I think tonight may be a "trap game". I just think the Lakers might come in to tonight's game all high and mighty because they spanked the Suns last night then get their butts handed to em. The Nuggets seem pretty good this year and actually gave us a fight earlier in the year.

Lucky for us, were unstoppable this year. We have way too many weapons for Denver to handle.

Lamar = 6th man of the year

GO LAKERS

What worries my about this game is that it appears Denver got rid of their achilles heal when the brought in Billips - beating themselves. Ever since the trade, KMart has been more about production than histrionics. Melo is trying harder on the defensive end. Role players like Kleiza and Smith play much more disciplined, controlled games. Denver may have become less "explosive" with the loss of AI, but in exchange, they're now much more "efficient".

All that being said, all the Lakers need to do is match that focus and effort and they should prevail. But I doubt it will be a cake walk.

Pau weighs the same as fellow 7 footer Kevin Garnett. He's got the tools and talent. He has a ton of passion for the game & has been bringing it hard to the hole consistently this season. I don't think he's soft.

Or both!

BK

Friday night games make me nervous. Surely someone more attentive than I has compiled a historical list of wins by day of the week in the Jackson era?

I bet in the last ten years, the Lakers have done surprisingly poorly in home games on Fridays.

All this means: Let's keep up the focus guys! Friday's talking ^&%$ about the Golden Armor! It stops tonight.

Wow, the Clips got Randoph. I gotta say - I'm even more confused by that Clipper team now than I was before. What kind of team are they? It's as if they're building a fantasy team rather than an actual basketball team. I don't think this changes much in Clipperland. They're still gonna suck.

puddle,

"What kind of team are they? It's as if they're building a fantasy team rather than an actual basketball team."

In the Clippers defense, they're likely the best team on NBA Live 2009 now. haha

Just watched Hamblen talking about tonight's match-up. He echoed what I talked about which was their offense is much more deliberate and with a purpose instead of being wasteful. Billups makes sure the freelancing gets cut to a minimum and the team keeps running the offense. The absence of the Birdman means that the Laker bigs really need to go at Denver and get those guys in foul trouble. Frank said their mismatch is KMart trying to guard Pau and that's what they'll look to exploit.

Seems the coaching staff has their eyes wide open on this one. Hopefully the team will bring the effort.

re: Cat/Thomas trade for Randolph

Clips gave up a whole lotta offense for a baby-faced big. Randolph was pretty devastating two years ago for Portland but it'll be interesting to see how Dunleavy juggles Camby Kaman and Zach. That's a lot of size.

LOL X. True statement.

Someone mentioned a Gerald Wallace-Chris Kaman trade and I think that makes sense for both squads, although I'd be concerned if I were Charlotte that they're losing their most athletic player on a woefully underathletic team. But they need to move Okafor to the 4 already, so the move makes sense. I'd be surprised if it didn't happen actually. Otherwise, this deal makes no sense for the Clippers.

If hoopshype is correct, the only players on the Knicks payroll officially for 2010 are Eddy Curry and Jared Jefferies for about $18M. Obviously there are players they could exercise options on or extend into that season but that's the ledger sheet as it appears right now. Just shows you what a smart/aggressive GM can do And DAntoni is laying the foundation with all the young and inexpensive players.

Mel-

Great link, but can you put it in Tiny URL form, please? Thanks. www.tinyurl.com

BK

I don't really know why the Clippers did this though. I get why the Warriors pulled their trade, but I can't think of a good reason why the Clippers would do this.

I just looked at the numbers and it looks like the Clips will have a bunch of cap space for 2010.

Which is good for them. But when was the last time a big-time free agent signed with the Clips?

lakers_sth

I was thinking the same thing as I was on hoopshype.com. Donnie Walsh has done a remarkable job of clearing the crap and freeing themselves for 2010. They'll have enough cap space to throw money at TWO superstars. The only 4 players likely to be around in 2010:

1) Eddy Curry (they're dying to trade him but I can't imagine anyone biting)
2) Jared Jeffries (see above)
3) Wilson Chandler (he's turning out to be a bargain)
4) Danilo Gallinari (usually rooks are given the team option)

These 4 contracts add up to $23.5 million, leaving them what will probably be about $40 mil under the cap. At that rate, they could sign LeBron and a second star for a combined $35 million or so and still have enough money for some filler guys who want to play with Bron Bron and his new sidekick. If they can't trade Jeffries, they'll probably try to trade Gallinari because of the glut at the SF position, plus, they might resign the surprisingly effective Nate Robinson (which would allow them to go over the cap if they sign the free agents first). And, of course, it's NY so they could actually go over the cap and just not care about paying the luxury tax. All in all, for the first time in years, the Knicks have a light at the end of the tunnel and it's arriving more quickly than anticipated. I'm actually kind of excited because NBA basketball is better when the Knicks are good.

