Magic Johnson for NBA commissioner!!

Ugh, the dreaded early 12:30 start on Sunday for Game 4 and a possible Game 7 at Staples - damn you schedule makers!
At least that Game 4 is in Dallas, so the Lakers will be on Central Standard Time...but still, that one worries me.
All the more reason to win the first three games in the series!

Posted by: LEWSTRS | April 28, 2011 at 04:45 PM
Thanks Lew, you’re so sweet. Game days seem to be on times I am not working so will be here more :)

-------------
S Perkins,
I'll tell you what else this particular "know nothing" knows.
Derek Fisher is the ALL TIME LEADING 3-point shooter in NBA finals.
Derek Fisher stole a game from San Antonio with .4 seconds left in 2004
Derek Fisher was the MVP of game 3 of the 2010 NBA Finals.
So far, Derek Fisher is shooting 50% for the playoffs, and 62% on 3's this series. Note that that's a higher shooting percentage than Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, or Lamar Odom are shooting for the series.
If you don't know, you better ask somebody.
Posted by: LongTimeLakerFan | April 28, 2011 at 07:28 PM
----------------------------

POST OF THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once again Dfish proves his haters or the trolls wrong, this oldman can still ball and one of the reason why Lakers destroy hornets...

British people don't like Obama.Its ashame really but im from England this royal wedding is nothing its just another british money wasted in a dead tradition.

Diandra no one liked hilary clinton it was all about obama during the election no one in england thought she could or wanted her to win

go lakers and d fish

lakers beat dallas in 6 !!!

Thank you Lakeshow!!!

Now, rest up and be ready for the 2nd round!

LAKERS ALL DAY!!!

The next series between the Lakers and Mavericks is going to be a good one. I don't understand why Charles Barkeley is stating the Mavericks winners in 6 over the Lakers. I saw and heard his claim that Dirk is unguardable, that he will cancel out either Bynum, Gasol or Odom just by his offensive prowess. But Barkeley forgot to mention that Dirk needs to play defense on one of those 3. Dirk is not a good defender. Odom and Gasol have done a good job defending Dirk.
Charles Barkley is a gambler, so me thinks he has more to win with the Lakers losing to the Mavs.

Thats why I don't believe Charles anymore because his jealous of Kobe.Barkley is known for being a sore loser and as what they say once a loser will always be a losers...

Great quality win last night...We still have a ways to go, but I think we are starting to mesh a whole lot better...especially on the defensive end...A big telling stat: Okafur averaged 6.3 points per 36 mins when Bynum WAS IN the game...when AB is not, he averaged 14.4...Still want Howard? Well you can ask him, if you can find his fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico...lol

Lamar Odom was very effective with 14 pts, 8 re, 4 ast, and no TO
Pau Gasol a solid performance with 16 pts, 8 re, 3 ast and +10
Andrew Bynum was Bynumite with 18 pts, 12 re, 1 ast and 1 st
Kobe doin work as usual with 24 pts, 2-4 on 3pt, 10-10 FT and +18

Great team defense on CP3 , led by Fish holding him to 10 pts...the Bench doing their job, and the coaching staff with a great game plan to close out the series...

Now we can get some quality rest till Monday...Where we will meet the Mavs, and their star choker Dirk Nowinski...

Anyone still remember the "practice season"...anyone still upset we don't have HCA...I see it did Spurs a lot of good...lol

Lakers and PJ exactly where they want to be...Now have some support for your Purple and Gold...remember their personality and tendencies...the most important one being they are battle tested and proven winners...

This is the Lakers Dynasty - The Next Generation!!! #17 Coming Up Baybee!!!

Bryant's finger-to-the-lips gesture after a 3-point shot highlighted his dominant third quarter, and he said he actually prefers closing series away from homeas the Lakers did in every West round last season.

"It's more enjoyable to do it on the road, because you can take the crowd out of it," Bryant said. "It's more intense."

Physical play is something the mavs know nothing about. Dirk (tin man) always struggles when LO is on him, and Bynum absolutely scares Tyson Chandler. Also who is going to try and guard Kobe? Jason "the jet" Terry is about to crash! Matt Barnes said he wanted the mavs in the playoffs so that he punk them again.

Lakers will crush mavs in 5. #17 coming right

3-peat LOADING--------------

I hope the lakers beat the mavericks.

