July 9, 2017 Posted in  Lakers, NBA

Lonzo Ball’s second showing was much better in Summer League, but not even a triple-double could save the Los Angeles Lakers from their pathetic defense as they fall to the Boston Celtics 86-81 in Las Vegas on Saturday evening.

Let’s be clear, the Lakers will make the playoffs this season. They will learn not to put in a terrible effort on defense. I know they only have rookies and second year players on the summer league squad, however, I want to see the team play harder on defense. The turnovers are also a major red flag right now. I fully expect these things to be rectified by the start of the regular season.

Lonzo is the epitome of a transcendent talent and smarts. It rubs off on the rest of the team. I thought offensively the team played well, like the Houston Rockets...

July 8, 2017 Posted in  Lakers, NBA

Lonzo Ball wasn’t really balling tonight as the Lakers get defeated by the Clippers in Summer League’s opening night.

Ball had 5 assists and 5 points and shot mostly bricks tonight. Can’t expect everything from a rookie first night on the job. I expect Ball to be overwhelmed the opening night of the ’17-18 season, but he will come along very nicely. I expect the Lakers to be the eight seed in the Western Conference and Lonzo Ball, LaVar Ball’s son, to win Rookie of the Year.

July 1, 2016 Posted in  Lakers

About an hour and a half ago NBA free agency began. Teams are lined up to sign marquee players. There are some players that are good, others not so much. The Lakers have the first signing of free agency.

Timofey Mozgov…

Say What!?

Oh, well. We didn’t give him that much cash. $16M for 4 years.

No, that’s $16M/yr. for four years.

(My head just exploded)

What the hell is Jim Buss and/or Mitch Kupchak doing? They are betraying the trust of their fan base! They are the butt of all jokes on the radio. Or are looking forward to the day when marijuana is legal in California because whatever they are on, I want some because it must be pretty good!

OK, not being serious there...

June 24, 2016 Posted in  Lakers, NBA

The Los Angeles Lakers in 2015-16 were just pathetic. There are those who would say it is the fact that they do not have any good players on their roster. To that I would reply that they have five good players. D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., and, with the second overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, Brandon Ingram. They also have serviceable players, like Roy Hibbert, Marcelo Huertas, and even Nick Young. They also drafted a center with their second round pick, but I expect him to keep playing overseas while the Lakers retain his NBA rights.

The biggest problem with the Lakers? We need look no further than the head coach, Byron Scott. Coaching can take a bad team to the playoffs, and it can keep a decent team out of them. Coaches matter...

April 25, 2016 Posted in  Lakers

Byron Scott is out as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. He leaves LA with no playoff appearances and lots of angst and controversy.

Where do the Lakers go from here? They missed an opportunity to sign coach Tom Thibodeau, who ended up in Minnesota. Could Phil Jackson be in the cards? If not, the Lakers are going to be a bad team for the foreseeable future.

I think the Lakers should try to make a run at Golden State’s assistant coach Luke Walton. He was a key cog in getting the Warriors to a 73-9 record. Although the Lakers don’t have as many good players as Golden State, I can still see Walton leading the Lakers back to respectability as early as 2016-17...

April 14, 2016 Posted in  Lakers, NBA

For the Lakers’ faithful, this has been the worst season in franchise history. Who will carry the torch going forward? D’Angelo Russell is the most viable candidate, but the answer, unfortunately, is not on the team right now. Especially with the night Kobe Bryant had vs. the Utah Jazz tonight.

Kobe scored 60, yes, that’s right, sixty points in a come from behind victory.

I remember being a sophomore in high school when Kobe was drafted, leaving Tim Duncan as the only player that was active, before I graduated high school, that will play in 2016-17. His finest hour was sweeping the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals, to win his 4th title, first as the key player on his team.

What lies ahead for Kobe?

Congratulations on a great career, Kobe Bryant. Good luck in your future endeavors.

November 21, 2015 Posted in  Lakers

Throughout the course of history, nations rose and fell. The same rings true with sports franchises. In the case of the Los Angeles Lakers, they have had success their entire time in LA. From 1979 through 2012-13 they had missed the postseason only twice.

In the fall of 2013, the team fell on rough times and still has not recovered. Since then they missed the playoffs twice and this season does not look like much of an improvement, since many expect the Lakers’ to miss the playoffs for the third straight season.

The link to five of those championships, Kobe Bryant, is likely in his final season of his career and he has been resting more than playing, so the torch needs to be passed. This player could lead the Lakers’ back to the promised land.

Is this player on the roster? DeAngelo Russell...

February 14, 2015 Posted in  Lakers

It hasn’t officially happened yet, but it appears, for the first time in my life the Los Angeles Lakers will be eliminated from postseason contention in consecutive seasons. And, barring some good fortune in the 2015 offseason, I can see a three-peat of the Lakers being eliminated from the playoffs before they commence when they’re eliminated in ’15-’16. They’re awful.

I think it’s finally time to move on from Kobe. He’s been injured, season ending, three Years consecutively. If Jim Buss is as serious about contending as he sounds, he needs to amnesty Kobe. Coaching is not the problem; he (Buss) needs to sign a 7-footer or two and draft a quality point guard. That’s just what I think needs to happen if the Lake Show is going to return to greatness...

February 9, 2015 Posted in  Lakers

As a lot of you out there know, as recently as five years ago, the Los Angeles Lakers were NBA Champions. Ever since then, the quality of play has sharply declined due to aging players and highlighted by the death of Dr. Jerry Buss. The ineptitude of Jim Buss, Jerry’s son, is being exposed as a poor evaluator of coaching talent. I predict the Los Angeles Lakers will be like the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals back in the 1990s, after the death of Paul Brown. That, unless GM Mitch Kupchak keeps having superstar potential in his hands in the draft. I like Julius Randle and it was very unfortunate that Randle severely broke his leg early in the ’14-’15 season.

I might be proven wrong, though. Randle will make a full recovery...