Welcome! This is my inaugural post on NBABasketballonline. I will not spend too much time initially on who I am, but will get into my thoughts and love for the NBA. In due course you should develop a clear indication of who I am and where I am coming from.
To make things clear right away though I am a Lakers fan. But beyond the Lakers I am a fan of the league. There exists no other medium where you can watch the most naturally gifted athletes battle night in and night out (well in the playoffs at least). The majority of my time is spent rooting for the Lake Show, but by no means does that mean I do not appreciate or any less fascinated with the supreme prowess of Tim Duncan or the fierce competitiveness of KG or the ridiculous all around offensive talents of Melo. I could comprise my entire initial blog with these adjective laden statements respecting the talents the NBA’s elite, but for our reading pleasure I will delve into more significant opinions I deem worth sharing with others.
As far as the Lakers are concerned they are the best team in the league. The Celtics are close, but I can’t still see a healthy Celtics beating a healthy Lakers team in a 7 game series. The combination of the miles on the C’s legs (even though KG has surpassed all expectations from me at least this year) are just too much to hold up through June, Sheed’s refusal to do anything but throw up bricks from the outside, and the fact that I honestly can not see Paul Pierce dominating Kobe again like he did two years ago leads me to believe the Lakers win that series in five (Game 1 in Boston and games 3,4,5 in LA for those of you keeping score).
The Lakers are not healthy, Kobe broke his freaking finger! At most all this injury does is move their playoff seeding down a few spots. From what I read today Kobe’s broken pinky is a 6-week injury. I know he is going to try and play through it at this point, but someone (its sure as hell not going to be himself) is going to need to make him realize he does not need to play right now. It was obvious he could not shoot against Utah on Saturday and its only going to be detrimental to the team watching Kobe try to prove otherwise over the next week or so.
There is no reason not to shut him down for a little while right now. He can take a break and let it heel like a normal person. I am aware this is Kobe we are talking about though and he is not a normal person. Despite all the analysts jabbering how tough the Lakers schedule is about to get, I am not really buying it. Without Kobe the Lakers are still one of the top tier teams in the league. Chicago, Milwaukee, New Jersey does not really scare me. Cleveland, Phoenix, Dallas and Portland[1] are the only 4 teams they are playing in the next month where I would not be surprised if they lost. So why not let Kobe rest ] and then really be ready to make a strong finish into the playoffs? Who knows maybe Kobe will figure out how to play with a broken finger again and they wont miss a beat. Despite the amazing things I have watched him do over his hall of fame career this one is hard for me to buy.
Other thoughts around the league:
Amazing rookie point guards. This is a fascinating trend in this decade that really shows how much the game is changing. Brandon Jennings, although cooling off a little recently, has been straight up balling this year. How badly did Milwaukee need someone like him to be considered relevant again? I am really curious how much longer his 55 is going to stand as the top scoring performance of the year.[2] Lost in the national attention though is Tyreke Evans. Evans to the delight of my fantasy team is putting up great numbers (20-5-5) in Sacramento. Granted his numbers improved significantly after Martin’s injury, they are still very impressive nonetheless. I really did not think either of these guys would make much of an impact but I was definitely wrong.
The Clippers really need Blake Griffin. Understatement of the season. The franchise is an absolute mess. It really is inconceivable that Mike Dunleavy is still employed. Why can’t Donald Sterling be voted off the island of NBA owners and be thrown to the sharks? He is an awful human being. As a former employee of the Clips I have quite a few stories of the ineptitude of the franchise hopefully which I will share at a later time. They seriously need Blake, does he have it in him though to steer the ship onto a new course?
Things worth mentioning:
Very nice to see how appreciative Mark Ingram was to win the Heisman. I understand everyone is grateful to win the Heisman, but you could really tell how much that actually meant to him.
If you have not watched Billy Corben’s 30 for 30 on “The U” go do so now. My friend Dejar’s quote while we were watching sums it up the best “We have been watching this for 105 minutes and I could go on for another 4 hours!”
Despite what Jaws said at the end of MNF this week Alex Smith did NOT have a good game at all. It is ludicrous the extent that broadcasters are obsessed with hyperbole and their need for every play and every game to be the best thing that has ever happened. Lets get real guys.
I enjoyed sharing my thoughts through with you and I would love to hear your opinions on these subjects as well. Stay tuned and until next time you can follow me on twitter at @zbeckmann
[1] I really do not understand why LA is completely unable to win in Portland.
[2] Interesting fact – This may be the first year since 2004-05 Kobe has not finished with the single best scoring outing of the season.
Keywords: Brandon Jennings, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Tyreke Evans
