R.I.P. Don Haskins

RIP

Kinda sad...

The Women's Basketball team was perhaps more excited to be in Oprah, yet Oprah only had time to interview the men's. Well Kobe really lol.

All Bloggers: I try and respond to all bloggers who post to me. If i missed responding or had my post deleted for violating my parole, i apologize.

AK, Long Term, Xodus...Lakergurl too,

thanks for the post from 3 threads ago. i'll again concede that i don't obsess about this stuff, but i do have my opinions.

horry traded to LA: fair

haprer joining LA when Kobe was 21 and had potential or because of PJ: fair

the "fact" still remains, nobody has voluntarily joined the lakers since kobe knocked shaq off the block.

do i have a shaq bias? perhaps.

do i have a kobe bias? absolutely.

do stars (or fading stars) chose to play in LA under the kobe regime? i still say no.

don't you all remember the stars all or the former "greats" riding the shaq/laker bandwagon back in the day? guys like mitch richmond, rider, rodman, malone, payton. if i really wanted to do "research", i could pull up the laker roster from 1996-2004 and name good to star players wanting to ride the shaq/laker bandwagon to championships.

we can debate ad nauseum about this stuff, but the fact still remains? why do stars avoid playing in LA under the kobe regime? please name notable players in the laker org (besides Pau and Fish) joining LA since 2004. let's not forget, fish bailed on kobe when shaq left.

i know about all of the excuses like "salary cap" matters, but i still say that all teams have salary cap issues. how do those teams miraculously get players?

one thought that has eluded me is if "salary cap" issues was such a concern and winning championships was the objective, why piss off shaq in the first place?

you all need to concede that kobe, in his arrogant ways, wanted to exceed jordan and the only way to do that is push shaq out a all cost.

let me repeat: AT ALL COST which means you have to suffer the consequences.

this is no schtick guys and (gurls). sorry if this offends or upsets.

AK: i truly appreciate your comments to me. i know lakergurl loves you kb*iatching me around.

i'm not arguing for argument sakes. all i'm trying to say is that cba rules are challenges. i don't understand the cba rules (nor do i partularly care), but i do understand business and GM's are paid a lot of money to figure these things out.

i'm not convinced that "salary cap" issues are the primary reason good to great players are looking past the kobe lakers.

i firmly believe that "off the record", back-alley deals are made day in and day out in the real world. basketball is no different. i'm certain McHale made the KG deal because KG asked McHale to do so and Ainge asked McHale to do so. it's that simple.

i am willing to concede that jerry west made a deal to send Gasol to the lakers and Gasol didn't object. i will also concede that Gasol could have objected and didn't because he saw that Kobe Version 2008 was different for the better.

Peace in the Middle East LA!

Jon K: love you bro. i'm not the most hated! whew-whew......wait a minute, i'm still hated though......doh!

KL,

Vladamir Radmanovich signed with the Lakers the first day of free agency and everyone in the media was raving about how he was going to open up the floor for the Lakers. He's sucked since we had him but it was a big deal at the time.

The only guys that the Lakers have missed out on in years past are washed up veterans who want to play for titles. Well the Lakers clearly weren't a title contender until last season so why would these guys sign with the Lakers and win 45 games instead of signing with the Spurs and contending for a title? If you want to look at it from your view it's because of Kobe and not because we were a young team not expected to contend for a few years. And this offseason we're among the deepest teams in the league and even Ronny who loved playing here asked the Lakers so he could get more playing time in G-State. I know you'll see this as excuses, but this is the reality.

But this is neither here nor there because your original point was guys like Baron Davis didn't sign with LA and now you're changing it to include washed up guys as well since you can't make your original argument stick. And as much as you think GM's are paid to get around stuff like that they can't unless the guy is willing to take the mid-level exception. Period.

Pray for the repose of the soul of a person with conviction. I wonder how much criticisms this man endured when he made that daring move. Civil rights protests was prevalent at that time, not only w/ blacks but also with other prejudiced group among brown, jews with the support of northerners. Even at Clark Field Air Force base in the Philippines, protests were daily events. In 1966, the professional leagues like NBA, MBL and NFL have already played black players but it was Coach Haskins who broke the ice in College hoop. A year later was the start of one of the best black sportsman. Guess who? The answer can be seen below.

http://tinyurl.com/6mw9ws

KL,

BTW, Fish didn't bail on Kobe when Shaq left he got a ridiculous offer from Golden State that he'd be insane to pass up. Once again, a player going for the money.

Believe it or not, most NBA players aren't asobsessed with Kobe as you are. Your Fisher comment is laughable considering that Fish is probably closer to Kobe than he is to Shaq.

JustaLakerFan

>>>>>The one thing not mentioned about the interview was what LakerTom and I have
>>>>>been preaching a long time.

