What Makes Someone a "True" Laker or Yankee?

Kobe Bryant achieved another milestone in his long, illustrious career last night, entering the 30,000 club, an exclusive group of one name guys like Michael, Wilt, Kareem and, uh, Karl (Mailman sounds better). Besides proving that guys whose names start with K are really good at scoring (watch out for Kris Humphries), the other bond that most of this group shares is Lakers purple and gold. 4 out of the top 5 scorers in NBA history at some point wore purple and gold (Malone had his one forgettable year chasing a ring but it still counts). This fact inevitably brings up the top 5 all time Laker discussions. Trying to pick a top 5 for a franchise that has arguably had more talent in their uniforms than Hooters is tough goings though. And since we love to argue almost as much as we love top 5 lists here at PTU, this is a prime opportunity for an argument about top 5 lists. Both franchises are literally embarrassments of riches. Both have dominated their respective leagues for decades, and both attract both front running fans and ardent haters in equal amounts.  But what exactly makes a player a "great Yankee" or a "great Laker"? Can we call someone a "great blank" if they only played a few years for that team, or if they arrived as a player for hire out to get a ring? I say "yes" to both of those questions.

First off, let's get to the top 5s. For the Lakers, my top 5 in no particular order is Kobe, Magic, Kareem, Shaq and Jerry West.  Getting narrowly edged out is Wilt, Elgin Baylor and George Mikan (sorry, guys). My Yankee top 5 would be Mantle, Gehrig, Ruth, Dimaggio and Jeter. My apologies to Whitey Ford, Yogi, Scooter, Mariano, and Reggie Jackson. I didn't include Mr. October but our own Hater J left him off his list due to the fact that he doesn't consider him a "true Yankee". But what makes one player a "true Yankee" or Laker and one not? The way I see it, if a player had his best years wearing your jersey, he can be classified as a great for your organization regardless if he forced a trade to somewhere else or arrived via free agency. Most Los Angelinos won't remember Shaq rapping about how his ass tastes (thankfully), or an aging Shaq struggling to dunk in Boston or Cleveland. They'll remember him catching the lob from Kobe in game 7 against Portland, or scoring 60 on his birthday against the Clippers, or absolutely dominating three straight Finals from 00-02. You can't leave Shaq off the list of top Lakers just because it's impossible to name 5 guys who had as dominant a 5 year span in purple and gold as he did. Unlike say Kevin Garnett, who came to the Celtics after his prime, or A-Rod who has won MVP's in pinstripes but has mostly been hated by Yankee fans, Shaq played his prime years for the Lakers and won three titles (winning MVP each year). He is as much a true Laker as there ever will be.

Knicks Vs Lakers Preview

The NBA pre season is almost over and we can finally get to some real hardwood action...what's that you say? This is the season? Yikes. Well, sloppy, low scoring basketball is better than no basketball at all I guess. Even if it does feel like you're watching the best pick up game at McKinley park ever at times. So tonight, I'm still a little excited for the first matchup of the abbreviated season between my first and second favorite teams. And that's not the only first you'll see tonight; it's also the first matchup between Kobe and Carmelo since the trade last February as well as the first time these two teams have matched up where the Knicks might actually be a better team (or at the least have a brighter future) since Nick Van Exel was running the point at the old Forum. What to expect tonight?

Both teams are off to uneven starts albeit in a very small sample size (3 games for the Lakers and 2 for the Knicks). As expected, play has been pretty ragged thus far as the result of the lack of practice and training camps and the compressed schedule, so there's always a chance that these two teams are simply going through what the rest of the league is, but there are big holes in each team's roster. The Knicks were thin to begin with, and since the injuries to the rookie Shumpert and (Thank GOD) Jared Jeffries, they've become even thinner (Chinese fans shouldn't get their hopes up to see Jeremy Lin get off the bench any time soon though, sorry). Meanwhile, the Lakers got nothing in return for their most versatile bench player, Odom, and everyone else is a year older. They've sorely missed the big bully in the middle, Bynum, who will be finishing his suspension tonight, but even when he returns they're still a barely above average team. After melting down against a Chicago team that was shooting 15% at one point in the second half on Christmas, they then proceeded to get blown out by the Sacramento Kings of all teams. Narrowly avoiding disaster by blowing out a truly awful Utah Jazz team on Tuesday in their third game of a back to back to back, the Lakers still have a similar look to the 06-07 Lakers pre Pau that resulted in ridiculous Kobe numbers but not much else. This team is of course more talented than anything that involves Kwame Brown and Smush Parker could be, but Kobe isn't that guy anymore either. I expect a Lakers team that hovers a few games over 500 this season as they struggle to find their identity post Phil Jackson and Kobe struggles to not punch Mike "Al Roker" Brown.