Don't read much into Charles Barkley here is what he said in November 2010.

http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/charles-barkley-gives-his-chances-of-the.html

As for HCA, well, in the series I just watched the Lakers did have HCA.

Posted by: Art | April 29, 2011 at 06:11 AM
====

Yeah, but they took 2 out of 3 on the road with relative ease. That's Lew's point .. a good one!

"Still want Howard?"

Posted by: LEWSTRS

_______________

Absolutely and the Lakers' chances of getting him were increased after Orlando's elimination last night. It all but guarantees more winning records and championships for the franchise. He's a player who would FLOURISH under the management of the Lakers' franchise just as Andrew has but you can't teach "health." So far, the team is extremely fortunate that Andrew has avoided injury (no fault of his own - see Q Angle, other conditions and present circumstances) because without a true and reliable Center, this team's chances for a 3-Peat are exponentially decreased. It's impossible to argue the merits and content of this article that I'm sure most of us have already read:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1184609/1/index.htm

This team struggled against a Hornets team who was missing their 2nd best player in David West and were almost annihilated by a 6'0" Point Guard. They will have to bring a whole lot more and be consistent about it against Dallas who is just as mature and experienced as the Lakers and I would argue a whole lot hungrier to advance to the next round.

Future HOFers Kidd & Nowitzki want it real bad and they have some decent pieces around them – Chandler, Terry and Marion - to make it happen. If there's any truth to Butler's return for the 2nd round, then their [Lakers] job just got harder.

This is the playoffs and just as we expected the Lakers to turn on the proverbial “switch,” rest assured that the other teams have flipped their “switch” as well. The Lakers close out this team in 6 as long as Bynum can continue to remain healthy, the assumption that we haven't seen the real Pau in the playoffs yet and because the team as a whole will give one game away while Dallas will have earned a win on their own.

GO LAKERS & IN BUSS WE TRUST!!

Future HOFers Kidd & Nowitzki want it real bad and they have some decent pieces around them – Chandler, Terry and Marion - to make it happen. If there's any truth to Butler's return for the 2nd round, then their [Lakers] job just got harder.

Posted by: frmkt | April 29, 2011 at 07:13 AM

=====

All good points, except that you could take the hunger of Dirk and Kidd, multiply that by 10, and Kobe is still exponentially more starved than both of them combined! Bynum devoured Tyson Chandler like he hadn't eaten for a week the last two times they met and both Jason Terry and Shawn Marion have proven to be inconsistent players in the playoffs. As for Caron Butler, too much rust. They are better off sticking with Queen Peja at this point, although either one of them shudder at the thought of Ron Artest's biceps. We got this!

1-2-3 RING! #17 coming up STRONG!!

During the postgame interview, CP3 gave tribute to Derek' defense on him: "DFish was in my pocket all night"

Thats why I don't believe Charles anymore because his jealous of Kobe.Barkley is known for being a sore loser and as what they say once a loser will always be a losers...

Posted by: Adrian Palomar | April 29, 2011 at 05:07 AM
---------------------
Adrian - The Chuckster also stated Kobe was the 6th greatest player all-time last night.

@Lew - I'm not going to ask you to go in the archives to read my posts because I certainly don't do it. I am as big as a supporter and fan as they come and unfortunately, when someone answers a question - OBJECTIVELY - and it isn't "liked," that person is branded a "traitor." Whatever...

I've posted all along that Drew has the 'POTENTIAL" to be better than D Howard and his presence is paramount for the Lakers to win a championship. He needs to remain healthy and for the most part, he has and if he continues then he will be the Finals MVP.

Yes, I wrote all of that "stuff" before the season started and gave him full credit for the team finishing at the top of the heap last season. No, I'm not a "hater," a traitor or a "troll;" just an objective fan that enjoys posting comments and watching Laker parades.

As far as trading in/up wives, I know that’s a real possibility that’s why I’m not married. I get to fall in love at various times in my life :-) Love is grand!

@888 - yes, I agree with your take on Kobe but I'm just saying that it's not going to be easy. I see them winning it in 6 and 5 if they can remain focused.

GO LAKERS & IN BUSS WE TRUST!!

Adios Amigos... Enjoy the reamainder of the season.

