Scrubs Make Good - Live it Live 2

The Suns could use some lube... At least Kobe should buy them a drink afterwards... That was rough and disrespectful.

What a difference a quarter makes. This "showdown" is over and the conquerors were on the visiting bench when the game started. This game belongs to Phil Jackson... In an era when coaches mean so little, tonight is an example of a veteran coach completely dominating the opponent. D'antoni thinks he is the same orbit as Pjax, but this game was over before it started. The laker opening frontcourt of Walton and Brown was surprising, but they fought through the first quarter with good defense and hustle. Bynum dominates the second team and lo and behold.... a 30 point lead. Kobe has 11.

Why is nobody hitching onto the theory that this Laker team is better than anybody thought? 2 years ago, they had a much better Sun team by the throat, and last year it was like the Laker team bus was in a rollover accident. The game tonite will hopefully put to rest the ridiculous media coverage of the Kobe trade talks. Lakers by 33..... nice. Any Suns fans out there with some kind of excuse? Bring back Larry Nance... or Tom Chambers; at least he is white...and can dunk.

Live it Live - Lakers @ Suns

Once again, the Lakers come to Phoenix, and once again, Phoenix fills the role as the wanna-be franchise dynasty. The Suns boast of 2 consecutive MVPs but 0 rings, but if you listen to the din of sportswriters, the Suns are the greatest thing to happen to basketball since the LA Gear Catapult.

At the half, the Lakers are up by 13. The ESPN crew is already making excuses for Nash & Co.....i.e. they are tired from the long flight (like this is January)... but no mention of the stout LA defense that has afforded Kobe the opportunity to shoot 20% from the field. Andrew Bynum had an impressive 2nd quarter with some fine offensive moves waiting for Kobe to come in and miss 4 shots for every 2 he makes. The real story tonight is how the Laker frontline has completely dominated Amare Stoudamire, Boris Diaw and Brian Skinner. Kwame may not be able to put it down, but he can body up and rebound. Bynum looks like a cross between Shaq-fu and Hakeem.... he needs the ball.

Cuz Magic Say So

An interesting little tidbit - Magic was interviewed re the current Kobe drama annd revealed he was in the same situation 25 years ago...

The Lakers have had off-and-on talks with Indiana about Jermaine O'Neal, who expressed his unhappiness with the Pacers during the off-season. But with teams curious to see how they start out, there has not been any movement in those discussions.Johnson has some experience in this area. He asked to be traded in November 1981. Almost the entire Lakers team had revolted against then-coach Paul Westhead when Johnson said, "I've got to go. . . . I haven't been happy all season. . . . I'm going to talk to the man tomorrow and see if a trade will happen."That "man" was Buss. Westhead was fired the next day.Johnson, like Bryant, wanted to go to Chicago or maybe even New York, but he found fault with Bryant's desire to go to the Bulls. "Chicago is one of the first teams he said he'd want to be traded to, but what we have to understand, even if he does go to Chicago, he's not going to be in a better situation because we're going to take all their best players and he's going to end up being in the same situation," Johnson said. "Chicago with Kobe, with the guys they will have left after the Lakers take what they want, [is] not going to beat the other top teams in the East."

Sourpussy - The 2007 Laker Season

Well, I have attempted to ignore the daily drama swirling around the Lakeshow these days, but with the opener last night, I thought I would share some of my feelings. If you can't guess from the title, Laker fans are getting a bit tired of Kobe's act. Quick review - fans and the organization stood right behind Kobe when he was on trial for rape... Quite a contrast to Michael Vick, eh? Ever since then, Kobe has decided to run his mouth about everyone who surrounds him, the management, his teammates - everybody. The same teammates who stood around and watched him score 81 points in a game. Trust me, if he does go - there will be fewer tears shed than you may think.

About the game. I had deja vu' last night. I had watched this game before - Oh wait, I know - just about every single loss they had last year looked like last night. Kobe's shot wasn't falling in the first half, but still the Lakers were able to build a lead. Kobe keeps shooting, despite the fact that his teammates are hitting. Things would have been fine had Kobe relinquished the ball more in the third quarter. As a leader of the team, he should be worried about directing the offensive flow and creating a rhythm. We all know and expect him to take all of the shots at the end of the game - that's fine. Its the 2 of 10 shooting in the 3rd that loses leads and sinks your team.

I am still convinced Kobe is not going anywhere. I don't know if its possible, but I would like to see him evolve into a true general on the floor in LA. I see that Luke Walton cut his hair this year - too bad, we all know how Kobe likes white chicks.