Gosh, how do you guys keep up with the Lakers Blog even with jobs. I am struggling juggling starting a career and having time to catch up. Or maybe Im still heartbroken over the NBA Finals?? This young'n could use some tips from some of you veterans. And then you guys have families??

Anyways, I HAVE to chime in on the Spanish team photo thing. Nothing major, except, I just want to point out that different expressions are just different in other countries and cultures. Yes I know, duh, but I dont know if this was brought up, but in the USA theres obviously lots of hatred, and violence towards Chinese and Asians over many years in this country, whereas Im not sure there is that type of history in Spain. So here in the US theres a lot of racial insensitivity BASED on the prior history.

So about the pose, think of this: If Chinese were never discriminated against, would this be an offensive gesture?? I always go back to the idea that if there was no issue in the first place, then these sorts of problems wouldnt arise. If in Spain they never had problems with Asians, why would they see this as offensive??

Second, what bothers me is that people always have the gall to fault others for their actions but never look into their own. People in LA always say that Asians cant drive because they cant see or whatever. Or that Hispanics have big families or other BS. And as far as the Robert Downey Jr. character, I see it as NO different than the Spanish team act. AK you're wrong. An advertisement is entertainment, not journalism. So if you think humorous enterainment poking fun at a stereotype is funny, then so is the advertisement. It's still satire. Funny or not. Anyways, they'll figure it out and everyone will get over it.

As far as Basketball is concerned, one thing that Matt Goukas mentioned about Pau in the Greece game was that he is a rhythm player, meaning that he needs to get touches. Did Pau get any touches in the NBA Finals? He got really bad posessions is what he got. He needs to get better touches, let half the posessions flow through his hands and youll see results. I HAVE SAID SINCE DAY ONE, that PAU NEEDS TOUCHES. Pau can drop 22 a game if Phil Jackson utilizes Pau. Pau is not Bynum where he needs pick and rolls and alley oops, but that does not diminish his skills. In fact he has more SKill, less athletic ability.

Dude's on a mission. And I don't just mean to win my heart lol.

Go Sasha!

I have been re-watching the Lakers games from the past three years, and noticed something ... everytime Sasha made his Sasha-face, there was someone of Asian descent in the arena.

I'm pretty sure he was making fun of them.

The Lake Show,

A lot of bad events went down in the Phillipines, both at the hands of the Spanish and the United States.

It's not the same as occurring on the Spanish mainland, but it's still a very Spanish event.

I don't know if Spain had anyone as bad as Jack London though. He wrote a story likening Asians to insects and advocating their genocide.

http://tinyurl.com/6yblvw

It's darkly ironic that Jack London Square is a part of Oakland which has a very large Asian population.

Spanish team photo

I wondered how the Chinese might react to the photo of the Spanish team so I wrote to a very close American friend of mine who has lived in China for the last 20 years to ask his opinion. He doesn't think that the Chinese would be the least bit offended. In fact, he was slightly confused by my letter and asked me whether I was asking him what I thought about the Spanish being offended by the picture.

Here's a portion of the letter he sent to me:

"China is a bit odd in some respects. One one hand, mutual respect and politeness, particularly between strangers or casual acquaintances is a very important thing and you need to avoid making people (or yourself) lose face. On the other hand, "PC" as we know it is almost non-existent, and between friends, or in certain social contexts (presumed familiarity in informal settings) between strangers, and Chinese may express themselves in a very direct and "colorful" way.

For example, Chinese nicknames like "Fatty" (Pong-Pong) or "Big Dumpling" (Da Bao) are affectionately applied to fat people, sometimes even to strangers, and this would be totally insulting and unacceptable in the West. "Hey Big Dumpling, what time is it?"

Having visited Chris a few times and having discussed the Chinese culture with him on many occasions this is more or less what I expected his response to be.

The Lake Show,

"And as far as the Robert Downey Jr. character, I see it as NO different than the Spanish team act. AK you're wrong. An advertisement is entertainment, not journalism. So if you think humorous enterainment poking fun at a stereotype is funny, then so is the advertisement. It's still satire. Funny or not. Anyways, they'll figure it out and everyone will get over it."

I'm totally lost. Advertisement is entertainment, not journalism? I don't follow at all. Can you phrase it differently?

I also think there's a chance you're missing the point of the Downey character. As I explained, it's actually meant to poke fun at Hollywood actors who take themselves seriously, as opposed to black culture. Again, the device may not "work" successfully as satire, but it's still meant to have a point, even if misfired. The picture, however, makes no statement whatsoever, outside of immaturity and a total lack of common sense.

