Laker Linkage – 3/11/10

• The Story: Lamar Odom talks tough about the Lakers being “soft.”   The Fire Says: Well at least someone is taking it seriously.  If only the rest of the roster felt that way.
• The Story: Matt Barnes tweets some more trash talk at the Lakers and Lamar Odom.   The Fire Says: At this point, the NBA almost owes us an LA-Orlando Finals rematch if only because of the nastiness that has emerged between the two teams since last weekend.  Sports are always more fun when there is a real rivalry being played out.
• The Story: Andrew Bynum thinks that some of his teammates are already looking ahead to the playoffs.   The Fire Says: An interesting theory from the normally thick-headed Drew.  If the losing streak doesn’t snap everyone back to attention in the present, I don’t know what will.
• The Story: The return of Sasha Vujacic bolsters the Laker bench.   The Fire Says: It does?  Someone might want to tell that to Sasha.  The only thing having Vujacic back does is give Phil Jackson an emergency fall back option if Jordan Farmar or Shannon Brown struggle on a given night and even then, I don’t think Phil has much faith in the Machine right now.
• The Story: A look at Kobe’s clutchness.   The Fire Says: There is an interesting point of volume of clutch shots that Kobe takes.  Over the last decade, it is pointed out that Kobe has taken 20 more shots to tie or win the game with less than 10 seconds left in a game than any other player in the NBA but is also just shooting “slightly above” the league average shooting percentage on those shots.  I’m not saying Kobe isn’t clutch, merely that he isn’t quite as clutch as we might all think but his increased number of chances gives a better impression than it probably should.
• The Story: Lamar Odom is being hounded by rumors of marital strife.   The Fire Says: This is the kind of crap I was worried about when he married Khloe Kardashian.  Even if these rumors are totally baseless, it is still a distraction that he really doesn’t need this late in the season.
• The Story: The recent struggles of Ron Artest.   The Fire Says: There are countless excuses for Ron’s offensive struggles lately, but I still think it has to do with his feet and the excess bulk he put on to start the season.  The dude straight out can’t jump anymore.  Not only does he miss layups on a regular basis because he can’t elevate, but he can’t get the proper lift on his jumper either because his legs are just plain dead.  The problem is that I don’t really see this clearing up quickly, even with his recent weight loss.

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Tags: Andrew Bynum, Daily Links, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Matt Barnes, Ron Artest, Sasha Vujacic, soft, trash talk

Who’s Soft and Who’s Not?

Softness is once again the hot buzzword in Laker Nation after seeing the team drop three straight games and getting punked by Matt Barnes in the process.  The toughness of the Lakers always seems to be in question, but which Lakers are most to blame for their lack of testicular fortitude?

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Tags: Adam Morrison, Analysis, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher, DJ Mbenga, Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Sasha Vujacic, Shannon Brown, soft

Laker Linkage – 3/10/10

• The Story: Phil Jackson and Pau Gasol discuss the Lakers’ recent struggles.  The Fire Says: I will save you the read, “execution” is the word of the day for the Lakers who just aren’t doing a very good job of it on either end of the floor lately.
• The Story: The Lakers are where they’ve been all season long.  The Fire Says: The gist of it is that all of the Lakers’ problems are totally correctable and that their struggles are only bleak in comparison to their normal dominance.  I can’t help but agree, especially since I pretty much wrote the same thing on Monday.
• The Story: Hand injuries are running rampant on the Laker roster.  The Fire Says: I like that this story is poised as some sort of explanation for why the Lakers aren’t executing on offense but it is their brains, not their hands, that are causing the Lakers to make bad decisions within the offense.
• The Story: Lamar Odom says the team doesn’t get frustrated by losses.  The Fire Says: Maybe that is part of the problem there, LO.  Perhaps if someone on the team other than Kobe played like they gave a crap on a nightly basis the Lakers never would have even lost two games in a row at all this year.
• The Story: DJ Mbenga has a new nickname for Kobe Bryant.  The Fire Says: And I have no idea what it is because I can never understand what the hell Mbenga is saying.
• The Story: Sasha scores for kids with eczema.  The Fire Says: I could make a joke here about how at least Sasha is finally scoring, but this is a charity, so I will be nice (although I pretty much already made the joke, so I guess it is a win-win for me).

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Tags: charity, Daily Links, DJ Mbenga, injuries, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Phil Jackson, Sasha Vujacic

Lake Show Rewind: Slump Busters – Lakers 109, Raptors 107

Now that is more like it.  With one shot, Kobe Bryant busted the Lakers out of their slump as well as a few other things a long the way.

