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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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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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Laker Linkage – 3/10/10


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


Raptors Logo VS. Laker Logo

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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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Laker Linkage – 3/9/10


  • The Story: Pau Gasol wants the damn ballThe 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 muchThe 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 KobeThe 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 defenseThe 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 goneThe 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 lossThe 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 criticismThe 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 monthThe 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 edgeThe 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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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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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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Laker Linkage – 3/8/10


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