AK

REPOST

At the risk of sounding racist to some people, I'm gonna say that when I saw the picture I did not see anything wrong with it. By that I mean that if I was a member of the Spanish team I would not have apologized for it and I really cannot understand why anyone would be offended by it. Slant-eyes are as culturally taboo in mind as Wisconsin being known for cheese. I really don't get what the whole problem is about. And let's not be hypocritical, because there are so many movies and instances in American popular culture where different races are stereotyped with things that are worse than slant-eyes. And please let's not call people racist without checking ourselves.

I will change my opinion when and if I hear that most of the Chinese population finds it very offensive. From what I have read the two people that commented on this blog and are Chinese did not find it to be even bothersome.

AK -

What are you using to trace your family history? I was thinking about doing that, but I'm not too sure how to do it.

AK,
If you are actually interested in tracing your family tree, there are a number of web sites that give info on how to go about it; nowadays a lot of it can be done remotely (a lot of the birth/death/wedding/baptismal/property/etc. records have been scanned into to online-accessible sites.) I have never done it myself, but a couple of my aunts have, and it's pretty interesting.

Regarding the Spanish Team pic; i got to say i am not offended at all and i have asian blood. I think people just overeacts too much, it is plain ridiculous. They apologized, move on and don't dwell. Now what i find really amusing...well quiet annoying really is Mike T's posts!!! I don't know how you guys can stand this man. It is obvious he used the pic issue as his vehicle to diss and bag on Gasol even more. Like i said before, Mike T's stage is this blog... Pau's is much more bigger and brighter etc etc you get the picture..can you imagine if it was the other way around? OH help us!!! Hey Mike, i know you have racism in you, just admit it. Man up dude and stop thinking you are better than any of us. Go Lakers!

Don't forget the work the Mormons have done.

Supposedly they have one of the most complete geneology records available in North America. They're obsessed with your descent vis-a-vis early Mormons is supposedly the reason why.

http://www.ancestorhunt.com/mormon_church_records.htm

tiny url form:

http://tinyurl.com/ayzaf

AK,

Caught that maybe that's not your fancy, but thought this inclusion might be interesting for anyone inclined toward studying geneology anyway so figured I'd post it.

"One of the possible roster scenarios for the Lakers next year has to be Kobe moving to small forward to bring Sasha’s 3-point game into play more than just subbing for Kobe. With Drew and Pau dominating inside, it’s not impossible to foresee situations where the Lakers might consider moving Sasha into the starting lineup. It will be a luxury the team will have due to inside-out style of play that Drew and Pau will enable them to play."
posted by: Laker Tom

I would not forsee Phil doing this unless late in games, foul trouble on Lamar, or to increase 3 point shooting if he feels Sasha and Derek is shooting lights out. Small Forward for Kobe means this: increased offense, as Kobe can penetrate more since he is faster than most Small Forwards, yet gives up some defense as there are small forwards who are bit stronger than Kobe. The opposite is true since Kobe can play great defense at the 3 (he held Paul Pierce to 3-13 shooting during 3 quarters of game 6) but would sap his energy at the offensive end as he would guard against bigger guys than him like Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James. And while it would be ideally good having Sasha at the 2 for 3 point shooting, teams could easily use box in 1 zone to lure Kobe in the middle of the key and cover up the passing lanes to Drew and Pau and to the outside to Fish and Sasha as well thus making Kobe to be forced to shoot contested jumpers.

The idea I heard that the Lakers were planning was to put Kobe at Small Forward and Lamar take either guard spot. While this sound absurd (yes when I first saw it, it didn't sound right) in another way it makes sense. Yes Kobe would face problems at small forward as well the benefits but having LO at least guard the shooting guards would take much pressure of Kobe if he had to guard guards like Ray Allen, Michael Redd, and Brandon Roy, guards who are excellent at shooting. Giving Lamar to guard them for defense would not only take the pressure off Kobe of guarding them but also a bit better defensively since Lamar is taller and bigger than them. On the offensive side would be good too as while not having an effective jump shot as Kobe, having guards guard Lamar would risk him posting them which can either lead to open lanes to pass the ball, if the defender calls on another to double team, or be weak on a post up. During the Denver series, Luke was against a smaller man on the Denver bench and when he posted him up, even Luke managed to score, so its possible that Lamar at a guard spot could work. And even if LO cannot stop the jump shooting at least the post up against guards could tire them out more than had they been guarding against other guards, which could lead to either the guards going to the bench early or making them miss their shots even more.

About Sun Yue, in my opinon he should play point guard behind Derek and Jordan. HIs playmaking skills are awesome even though his jumper is not as good as it should be. He looks to be the penetrating guard that likes to kick it out to open team mates. In my opinion he could be a bit better than Jordan in the long run since he can penetrate, possibly improve the jumper, and can post his defender up, something Jordan cannot do much because of his height And because he's a guard, he can play the NBA style game more to his style unlike Yi or Yao who are front court players and wasn't used to the style of the NBA even though the big men physical style of the NBA is getting watered down ever since they threw so many rules like the rules about handchecking, defensive 3 seconds, and the arc around the basket. Time will tell how Sun Yue is but for the mean time, him being on the team will of course bring extra revenue to the Lakers from Asian-American (particularly Chinese) ticket buyers just like what Yao did for Houston and Yi will do for the Nets. More money means more money to pay the luxury tax and other salaries.