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Tags: Chris Bosh, defense, Derek Fisher, Game Rewind, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Sasha Vujacic, Toronto Raptors, turnovers

Lake Show Countdown – 3/9/10: Raptors @ Lakers

VS.

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Tags: Andrea Bargnani, Andrew Bynum, Chris Bosh, Game Countdown, Hedo Turkoglu, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Toronto Raptors

Yo Soy Senor Softy

Hola, como estas?  Yo soy Senor Softy.  For those of you who do not “habla espanol” that means my name is Mister Softy.  But you might already know me by my given name of Pau Gasol, power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers.  I’m here to talk to you today about this perception that I am “soft.”  This topic has me so angry that I don’t know what I will do.  I’m so mad that I might just really flip my lid and make a very calm, pensive but slightly negative comment to a beat reporter.  Yeah, I’m THAT mad.

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Tags: Charles Oakley, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Satire, softness

Laker Linkage – 3/9/10

• The Story: Pau Gasol wants the damn ball.  The Fire Says: This again?  Look, I love Pau and do think he deserves more shots, but the only he is going to get them is to stop playing like a big pussy(cat) and assert himself down low, not by griping to the media for the umpteenth time this season.
• The Story: Is Kobe shooting too much?  The Fire Says: I might be alone on this but I do think that Kobe shoots too much but I also don’t think it is entirely his fault either.  30 shots in a game is probably too much, but when nobody else is making themselves an offensive presence, the Lakers have little choice but to have Kobe shoot a lot since nobody else on the team is very adept at creating their own shot.
• The Story: The Laker offense lacks balance, but don’t blame Kobe.  The Fire Says: Didn’t I just say that?  Just to belabor the point even more, the Laker offense is out of whack but only because other players aren’t pulling their weight and it isn’t just in shot creation either.  The Lakers are having a rough time spacing the floor, shooting just 34.4% from three-point range on the year which is the 21st best mark in the league.  Even worse, the Lakers are actually shooting 29.6% from downtown in March.  That isn’t a coincidence.
• The Story: Ron Artest sets the tone for the Lakers on defense.  The Fire Says: He most certainly does and is the primary reason the Lakers have a top defense this season.  But it goes both ways since the Laker defense stinks when Artest does much like he did in the Orlando loss.
• The Story: The Rodman-esque hairstyle of Ron Artest is already gone.  The Fire Says: At least Ron-Ron knows when to cut bait, shaving his head after the Orlando loss since his “inspiring” hairstyle obviously didn’t have the desired effect.
• The Story: Kobe Bryant didn’t shake hands with the Magic after Sunday’s loss.  The Fire Says: Who gives a crap?  It was a tough loss for the team and included a lot of chippy play, so who would really expect a fierce competitor like Kobe to gladly shake hands with a dick like Matt Barnes after the game?  Frankly, Kobe deserves some props for not sucker-punching Barnes in the tunnel after the game.
• The Story: Matt Barnes responds to Kobe and Lamar’s public criticism.  The Fire Says: Well, we definitely have a full-blown feud on our hands now.  I just can’t believe Barnes had the gall to suggest that Kobe was getting away with dirty play that he wasn’t seeing how Barnes probably should have had 14 personal fouls and 7 technicals in the game but they all went uncalled because of the lousy officiating.
• The Story: Sasha Vujacic should be available for today’s game and Luke Walton could be ready early next month.  The Fire Says: That is great that Luke might actually play again this season but I am not exactly going to hold my breath until happens.  As for Sasha, well, it is always nice to have more depth.  Maybe he even found a way to rehab is ailing jumper while his shoulder was healing up… yeah, probably not.
• The Story: The Lakers are a team on the edge.  The Fire Says: There is a whole lot of testiness seeping through in everyone’s interactions with the press this week, especially Kobe (shocker).  Let’s see how that frustration carries over into tonight’s game because they could channel it into something very positive or something very negative.