For all of you who keep claiming "we got tested by a Hornets team who was missing their 2nd best player".... I would like to say something:

Just rewind your memories to the 2008-2009 season. The team was almost the same, and Kobe and Pau were younger. They were taken to the elimination game (Yes, Game-7) by a Rockets team having NO star players. They had neither Yao not McGrady, and still took the Lakers to 7 games!! Scola was their #1 option player in the series..... Hornets had still one star and we finished them in 6 games. Not very bad, isn't it??

After that Rockets series, everyone in media wrote off Lakers saying Denver is fresh, deep, more talented and all such and how they should be able to beat the Lakers. (and that includes lot of band wagoners here too)

We all know how the Denver series went and what happened and where did we end!!

@frmkt - We'll enjoy the rest of the season right here with you on the blog...so don't be saying no Adios!

@Art - Nice call on Atlanta taking out the Magic. Your predictions are looking great so far. I think you've called almost each series down to the game except Grizz/Spurs and no one saw that upset coming.

BTW did you know that, on the show Men of a Certain Age, the Marcus character (from the dealership) is played by Celtic great JoJo White son?

On TNT last night Sir Charles says Dallas will win due to match ups , and cause he has to be a spoiler.
But I say, our boys win in six and Cuban has a fit as usual !!!

Miami vs. Boston should be a great series. It is the key series of the second round.

I think Boston held Shaq out of round 1 to try to get him healthy and save him up for round 2. I expect him to play against the Heat.

Bring on the Mavs and to heck with CB34. He's funny but really - he will be eating crow.

Maybe our wittiest blog regulars can send in a video question for him this week... come on Lew, MVP, Jon K, Justa etc. I know you have it in you, let's inundate him.

As for the series, I LOVE our match-ups. Think Pau is definitely capableof straying outside with Dirk. Andrew is going to have to hold down the post against Tyson. I am excited to have round the clock (Pau/LO) coverage on Dirk and think we win at every other position (yes, that includes Fish vs. Kidd). Fish will NOT let Kidd beat him. No way.

I still am not wavering - no team can beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. It may take us a little longer and I will have many anxious moments going 6 or 7 games - but as I said earlier this week - buckle up folks, we are going for a great ride!

Cheers to you Rick F. - PLG

Do you guys think that if Andrew Bynum has a great post season this year, that Orlando will be willing to trade Howard for him, straight up?

Barkley is a bozo and always just plain wrong. He has predicted Laker and Kobe demise every year the last 3 years. He's been totally wrong each time. Chucky lard ass should own up to it. He's like a Las Vegas loser that keeps doubling down his losing hand, hoping that he will catch one. this is how losers play. Barkley is a loser.

The Times Picayune:

"Much of the problem Thursday night, Paul said, was the defense played on him by Lakers point guard Derek Fisher and Los Angeles’ lane-jamming front line that took away his ability to penetrate. 'They did a really good job of closing the lane down,' Paul said, 'and I think a lot of credit goes to Derek Fisher. I told him after the game, unbelievable defense he played the entire series. D-Fish gets up on one side and while you can drive by him, you’ve got the twin towers (Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol) down there waiting on you. They use that length to their advantage. I still tried to find my spots, but the lane was packed. And D-Fish was in my pocket all night long. The only way you can get guys off of you is to try to play physical. I tried that early in the game and got an offensive foul.'

This has to shut up all those Derek Fisher bashers. Straight from CP3 himself; one of the elite if not the best point guard now.

Yeah Fish!!!

On ESPN, David Thorpe ranks Gasol as the MVP of the playoffs so far...

MARC Gasol.

I wonder if Popovich still thinks the Lakers stole his brother Pau in the trade for nothing. That nothing is shutting down the Spurs' superstar and averaging a double-double.

“They are big and Nowitzki is a 7-footer and so is their center, Tyson Chandler,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “Obviously, Haywood is a 7-footer. So they have size, but these [Lakers] have proven their dominance by their size. This is the reason why we are champions.”

Ahh yess! Let the Phil Jackson jabs begin...The truth hurts if you're a Mav big man, especially if your name is Dirk Nowitzki.

Go Lakers!

Mornin’ CRUE!

ECJ/mclyne - thanks for the well wishes. I had my knee scoped - again, but it's doing ok. I go to PT starting next week so I'm expecting to be available for the Finals. LOL!

