Posts tagged ‘LA Lakers’

It was one of those “it is what it is” games. The Wizards gave effort and got beat by a very good team, falling 115-103 to the champion Lakers. Flip Saunders told his players that if they would have played with the same effort against the Heat and the Clippers, they would probably be looking at four wins during the now complete season long six-game homestand instead of two.

The second quarter was where the match was lost. Los Angeles put up 30 points, the Wizards put up 15. Otherwise Washington outscored L.A. by three. In the second, and for pretty much the entire game, the Lakers resembled the time-tested analogy of a well-oiled machine. Even though they were 1-7 from three in the period, they shot 56% on 14 made field-goals, got three steals, two courtesy of Shannon Brown, and shot 9-11 in the paint.

Meanwhile the Wizards turned the ball over seven times leading to nine Lakers points and only got one assist. They also gave L.A. six second-chance points in the second. Instead of a well-oiled machine, the Wizards played like they ate butter drenched popcorn for a pregame meal. Unforced turnovers served as the calling card of the hapless.

Wizards 2nd Q Lineups

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Most know about the time Ernie Grunfeld spent in the New York Knicks front office. And many probably have an idea that Madison Square Garden was Grunfeld’s home court for the final four seasons of his nine year NBA playing career. But did you know that Big Ern was on the floor the night Patrick Ewing made his NBA debut?

After playing his first two seasons in Milwaukee, and his next three with the Kansas City Kings, Grunfeld began his tenure in NYC in ’82-83 with the likes of Bill Cartwright, Bernard King (Grunfeld’s teammate at Tennessee), Paul Westphal, and one of my all-time favorite NBA names, Rory Sparrow. Grunfeld was 10th in minutes per game on a Hubie Brown led, 44-win Knicks team that made it to the Eastern Conference semifinals. But the Philadelphia 76ers, with Moses Malone, Julius Erving, and Mo Cheeks, swept the Knicks, advanced to beat Sidney Moncrief‘s Milwaukee Bucks in the conference finals, and swept the LA Lakers to win the ’83 NBA title.

Grunfeld and the 47-win Knicks fell short in the ’84 playoffs as well. This time going down in seven games to the Boston Celtics led by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and the Chief Robert Parrish. Just as the 76ers did the previous season, the Celtics subsequently beat the Bucks in the East finals, and won the ’84 NBA championship, taking the Lakers in seven.

Tough times found the Knickerbockers in ’84-85. Cartwright missed the entire season and King only played 55 games. Not even Darrell Walker, in his second season and averaging a career-high 13.5 ppg, could help. A mere 24 wins and a frozen envelope later, Patrick Ewing magically landed in the Big Apple.

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Everyone is talking about Courtney Lee’s missed ‘layup’ that would have won the game for Orlando. Some even compared it to Nick Anderson missing four late free-throws  in game one of the 1995 NBA Finals, also played on June 7th  [via Slam].

Mentioning Nick Anderson sounds very “woe is us” from Orlando. Thing is, true fans aren’t making the association, rather some professional MSMers.  These hacks need to be called out:

1) D-bag from the AP [via Sports Illustrated]:

A shot that couldn’t have been much easier.

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As I’ve stated, Ron Artest was unjustifiably tossed from Friday night’s game against the Lakers, which has since been downgraded to a flagrant 1.

The best part about Arest’s ejection wasn’t the quiet exit, but in the midst of slapping dejected fives to anything that moved, Ronnie tossed one the cheerleader’s way, via her pom-pom, and moved on in a matter of fact manner.

Seriously. It’s supposed to be the EENNN BEEEE AAAAA playoffs. Teams send messages to each other. Let it be.

Instead, NBA refs get to be the ones sending messages. Is that what fans want? Doubt it.

So I’m watching Ron Artest, who was having a terrible ‘crazy pills = horrible shot selection’ Ron Artest kind of night in the first place, get kicked out of game three in Houston with a flagrant 2 for no apparent reason.

Hard foul on softy Gasol, no biggie … just a sharp knock of the ball out Pau’s hands, the Euro goes flop-flying, and all of a sudden it’s D-Day. Artest gets kicked out because there is less than a minute on the clock, the Lakers have the game in hand, and because he’s Ron Artest.

“I don’t think that was a flagrant …. You know, I’m an 80s baby, so that shoulda been two shots and be done with it.” -Kobe Bryant

Back to game two.