>>>>>Sign AB preferably to near max money or lose him to FA or pay a lot more to
>>>>>keep him. Go back and listen to what he said in regards to if he is signed or not.
>>>>>If he is signed then that is something he will not have to focus on.
>>>>>Now the important words! If they don't then the ball is in my court.
>>>>>I'll translaate for you. Then negotiations are in my court and I will be a free agent
>>>>>and choose who I sign with and for how much.
>>>>>Now do you all want to let AB sniff free agency? I think not.

You are absolutely right, JLF. The Lakers will wrap up Drew before his birthday on October 27th. It’s funny, I wrote a post the other day praising Jim Buss for sticking with Drew when the pressure was on to trade him and made the analogy that it was the same type of move that Jerry made in choosing Kobe over Shaq – the kind of big-time franchise-defining moves that great owners made. Not a peep from the blog. Well, Lakersville, consider yourselves lucky that one of the guys who will be making the decision to sign Drew for a near-max extension will be none other than Jim Buss, the guy who may really deserve the credit for the Lakers drafting and then sticking with the Next Great Lakers Center.

Tom

DON HASKINS WAS A 60’S ICON…

I had just gotten married the year before and just became a father earlier in 1966, when I watched Don Haskin’s Texas Western team with five black starters defeat Kentucky with its five white starters to win the NCAA basketball championship. The number one selling song that year was The Ballad of the Green Beret. Peace, love, drugs, and rock and roll ruled the world. The times were a changing and Texas Western’s victory was seen as another sign that Dylan was right. The meek were inheriting the earth. Justice was triumphing at last.

I watched the game with several basketball buddies, two of whom were African-Americans.
We all rooted heartily for Texas Western and thrilled as David fell Goliath. But it wasn’t just a victory over racism in our minds, it was real evidence that the Brave New World we were envisioning and marching and rebelling for was really happening. It was heady times for our young egos and we thought we could do anything and everything. The background was the Beatles, the Panthers, the War, the first artificial heart, Blonde on Blonde, Star Trek debuts, John meets Yoko, and Ronald Reagan wins race for Governor of California.

When you think of the barriers Don Haskin’s brought down, you cannot help but be reminded of Barack Obama and the obstacles he is facing as the first African-American running for President. How far we have come since 1966 will have a lot to say about how Obama fares in the coming election. Hopefully, those brave hopes from back in 1966 will triumph again.

Tom

Laker Tom:
How Obama does has little if nothing to do with how far we have come!! The race card is always played when people can't face the fact that their candidate's ideas and policies are not in the best interest of the country as a whole instead of a few radical leftist special interest groups. Keep politics off this Laker Blog, you know better than that.
What I do remember about Texas Western was that it was the only team that won a title that wasn't called UCLA in a long run during Wooden's reign that was probably sports' most impressive dynasty.

Well said (as usual) LakerTom. Appreciate the personal insight and story on the topic.

Helluva post Laker Tom. Helluva post. It made me smile and feel that we are moving forward incrementally, which is better than moving back.

Speaking of Star Trek debuts...I wonder if things happen in waves as much as it seems, and if so, then would society start to speed up as a whole as a result of a general wave movement in the form of progress? By that, I mean, could it be possible that all beings on the planet will start to evolve exponentially faster as a result of our own progress creating a psycho-kinetic wave of progress?

That's all folks.

Aloha K.L

Ak did a great job in responding to you, but I just wanted to add one more theing about the cap. You insist that if a GM wanted to he could get around the cap. Fact is, its been tried before. In 2000 the Timberwolves were a young team trying to build around K.G. they tried to get around the cap by paying Joe smith under the table. Of course they were found out. They were fined 3.5 million dollors and striped of their next 5 first round draft picks. It pretty much destroyed the franchise. Some of the guys they missed out on Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, Yao, Caron Butler, Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Carmelo etc. How good would the T-wolves have been with any of those guys paired with KG?

A lot of the guys that post on the blog are pretty knowledgable. If you want to critique Kobes game, fine. Knock his carachter, o.k. All are subjective. But when you get into the realm of impossibilities, that when you are going to have a whole lot of bloggers jumping on your posts. Cheers.

MH

Okay, let's debate ad nauseum.

>>>don't you all remember the stars all or the former
>>>"greats" riding the shaq/laker bandwagon back in
>>>the day? guys like mitch richmond, rider, rodman,
>>>malone, payton. if i really wanted to do "research",
>>>i could pull up the laker roster from 1996-2004 and
>>>name good to star players wanting to ride the
>>>shaq/laker bandwagon to championships.

And I would agree with pretty much everything you said,
except to change the wording from "the shaq/laker" to
"the Shaq/Kobe/Phil/Laker" bandwagon.

