Lakers (19-7) v Sixers: LO

Denver forms notions of a game that does not give itself easily to any meaningful representations:

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The book on Eric Snow when he was playing was as a tough minded defender who could occassionally knock down shots. Hell, for a while, he traded AI second option status with Aaron Mckie. Now, he's resigned to being a gravelly voiced color man who bows down to Kobe and extolls the dominance of the Lakers. Needless to say, I prefer color guys who at least pretend they still care about what went down when they played. 

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My Matt Barnes love affair only grows after seeing pump himself up after making a 4th quarter corner three. It was somehow even better than Ron Artest talking to himself. I don't even care about his incredible adj. +/-, this guy just belongs on the court; it's a shame NBA teams do not really see it my way. 

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Another day, another Kobe injury. Won't faze him. Hopefully it won't become arthritic. He knows what to do. 

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Idiots look at LO's box score today and ask, "Hey, why doesn't he do that every game? Man, the Lakers would be dominant then." Yes, why doesn't he do that every day? It's not like he's playing with an all-world center, a historically high usage shooting guard and a team stacked with veterans who could each put up 15 every night. Why does he focus on the intangibles, work selflessly and post historically amazing +/- numbers? What is the matter with him? Must be the Kardashian thing, messing with his mind, not making him 'show up' like he did today. 

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Basketball has left Philadelphia. Running, jumping and yelling remain but Basketball has left. 

Lakers v Pacers 11.28.2010 () : The Usual Barnes appreciation, Regression, Luke sighting and Brandon Rush

People often ask me about my middle name. Be prepared to answer questions about this game:

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The book on Brandon Rush is that he has all the tools in the world, a sturdy frame, leaping ability and speed but that it's unlikely, at this point, he will care enough to put it all together. He could even be a defensive stopper in the mold of FIBA Iguodala, but Kobe's season high stats thank him for staying as undeveloped potential.

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Shannon Brown's now-receding-from-immediate-memory offensive efficiency at the beginning of the season might be easier to latch on to, but Matt Barnes slippery brilliance should not be discounted. He finishes at the rim better than any Laker 3 we've seen since 2009 post All Star Break Ariza. He does 'whatever the team needs.' The spectacular rebounding can't be discounted: 2nd in the league among 3s last year. Hell, if they put him on Psycho-T, the Lakers might not have ben outplayed so egregiously. He is as invaluable, if not more, than Luke in his prime. 

I think the last sentence implies that Barnes is an adj. +/- stud and yes, I will not stop mentioning that because every opinionator worth his weight in bytes writes like the world depended on his words (e.g. Hitchens, Christopher).

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Kobe. Airballs. What?

Mildly concerned. 

Kobe. Still The Greatest Right Now. He was the bulwark, holding back the tides of a shameful Staples Center blowout. 

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It's worth noting that despite Pau's unparalleled output over the last three years, few are either unwilling or unable to imitate his repertoire. Even the classically-trained (read Walton schooled) Hibbert favors the Luis Scola feint right, shimmy and righty hook over left shoulder combo rather than the intricate low block Gasol ballet. It's almost as if any move Gasol can conceive, his nimble seven feet and long arms can achieve. 

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Oh 50% 3-ballin' Fish, we hardly knew ye. Oh newly reliable Brown and old steady Blake, how thou hast teased us. Regression to the mean is an ugly phrase, but it means so much. Then again, who would be truly happy if this Lakers team defied the narrative of every Lakers team ever and emerged Terminator like out of the mist, perfectly formed and ready to ruthlessly murder on the way to 79-2?

Would Denver Tyrone Foster exist if there was nothing to remark on, if everything was remarkable?

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Even if one grants that Indiana is a potential playoff team, this is still one of the worst losses of the year. Pau was neutralized by a center who this author saw play at Georgetown, by play I mean he looked like a tall kid shoved out to the middle of the floor for the wolves to feast on, desperately miming what a basketball player was supposed to do and hoping nobody would notice. The bench did not earn their pay, excepting Barnes. Brown routinely blew assignments and Bryant wasn't exempt either. LO was good at least. Fisher should start preparing for the snide remarks now. Luke should've played more. The Pacers finally won in Staples Center.

But please, don't call this a 'skid.'

Lakers v Jazz 11.26.2010 (13-3)

Denver is pronounced exactly as its written. Bustin' a recap:

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Steve Blake's luck had to abandon him sometime. Like a man who repeatedly swipes an overdrawn credit card, Blake fired and chucked with that odd cross-body release of his and the rim refused to roll his attempts home.

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Barnes was fantastic. Artest wasn't. Is it too early to be asking who the rightful starter is? According to Basketball Value, Barnes figures prominently in the Lakers' best assortment in terms of both adj. +/- and overall rating. I am conducting a support group in the comments section of this blog for those of you reminded of Artest's pre-game 7 finals yakety-sax bricks. 

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Kobe kept those daggers cloaked until the fourth. Paramedics were called because neighbors witnessed this turbid aging writer scream at his Macbook in the second and third quarters that Kobe needed to stop treating the glass like Eddy Curry treats his treadmill and use it. 

His early lack of efficiency is still a bit troubling. I recommend the faithful observe his ability to convert from 10 feet in very carefully. 

