Pau Gasol plays strong, Kobe and Fish play funny
By their standards, the Spanish national team isn't setting the world on fire, but most Lakers fans are likely more concerned about the play and health of Pau Gasol, and on that end there's good news on both fronts. Wearing what seems to be a protective wrap on his surgically repaired left index finger, Gasol hasn't exactly been a consistent force throughout the EuroBasket extravaganza, but played great Monday against Lithuania was outstanding. 19 points on 8-10 from the floor, plus eight boards in an 84-70 win.
For the tournament, despite a couple off games Gasol is still averaging nearly 17 points a night at just under 60% shooting in 28.4 minutes a game. More importantly, there haven't been reports of complications with the finger. Or at least any I've seen. And yes, you may take this moment to knock on wood.
Moving on...
Longtime writer/producer Peter Mehlman has put out a big series of online vids entitled "The Narrow World of Sports" that have, for the most part, been pretty funny, particularly for those with a sense of humor drifting towards the Seinfeld end of the spectrum. Two have included Lakers, specifically Kobe and Fish, so I thought I'd pass them along. (It's possible I linked at one point to Bryant's guest appearance, but frankly don't remember.) The Kobe vid is particularly funny, at least until 24 isn't able to keep much of a straight face.
That he managed as long as he did was admirable.
Two great touches: First, Mehlman looking at his tip sheet before introducing Kobe, as if not really recognizing the significance of who he's talking to. Second, Kobe's line about being President. "I can handle foreign policy and all that stuff. I can take care of it."
Great stuff.
Fish has a lot more trouble not laughing, but there's still plenty of fun stuff.
My favorite exchange...
Mehlman: You want to call him now?
Fisher: You have his number?
Mehlman: I don't.
Fisher: (disappointed) Oh.
I also love the questions about the WWJD bracelet.
BK
BK,
Thanks for the Mehlman links. Hilarious stuff. You DID post the Kobe one before but it was so funny it was worth watching again. Man, I just love DFish. When you think about all the Lakers players on this team, an interesting thread question would be which Lakers player would you like to hang out with for a night? While Kobe would obviously be my first choice, I would also love to spend some time with Fisher. I plan on buying his book. Has anybody else bought it? I am interested if he talks about his plans after his playing career is over and whether he mentions an interest in coaching.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | September 15, 2009 at 12:55 PM
KB Blitz,
My point was players get traded or leave teams all the time..They did this story because it was controversy in L.A just so they can try and sell ESPN Insider memberships to the L.A market. Otherwise no one would care.
It just bothers me that they just try to find any "story" they can that has to do with L.A just so they can make money. Like there is nothing else going on around the league.
Posted by: zen | September 15, 2009 at 01:09 PM
zen-
Regarding the Ariza story, it's a feature story in the current issue of ESPN The Magazine. They always will take the mag stories and repurpose them for the web, and always behind the Insider "velvet rope" (it is, after all, a subscription based magazine). The Ariza-for-Artest swap between Houston and LA was one of the bigger stories of the offseason in the NBA, and TA himself now takes a much more prominent role in Houston (where he landed after getting wooed hard by LeBron and Co. in Cleveland) given how things shook out. From an editorial standpoint, it's definitely a story.
There are plenty of things you can and should criticize ESPN for, but in this case, I think you're a little off base. As someone who works for and pitches the company frequently, I can tell you they didn't green light that story in the hope simply of selling more Insider subscriptions to one market.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | September 15, 2009 at 01:36 PM
Those videos were really fun.
When does he do one with Thriller?
What do we play for? RINGS!!!
Lakers Today... Lakers Tomorrow... Lakers Forever.
GO LAKERS!!!
Posted by: Jon K. | September 15, 2009 at 01:38 PM
Laker Tom,
"When you think about all the Lakers players on this team, an interesting thread question would be which Lakers player would you like to hang out with for a night?"
I like this.
I think Kobe, Derek, and Thriller would be my top three, but if I had to choose between the three, I'd think I'd really enjoy having dinner with Derek Fisher most.
What do we play for? RINGS!!!
Lakers Today... Lakers Tomorrow... Lakers Forever.