The Knicks, on the other hand, are being touted as some kind of a title contending juggernaut with the acquisition of an injury prone guy who's had one good season as a pro, and that season he averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds. They escaped X-mas with a skin of their teeth win against an elderly, injured Celtics team prompting annoying "KNICKS BACK!" Facebook statuses and tweets. Truthfully, as excited as I am to see the Knicks even in the discussion with the top teams in the East again, their lack of a real backcourt and team chemistry is enough to cause me some concern. Last night's debacle against Golden State was an example of how far they still have to go, as well as how unsightly much of the gameplay will be in this shortened season. As Hater J pointed out during the travesty that was the Jazz and Lakers on Tuesday, amidst a game in which the Jazz missed 20 out of 22 shots in the second quarter yet were only down by 5 points, we were spared a lot of this crappy play in 99, but now thanks to the immense media coverage and league pass, etc., the ugly play is forced down our throats all day and night.

I expect more of the same tonight. An unevenly played game with both teams going through droughts and showing occasional flashes of real basketball interspersed between turnovers and clanked shots. Also, expect to see Kobe curse a lot and make faces at the official and Landry Fields and expec Tyson Chandler to be in foul trouble again. I think these two teams are fairly evenly matched this season, with the Knicks being slightly better than the Lakers sans Bynum, but L.A. being at home coming off a days rest should trump the Knicks who played last night and are obviously still feeling things out.

Lakers by 7.

Death of A Dynasty?

One of the knocks on the NBA from the pro basketball haters (of which there are many, just check out the most popular post here at the time of this writing) is that the same teams win the championship every year. As much as i like to argue in favor of America's 5th favorite sport (that's right, behind NASCAR) this one has validity. A 3 year old could tell you the Purple, Green, or silver and black teams have a good shot as long as they weren't color blind. Just take a look at this past decade: 8 titles for the Lakers and Spurs, and one each for the Celtics, Pistons and Heat. Well, the majority of those teams (Lakers, Spurs and Celtics) might want to make room for the new "same old teams" as they become just old.

The Spurs have already been exposed by a younger, athletic team, barely winning two postseason games after a great regular season, the Celtics are on the verge of losing to the hated, more explosive Heat (even if they're in a much better situation than the other two teams), and after last night's ugly fest at Staples, the Lakers are (to put it politely), in deep shit. They are the two time defending champs, so you have to give them the benefit of the doubt, and believe they'll some how make a series of this, even if they're going to be playing in front of thousands of rabid cowboys over the weekend. They've proven they're an excellent road team in the playoffs and the core of the team has been through some near disasters before, but it is definitely looking bleak for a 4th 3 peat for Phil Jackson.

Most people figured the Lakers would come out with a renewed sense of urgency and determination after New York Metsing the first game away, but last night saw more of the same. Nowitzki hit impossible shots all night, Pau Gasol looked lost against Tyson Chandler, and a 4 foot Puerto Rican ran all over the staples center like a cockroach in a kitchen. The only sign of life from the Lakers came when Artest nearly took the roach's face off in the final seconds (he better hope that doesn't mean a suspension). As many people have pointed out recently, including Steve Kerr during last night's broadcast, this is a Lakers squad that has been to 3 straight finals and is gunning for their 4th, something that hasn't been done since the Bird Celtics. Even the most mentally and physically tough team would struggle to keep the level of intensity needed to do that. The way the Lakers have sleep walked through the season, you kinda had to see this coming, though. Kobe's will and determination is usually seen as his best attribute, and the personality of a team's best player tends to rub off on the rest of the team. But Kobe and Phil have also perfected the arrogant, what me worry?, every team is beneath us attitude, which can be an asset at keeping teams calm under pressure but it may have come back to bite them here. They can get by with the hubris act against the depleted Hornets, but Dallas is an actual NBA playoff team.