If Shaq and Shaq alone was the draw, then name me some
"greats" who joined a team to be with Shaq BEFORE he
had Kobe playing by his side and BEFORE he had a hall
of fame coach coaching him.

Name one.

You can't. Because there aren't any.

In the four years before he joined the Lakers, and even in
his first year WITH the Lakers and Kobe, not one quality
veteran signed with Shaq's team so that they could play
with Shaq, despite the fact that he was already dominating
the league by his second season.

It was only the combination of Shaq AND Kobe AND Phil
that lured some good veterans to come to the Lakers for
less than they could have made elsewhere.

Do you think any big name players would have taken less
money to play alongside Shaq if Del Harris was coaching
and the other starters were Devean George, Derek Fisher,
Mark Madsen, and Lindsey Hunter?

That's the sort of talent Kobe had around him with Kwame,
Lamar, Smush, and Brian Cook starting.

It was the combination of the best coach and two superstar
players that was the draw. Not just Shaq.

And since I'm absolutely sure you'll bring up Miami...

Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, Pat Riley.

Whaddaya know. Two great players and a hall of fame
coach. If it was Ricky Davis at SG and Rick Pitino coaching,
then Shaq wouldn't be drawing any veterans to play with
Miami.

>>>we can debate ad nauseum about this stuff, but the
>>>fact still remains?

The fact remains that most reasonable people give BOTH
Shaq and Kobe credit for the championships (and Phil
Jackson as well), while you insist that Kobe was just along
for the ride.

>>>why do stars avoid playing in LA under the kobe regime?

Let me give you 10 reasons (just to scratch the surface).

Chucky Atkins
Chris Mihm
Jumaine Jones
Brian Grant
Devean George
Smush Parker
Kwame Brown
Luke Walton
Biran Cook
Maurice Evans

Those are the sort of players that Kobe had around him
AS STARTERS. And post Shaq trade, the Lakers were
way over the salary cap, so the most they could offer
any player would be an MLE. Less than 5 million a year
is not enough to play with Kobe and a bunch of scrubs.

Yes they did have Lamar Odom. Not enough draw. And
for one year, they also had Caron Butler, who they threw
away for Kwame.

Veteran stars that go to teams for less money than they
are worth will only do it to join a team that is near championship
level. With that bunch of scrubs, the Lakers were not at
that level. With Shaq, Kobe, and Phil, they were.

>>>please name notable players in the laker org (besides
>>>Pau and Fish) joining LA since 2004. let's not forget,
>>>fish bailed on kobe when shaq left.

I've already pointed out that the "near championship" draw
wasn't there with the players surrounding Kobe in the past.
But now there is that kind of vibe. Let's look at a different
way of answering your question. Who's currently on the
Lakers roster (other than Pau and Fish, whom you've
conveniently excluded from your argument because they
would prove you wrong, of course)?

Trevor Ariza. Could have opted out this summer and likely
would have gotten more than the 3 million the Lakers owe
him in free agency. But he stayed on the Lakers... Kobe's
Lakers.

Andrew Bynum. We'll see if he re-signs. Of course, if
he does, then the next time you ask the quesion, you'll say
"please name notable players (other than Pau or Fish or
Bynum)..." because you ignore examples that prove you
wrong. If Andrew Bynum takes less money to play for
Phoenix, then you will really be vindicated.

Joe Crawford, Jordan Farmar, Sun Yue. All 3 were
drafted, so they had no choice.

Coby Karl, DJ MBenga, Dwayne Mitchell, Josh Powell.
Clearly no chance of ever becoming "notable" players.

Luke Walton. Re-signed with the Lakers without even
trying the free agent market. Took less than MLE money
without even talking to any other clubs.

Lamar Odom. Has been under contract, and whenever
the rumors of him being traded have come up has stated
that he doesn't want to be traded, he wants to stay with
the Lakers. Kobe's Lakers.

Vlad Radmanovic. Signed with the Lakers. Clips owned
his Bird rights, so theoretically could have paid him more,
but he signed without even waiting for an offer from them.
To play for the Lakers. Kobe's Lakers.

Sasha Vujacic. Could have been paid more to play in
Europe. If his agent had been agressive, I'm sure he could
have gotten the same amount of money from one of several
other teams (e.g. Miami paid more to James Jones, who
isn't as good a defender as Sasha). But Sasha mostly
focused on re-signing with the Lakers and took less money
to stay with the Lakers. Kobe's Lakers.

Chris Mihm. Played the free agent market to see if he could
get more than the Lakers were offering. Clearly he must
have wanted to get away from Kobe (in your eyes). But
stayed anyway. He also could have opted out this summer.
And didn't. He stayed with the Lakers. Kobe's Lakers.

And that's it. That's the whole team.

So now, KL, you must make a choice. Are any of those
"notable" players? What is your evaluation of the current
roster?