GO LAKERS!!!
Posted by: Jon K. | September 15, 2009 at 01:48 PM
Blitz- thanks for the ariza article. I still espouse the idea that the story we get during negotiations is a load of bollocks. And I’m still waiting for it to come out that Lamar was never offered 10m for 3 yrs. And yeah, now a lot of pro or anti trevor people will try to claim I’m taking sides. Not my position.
“…I also read an article once, I can't find it, about the high rate of blood presure problems in African Americans and how it related to the fact that the ones who survived the slave ship's had characteristics, which led to this current problem
Posted by: humanomaly (aka "The Anti-Crust") | September 15, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Human- google ‘Jimmy the Greek.’ Cautionary tale.
LakerTom- In my experience, fantasy sports managers usually know more about sports and the relative values of players than the casual fan, if not more the blog crue. People that pick players based on prejudice don't usually do very well. You would be very dispointed at the fantasy value of Drew right now, though.
Jon K - relax, man.
Posted by: phred | September 15, 2009 at 02:04 PM
Ok BK,
I will take your points..But when was the last time you heard a story about someone on the Charlotte Bobcats? Nothing exciting comes out of there?
It's about L.A..It's a story.
Im just saying the bigger markets help drive their story ideas..Not too far fetched, is it?
Posted by: zen | September 15, 2009 at 02:04 PM
whoops, meant to post this earlier
"You guys are all idiots.
Posted by: Clark | September 12, 2009 at 06:14 PM
YES! Somebody gets me! This is going down in the all time save file.
Posted by: phred | September 15, 2009 at 02:05 PM
zen-
"when was the last time you heard a story about someone on the Charlotte Bobcats? Nothing exciting comes out of there? It's about L.A..It's a story. Im just saying the bigger markets help drive their story ideas..Not too far fetched, is it?"
I'm pretty sure they've profiled Gerald Wallace and Okafor while they were there, and I've seen stories about Jordan's role in management, but big picture, no, nothing exciting ever comes out of Charlotte. That's in part why they suck :). You're right that national magazines have to think about a national audience, and that often means making sure the big markets and high profile players (be they LA, New York, Florida with Tim Tebow, etc.) are covered, but there's a balance with that, too. The rest of the country cares about Kobe, KG, LeBron, Tebow, Jeter, and so on, but they also want to know about other stuff, too. So do people in large markets, too, for that matter. It's a balancing act.
Where I think that big market thing you're talking about comes out more is with television coverage, what they feature on SportsCenter, where they have their remotes, and so on. Too often the world stops when the Red Sox and Yankees play, for example.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | September 15, 2009 at 02:33 PM
How tall is Pau Gasol really? He looks 2" taller than any other Laker.
Posted by: humanomaly (aka "The Anti-Crust") | September 15, 2009 at 02:36 PM
When does the Euro championships end....how much time between the last game and training camp?
The Spaniard's gotta rest sometime.
Posted by: #4 | September 15, 2009 at 02:50 PM
phred,
>>> In my experience, fantasy sports managers usually know more about sports and
>>> the relative values of players than the casual fan, if not more the blog crue.
I’d agree in general although additional knowledge in the wrong hands is not always a good thing. However, you cannot tell me that fantasy players are not ALWAYS looking to make a deal, which surely applies to many of the bloggers who constantly propose new trades or signings no matter how well the Lakers do. They live to make deals and I believe at times are happier if their fantasy team does well than if the Lakers do well.
Most of the guys I know who play fantasy sports turn their teams almost completely over during EVERY season. It is about getting the hot player, not building a team for the future. Every fantasy owner would have traded Bynum by now and benched Fish in the Finals. They even foolishly think that their motivation is the same as that of a real NBA general manager. Being a good fantasy league player really says little about a person’s basketball knowledge. Period!!!
>>> You would be very dispointed at the fantasy value of Drew right now, though.
No, I wouldn’t because his fantasy value has no relation to his value in the real world.
That is unless you agree with John Mayer. LOL! Want to play? Get a ball and hoop.