Thats my two cents.

Hi,
Im Spanish and I would like to tell you some things...
1º Spain is not a racist country
2º The famous picture (now is really famous...thank you for the publicity) is not racist... is only funny and kindly with the chinesses... Spain never have had racist problems with asian people or with other community
3º I Think that this problem is because US have scare of Spain team and is better to change the subjet...
4º I recommeded you that first know the spanish culture and after you´ll be able to talk about this problem

I think that US is a wonderfull country like Spain but I would like that you will worry of the racist case in your country too

Thank you for your attention
regards

Sólo personas, o personajillos, tan timoratos como ignorantes, tan hipócritas como incultos, entienden como ofensivo el anuncio del equipo olímpico español de baloncesto. Sí, es ofensivo para estos gacetilleros que este equipo pueda ganar la medalla de oro y no el estadounidense, así que tienen que buscar distracciones para ganar, fieles a su sentido histórico de "juego sucio". En su país, hecho a base de prejuicios, soberbia y genocidios, encaja mal el sentido del humor, solo entienden la intolerancia y el autoritarismo de su egoísmmo. Que no intente engañar el viejo moralista, que sus intereses bastardos huelen tan mal que ya ha llegado a España. El gesto de la selección española, aunque muy simple, es humor simpático e inocente, desprovisto de la más mínima intención racista. De todas formas, si cualquier persona asiática se ha sentido ofendida, Pau o un portavoz adecuado puede disculparse con ellos, explicando que de xenofobia, nada de nada. Gestos amistosos que demuestren que hay buena voluntad. Pero que el señor Bill Plaschke no nos dé lecciones, que no se meta en la cocina del mundo como si le perteneciera a su y, sobre todo, que actúe de manera tan repugnante en la privacidad de su pequeña inteligencia

Good day all,
Just want to throw my two pennies into the Spaniard photo and Sasha's off-season work.

1. I think people need to really tone it down and breathe easy. It's apparent they meant no harm, so lets build a nice long bridge and 'get over it!' Was it STUPID on their part? Absolutely. But then again who doesn't momentarily F up from time to time!?

2. I am very glad to read that Sasha is dedicating more time and effort in the off-season. This will definitely pay dividends in the reg season and play offs. I know Sasha has been doing his thing in the off-season before this, but it feels good to hear that after signing a shorter contract length than he wanted, he still made it a point to go hard (pause).
GO TEAM USA!
GO LA!

USA - Greece notes from http://goldenarmor.wordpress.com/

2008/08/14/usa-greece-notes/

Dwyane Wade and Kobe hooked up for the play of the summer. Wade saved and ball from going out of bounds, and alley-ooped it to Kobe, who stretched out with both arms and slammed it home. I don't think I've seen Kobe get up that high in years.

Rick,

Excellent post from you as usual.

>>>>>Sure, the Redeem Team represents the finest athletes in the NBA.
>>>>>Sure, international play is a different style of basketball.
>>>>>But the principle that strong defense creates offensive opportunities is the same.

Watching Kobe Bryant’s defensive efforts playing for Team USA should be making Lakers fans eager to see the same kind of defensive effort when he plays for the Lakers. With Drew’s ability to protect the rim and control the boards on defense, the Lakers need to have Kobe and the rest of the team focus on aggressive perimeter defense designed to force steals and turnovers and fuel fast break opportunities.

>>>>>Watching the Lakers failure to commit and softness on defense year after year
>>>>>is the height of frustration.

While everybody agrees with this statement, most bloggers still resist the Lakers having Kobe focus on defense, despite the fact that that is what this team needs from him most. Instead, they continue to claim that doing so would detract too much from his offense. The truth is that the Lakers would be a better team overall by having Kobe focus more on defense and making Drew and Pau our primary offensive options in our half court offense. It would give us better ball movement and a more balanced offense.

>>>>>All the discussion on this blog about how many
>>>>>points the Lakers will score, as opposed to how many points the Lakers will
>>>>>hold their opponents to is largely irrelevant.
>>>>>Great defensive basketball is more fun to watch.

Everybody ignores the point that an aggressive defense will generate more points on offense. A pressing trapping defense with Drew playing free safety to protect the rim is the perfect partner for a wide open running game in transition. It is Showtime 2. It is the John Wooden Bruins championship teams. It is the style of basketball that Jerry Buss and Phil Jackson want to see the Lakers play. I believe it is what we will see from the Lakers next year.