Regarding the game last night - now THAT’s our Lakers! The defense was stifling for the most part, and whoever said we haven’t hit our stride yet was right on. This team is still gearing up. Oh yeah! Bring on the Stay-Puft Marshmallow boys from Dallas. We soooo got this! I can see them getting a game, maybe even 2, but there’s no way they take us down. WE are on a Mission – they’re wondering what a mission even is. I hope Cuban doesn’t forget to bring his tissues – he’s gonna need ‘em.

Quote from CP3: "A lot of the credit goes to Derek Fisher. I told him after the game that he played unbelievable defense for the entire series." Yeah. That’s right. One of the so-called best PG’s in the league couldn’t get it done consistently against our one and only DFish. Does anyone think Kidd is gonna stick it to him?? HAHAHA!!! Who cares if they try to P'nR us to death?? I think we now know how to deal with that - no?!!

I can’t wait until Monday. It’s a long time between games, but our boys can use the time to rest, heal and strategize. This is a good thing. Still – I’m gonna be jonesing – baaaadd LOL!! Thank god for Tivo - I can watch the last couple of games again. That should help.

Fo down – fo fo fo to go!! GO LAKERS!!!

BTW - some interesting comments from our very own 63 footer:

Fish is always good. And he always steps up. Ron has stepped up big time, too. We are starting to get a consistent (knock on wood) six guys scoring double digits each game, with a possible seventh sometimes. And hustling on D. Matty's really bringing the offensive boards. THIS is the team I've been hoping for. Now if they can continue to play strong D, the O will take care of itself.

My worries? Not so much against the Mavs, but:

1. Pau losing his aggressiveness. This does NOT mean he has to be a bruiser, but he's got to surgically pick apart guys (left and right) on offense and play smart and hard D.

2. UPS dribbling. And falling in love with the 3. Also, he can be a lapse on D sometimes, but against Kidd, he'll probably do okay.

3. (Knock on wood): INJURIES. Both Bynum and Kobe gave us scares (and Kobe's still hurt). NO INJURIES!!!

4. The B's playing stupidball (but they're starting to come back), especially on D. Last night, at the end, they again began to let the lead get eaten into with mighty gulps ... and PJ had to reinsert the starters. They CAN'T do that. No lapses.

What I'd like to see more of:

1. That ol' consistent Ron. When he's scoring well and within the offense, it's so hard to stop the Lakers.

2. More driving and dishing by Fish.

3. More shooting by Blake. It makes his passing more effective.

4. Pau being aggressive.

5. More Bynum eating them alive inside.

6. MORE DRIVING TO THE RIM to get fouls and demoralize the Mavs.

7. More tears from Cuban.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

>>>Do you guys think that if Andrew Bynum has a great post season this year,
>>>that Orlando will be willing to trade Howard for him, straight up?

Yes, but it's a catch 22.

If Bynum plays well enough that Orlando would be willing to trade for him, then the Lakers would rather keep Bynum. If Bynum plays poorly (or heaven forbid he gets injured), then Orlando would want much more than Bynum for Dwight.

@Art - my memory is okay, but not that good....I saved everyone that gave complete predictions...(but its really kind of cheating to update each rd - since me, LT and a few others gave them all at once :-)

No, I haven't seen the episode with Big Game James & Coop - but thanks for the heads up. I'll be on the lookout for it.

@Justa - Yep, CP3 gave DFish big props, but you know some here will still find a way to discredit those comments.

BTW...thanks for posting 63 Footers comments. And since he doesn't bless us with his musical selections anymore....how about dropping yours for today. Also, I'm glad things went well with your surgery. Now go in Kobe mode and do around the clock PT...lol.

@Magia - yep, its officially on and poppin now!

This is the best Dallas team in years, built to match up with the Lakers. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 7 game series out of this one.
The best team I've seen play so far this second season is OKC...they are scary. I would like to see them play the Griz next round, they were 1-3 against the Griz...interesting.
Really rooting for the Celtic's to beat the Cheat and see LeBum cry with Cuban as they leave for off season!
GO LAKERS!!!

In the other game last night, Kidd and Dirk were P&R'ing the Trailblazers to death. Kidd is so good at forcing the switch that Dirk is often left with a smaller guard and you know what happens when 6-5 guard is defending the best 7-ft shooter in the NBA.