There's still hope in L.A., 3 teams have come back to win series after losing their first two games at home, most recently the Hakeem Rockets in 95 (who went on to win it all after half-assing an entire season) but they were more an exception to the rule. It's near impossible to win a series after blowing your first two games at home. Lakers fans could take solace in the fact that their opponent is notorious for choking away playoff series, but this may be the end of the line for the Kobe-Phil Lakers as Jackson is serious about retiring this year. The NBA's Old guard has lost one of the three big teams thus far this playoffs, and the other two seem ready to fall. At least no one can say you know who's going to win it all this year.

Lakers vs. Mavs Preview

Even though the Lakers and Mavericks have been two of the more winning teams of the past decade (at least percentage wise), this is the first meeting between the Kobe Lakers and the Dirk Mavericks this century. Both teams have put up great regular seasons and long playoff runs, but have some how avoided each other until now. It figures that the two dark, post-Shaq years resulted in the longest runs for a Dirk led team.

Still, even without any battles in the spring in their recent history, there's still a good deal of bad blood between the two teams as well as some memorable moments (at least as memorable as regular season games go). In the past 10 years we've seen:

• Kobe's 62 thru three quarters in 2006. This game was controversial due to Phil's decision (which he said Kobe agreed with, and I believe him since Kobe basically subs himself in and out of games) to sit number 8 after outscoring the Mavs singlehandedly. Everyone wondered how much Kobe could actually score if left in the blowout. We got the answer a couple weeks later.



• Dirk scoring his 20k in a loss to the Lakers at home last January. This game was also notable for a limping Kobe hitting the game winner in an otherwise ugly performance



• The Shaq and Kobe Lakers storming back from a 27 point 4th quarter deficit on national tv at home vs the Mavs in 2003. Caught this one on ESPN classic not too long ago. I totally forgot about Devean George.



• This Shannon Brown putback



• The recent Matt Barnes vs. Jason Terry scrum followed shortly by Matt Barnes vs Terry Stotts.

That last one is indicative of the aforementioned bad blood that's surfaced recently between the two teams, mostly brought on by the back and forth smack talk between Phil and Mark Cuban. Early in the year, Jackson tweaked everyone's favorite billionaire man-child owner with a crack about Dallas not being all that great despite being the "best team money can buy", and how they would struggle without Caron Butler. Cuban came back as only he can, calling Phil Jeannie Buss's boy toy, and how glad he is that she lets him speak in public. As ridiculous as all that is, it added a little fire to the otherwise boring match-up. Things only got more heated in April, when Jason Terry got all gangsta on poor sickly Steve Blake, causing Matt Barnes to come to his rescue and eventually toss an assistant coach to the ground. Expect to see more hard fouls and harder looks over the next couple weeks.

As far as the basketball itself, I think the inaugural Dirk vs. Kobe series will be tightly contested but ultimately will end as so many of the past years have: the Lakers still playing and the Mavericks walking dejectedly to another summer.

Center:
The Big man matchups will be well publicized and Dallas probably presents the best defense for Bynum and Gasol, with Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood, so expect whatever centers to stay out of foul trouble to win that battle.

Forwards:
Who defends Dirk is always an issue for any Dallas opponent. Pau might prevent some interesting cross match ups, but he can't keep up with the big German on the perimeter, and Artest can body him but is a good 5 inches shorter. Expect the Lakers to let Nowitzki get his (Jackson hates to double team as much as Kobe loves to dribble away from them) and keep their bodies on the Mavericks shooters and around the rim.

Shooting Guard:
Kobe struggled mightily against Shawn Marion during the regular season, but I anticipate him finding a way around him during the playoffs if his ankle holds up.

Point Guard:
This is also the only team left in the playoffs that actually employs a starting point guard older than Derek Fisher, which should be fun. Kidd has an edge over Fish, and Barrea can be an annoying pest out there, but at least Fisher won't have to worry about picking up early fouls chasing a quick guy like Westbrook around.

