Lakers Hope?

Can you really have hope for the Lakers when they just won a game against one of the league's worst teams by one point? A win is a win in the NBA but the Lakers showed something that was sorely lacking, some heart. They were down by 18 about halfway through the 3rd when they decided to win the game. Prior to last nights game the Lakers would've never come back in that game but they made a change, and hopefully a change that will carry over throughout the year. They have the talent yet they consistently play inconsistent, and I don't even think they really understand why. I do believe Nash's return will greatly boost the Lakers morale and lead to some wins, however its going to need to lead to wins on 75% of their remaining schedule to get into the playoffs. Pau in his return played like a different player to me, sure he didn't shoot the greatest but a little rust should be expected. It was really encouraging to me to see him playing with increased energy and some explosiveness that was missing in the earlier part of the season. As everything progresses and Nash returns I definitely think we will see a different Lakers team going forward, but there is a lot of work to be done.

New York Throw Down!

I mean how can you not be excited about tonights basketball game with the Lakers going up against one of the league's best teams, the New York Knickerbockers. This game is a potential season breaker for the Lakers, I mean it is only one game but it would be a huge statement to come into MSG and beat the Knicks. At 9-13 the Lakers look like a team with no effort and a lot of confusion, when I look back to come of their wins this season I find it very odd they seemed to play the best under Bernie Bickerstaff of all people. There have been some nice glimpses of what this team can be when they are healthy but thats all they have been. If the Lakers win tonight it would surely calm the media down and give the Lakers a sense of pride, i mean Kobe is still the black mamba and I expect to see some venom from him tonight.

As for the Knicks, man what a season they've put together so far up there. Melo is being talked about as the MVP front runner, Jason Kidd is making last second threes, and even more amazingly their Defense has been really solid. Being 5th in points scored and 10th in points allowed is a pretty good recipe for success. To me they are easily the best team in the NBA right now and could easily win the title the way they are playing. I find it really interesting that the Knicks weren't playing this well while Woodson was an assistant coach, maybe the Lakers brass should have looked at that little note before they hired D'antoni.

On a side note in the NBA, I'm loving everything about the Golden State Warriors. Extremely young team playing physical defense. David Lee just threw Lebron to the ground last night, I didn't know you could come into the Kings building beat him up and win the game. Hats off to Mark Jackson and what he's doing in Golden State

All I can do is scratch my head

I'm pretty sure this is how Kobe looked when he woke up this morning flu and all. How in the world is Kobe going to score 40 with the flu and the lakers lose, FREE THROWS. I could not believe how many free throws the Lakers missed and the Pacers for that matter. As ugly as that game was last night, I actually thought it was pretty entertaining entertaining. I thought wow this is a battle of who can miss more shots, because the Pacers shot horribly too! What it really came down to though, is Gasol playing the worst D when it was tied on the final possession. He LITERALLY let George Hill run right by him, I don't want to say because I like Gasol but if he doesn't figure it out by Christmas its time for a change of scenery for him. Gasol hasn't played well since the Zen Master left, and now with D'antoni, Howard, and Nash in the fold he doesn't seem right still. You can attribute that to the fact that he needs to play with his back to the basket to find rhythm in his shot, but when you play with this cast, and get paid loads of money, I think its fair to say his production needs to go up just a little bit.

However I still follow the rest of the NBA, Kevin Love is pretty much back to normal grabbing more rebounds(24) then points(23). James Harden also continues to show why he is worth a max contract, speaking of which I expect him to go insane tonight back in OKC. He's got some extra motivation for this game after he wanted to stay and was shown the door. Besides the HOU OKC game, I will definitely be watching the Clippers and the Wolves battle it out, it's always a great game watching Kevin Love and Blake Griffin go head to head

I Bleed Purple and Gold

Yes yes yes I am indeed a Laker fan, no I didn't hop on the bandwagon I've been a fan since I was 4. The Smush Parker Kobe era was horrible to say the least, but were sort of back on the map these days. All these big acquisitions and a 7-7 record is nothing to be happy about but I'm not worried. Dwight is still ailing, new head coach, Nash is out, and the bench players are still finding roles. But the Lakers are much better without Mike Brown and his ocd, and I think he is a great coach. For this team though not so much, he made them think way to much and not really let them play. 

I've seen considerable improvement from them so far with D'antoni, but not enough on D. They really need to pick that up, way to many open shots especially from 3. The Offense however has been much improved. Meeks and Jamison are starting to find rhythm, although I'd like to see Jordan Hill play more the bench production has improved a lot.  Tonight the Lakers are going for their 8th win of the season and Kobe is a game time decision with flu symptoms, yeah right he is playing. If Kobe doesn't play I expect to see some small lineups out there to up the tempo, but that won't happen because Kobe is Kobe I'd be extremely surprised if he missed it.