Rough Start

LAKERS STARTERS ARE STRUGGLING TO BUILD CHEMISTRY EARLY THIS SEASON

Blog by Haz Bey
This was the year that put the Lakers back on the map.  Trading away Andrew Bynum, but gaining Steve Nash & Dwight Howard over the offseason made the Lakers instant contenders, well on paper.  Now after a 1-4 start to the NBA season, the Lakers are in unfamiliar territory, struggling to get wins.  What is to blame for the Lakers' rough start?  

REASON 1: INJURIES
The Los Angeles Lakers had key injuries to 3 of their 5 starters since training camp.  Dwight  Howard is still recovering from back surgery from last April and missed 6 of 8 preseason games.  Kobe Bryant has been sideline from many practices of late due to ailments to his right foot suffered in the preseason.  Steve Nash has a small fracture on his left leg and he has missed the last 3 games.  Bottom line is that the Lakers has not yet to build the chemistry needed to compete at a high level, because their starters have not played with each other too often this season.

REASON 2: THE BENCH
The bench is playing at a low level to say the least.  The Lakers brought in Antwan Jamison & the sharp shooting Jodie Meeks to give the Lakers the scoring punch they need to allow the starters to get the rest they need to finish games night-in & night-out with plenty of energy down the stretch, but the two offseason free agent signees cannot find their way on the court under Mike Brown's Princeton Offense overseen by Eddie Jordan.  The Laker bench is out scored on a nightly basis by an significant number by the opposition.  Which causes Mike Brown to play his "aging" starters more than he wants to.

REASON 3: THE PRINCETON OFFENSE
The Princeton Offense brought in by Lakers assistant coach Eddie Jordan, is an offense designed to move the basketball quickly with quick cuts and back screens for offenses that do not possess elite scoring threats.  The problem is the Lakers have 6 veterans that are accustomed to scoring at an high level and at one time in all their careers they have been their teams number 1 option (Bryant, Howard, Gasol, Nash, Jamison & World Peace).  The Princeton has not won any NBA or NCAA titles.  It does not utilize the Lakers' scoring threats best abilities.  So why run it?   Steve Nash is one of the best point guards of not just the league, but one of the best of all time.  I would trust him to run the offense the way he wants more so then an offense ran by Eddie Jordan.  Have you seen that man's track record as a head coach?  Seriously, we do not even have to go there.  Steve Nash with the ball in his hands creating for others is the key offensively for the Lakers to go all the way 
this season.  It would be nice for Mike Brown to check his ego and scrap the Princeton Offense and and hand the keys to the offense to Steve Nash and let him pick & roll teams to death. 

REASON 4: EFFORT & EXECUTION 
The Lakers are turning ball over way too much offensively, moving too slow defensively & are being out hustled by by their opponents.  Simple solutions to all of the above.  When Steve Nash comes back from his leg injury, put the ball in his hands Mike Brown.  Not only will the Lakers cut the turnovers down, teams won't have as many fast break opportunities and the Lakers will have their defense set.  We all know teams want to get out on the Lakers and run.  The Lakers are older and slower than most teams, so it is a key to get easy scoring opportunities against them.   Now if the Lakers can keep teams from running on them, then they will have more energy to challenge the loose balls and battle on the 
glass.  

REASON 5: MIKE BROWN
Mike Brown is a very accomplished coach in this league.  An NBA Finals appearance, had the best record in the league for 2 straight seasons & a Coach of the Year Award while coaching the LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers.  So Mike Brown is no scrub, but with the Lakers' franchise, it is Championship or bust.  Pat Riley & Phil Jackson are two of the best coaches in of all time in any sport.  They know how to get elite talent to play together for a common goal.  That is not easy to do in American pro sports.  You have major contracts, endorsements, entourages, groupies & their own egos that good players deal with, but to get them to focused on the team goal is an special skill to have.  Riley & Jackson possess that skill.  I am not sure Mike Brown has those types of capabilities.  Kobe seems to be more fearful from his teammates then Mike Brown is.  Kobe's credentials speak for themselves.  So as member of the Lakers who would you rather trust?  Don't answer that.  Mike Brown has been fired and now the Los Angeles Lakers can find the right coach to bring this talented roster to the "Promise Land".