Otherwise, keep it real. Fantasy players live in a fantasy world.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | September 15, 2009 at 02:52 PM
phred - you suck. See?? I get you too! LOL!
So - anyone care about the Kanye Controversy? Nahh.... didn't think so. I think Forest Gump said it best - Stupid is as stupid does. Talk about another big ego.
Not much to talk about, though.
Is it October 7th yet?
Posted by: justanothermambafan | September 15, 2009 at 02:57 PM
If I could hang out with just one Laker for a night, I'd pick the Bean. He's funny, extremely intelligent and very witty. Just like me. We're two beans in a pod. I'd like to pick his brain on stuff other than basketball - like foreign relations, how to bring about world peace, how to end hunger, what his religion means to him - you know - the important stuff. I'm not kidding. I'd love to learn how he thinks. I'm not saying there would be solutions as a result, and that we'd end up Twittering Obama with our ideas or anything like that. I'm just saying it would make for some very interesting conversation.
Posted by: justanothermambafan | September 15, 2009 at 03:04 PM
Phred, my apologies if I crossed a line. And as such I will take a break for months....take a quick look at this...
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Slave-ship+hypothesis+of+hypertension-a06342591
Slave-ship hypothesis of hypertension
Conditions on slave ships traversing the Atlantic Ocean
during a 350-year period beginning in the 16th century may be responsible for the increased prevalence of high blood pressure among blacks in the United States, according to
a hypothesis by Clarence E. Grim of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles. After studying rates of hypertension among blacks on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as historical data about the slave trade
, Grim concludes that voyages on the ships could have resulted in "survival of the fittest," with those better able to retain salt more likely to live through the lack of food and water and the dehydrating seasickness and diarrhea. This more efficient use of salt, however, has subsequently caused problems among slave descendants with salt-rich diets, suggests Grim.
Peace, and I apologize if I offended any race, color or creed. It's just something I heard about like 25 years ago, mentioned by a college prof.....I never studied up on it, but the thought stuck....
Apologies accepted?
Posted by: humanomaly (aka "The Anti-Crust") | September 15, 2009 at 03:41 PM
about the bobcats, and small markets...and it makes you wonder why the NBA lets teams drift about, it's like throwing seeds into the air, an letting the wind carry them to fall back to the earth and propagate and create a market by the presence of the tea. If this is the case then Mr. David Stern, not my favorite phoney person, is playing GOD. Look, Seattle doesn't have a team anymore, San Diego, which I think is in the top 10 in city size (not sure what parameters....6th in population, checked), Orange County, I don't know much about the midwest...St.Louis, Honoloulu (that's a reach, I know, but I just threw it out while thinking, Vegas (gambling), San Jose, Jacksonville, Columbus, Austin, Baltimore, Ft. Worth., .......and since he ventured into Canada, why did Grizzlies evacuate so quick, Montreal, Quebec, .....go south....Mexico City, Tijuana (just kidding....)
Posted by: humanomaly (aka "The Anti-Crust") | September 15, 2009 at 04:12 PM
LakerTom- nope, not agreeing with a word of that. How many fantasy teams have you ever managed? I played in six fantasy basketball leagues last year, and we had maybe ten trades discussed total, all of which were reasonable. Sure, guys propose unfair trades. That’s a prelude to negotiation, and you might hit a dumb guy. And I think that most fantasy players don’t play in keeper leagues, because the funnest part of the whole thing is drafting and seeing how much better you do because you know what you are doing. And yeah, fantasy players are pretty closely correlated to good players. Top players are kobe, lebron, chris paul, pau went about 10th to 15th last year, which is a lot higher than most ‘informed opinionators’ had him. Crappy players don’t get picked up.
You might like this story, though. The league I have with college friends agreed to do a limited keeper league last year, where you can keep two players from the year before. I had a lousy pick position, and I screwed up my draft queue and accidentally picked Nene in the second round (he actually did pretty well, but I was going to draft him a lot later. Anyway) I picked Bynum in the fifth round, and Elton Brand in the first round. So my team was in the crapper by Christmas. But since it was a keeper league, I kept proposing trades of my players that were doing well for players who were injured and out for the year to other players, figuring that someone would want to have a better chance to win this year. Nobody bit. Everybody wanted to have the better players next year. So I'm starting the year with Brand and Bynum. I've got to do really well in the later rounds.