Bench:
The Mavs have a slight edge here, especially if the Killer B's (Brown, Barnes and Blake) continue to play as lame as that nickname. Terry, Stojakovic, Haywood and Barrea (half of those guys are probably wondering why they're not starting) will be a handful for the Lakers second team. The sixth man of the year (who actually started almost half of his games) helps neutralize them a bit, but it's still in favor of Dallas

Coach:
Rick Carlisle seems like a nice guy and all, and he's buddies with Larry Bird, but he's not close to Jackson's level. Expect Mark Cuban to get way more screen time than Rick.

There's no clear dominance at any position for either team but I think all in all, the Lakers experience is just too much for a relatively thin Mavericks roster.

This will be a tight series that i think will go the distance, and will probably give us what we've all been waiting for between these two teams.

Lakers in 7.

Goodbye, Sacramento

It's been a nice run, but tonight will probably signal the end of the Sacramento era in the NBA. Despite what was at times a rabid fan base of people who have nothing better to do, the Kings will most likely be packing up and moving closer to their Arch Rival Lakers in Anaheim whenever the next NBA season begins (at this point, it looks like not for a while). The Maloofs, like so many owners and American people in general of late, have been hit hard by the recession and it's time to make the 5th stop in the franchise's history.

In the 26 years that the team has called California's capital home, the Kings have been mostly crap, mixed in with a couple seasons being the most exciting to team to watch in basketball. Although they had a few nice players in the 90's (Mitch Richmond, Billy Owens) the early 2000's saw the Kings take off as a fun, high scoring team of European shooters and slick passers (as well as floppers) and a couple of offensive powers in Mike Bibby and Chris Webber. This time was something of a boom for Euoropean players making their mark in the league as more than just novelty acts with hard to pronounce names, and Sacramento was one of the pioneers. Stojakovic, Turkoglu and old reliable Vlade Divac were a big reason the Princeton offense that Pete Carril implemented ran so smoothly, and Arco Arena became one of the best home courts in the NBA. Unfortunately, exciting style of play doesn't always mean wins, and the Kings have progressively gotten worse as the years have passed. Now, they have a young team that plays in front of a half empty arena.

It's fitting that the possible final game in Arco would be against the Lakers. Even boasting a nearly unstoppable offense, and the conference's best record, the Kings could never get past L.A. Phil Jackson famously called Sacramento a "cow town" only adding to the Laker hate. I'm sure that nothing would make what's left of their fans happier than to beat Kobe and co. one last time, even if it is a relatively meaningless game. Realistically, it's much more fitting that the Lakers will kick crap on the Kings once again for old times' sake.

So long, Sacramento. See you in Anaheim sometime in 2013.

UPDATE: This game ended about as perfectly as a Lupica could imagine. The Lakers were kicking ass, leading by 20 in the 4th before a furious run by the Kings. The crowd sounded like the cow bell ringing nut jobs of the early 2000 playoff games vs. the Lakers and it looked like they would finish their stay in Sacramento with a huge comeback win over their rivals. But then, reality kicked in and Kobe hit a 3 to send it to overtime (showing off his new celebration move) and the Lakers once again took a big steamy dump all over the people of Sacramento. So long, suckers!

Kobe Gets Away with Murder

It's funny how a few years can change public perception so drastically. Not too long ago, Kobe was the most hated athlete this side of Barry Bonds. He was publicly slammed by his coach in a book, beefed with the beloved Shaq Diesel, and was generally viewed outside of the Los Angeles area as an arrogant, spoiled punk, ball hog who could never win on his own. And there was that rape thing, too (Vanessa has her eye on him now as you can see).

Today, number 24 has widely exorcised the demons of number 8 thanks to a lopsided trade and a couple championship rings and Olympic medal. Besides a pocket of haters throughout the country, LeBron has replaced Kobe as the superstar athlete America loves to hate. The guy who was once labeled "uncoachable" and a snitch is the poster boy for "playing the right way" and has rappers dedicating songs to him. Kobe gets away with murder (not literally, of course, his felonies get dropped before trial). I wrote a while back about the somewhat unfair treatment that Dwight Howard receives from the refs, and last night reinforced the idea that even the officials have fallen for Kobe love.