The Los Angeles Lakers has proven to everyone on the planet that winning is everything by shedding off some dead weight.  Just remember that their is a man with 11 championship rings that dates the boss' daughter.  If the Larry O'Brien Trophy is to return to Hollywood, someone better make that man an offer he can't refuse. 

Game 7

BY HAZ BEY Kobe showed up in the last two games, but he didn't get help from anyone else as the Lakers got blown-out of Denver 113-96. Denver came out the gates scoring 13 unanswered points to start the game. The Lakers never recovered and are now faced with a "Winners Take All" match in Staples Center on Saturday Night. History is on the Lakers' side with the home teams winning 80% of Game 7s, but the Nuggets are young and hungry and would want nothing more than just to oust Lakers by any means neccessary. Denver guards Ty Lawson & Andre Miller has given the Lakers fits all series long, but Metta World Peace's suspension is over and he will bring what the Lakers have been lacking and that's some intensed perimeter defense. The former NBA Defensive Player of the Year will be completely resting and will feed off the home crowd and play with a lot of emotioin. The bigs of the Lakers will definitely play better, I mean Pau and Andrew can't play any worse. Most importantly, Kobe Bryant will not let the Lakers lose at home to an inferior team with his legacy on the line. It is not happening. The Lakers will find a way to win Saturday Night, it is just a matter of how it will play out.

Metta Suspended... 7 GAMES

By Haz Bey

Metta World Peace has been suspended by the NBA for 7 games, including the 1st 6 playoff games for the Lakers this post season.  Depending on how long or short their 1st round series will go, it remains to be seen if MWP's suspension will cost the Lakers their run at a 3 title in 4 years.  Formerly known as Ron Artest, Metta has the league's longest suspension of all time at 86 games from the brawl from 2004 when World Peace was on the Pacers as they faced the Detroit Pistons.  Metta & a few other Players took to the stands where players and fans duked it out, violently.  Since then MWP has been a model citizen and has been received the NBA's Citizenship Award.  Not to mention he has donated his 2010 Lakers Championship Ring to charity to support mental health research.  Anyone that really knows Metta World Peace says that he has a huge heart and is just the sweetest guy you could ever meet. 

What happened this past Sunday?  For me, it's just the emotion of a huge game against an elite opponent who has had the Lakers number this season.  He dunks on Ibaka & Durant, then stops to celebrates towards the crowd, but why does James Harden run into him?   Peace had stopped, but Harden had no business running into him.  So MWP throws a vicious elbow once he was bumped by Harden.  Knocking him out instantly.  So was what MWP did during that game wrong?  Yes, by all means, it had no business during the game.  Was it warranted a 7 game suspension?  No, he didn't even look to see where Harden was, he instantly reacted to an opponent bumping to irritate him.  Just an unfortunate event for all parties involved.  James Harden has to go through a series of test before he can get back on the court.  Hopefully he will not miss any playoff action, but MWP should only be out for 3 games, bottom line.  The punishment does not fit the crime.  Now let's see what direction the Lakers go without the "Artest, formerly known as Ron" for 6 straight playoff games.  Are they going to rally around each other and pick up the slack defensively or will that suffer a 1st or 2nd round exit without MWP's presence? 

Seriously, Who Is Better Than The Black Mamba?

By Haz Bey
After dropping 48 points on the Phoenix Suns earlier this season at Staples Center, Kobe Bryant said at his post game press conference,"Not bad for the 7th best player in the league".  Kobe was referring to the ESPN Player Power Rankings that had Kobe as the 7th best player in the league.  Really, I mean really.  The Black Mamba entered his 16th season playing with a ligament tear on his right wrist, you know his shooting hand, and yet Kobe is 2nd to only LeBron James in the league in scoring with almost all season long.  Not to mention the 5 rings, 2 Finals MVPs, 1 regular season MVP, 14 All-Star appearances, 4 All-star MVPs, 9 All NBA 1st team selections, 9 NBA All-Defensive teams selections, 2 scoring titles & countless game winning shots throughout his career, I dare anybody out there to find an active player today that has a resume similar to the Black Mamba's.  Yes I agree there is a lot of miles on his engine.  Not just the 16 seasons, but the deep playoff runs have all taken its toll on Kobe's body, but he continues to play through injury after injury and doing it at a extremely high level. 