And by now we know how bad we are at defending the P&R. It's going to be an interesting series.

Posted by: The Snake | April 29, 2011 at 09:13 AM
------------------------
Snake - Actually with the Mavs its more of a Pick and Pop. The JT/Dirk "Pick & Pop" is their bread & butter.

Dallas IMO should be another practice playoff round.

Mavs are potentially much easier matchup than NOH... Lakers have always matched up well against Mavs for 3 main reasons: (in order)

1. No one on the team who can cover kobe
2. Nowitzki another soft Euro is good matchup for pau
3. Aging and slow Kidd is good matchup for dfish

Only xfactor may be chandler but we now have a healthy bynum.

Should we be really worried about anything or anyone else other than just staying healthy for OKC?? (Knocking on wood)

"Only the Lakers can beat the Lakers. So don't be too upset. Really."

YES, YES, AND YES!

If we can remain focused, we will take Dallas in 5!

Chandler has no chance down low against Pau, Drew, or Lamar.

Lamar and Pau play Dirk EXTREMELY well! Barkeley is going to eat his words about our bigs having a zero chance of guarding him.

Kidd has been playing great, but Fish usually plays him pretty well.

Marion? Wilts in the playoffs.

I think the only advantage the Mavs have over us is Terry.

Other than that, we own them!

You all have yellofever's personal guarantee RON RON will kiss his biceps this series.

@maverick - good post...but what's up with the handle...especially with the upcoming series...j/k.

@Robert E. Houston - I agree. No celebration. Just time to punch the clock!

@mclyne - I agree on Terry. That's why I think Blake will be more important this series. He does a good job of staying attached to JT.

That's nice of Chris Paul to be gracious and give credit. Even Fisher's biggest haters don't knock his effort.

Chris Paul gave the Lakers defense fits this whole series. I think Fisher and every other Laker that was thrown up against Paul gave 100% effort in stopping him and just couldn't do it. The theory that young quick point guards are a problem for the Lakers is still in full effect. Fortunately for the Lakers, the theory that the Lakers size is too much for other teams also holds true.

I'm expecting a very competitive series. In my prediction post, I gave Dallas a slight edge because I have a sneaky feeling about them this year. I don't know if any other team has been more determined to beat the Lakers than this one. If they beat the Lakers and got swept in the next round, I think they'd still call the year a success. It just seems that personal to them.

The first two games of the series this year were very competitive with each team winning on the other team's home court. Game 3 was close for a while but the Lakers really took control in the end. The Lakers were streaking at the time, had several days off before that game, and Dallas was on the back end of a back to back so it might not have been the best measure. I'm not expecting any blowouts from either side in this series.

@ frmkt- Great article about Bynum and I must have been the only one who did not already read it, have always liked that the Lakers had the vision to not trade Bynum.

Great win last night and hopefully the Lakers can continue to do what makes them almost unbeatable, pound the ball inside, play great defense, and when all else fails release the Black Mamba.

>>>I can't believe Jameer told Derrick Rose, "see you in the next round".

What's so surprising about that?

Jameer's got the time off, and I'm sure he can afford a ticket to the game.

>>> If I am not mistaken, I don't remember the Lakers winning a championship
>>>in 2006 and 2007 with PJ at the helm and Kobe at his most dominant form.

It's the "one star" problem.

Name one championship team from the last 30 years other than the 2004 Pistons to not have AT LEAST two all-stars. And that Pistons team, even though they only had Ben Wallace who was an All-Star THAT season, had 3 other guys who made the All-Star game within a year or two (Hamilton, Sheed, Chauncey).

C'mon. NAME ONE. You can't. Because it doesn't exist. EVEN PHIL isn't a good enough coach to carry one star plus Kwame, Smush, and Luke to a title (those were 3 of the other starters on those bad year teams).

So are you going to claim that Sloan or Adelman would have won rings with Smush at the point and Kwame at center? Wishful thinking.

And of course, Phil didn't HAVE his four all-stars for the finals, as Karl Malone was injured for the finals. Its funny how some people remember that the team had four great players on the team when they want to lord it over them, but conveniently ignore the fact that one of them was injured and barely played and another was on his last legs as a player. It's not like they had Payton in his prime.