While Dwight (and most of the rest of the pedestrian NBA players) routinely get T'd up for waving a hand at an official, the Mamba calls them fucking faggots on live television and they turn a deaf ear. His outburst came on the heels of a tech, so obviously the refs didn't want to eject Kobe from a nationally televised game (which would also result in a suspension tonight in the farewell game in Sacramento). Maybe he was just channeling his inner M.J. as he likes to do so often. There's also the chance that they just didn't hear him (he was on the bench at the time) but this is nothing new, Kobe routinely yells directly at the official, and has on more than one occasion used not so nice language. He should probably be approaching Rasheed Wallace tech numbers by now.

Superstar treatment is nothing new in sports, and I'm actually a huge Kobe fan. Just find it funny when the NBA hierarchy is revealed so blatantly. Somewhere Kwame Brown is crying in agreement.

Best Regular Season NBA game Ever?

In case you missed it, (and undoubtedly the entire east coast did unless you work in a 24 hour parking garage or something) the Suns and Lakers played a triple-overtime classic last night as the second half of a rare March Madness forced TNT Tuesday night double-header.

As regular season NBA games between a 2 and 10 seed go, this game was about as good as it gets. The funny thing is how unlikely that seemed earlier in the evening. After Kobe hit his second straight three, the Lakers were up 21 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the third and it looked like another ho-hum, post all star break beatdown for L.A. Except Nash and the Suns showed they still have a little bit of the 7 seconds or less explosive offense left in them. The lil Canadian (who seems to be playing as well as ever) hit 3 straight threes and before you could say "Tim Thomas" it was like the 2006 playoffs all over again.

Behind big baskets by the suddenly Reggie Miller like Channing Frye, and the recently acquired water bug Aaron Brooks, Phoenix rallied back to tie the game after Pietrus was fouled on a 3 point attempt (this would be a theme of the night). Both teams hit shots that seemed to be nails in coffins only to see the other come right back (I'll refrain from using the tired boxing references; "Each team traded body blows like a heavyweight fight!"). Just when I thought I could go to bed, someone else had to hit another big shot. As Kevin McHale and Harlan pointed out during the broadcast, the game meant much more to Phoenix who's battling for a playoff spot, and they showed their desperation.

After Odom's three-point play gave the Lakers a 9 point lead late in the 4th it looked like the game was all but over before another Suns comeback capped off by a Grant Hill game-tying three (take that Jalen). Los Suns even had a chance to win it in regulation but Vince (as McHale would call him "three quarters man, one quarter amazing") Carter bricked the potential game-winner. The teams then traded baskets through out the overtime until an Artest three gave L.A. a lead (complete with kisses blown to the crowd) and it looked like the Lakers finally would pull it out. That is until Odom fouled the new Reggie on a 3 point attempt. Now, I know it's most NBA coaches' strategy to foul intentionally with a 3 point lead late in the game, but I've seen so many instances where the player is already in his shooting motion when the foul occurs in recent seasons. I think players have caught on to the strategy and are just too quick to foul on the floor. Either way, Mr. Clutch (who scored a career high) hit all 3 and I was destined to be tired in the morning.

Double O.T. saw more up and down play from both teams (particularly the vets) but the
old guys (Nash and Kobe) each had ridiculous falling out of bound passes that set up big shots in the final 30 seconds (Nash behind the back to Gortat who found Frye, and Kobe somehow getting it to Pau for even more game tying free throws). The Third O.T. was pretty silly. I was either dreaming or Artest stole the ball from Nash (who otherwise had a crazy game, 19 points and 20 assists) and ran the length of the court for a dunk. Kobe did the big shot and under bite thing (big game from him, scoring a season high 42 and falling an assist short of a triple double) and eventually everyone would go home (or to bed) happy sometime after 2 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Despite some sloppy play at times by both teams, this game has to rank amongst the best regular season games of all time, even getting usually sedate Laker fans to act like it really was a playoff game. And there weren't even free Jack in the Box tacos involved. If you have money on the Raptors tonight vs. Phoenix, you lucked out.