So dissapointed with the play of Andrew Bynum in recent games. With the way he's playing he should be called Andrew Jones of the Dodgers. If an old, "has been" center named Shaq outplayed him and a "bust" center named Kwame outshines him, how will Bynum fare with the all star caliber centers like Howard, Yao, Duncan, and Bosh? Did the Lakers management made the right contract for this unproven center? Just asking....

Zach Randolph replaces the Brand they lost.

20.5 pts and 12.5 are very impressive.

Kaman and Camby make for a very good backline defense.

BD pushing the ball, penetrating, and now dishing to an outside big will help his assist numbers.

Randolph can also create his own shots as we learned from Portland.

Good move for the Clips, not that I care. Maybe one more move coming with Kaman, but if not I think their twin tower formula could still work nicely.

The other trade thats in the works...Harrington for Crawford...That makes the Warriors even smaller....It also means that David Lee at some point may be on the block...I like him as a power forward...As for Zack Randolph....He plays as much defense as my door bell.....And he is just as bad as Thomas for team harmony ..........

X,

"I just looked at the numbers and it looks like the Clips will have a bunch of cap space for 2010. Which is good for them. But when was the last time a big-time free agent signed with the Clips?"

They'll have some, but they eliminated a fair chunk of it when they took on Randolph. Maybe they figure with so many teams vying for dudes, the odds of them landing a big fish aren't huge, so they might as well grab a 20/10 guy (albeit one with question marks)

Oh, by the way. The last time was four months ago with Baron Davis (not to be a smart ass, haha)

AK

Fatty,

Do you remember when you had Socks on watch for throwing the shot?

Do you remember even Kobe was on watch for it, and so he "bet" Socks to throw it....

And then, do you remember when he did... it barely qualified.

Well, I think we need to put up a clock on the blog, waiting for him to throw the hook. It's an easy shot to get off, throw it darn it!!!!

Hey X-man

I was thinking a rotation like the Lakers have with Pau - AB- LO

Play the combo's as needed, will keep them fresh, and should give them each enough minutes.

But that's why I said, Kaman may still be in the works.

puddle,

>>>Someone mentioned a Gerald Wallace-Chris Kaman
>>>trade and I think that makes sense for both squads,
>>>although I'd be concerned if I were Charlotte that they're
>>> losing their most athletic player on a woefully
>>>underathletic team

Their front court is below pitiful, though. Add Kaman to Okafor
and now maybe you've got at least a starting place. And they've
still got Jason Richardson on the wing. Ray Felton and DJ Augustin
are at least competent at PG. And Adam Morrison and Matt Carroll
have shown some shooting talent. Throw in a couple of no-namers
who will do whatever Larry Brown tells them, and maybe you have
a playoff team.

Tim-4-Show

I do remember that and also remember, us debating did he take one in a game?

This was another site, and we voted on a poll.

The results? A tie with Fatty voting he didn't. His shot was more like a half jump hook, not pure Kareem at all.

The guy plays better I think from the left side. Last night, he got pushed way outside on the right and didn't look comfortable from the right at all.

I didn't realize how subjective a sky hook could be. I mean you do it or you don't. But you know some of us basketball purists from the pld school ways have there rules, like what the MVP has to be as well. lol

>>>Which is good for them. But when was the last time a
>>>big-time free agent signed with the Clips?

Uhhh.

Baron Davis?

Was that a trick question or something?

LTLF,

I already wrote that the Clips would have cap space in 2010.

So you get rid of a turd in Tim Thomas and bring in another career loser in Randolph? Sure they'll score more and look better when they lose, but they'll still lose.

Diddy is chucking like crazy this season and they just added another unefficient chucker in Randolph.

Diddy's signing slipped my mind as a recent signing, but he did sign only after the Warriors refused to give him the deal he wanted because of age and injury history. Not exactly the type of signing they're hoping to make in 2010.