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The 2-5 pick and roll is and should be reserved only for instances in which the triangle proves to be an old, inflexible lover. And it should be abandoned during instances in which the defense seizes it as an opportunity to squeeze the daylight from Kobe's eyes. There was a key turnover in the 4th because Kobe, unless he's been exposed throughout the game, cannot handle an aggressive, elite double team. He can't get up like he used to to make those skip passes. 

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The sentence "those who play it best" in the ihoops ad coincided perfectly with the slack jawed visage of the admittedly underrated Jason Kapono(vich).

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One of the little-discussed repercussions of instant replay is the rest it creates for both teams. The break in gameplay is the equivalent of a timeout on the floor (less kindly labeled as a tv timeout). The implications of this are subtle but worth considering. Lesser conditioned athletes, those who would curse God after running a wind sprint or two with Kobe, will surely be thankful. 

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Not much to mock the Jazz broadcast team about. Harpring is generally excellent. At one point, he claimed that backup PG Ronnie Price was 5'7, 5'9 or 5'10. For a second, Nate Robinson's eyes lit up as he felt a little less alone in the NBA before the animus subsided in favor of reality. 

They had a lot of fun with the fact that Ron Artest was a math major.

The play-by-play man seems like he lives his life by boilerplate. He almost enjoyed plugging that 50,000 dollar charitable contribution that dumb company made every time the Jazz made a three. It's not charity if you have to let a television audience know about it. 

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Energy Solutions arena is an odd name for a place without a functioning shot clock. 13 seconds of this game evaporated, never to be experienced again. I can't say I much care for the reasons stated below. 

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This game didn't and still doesn't feel like a loss so I won't treat as one. A two possession shortfall against a very talented team on a very raucous home court is not a predictor of future performance. It's funny how the bench is conveniently missing when the Lakers face a hostile hellhouse on the road. This loss was a coinflip and tells us nothing.  

Lakers v Timberwolves 11.20.2010 (11-2)

Towards a new Basketball Discourse powered by Denver Tyrone Foster:

The Timberwolves P.A. music selection speaks louder about their team than any statistical analysis. The Beatles, Jackson 5 ("I'll Be There"), Dr. Dre, Jay-Z ("Empire State of Mind"), Bruce ("Born In the USA")

Can't forget to give props for the 'Wolves color man who claimed that contenders take care of business against "teams like Minnesota" without knowing how statistically sound his views were.

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One does have cause to be concerned with Kobe's excessive early turnovers. One of the oft-repeated but oft-ignored linchpins of the Kobe v. Mike comparison is the fact that the great one turns it over much more than the a-little-bit-greater one. I do not, however, argue that this is intractable as some would (e.g. Shaw has suggested that since Kobe's having smaller hands than Jordan accounts for some fo the differences). If Kobe had a character-defining focus on limiting turnovers a la Chris MVPaul, then the numbers would definitively dip.

I had a dream where I was impassioned in claiming that Kobe's lack of efficiency stems from his having to take so many end of shot-clock and/or desperation long twos. Then, I switched to discussing his stellar plus-minus before I gave up out of shame. That is all that needs to be said.

Pound, pound, juke, turn right, fade, make. Kobe has that impeccable turn-around back again after he victimized the Pistons with it. Combined with the recent re-emergence of the double clutch we are seeing the somewhat-unique-to-Kobe-and-vital-to-his-identity moves in his era-spanning oeuvre.

After that Dr. J tribute halfway through the third, my faith in the remaining rags of athleticism possessed by the Kobe puppet is renewed.

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Pau has a much shorter leash than Kobe. If Kobe's as dry as the Longoria-Parker divorce proceedings, the team keeps feeding him out of fear and faith. Pau gets a smattering of low speed post moves stopped by Manna-from-heaven, he stops being served prime-rib (mid-post feeds) and has to get his fill on the perimeter with liver.

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Derek Caracter is like Shaq with the 3 second violations, general chubbiness, but averages about -30 PER from the big fella in his prime.

Still, a lot of promise. Could be our Big Baby stopper if such a thing were ever required.

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Matt Barnes' three point misses produce an imaginary clang on my auditory nerve, but his rebounding warms my eyes. His passing is severely underrated. This man's adjusted plus minus speaks as loudly as his innumerable tattoos about his potency as a weapon for the Lakers. 

I thank the Warriors and the Magic for his rim-less arcs tonight.

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The bench shielded this win from the excesses of the starters.

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The Lakers need their 8-figure speed-fiend Mr. Bynum right now. I smile recalling how he small he made the Wolves feel in blowouts past. 

Darko had a manna-from-heaven type game in the first half and it would not have happened if he had 270 odd pounds exerting enough force on him to trigger memories of his inadequacy. 

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Reading Brewer's subtle-facial expressions and Kahn's ridiculous visage is a pleasure in and of itself. 

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In which the super aware hive mind of Internet laughs at the ignorance of the local broadcasters:


Claiming that Darko did something "out of the triangle." Darko looking around cluelessly when he's camped on the mid-post is not the triangle. Oh Tex. 


Luke Ridnour "has the free will" to pull up and pop whenever he wants. Clearly, hard determinism hasn't made it to Minny yet. 


"I talked to David Kahn"

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The curse of 31-31 has caught up to Love. He can't use his appearance as camouflage to secretly dominate the game anymore. Beasley might have been able to seduce Odom with his cloud of green smoke but not Artest. That's really why Barnes and Co. won tonight.

The scoring margin could've been better though. #gottagetthathollinger