin,
Get out of here man. Did you want the Russian game this morning, if you did you will know what I'm talking about. Kobe is the 6th in scoring because they don't need him to score when you are blowing teams out. When its a close game in tight situation, I expect team USA to go to Kobe. That is what they did with the Russians. When the game was close in the third, the person that kept the Russian team away was kobe. He was in the moment where you expect him to explode, just like he did against the spurs in the playoffs.
A team that has Kobe Bryant on a team that does not go to him during critical time in a bball game is plain stupid. Before the Boston series, there was not a single player that put teams away like kobe did in western playoffs. Even if Kobe has zero point in a game, I will go to him when teams are making their run.
Posted by: wow | August 03, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Mike T.,
Never mind the fact that in the NBA game versus the international game you get 8 more minutes (20 percent more time). Of course that time wouldn't be used to score more points...
Posted by: Benjamin | August 03, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Jon - you asked about Slava. His back never really recovered after disc surgery. Here's an article from Interbasket (written I believe last summer):
"Ukrainian star and former NBA player Stanislav (Slava) Medvedenko is considering retiring from basketball. According to gpu-ua.info, the 28-year old Ukrainian cites the intense pain in his back from an injured herniated disc injury suffered in 2006 as the cause for his long absence from basketball. And because of this injury, he may not be able to play basketball professionally.
Medvedenko signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, and was a little more than a bt player for two seasons. Then in 2003-04, Slava received serious playing time because of an injury to Karl Malone. Slava averaged 21 minutes a game along with career highs in points (8.3) and rebounds (5.0) that season. Injuries did not allow Slava to build on that one promising season and he was eventually waived by the Lakers in favor of signing Jimmy Jackson at the end of the 2005 season.
In mid-2006-07 season, Slava caught on with the Atlanta Hawks. He finished out the season but the pain was still present. In his interview, Slava said that there was no chance he wouldn’t be returning to the NBA this season and that he had also turned down several contracts from European teams seeking his services. He couldn’t in good conscience accept any offers from any teams with the possibility of him being seriously-injured midway through."
Hope this clarifies. Maybe if you could track him down and offer dit-da counseling. (I'm a firm believer in alternative methods for back problems).
Posted by: dave m | August 03, 2008 at 12:03 PM
120 per game is completely out of the question, for a variety of reasons, most importantly the fact that with an improved defense (hopefully) the Lakers will not need to score anywhere near that many points.
Even if this team has the ability to average 120 (which I doubt), it would be foolish for Phil to play his starters enough minutes in the regular season to average 120 points. Not when they can easily win games by averaging 105.
If this team needs to average much more than 100 points a game to win, it is in trouble. I would guess they will hold opponents to an average of under 100/game, and will average around 106. That kind of scoring differential will translate to the best record in the league, and that will be all that is needed.
Posted by: Leo | August 03, 2008 at 12:18 PM
120 pts? LOL!
That was funny!
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Good job, BK!
Posted by: Xodus | August 03, 2008 at 01:04 PM
"Mike T.,
Never mind the fact that in the NBA game versus the international game you get 8 more minutes (20 percent more time). Of course that time wouldn't be used to score more points...
Posted by: Benjamin"
Throwing logic in Mike T's face eh? Careful, it's not unlike waving a red cloth in a bull's face. He's about to charge at you with a 'Kwame's thighs' comment.
Posted by: machiavelly | August 03, 2008 at 01:13 PM
The Worst Defensive team in nba history
The 1990-91 Denver Nuggets were a truly prolific offensive team. They averaged 119.9 points a game and had an astounding eight players average in double-figures, led by Michael Adams (26.5 points and 10.5 assists) and Orlando Woolridge (25.1 points and 6.8 rebounds). For a statistical comparison, the Phoenix Suns are the highest scoring team in the league this year, and they're averaging 106.3 points per game and have six players in double-digits, although Shawn Marion is their only 20-point scorer (21.5).
So why did Nuggets finish with a pathetic 20-62 record and waaaaaaay out of the playoffs? Because they were the worst defensive team of all time. Strong words? Yep. But we have the numbers to back them up.
Just how bad were they? The following statement pretty much says it all: they gave up 130.8 points per game. That's right: per game. Just think about that for a minute. Can you imagine scoring almost 120 points and still losing by at least 11 points every night? By the way, that 130.8 points a game is, indeed, the most points per game allowed by any team in NBA history.
But wait! There's more. As a team, they shot a pathetic 44.0 percent from the field -- worst in the league that year -- while allowing their opponents to shoot 51.2 percent, another league-worst. What's even more absurd is that they never, not once, held an opponent under 100 points. In fact, they only held an opponent under 110 points four times. By comparison, they allowed nine teams to score more than 150 points against them. Here's a breakdown of the number of points allowed by the Nuggets over the course of the 1990-91 season:
The coach of the team was Paul Westhead, best known for getting run out of Los Angeles by Magic Johnson. He decided before the season to implement an up-tempo offense that emphasized pushing the ball at every opportunity. Unfortunately, the "First Team To 100 Points Wins" philosophy only works when you can stop the other team once or twice.