Kobe with no doubt is still the best player the NBA right now and it will take someone reach the level of excellence that Kobe has displayed year-in and year-out.  The first name that comes to mind that should have already eclipsed Kobe is LeBron James.  LeBron career averages of 27, 7 & 7 plus the back-to-back MVPs suggest that he would be the front runner to own the league, but the lack of playoff success doesn't put him in a class with Kobe Bryant.  Then there is LeBron's teammate Dwyane Wade.  We all seen D-Wade get it done against the Mavs in the 2006 Finals, but what has he really done since then.  5 All-Star appearances with an All-Star MVP and 1 deep playoff run.  D-Wade is an elite player, but he doesn't have the offensive arsenal that Kobe possesses.  Kobe has a deadly mid-range game and he can hit shots far beyond the 3 point line.  D-Wade has a decent mid-range game, but he is more of a player that is most effective when he can drive to the basket.  How about Kevin Durant?  He has led the league in scoring the last 2 seasons and seems to make clutch shots.  A huge upside and may actually own this league for years to come if he can win a title this year or the next, but defensively he is still very pedestrian.  Kobe made the All NBA Defensive 1st Team 9 times.  Tied with Michael Jordan and Gary Payton for the most all time.  Last but not least there is reigning league MVP Derrick Rose.  Look the guy is a bad man.  He takes no prisoners on the court.  He has expanded his range to the point that he is now a deadly 3 point shooter and he has cut down his scoring which has brought his assist up to help his team improve on last year's success.  There is not too many  weaknesses in his game.  If he can get a title this year playing at the level he is, then he would be my top candidate to take the mantle of "Best Player in the League" away from Kobe Bryant, but time will tell. 

Kobe Bryant deserves the respect of the league, the media & the public to give him the benefit of the doubt. Just because we seen him play for 16 seasons and we all notice his athletic decline does not mean he can not play at a very high level. We all get caught up with the "Next Best Thing" instead of realizing that someone like Kobe Bryant comes around once in a life time.  You don't have to like him, this isn't a popularity contest, but you can not discredit his accomplishments.  So until someone else emerges to be the undisputed best player in the league, give Kobe his due.  He is still the best player in the league whether you like it or not.

How Far Can This Laker Team Go This Post Season?

By Haz Bey
The Los Angeles Lakers are a brand new bunch these days.  With Lamar Odom & Shannon Brown leaving, the Lake-Show had to incorporate some new faces to the Purple & Gold.  Troy Murphy & Josh McRoberts joined the team in the off-season and are actually playing very well this season.  Neither one of them can never fully fill the void left by the departure of Odom & Brown, but by them contributing in a different way via on the boards and hustle plays, the Lakers seem to be in good shape moving forward.  The teams hugest problem right now is the health of Kobe Bryant.  The Black Mamba is clearly the toughest player in the league, with out a doubt.  The man was playing with a torn ligament on his shooting hand and ended up averaging 27.9 ppg to finish the season.  16 long years in the league and he is still putting up MVP-type numbers, but he never complains.  Kobe's model, "Just do your job."  So if he isn't letting up, no one else on the team should either.  Andrew Bynum & Pau Gasol got the message and both played at an All-Star level including both 7-footers averaging high double-doubles.  Andrew & Pau are 2 of the 3 best big men in the league hands down.  Bynum is a straight up beast down-low & Pau can dominate a game from the inside out. That is an advantage teams will have nightmares preparing against and 1st up is the young Denver Nuggets.  I would put the Lakers "Big 3" against anybody in the league, if the Lakers want to win a title this year, newly acquired point guard Ramon Sessions will have to cause havoc on both ends of the floor.  Not since Nick "The Quick" Van Exel has the Lakers had a dynamic point guard that can get to the rack with such explosion.  He will be key to make sure Kobe, Bynum & Gasol receive the ball in their sweet spots and to put pressure on the defense from the top of the key. If the Lakers can just stay afloat with Metta World Peace out on suspension, then we will see if they can make a true run at the World Title.  That would be their 4th trip to the Finals in 5 years and if they win it all, a 3rd title in 4 years. That's dynasty status and not to mention the fact that winning the "17th Banner" would tie hated rival Boston for the most in NBA history.  That's goal for this team.  It is still championship or bust in L.A.  That will never change, but if the Lakers play to their potential, there might not be a team in the league that can stop them.