If you think that none of those players are "notable", then
I'll be happy to gloat over you even more this June when
Kobe wins a championship with Pau, Fish, and a bunch
of insignificant players (in your view).

Or if they are "notable", then we shall see if Lamar and
Bynum follow in the footsteps of Luke, Sasha, Ariza, Mihm,
and Radmanovic and choose to stay with the Lakers...
Kobe's Lakers.

Long Time Laker Fan:

VERY NICE ANALYSIS.

-blitz

Do you people really expect a person to be rational in hatred?

Li Hsiao Loong

Don Haskins did a great thing.

RIP.

thekobebryantblitz,

From that link here is my conclusion in terms of offseason work:

Sasha Vujacic: Worked on his shot heavily. He's improved.

Trevor Ariza: Worked on his entire game every day (there's a real fire in his eyes as he spoke, great news.)

Luke Walton: Worked out maybe an hour a day.

Vladimir Radmonovich: Hung out with his family, picked up on girls.

Rad Vlad has really been a disappointment. I was so excited when he was first signed.

GO LAKERS!

Hello again!

Time to quit hibernating, put new batteries in the keyboard, and get back to ripping fools, cracking jokes, and paying due respects.

My blogging mini-camp just opened today, and damn! Just look at the rust! Two or three laps around the dialogue box and I'm winded already...

Laker Tom (the real el Presidente): nice to see your familiar handle. Politics and hoops make a yuck cocktail, but it is nice to see folks involved and passionate about the process. A much more serious question, with much greater importance for all of us, is: Do you believe that the League's incumbent MVP can win reelection this year? Considering that his individual numbers must go way down, since Drew dunking on people will become the obvious 1st option on offense, and with three towers up front, there won't be too many boards left for the little people to get.

That funny looking kid from Canada-via-Santa-Clara, Steve What's-His-Name, managed a re-elect on lower numbers (and fewer wins) a few years back, so there is a precedent set. And how could the voters spurn the leader of a party that is about to win 72 out of 82 possible primaries?

I can't wait to see the "ticket" develop in the coming months: My fellow Americans, we CAN do this. We CAN lead the League in total rebounding differential, per 48 min. rebounding margin, AND net rebounding percentage, because we're deep, we're huge...and we are HUNGRY. We will lead the League in FG% for, AND FG% against! Golden State may average more team steals, and so too may Nawh-Leans, but we will have two players in the top twenty...and we WILL LEAD THE WORLD in blocks, deflections, altered shots, and most of all...INTIMIDATION!

Or something like that.
Politics isn't my bag, baby. I prefer to chill with Jon K over at CIA - the gadgets are pretty cool.

Anyway, I'll be seeing yall soon, and looking to see the other cabinet members and dept. heads when they check in for the season.

Two-a-days are coming, people!

And as much as I tried to stay away...
HIGH CHEESE was really just me...a pseudonym...a word that Let's Go Butt-ler would need to look up...

Love this game,

karyanr

Pray for the repose of the soul of a person with conviction. I wonder how much
criticisms this man endured when he made that daring move. Posted by: Edwin Gueco
| September 08, 2008 at 07:05 PM

MAGNIFICENT POST EDWIN!!

DIDN'T SEE YOUR POST ON HASKINS LAKERTOM
YOUR POST WAS ALSO OUTSTANDING!

Actually, LakerTom, Obama's race has been, by far, a net positive for him politically.
Which in the long run may hurt his political career, because, unrelated to his race,
he isn't ready to be President at this point. Posted by: exhelodrvr |
September 09, 2008 at 08:57 AM

Sounds like someone's bitter cause Obama beat him
in a game of Horse last week.

Jon K. asked "what have the other Lakers been doing??"

Kobe Bryant=Known (Olympics)
Pau Gasol=Known (Olympics)
Andrew Bynum=Known (Atlanta)
Lamar Odom=Known (resting to heal tendinitis in knees and working out for training camp).
Derek Fisher=Unknown (speculation is spending time with Family especially Tatum Fisher and keeping in shape).

KWAME BROWN = BAKING CAKES

AK,

Do me a favor and limit exheldovr's political soundbites in the future.

GO LAKERS!

blank,

Kwame Brown doesn't bake cakes. He throws them.

Maybe that's the problem. No one told him that you have to workout in the offseason with a basketball. Instead he drives to the bakery, buys a cake, drives home, throws a cake at the backboard at his court in his backyard, then gets back in the car, drives to the bakery while blasting Limp Bizkit in his car ("I DID IT ALL FOR THE NOOKIE! YEAH! YEAH!"), happily singing along, stops off and buys another cake, returns home, throws another cake at the backboard, repeats cycle....

I think that's the problem.

He needs less cake, more actual basketball training.

GO LAKERS!

AK,

Fair enough.

GO LAKERS!