Runner Up: Strangely enough, the second-worst defensive team of all time was the 1981-82 Denver Nuggets, who surrendered 126 points per game while allowing opponents to shoot 52.4 percent. Coach Doug Moe used a motion offense he called "playground ball with a little supervision." Apparently there there was even less supervision on the defensive end. On the up side, they were the highest scoring team in league history at 126.5 points per game. Which got them into the playoffs where they were promptly knocked off in the first round by Phoenix.
Bonus Trivia: The 1982-83 Denver Nuggets have the dubious distinction of being the only team to ever score 184 points...and lose the game. On December 13, 1983, the Nuggets lost to the Detroit Pistons by the score of 186-184 in triple overtime. And for the record, that Nuggets team gave up 122.6 points per game, which is good for 5th worst of all time. Of course, the 1983-84 Denver Nuggets were the 4th worst defensive team ever, allowing 124.8 points per game. In fact, the Ultimate Stat Search at databaseBasketball.com reveals that five of the top ten worst defensive teams of all time are former Nuggets squads, making them, historically speaking, the worst defensive franchise ever.
Any team that scores 120 per contest for a season is sure to be a very bad defensive team.
LOL!
Laker Tom? LOL! I think that should be Nugget Tom! LOL!
Or how about Nuggethead Tom. LOL!
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 01:32 PM
By the way, here's the link to my last post:
http://chrisangelo.multiply.com/journal/item/17
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 01:43 PM
I remember one of those Nugget teams took a game out of the refrigerator. The Lakers were up by 9 with 40 seconds to go. Chick put the game in the refrigerator, the door was closed, the lights were out, the eggs were coolin', the butter was getting hard...
Then little Micheal Adams throws up a couple of his one handed set shots up for 3 and swishes both of them. The Nuggets went on to win it on an Alex English jumper from the baseline.
It was the only game I've ever seen where Chick Hearn's refrigerator broke. Micheal Adams was right in the middle of it. That guy was a pest and a Laker killer. One of the greatest little players ever at like 5'10.
Posted by: Rocky | August 03, 2008 at 02:22 PM
Mike T,
Your blog post was so great that it got a whopping 0 posts. Just like that other crappy blog you ran until you got tired of writing to yourself. So I wonder who the Nuggethead really is?
Posted by: Xodus | August 03, 2008 at 02:45 PM
dave m,
Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.
Michael Teniente,
It seems like Denver teams ALWAYS want to run. I assume that's because someone in the organization always holds the belief that "If we run, we'll have an extreme overall advantage because of our altitude. Other teams will never be able to keep up with us and our superior conditioning! Who needs to play defense? Defense is boring!"
Unfortunately (or fortunately) while that line of reasoning seems relatively sound, it has never seemed to pan out in reality. I guess because we're talking about professional athletes here and everyone is on such a high level already, so the advantages that high elevation teams like Denver and Utah have over sea level teams aren't as great as some might assume.
As you well know, defense is important. Ignoring that fact has rarely resulting in a truly successful program.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 03, 2008 at 02:45 PM
Sonnybelfast,
I think the next evolution of the sacred credo of Laker Nation should be:
Identify the Troll.
Wound the Troll.
Starve the Troll.
Ban the Troll.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 03, 2008 at 02:47 PM
Sonnybelfast/Pig/AK,
One of the rules the Kamenetsky Brothers have established in the blog is that personal attacks should be limited to smack talk, nothing more aggressive.
I understand the desire to keep things civil and we should, but I don't think personal attacks are the end of the world. People argue and often passionately. I think personal attack (in debate) should be considered acceptable, unless of course they go on too long (meaning more than a couple days.) Then other people in the blog should tell them to calm down.
What I DO think is a problem is repeated community attacks.
Personally, I'm fine with someone disagreeing with me and screaming stuff like, "Jon K is a fricking moron! Clippers suck!" or whatever. And when I say I'm FINE with it, I mean, I believe in no way should a blogger ever be banned for personally attacking me. Period.
However, if some Troll comes on this blog REPEATEDLY (meaning one week or longer) and REPEATEDLY attacks the entire blog ala "FAKERS SUCK!" or "ALL YOU GUYS ARE LOSERS!" etc.
THAT is a Troll who should be banned.
He's attacking the community and doing so repeatedly. So the troll should be banned. Of course, the Kamenetsky Brothers should give him/her a couple of warnings first, saying "Stop insulting the group as you have been, or you'll be banned from the blog."
If the person continues vomiting out insults to the group, ban him. It's that simple.