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Well….did we expect anything else? Thought so.

via Mr. Irrelevant (and then Stet Sports)

Q1

1st Laker Possession: McGuire is guarding Kobe (Reggie Miller calls D-Mac a defensive “Guru” whoa…easy there buddy…let the kid develop first)….he held his ground for the most part…..but still let Kobe get deep and he just missed the shot.

1st Wiz Possession: D-Mac up top as distributor says Fratello….but Kobe is a rover and Dom misses an open mid-range J (had that hitch in his shot there)

D-Mac looks a little intimidated on D…flinching at every Kobe move.

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After he walked (and played) in Gilbert Arenas’ shoes, and before he became a Washington Wizard, Javaris Crittenton played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies. My immediate reaction is that while I’m sorry to see Antonio Daniels go (I have love for him too), I like the idea of Crittenton’s youth, potential, and size (who doesn’t like a 6’5″ PG?).

But before I get into doing a bunch of research on the kid’s past, I wanted to asked some NBA bloggers from LA and Memphis their opinion about Crittenton. Thanks to Kurt of Forum Blue & Gold and Josh of 3 Shades of Blue for providing their thoughts. Read on…..

Kurt from Forum Blue & Gold:
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The Lake Show is in DC tonight, and I’m afraid that Laker Nation posers will be dominating the Verizon Center. I’ve been called a Laker-Hater in the past, and yes, this fact forced me to root for another team I dislike, Boston, in last year’s Finals (just like the damn Super Bowl when I had to root for the Giants over the Patriots). Oh well, what’s a sports fan to do?

It is what it is. Thankfully, someone who is a real Lakers fan, Kurt from the Forum Blue & Gold, has been kind enough to take time to answer some questions I had about his team. Read on…..

[UPDATE: Head to Forum Blue & Gold to check my return answers about the Wizards]

1) In the olden days, when it came to Phil Jackson, I was like “meh…..he’s a convenient opportunist and I’m not buying his Zen B.S.,” but more and more, I’m beginning to like Phil because of his snarky sarcasm that screams, “Will you baby NBA millionaires just grow up and be men?” Plus, the realistic side of me knows that he’s always been a damn good coach.

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Before last night….I was all about Chris Paul for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award. And if I had to vote right here, right now, it would still be CP3. (by the way, I wrote this on November 13th 2007).

But the match-up between Kobe Bryant’s Lakers and Chris Paul’s Hornets was dubbed the game that decides the MVP race (sorry Bron Bron, you lost to the Bulls….no dice), much less an important game for Western Conference seeding. The Lakers won…..so yea, I’ll follow the crowd.

Actually, I’d rather not…..what I’d rather do is stop hearing all the bitching and moaning from those in the ‘Kobe for MVP’ court.

SIDE BAR: Advisors/Handlers/Latin Mami Wife of the Kobster:

Kob, to get back on track….you need to get the public loving you again, you gotta get gangsta with it (excuse me, I mean ‘wit’ it).

Yea papi…….you gotta get on the net and blog it out…..get ‘viral’ with it…..make a video of you jumping over a car-ra. (I don’t know Kobe’s wife, but imagine Rosie Perez’s accent in White Men Can’t Jump.)

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I got home from the Washington Nationals opener just in time to catch the last 8 minutes (incl. OT) of the Wizards-Lakers game. I know, I know…..I gotta get a DVR – all the kids are doing it. Nonetheless, what I saw of the Nick Young show was highly entertaining. I was probably more into that game [meaning yelling loud enough to make my neighbors wonder] than I have been for any other this year. I could be labeled as a Laker-hater, but at least the Wizards covered the 9.

The Wizards-Jazz game? Read the live game blog if you dare. [Wizards Game #74 @ Utah Jazz] Surfing around the blogosphere, the obliteration seemed to be expected, especially with the absence of Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels due to injury (not to mention Gilbert and Etan). Yea, well maybe I expected it too. But it would’ve been nice to see the Wizards take some pride and get scrappy. Oh well. At least the Wiz are at…..home sweet home?

The Reach Quotes from Cali to Utah…….

Dig of the Week
“This is where Abe Pollin’s insistence on not paying the luxury tax combined with the injury issues have really hurt this team……..From my seat, this team has needed a quick, defensive-minded point guard type coming off that bench all season and simply hasn’t had one. [Ivan Carter]
– Of course, criticism of Abe Pollin has been around the block and then some….including making several stops on my street.

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