>>>>>The return of the Beast will help. But all nine or ten players in the regular
>>>>>rotation must aspire to Gold Medal defensive achievement.
>>>>>We know it can be done. Go Lakers!

As I said before, Kobe is the player that needs to lead in this area just as he has for Team USA. The Lakers will have so much offensive fire power with Drew and Pau so that Kobe can lead the defensive resurgence we need to win the NBA title this year.

Tom

LakerTom,
"The truth is that the Lakers would be a better team overall by having Kobe focus more on defense and making Drew and Pau our primary offensive options in our half court offense. "

I don't think that Kobe has to "focus" on one or the other. As far as skill goes, onn offense, Kobe is the #1option, Gasol #2, Bynum #3. But they have all shown a willingness for, and skill at, passing. That gives this roster a great amount of flexibility on offense, and a great ability to take advantage of mismatches. This is especially true if FIsher/Farmar/Sasha/Vlad/Luke can hit open threes, and Lamar/Ariza move well without the ball. So Kobe can focus on defense some nights, offense some nights, depending on the opponent.

And that flexibility also means that the opponent has to react much more to the Lakers than vice versa; that's will greatly benefit the Lakers.

thekobebryantblitz,

Defensive 3 second violations have actually replaced the old illegal defense calls. The whole change overall allowed greater zone defenses making it tougher, not easier, to score. I think part of the reason they stopped allowing hand-checking is because their loosening of zone D rules made it harder for the perimeter player and they wanted to keep the game dynamic and interesting instead of slow and plodding.

The "arc around the basket" as you call it which most know as the restricted area just gives a slight advantage to the offensive player. It's like the offsides rule change made by FIFA in the early 1990s. It doesn't provide a huge change, just makes the game slightly more interesting by giving a slight advantage to the offensive player. You should be blocking shots not trying for charges right under the basket anyway.

How this dilutes the NBA, I have no idea. As you might notice, almost all the best player in the Olympics are playing in the NBA. Some of the better ones (like Sarunas Jasikevicius) had a stint in the NBA.

The NBA easily has more, better talent than every foreign league combined. Additionally, the average level of talent is higher, though shooting may be slightly inferior because FIBA rules allow any zone D and thus force more outside shooting.

If you're some kind of shooting fundamentalist, I can see how you might bemoan the NBA versus FIBA teams. If you like slashing and attacking the basket as well as post play, the NBA is far more interesting than FIBA rules leagues.

Your whole concept of dilution strikes me as very misinformed.

Personally I think the photo is no big deal. But contrary to popular opinion Europe does have a racist past and Spain was heavily involved in slave trading. I'm tired of hearing about America's racist past as if the rest of the world was any different.

If you see racism in that photo is, becouse racism is inside of you!. You poor people, USA is the only western country where you can find racist problems. Can´t you see it?. What about the us team in the japan basketball worldcup... I can´t understand your country... go attack any poor country, is what you do best

AK,

My father's side of the family is Ukrainian-Slovak-Croatian-Polish-Slovenian-Hungarian (in decending order of prominence), so there's a highly remote possibility of us being related.

Scary, huh?

GO LAKERS!

LakerTom,
I also question whether John Black knows what he is talking about saying that the Lakers are looking at Sun Yue as a shooting guard. The guy is a perfect point guard for Phil’s Triangle Offense at a genuine 6-9 with long arms. And he can handle and dish the ball. He is a smaller, quicker, faster, and better shooting version of Lamar Odom for every blogger that wanted to see 6-10 Lamar at point. The big difference is that Sun Yue at 6-9 may have the speed and quickness to actually be able to consistently play point guard.
==================================

I pretty much agree with most of your post but I want to elaborate a little on this portion. Especially the last sentence. I don't see too much of a problem with the defensive assinment because of cross defending. Lets say assuming Kobe is playing sg or sf then SY could play offensively at PG but cross play sg or sf on defense. This would let sg or sf play defense on pg depending on matchups.

The main problem will be pt as i don't see PJ changing his ways and giving SY many meaningful minutes.

I don't think that Kobe has to "focus" on one or the other. As far as skill goes, onn offense, Kobe is the #1option, Gasol #2, Bynum #3. But they have all shown a willingness for, and skill at, passing. That gives this roster a great amount of flexibility on offense, and a great ability to take advantage of mismatches. This is especially true if FIsher/Farmar/Sasha/Vlad/Luke can hit open threes, and Lamar/Ariza move well without the ball. So Kobe can focus on defense some nights, offense some nights, depending on the opponent.

======================
Ex,

I don't see Pau as #2 and AB #3. I think AB is a bigger and stronger player and has better inside game. He will demand at least double team so he will be our second option. When he is doubled Pau is open then for the #3 option and/or #1 option Kobe.

Just my HO.