Now if anyone needs me, I'll be napping under my desk Costanza style.

Lakers vs. Magic Preview

A lot has changed in the NBA since the Lakers won a harder-fought-than-it-sounds 5 game Finals series vs. the Magic in 2009. Back then, Carmelo and Chauncey had just pushed the Lakers almost to the brink in a 6 game Western Conference finals series with the Nuggets, Derrick Rose and the Bulls were struggling to stay above mediocrity and LeBron was the likable one between him and Kobe.

Besides that, the Magic look nothing like the team that made that run except for Dwight, Jameer Nelson, Redick and the returning Turkoglu (who played himself into a huge contract with Toronto thanks to his clut...i mean great preparation in that year's playoffs). As I wrote before here, the Magic are still trying to find their identity, although recent wins (the comeback in Miami, wins over the Lakers and Knicks) may be a sign that they're getting their stuff together.

Kobe is a game-time decision tonight after an ugly incident involving his ankle and Shawn Marion on Saturday, but that almost always means that he's going to give it a go, weather it's detrimental to the team or not. You have to admire his toughness but sometimes, in the quest to prove how indestructible the Black Mamba is, he can slow the team down. A hobbling Kobe is not a good thing for the Lakers and they seem to thrive in short spurts without him (their record last season when he finally sat down was a very respectable 6-3 with some very solid wins during that period) but my guess is he'll still try to lace up those ugly hyperdunks tonight.

With or without Kobe, I like the Lakers tonight as the Magic are nearing the end of a long west coast trip and L.A. seems to have found their mojo.

Lakers Vs. Heat Preview

In case you haven't heard, the Heat have had some issues lately with winning close games, winning not close games, crying in the locker room, players questioning their roles, etc. Meanwhile, it's been smooth sailing for Kobe and friends since the all-star break. Ha, silly bloggers. (It gets boring reminding everyone that the Lakers are going to turn it on at some point every season. My bad). All these two teams have had in common over the last couple of weeks is loads of hot women and botoxed oldsters attend their home games. Besides that, it's been like night and day for the 2 squads that everyone loves to hate.

Tonight, the Lakers will look to avenge that Christmas beatdown at the hands of Peppino and co. as well as extend their 8 game winning streak, while the Heat need a win of any kind in the worst way right now. A win over the champs would silence the Hater Js of the world for at least a night and maybe could grant a short reprieve from loud mouths like myself who have been throwing around their record vs. the cream of the NBA crop thus far this season (it's really bad).

I've seen a lot of these sorts of statement games throughout the years and it could really go either way. The Heat need this game way more than the Lakers do, not only for their own collective psyches but also to keep pace with the Celtics and Bulls for the top 2 seeds in the Eastern conference. (At this point, getting the Sixers or whatever CYO level team is in 8th place in the east over the Knicks has to be the goal for all of the top 3 teams). Conventional wisdom would say that the Lakers should stomp all over the NBA's version of Two and a Half Men, but of course sports aren't that easy to predict.

Home court advantage should be a wash seeing as how this is a 7 p.m start in Miami; it will probably look like a Nets game for the first quarter and a half, and even after that it will be 60% Lakers fans. Still, the Heat need it more and the Lakers are due for a crap performance. I have a feeling Miami wins this one.

Cavs Beat The Lakers

Speaking during the Knicks postgame show of the historically awful Cavs beating the Lakers tonight, MSG's Al Trautwig said "Imagine the biggest possible upset in the NBA that you could think of. It happened tonight!" I don't think so. The way the Lakers up and down season has been going this was very predictable. Win the first 4 games of their annual Grammy road trip, including their biggest win of the season in Boston and then a spanking of the Knicks at the Garden in the second half of a back to back only to lose their last 3 games in ugly fashion. This was of course the ugliest, letting a nobody like Ramon Sessions run all over them while Bottle's man Mo sat on the bench. They coasted through the season last year only to turn it on and win the championship. Maybe they do it again this year. We'll see if terrible losses like this are signs of a great team just losing focus or a team that was great showing their age.


See the highlights at ESPN here