So I’m thinking that maybe I’ll send you an invite to be on one of my fantasy teams this year, and you can see how you do. Of course, I figure you'd pick Bynum way too early and I'd have a slight competitive advantage, too. : )
Posted by: phred | September 15, 2009 at 08:50 PM
“…I'm pretty sure they've profiled Gerald Wallace and Okafor while they were there, and I've seen stories about Jordan's role in management, but big picture, no, nothing exciting ever comes out of Charlotte. That's in part why they suck :). …
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | September 15, 2009 at 02:33 PM
See, this is why I read this blog. Adande or Stein would never show up in a comments section to admit this.
What Laker would I spend the evening with? Until recently Lamar, but now I would be really torn between him and artest. I figure a night out with Artest would probably be memorable. Of course, Luke does have a restaurant that serves ribs, so that might be tempting.
Human- playing? Guy has powers, I tell you.
Posted by: phred | September 15, 2009 at 08:51 PM
LakerTom,
Only two trades in my fantasy league last year...both very reasonable. D. Rose for Devin Harris on draft night. And later Devin Harris for David Lee. (One team was in desparate need of rebounding and the other team needed a pg help.)
I've been avid hoop fan for over 35 years, but playing fantasy has helped me keep abreast of more players than I would otherwise. It forces me to watch more hoops...which is probably not the best use of my time. I had League Pass for years (to keep up with Lakers) and generally scan several games a night anyway. But now I have to watch a little closer (especially newer players) to see if there's any free agents I should pick up.
LRob
Posted by: LRob | September 15, 2009 at 10:49 PM
phred,
>>> So I’m thinking that maybe I’ll send you an invite to be on one of my fantasy teams this year,
>>> and you can see how you do. Of course, I figure you'd pick Bynum way too early and I'd have
>>> a slight competitive advantage, too. : )
LRob,
>>> Only two trades in my fantasy league last year...both very reasonable. D. Rose for Devin
>>> Harris on draft night. And later Devin Harris for David Lee. (One team was in desparate
>>> need of rebounding and the other team needed a pg help.)
Thanks for the responses. We will just have to agree to disagree on fantasy sports. I must admit that I have not really had much recent experience with fantasy sports – a little basketball and football many years ago – so each to his own. It comes down to how you wish to spend your free time. Personally, I don’t have any interest in using my basketball knowledge for what amounts to sports masturbation.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | September 16, 2009 at 08:22 AM
Isn't censorship great, you get to pick what you want to read, after someone picks what they want to print.
Well, how good was cinemelou (SIC) since he decided to go play elsewhere this year. Perhaps, he sensed he would get the Sun Yue treatment, hang around, practice, but never in any plan anywhere last year. If this trend continues, the Lakers will not have draft picks on their team until they start dropping, which is fine, because they are winning without them, but it would be better I believe to have a player in development. As Jerry West once said....each year your team ages 12 years (12 players, 1 year each)...in insight into the fact that you must keep monitor of the entire team, as we have seen some very old and very young teams. Such as the Lakers, within the last 2 years I think they went from one of the youngest toward the other end of the spectrum, and if you end up with a bunch of 34 year olds (are you listening Danny Ainge and your partner in crime Kevin McHale)....you will find yourself in the major rebuild phase. The Lakers were fortunate, to keep the players that moved in, were lower than the team average in general , Ariza, Morrison, Brown, while the players that moved out were on the older end Mihm, ...Kwame does not count, because he did not play ball, he only picked up the ones he dropped.
Posted by: humanomaly (aka "The Anti-Crust") | September 16, 2009 at 08:59 AM
>>It comes down to how you wish to spend your free time. >>Personally, I don’t have any interest in using my >>basketball knowledge for what amounts to sports >>masturbation.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | September 16, 2009 at 08:22 AM
LOL, sport masturbation. I was pretty into fantasy basketball for awhile while I was in college and grad school. No kids, no commitments, a little money and smack talk amongst friends.