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Tags: Daily Links, injuries, Kobe Bryant, Luke Walton, Matt Barnes, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Sasha Vujacic, trash talk

Blogging with the Enemy: Don from MagicalHoops.com

After the events of yesterday’s game with Orlando, I thought it was only appropriate to get a little perspective on the game from a Magic fan.  As I am sure you can imagine, my friend Don VanDemark of MagicalHoops.com was more than happy to oblige in such a discussion.  So, here is a little Q&A between Don and myself:

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Tags: Andrew Bynum, Blog Smack, Derek Fisher, DJ Mbenga, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, losing streak, Matt Barnes, Orlando Magic, Pau Gasol, Vince Carter

Putting the Losing Streak in Perspective

Here we go.  The three-game losing streak is here and the ensuing panic from Laker fans is undoubtedly following hot on its heels.  While I understand that the seriousness of the losing streak is only amplified by the fact that such a streak hasn’t happened in these parts for over two years (and by these parts, I mean just the Lakers, if I was being geographically specific, then this would be a pretty regular occurrence due to the Clippers total ineptitude), but is it really that bad?  If you say, “yes” then please peruse these following points before you take that irreversible final step off the ledge:

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Tags: Analysis, Andrew Bynum, Charlotte Bobcats, Derek Fisher, fatigue, injuries, Kobe Bryant, losing streak, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Sanity Check

Laker Linkage – 3/8/10

• The Story: Kobe Bryant thinks Matt Barnes is “entertaining.“  The Fire Says: That is Kobe’s way of trying to show how little he thinks of Barnes and his playground antics.  I still think Barnes definitely got under Kobe’s skin based on the way Bryant reacted to Barnes hitting that big three-pointer near the end of yesterday’s game.  That wasn’t just Bryant being upset about allowing a basket but that he allowed it to a guy like Barnes.
• The Story: Lamar Odom calls Matt Barnes a monkey.  The Fire Says: That is some hip hop reference that I am clearly too white to understand, now excuse me while I go back to listening to my Muse album.  LO also threw a few other verbal jabs at Matt Barnes (aka Public Enemy #1 in Laker Nation), including comparing him to WWE’s Ric Flair.
• The Story: Check out Ron Artest’s new hair which has “Defense” written in three languages on his head.  The Fire Says: Too bad that one of the languages wasn’t English because Ron-Ron didn’t seem to understand the concept of defense in Sunday’s loss.  I hope he keeps his barber on-call if he doesn’t redeem himself next time out.
• The Story: Intestinal issues caused Kobe Bryant to arrive a little late for Sunday’s game.  The Fire Says: The illness didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Kobe, so no harm, no foul.
• The Story: Kobe Bryant demanded more determination from his teammates in a team meeting before the Orlando game.  The Fire Says: And that was Kobe being nice.  I wouldn’t want to be around him for his next team speech after the Orlando loss.
• The Story: Derek Fisher, Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar are all poised to be free agents after the season.  The Fire Says: Fisher wants to come back (which I am fine with if he is signed as a player/assistant coach), Brown seems like a lock to opt for free agency (though I think he would be a fool to sing anywhere else) and Farmar will just be glad to get a contract that pays more than the league minimum.  This free agency situation will be a huge storyline the Lakers this summer, but let’s table it until this summer.  We’ve got more important things to worry about right now.
• The Story: Kobe Bryant and LeBron James gave joint gifts to the rest of the All-Stars this year.  The Fire Says: Joint gifts?  These guys are supposed to be rivals yet they are acting like a married couple.  Can we please just have David Stern rig the officiating so the Lakers and Cavs meet in the Finals and finally get these guys to start hating each other for real?
• The Story: Kobe emulates Phil Jackson by saying Cleveland and Denver are the best teams in the league right now.  The Fire Says: Kobe is going for the reverse jinx supposedly, but the way the Lakers are playing right now, he actually might have been telling the truth without realizing it.
• The Story: Phil Jackson is going to start scaling down Pau Gasol’s minutes.  The Fire Says: FINALLY.  I’ve been wondering when Phil was going to realize that playing Gasol 40+ minutes on most nights is a bad idea.  I imagine though that the reduction in minutes might have to be put on hold until the Lakers snap themselves out of this losing streak.
• The Story: Ron Artest suffered a sprained left thumb on Thursday.  The Fire Says: The injury doesn’t seem to be affecting Ron-Ron too much, so that is good news.  But still, the Lakers might want consider by protective minutes for their players as there are now four Lakers with hand injuries.
• The Story: Phil Jackson arranged for Charles Oakley to give some advice to Pau Gasol.  The Fire Says: This is why I love Phil Jackson.  Oakley is one bad mother-(shut your mouth) and you have to think he said something not some warm and fuzzy to Pau to try and toughen him up.  If that doesn’t work, the Lakers might want to just consider trying to talk Oak out of retirement to become Gasol’s personal toughness coach.

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