Hollywood Shuffle

Goodbye Lamar

Haz Bey

The Los Angeles Lakers dealt Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to Houston and New Orleans respectfully for the All-Star point guard Chris Paul.  Hold up, wait a minute...  David Stern vetoed that trade.  So the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed back Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to organization, but wait there's more.  The Los Angeles began to rework the deal to bringing in Chris Paul to Hollywood by sending away Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, but once again David Stern made it clear that for the Lakers to receive Chris Paul via trade, they would have to give up more than just Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom which was too much for the Lakers to handle, so Lakers gm Mitch Kuptcak pulled out of that deal, but the damage has been done.  Lamar Odom felt unwanted and disrespected.  He felt the relationship between player and organization has been ruined and he wanted out.  Lamar requested to be traded no matter if the Lakers receive Chris Paul or not.  So once the Chris Paul deals was over for the Lake-Show, they dealt the reigning 6th Man of the Year to the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks for a trade exception and a 2012 1st round pick.  That same Mavericks team that dismantled the then 2-time defending World Champion Lakers in 4 games in last year's semifinal round of the Western Conference Playoffs.  Laker captains and 5-time NBA Champions Kobe Bryant and Derrick Fisher are flat out upset by the move and can't find any logical reason for the Lamar's departure.  The Lakers by already losing Shannon Brown to the Phoenix Suns by free agency and now Lamar via trade to Dallas, the Lakers are now considerably weaker than they were when they got bounced out the playoffs by Dallas and nobody knows what direction they are going to improve the roster.




Dwight Howard & Chris Paul

Yes we all think now that the Chris Paul trade failed that the attention focuses on Dwight Howard, but nothing has heated up at least through the media about a deal like that.  Now the Lakers definitely have the pieces to get the deal done.  They have the 2nd best pure center in the league in Andrew Bynum and the best power forward in Pau Gasol, so it is not like a deal can not be made, but something is holding the deal up.  The Magic are so reluctant to send Dwight Howard away, because they have a new arena that has to be filled to capacity every home game and without a main attraction in the likes of a Dwight Howard, the Orlando Magic will be in danger of losing a lot of money throughout the next 5 to 10 years.  With that being said, The Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the NBA when it comes to acquiring talent and the top talent in this league will always want to come to Hollywood to play on the that big stage.  It is just a matter of time until the Lakers next huge move is made that will send the NBA into a frenzy.  Let the countdown begin.

It's Like Magic!

November 7, 1991: The Announcement

It's been 20 years since Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced to the world that he would have to retire from the Lakers due to the fact that he had contracted the HIV Virus.  It was November 7, 1991 and as a 9 year old boy during that time I felt such sadness for a player that I looked up to so much.  He was the best player on the most exciting team in basketball.  The man ran an offense called "Showtime" I mean how cool is that, but his announcement caught me completely off guard.  The first thing that came to my mind is that  "Magic was going to get very sick, skinny & die."  I went on to play my first year of little league basketball and what felt like fate, I was drafted by a team called the Lakers.  I picked Magic's number 32 as my uniform and dedicated my season to him.  I then led my team to winning the league championship by defeating a team called the Celtics just like Magic and the Showtime Lakers used to do it.

Magic & wife Cookie

Magic's announcement really hit home to me, because I knew first hand by watching my own uncle fight with the disease and as time went on he only got worst, but Magic Johnson 20 years later defied the odds.  He is living a healthy and productive life.  He is still on TV when that infectious smile and warm personalty.  He is a very successful business man and has provided jobs to the urban community.  Most importantly, Magic Johnson raised awareness on HIV and AIDS.  He proved it just wasn't a "Gay" man's disease, but everyone, no matter race, gender or creed was able to contract HIV and AIDS.  Magic's announcement saved the lives of many and his successful fight has given hope to people living with the virus even to this day.  Magic Johnson is a hero in my eyes, but not for what he did on the court, but for the fact that he proved that with a positive attitude, daily exercise & a strict medication regiment, anyone can life a long and productive life even with such a chronic disease. 

Haz Bey