Then I graduated, got a job, and figured out that I'd rather spend my time with my wife, playing with my kids, and actually predicting which stocks would go up rather than which basketball player's stock is going to go up.
That being said, I'm considering playing this year. Could be fun.
Posted by: #4 | September 16, 2009 at 09:11 AM
BK,
Yea seems right. It could have been worse I suppose..They could have done a story on Sun (and how he got cut from the Lakers) if they REALLY wanted a market to read it..Oh wait, someone did!
Posted by: zen | September 16, 2009 at 09:49 AM
humanomaly,
Just to remind you, Sun Yue no longer plays for the Lakers and probably never will play for the Lakers.
This dialogue is inching closer to a Michael Teniente-esque dialogue about Kwame Brown.
He's gone. Deal with it. If he's really the second coming of Magic Johnson, hey, there are always Knicks blogs out there, if you're interested.
What do we play for? RINGS!!!
Lakers Today... Lakers Tomorrow... Lakers Forever.
GO LAKERS!!!
Posted by: Jon K. | September 16, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Peter Mehlman is funny.
What do we play for? RINGS!!!
Lakers Today... Lakers Tomorrow... Lakers Forever.
GO LAKERS!!!
Posted by: Jon K. | September 16, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Huh?
Really?
http://tinyurl.com/pab4zb
What do we play for? RINGS!!!
Lakers Today... Lakers Tomorrow... Lakers Forever.
GO LAKERS!!!!
Posted by: Jon K. | September 16, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Tom- I’ll try to figure out a way to get us into a yahoo public league together. It’s fun, and don't worry, I will try to be gentle since you are inexperienced. And um, as to the subject of mastering your own domain, hey, I have some things I just resist the temptation to discuss.
Human- Nah, you didn’t offend me. I know you were just quoting a theory. I’m just advising you to be careful when you talk about the topic, and that you shouldn’t put too much faith in the hypothesis anyway. Couple of things- A statistically significant proportion of African Americans are not descended from people coming over on slave ships, so the study is pretty much screwed to begin with. And there are other confounding factors as well. I’m not a sociologist, and I just glanced at the link before writing back, but I wouldn’t treat it as a well supported argument.
But don’t worry, I don’t think any worse of you, and if I didn’t have respect for your opinion, I wouldn’t have bothered to point it out.
Posted by: phred | September 16, 2009 at 11:08 AM
TOP 5 CONTENDERS FOR DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
By Gerald Narciso for Dime Magazine
http://tinyurl.com/obma66
>>>
2. Kobe Bryant: Kobe has been on the All-Defensive first team seven times. You know Kobe would love to win this award especially since MJ has one. Kobe is so competitive he wants to be the most complete player on both ends of the court. With the Lakers on a mission to repeat, I can see Bryant turning up the intensity on D. He is a great on-the-ball defender, can read passing lanes and is a great leader on the defensive end by communicating with his teammates and getting them in the right spots.
5. Ron Artest: The Lakers’ newest acquisition is the dark horse to take this award. Between him, Pau, Kobe and Bynum - they are going to be a defensive nightmare for opposing teams. If he accepts his role and focuses, he can maybe even outshine Kobe on the defensive end. Artest won this award in 2003-’04 when he was a Pacer. This could be the year he reclaims his title.
>>>
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | September 16, 2009 at 11:26 AM
What's up Lakerville!
I read today's news that Chinemelu Elonu, Lakers 2nd round draft pick, signed with a Spanish club. I think that's a good thing since he has a slim to none chance of making the team. He has an opportunity to improve his play and, at the same time, the Lakers keep his rights so it's a win-win situation. Hopefully he'll be ready within the next 2 seasons as our bench players 10-12 drop off the team.
Posted by: SamLL | September 16, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Guys please go onto espn.com/nba and read the article they wrote on Kobe's greatest dunks. It is sooo amazing that no matter what Kobe accomplish they water it down and hate on him. I hope L.A. and Kobe wins at least two or three more rings cuz these people are some serious haters.
Posted by: Ce-Ce | September 18, 2009 at 09:03 AM