That's a fair resolution to the issue.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | August 03, 2008 at 03:01 PM
Jon K,
Seriously, man. This is getting ridiculous. It's smack talk. You're allowed (and expected, in my mind) to talk smack on a sports blog. That's what people who root for rival teams do. I would like to think Laker fans are tough enough to handle it.
Beyond that, all you're doing right now is preventing the issue from dying and ensuring that all attention remains squarely on the "troll" (as you call him). The same troll, by the way, that you keep saying needs to be "starved," but but keep feeding 24/7. You're killing your own cause by making such a fuss. Just see what happens if you simply ignore the person entirely (as in, "stop putting focus on him EVER") and leave it at that. I'm guessing it'll bring on the desired results.
Having said that, the issue is closed. I'm not gonna address this any further. BK and I explained our stance and that's what we're running with.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | August 03, 2008 at 03:12 PM
ABOUT THAT PREDICTION OF 120 POINTS PER GAME….
Thanks for all of your comments, especially ex, Xodus, Edwin, wow, and Benjamin.
I agree that 120 points per game is a very lofty goal, especially since the highest team scoring average in NBA history is only 126 points per game and even the Showtime Lakers only averaged 118 points per game. I would put the chances of the Lakers actually average 120 points per game next year about the same as their chances to win 70 games next year, not impossible but highly improbable.
That works for me; after all it’s not like I did a scientific study and bet my house on the prediction. It’s just another boring summer day post, whose intent was to highlight the reasons why next year’s Lakers team will score more points than this year’s team did. Were I to do it again, I would probably reduce my prediction to 115 points per game. But it doesn’t matter. Only the Fool obsessing on my every post is keeping score.
And while 120 points per game is a lofty goal, One thing to realize, however, is that the Lakers last year raised their team scoring average to 109 points per game in 2007/08, up by 6 points per game from 103 points per game in 2006/07. And for your information, the 109 points per game that the Lakers scored last year was almost as good as the best of Dantoni’s Phoenix teams who scored 110 points per game last year.
As for the incongruity of the Lakers scoring more points even though the team is shifting focus to defense. The key is the kind of defense that is played. I believe the Lakers are not going to play the Van Gundy pack-it-in sagging defense but rather an up tempo aggressive pressing defense designed to generate steals and turnovers that will lead to easy baskets in transition. The Lakers defense will generate fast break points.
Whether the offense is 5 or 10 points per game better next year, the Lakers are going to run like they never have since Showtime. They’re going to run off steals and turnovers, rebounds and made shots. It will be a 21st century version and sequel of Showtime. Last year the Lakers were the 4th highest scoring team in the NBA. Next year they will be the top scoring team as they win the 2009 NBA Championship.
What the hell. 120 points per game and 70 wins – those are my predictions. Per the Fool, that means I win if we score less than 120 points or win less than 70 games. LOL. Talk about flunking the Intelligence Test. More like when do you get your 3rd strike.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | August 03, 2008 at 03:23 PM
Wow,
I did watch it live until I fell asleep at the start of 4th Q, but it was recorded. I know what you are saying but all of them can handle the rock and they have roles to play under Coach K. Kobe's role has been defined since the Tournament of Americas last summer where he is not top scorer but the top defender in the high post. Sometimes, he becomes the third option when time is expiring. So that I won't upset you, IMO only, the NBA players are just coasting along to avaoid injuries until the Olympics itself in Peiking, even in defense they don't apply body contacts which are lenient in FIBA rules. I see more of exhibition plays than real ones from their shot selection, going for the alley hoop and at times, over assists which I refered as hot dog plays, I saw that from Kobe to LBJ or the play from Melo to Kobe w/ three guards trailing him. Mind you, our players are serious but these are no match games so far, let's see, when they get to Team Greece and Spain.
I see this group a potential Dream Team II, right now they are now JR. Dream team, nobody among them is a legend YET unlike in 1992 Magic, Bird, Jordan and Barkley were already legends at their own right as member of Top 50's.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | August 03, 2008 at 03:26 PM
Once again:
"kind of reminds me of Chris Matthews of "Hardball" saying: " I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often."
LOL!
I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often...I'm sure the Lakers will average 120 points per game next season. I just feel it running up and down my leg in the form of a chill!
LOL!
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 03:26 PM
Did I say NuggetHead? Sorry, I meant to say:
NuggleHead!
LOL!
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 03:28 PM
A kid (Nugglehead Tom): Hey, daddy, do you think the Lakres can score 120 points a game if we add a bunch of scorers to our team?
Daddy: Son when you get older you'll understand why that doesn't work.
kid: But daddy, I'm 55 years old already and I still think this way.
Daddy: Well, you're no son of mine...beat it, kid. You bother me.
LOL!
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 03:31 PM
NuggleHead Tom is probably searching the archives for something to come back with. LOL!
The thoughts of an "undeveloped", scoring 120 points per game, mind.
LOL!
mike t.
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | August 03, 2008 at 03:36 PM