Kobe's looking better!

After looking like absolute shit for most of the game against the Hornets, Kobe has been on beast mode.  His shooting percentage is waaaaay up, and he's made every clutch shot he's taken lately! It's good to see him coming around, I'm actually kinda glad all of this drama with Kobe's shooting percentage and Bynum's attitude happened when it did!  I like seeing some of the lakers a little bit (or a lot) pissed off! It seems to give them a chip on their shoulders and it seems like both Bynum and Kobe have responded! Bynum came off of an injury and almost didn't play, then went on to drop 36 points, I definitely like that.  All of the drama I think might help Ramon Sessions as well, we have high expectations for him, but all of the drama has allowed him to ease his way in a bit.  With that said, I have been extremely impressed with his play.  His ability to get to the basket and score quickly still makes me surprises me, we just haven't seen that from a lakers PG in a few years and it's great!!!   I'm still very confident going into the playoffs, the only team that really scares me out west is the Thunder.  Yeah, they are very scary, but they definitely can be beat!!! It's gonna be exciting to watch the last stretch of games! Buckle up!

Fisher signs with Thunder

Well it's official, Derek Fisher is once again with a team other that the lakers!  Fisher signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder today, and may even play tonight as they face the Clippers.  I'm definitely not excited to see him play for the Thunder, but I am happy that he didn't join the heat or the spurs!  I'm not sure what it is but I haven't yet developed the HATRED for the thunder that i already have for the spurs and the heat.  I have a lot of respect for Kevin Durant, so I'm glad to see him get the opportunity to gain from Fisher's leadership and experience rather than Lebron.  As for the idea of Fisher being a Spur, it just wouldn't seem right considering they are the team he victimized with the most memorable shot of his career.  With all that said, good luck Fisher, I hope we don't have to cross paths in the playoffs! 

And ya never know, maybe you could even sign a minimum contract with the lakers in july to finish your career as a laker!

Sessions in Fisher out

Sessions Joins Lakers

The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and the lakers ended up making two deals on this final day.  The first deal brought the lakers Ramon Sessions in exchange for Luke Walton, Jason Kapono, and a draft pick.  This deal made a lot of sense, Sessions seams to be a very good upgrade at the point guard position, which was by far the lakers most obvious weakness.  The second deal landed the lakers Jordan Hill from Houston in exchange for Derek Fisher.  The lakers clearly had too many PGs, but I would have rather started Sessions and had Fisher coming off of the bench for his clutch factor.  It's sad to see Fisher go, but I guess this was an issue of money.  The lakers worked pretty hard to try and land Michael Beasley from Minnesota in a 3-team deal that also included the Blazers, but that ultimately fell through.  I was really hoping that that deal would happen.  I think Beasley would have fit a lot better with LA than he does with the timberwolves.  All in all, I think the Lakers did make a good move in getting Sessions, but I'm very conflicted with the fact that they traded Fisher, and I wish they could have landed Beasley as well.  It will be interesting to see if the lakers consider adding Gilbert Arenas and/or Rasheed Wallace now that the deadline has passed.  The lakers play the wolves tomorrow, so we won't have to wait too long to see how these changes effect the team.

Trade Kobe?????

Let me just say that I've really never had a huge problem with Ric Bucher.  That changed yesterday when he proposed that the Lakers consider trading Kobe Bryant.  Yeah, you read that right, Bucher suggested that the lakers consider trading KOBE BRYANT!!!  This had to be one of the most bone headed ideas that I have ever heard.  His logic was basically that the team isn't gonna win as they are constructed now, and that Kobe's value is only going to decline from here on out.  He went on to say that the lakers should trade him now for young pieces rather than lose him in a few years to retirement with nothing in return for him.  If you're an unintelligent person, or maybe if you are just a laker/kobe hater than I can see why you would like to see this happen.  If you know anything at all about sports, then you know why this is just an idiotic suggestion.

The mistake that Bucher is making is that he is looking at the situation in the way that the Cleveland Cavaliers should have approached the Lebron situation.  The thing is, the Los Angeles Lakers are NOT the Cleveland Cavaliers!!!  The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most, if not THE MOST storied franchise in the NBA.   They've won 17 championships spread out fairly evenly throughout the entire history of the NBA (unlike the Celtics that won most of there games when there was like 10 teams in the league).  Not to mention they play in sunny California, where Lakers games are as much a Hollywood spectacle as they are basketball games.  What I'm getting to is that no matter who is on the team, they will have no problem attracting big name players to come there.  They have the history, the money, the weather, and provide the opportunity to play on one of the biggest stages in sports.  When Kobe leaves, that will be 25 million extra dollars they have to play with, and they will no doubt find stars that want to play there.

I just can't believe that Bucher would be so stupid to act like this would not be the case?  Who did they have when Shaq left Orlando to play there? Nick Van Exel? Eddie Jones?  They had the money and everything else that a big star could want.   Kobe Bryant continues to play at a high level and it would be a shame to ever see him in another uniform.  He's said himself that he never wants to play for another team, how about rewarding his loyalty by surrounding him with some pieces to fit around him.    The way I've read him lately, is that he feels like they can win pretty much with what they have.  Whether he's right or wrong remains to be seen, but I think he's patient enough to know that the moves they may need to make may not happen before the trade deadline.  The Lakers have shown him that they are willing to deal to improve the team, shit, they had Chris Paul but the commissioner threw a wrench in it.  Their involvement in Howard talks are obvious as well, Kobe can see that they are trying and I think he's ok with the effort they have put forth.  He's not gonna demand a trade anytime soon, no need to push the panic button and trade one of the greatest players of all-time, especially with him playing at such a high level.  I just wanna say SHUT UP BUCHER!!!! I  think he's just trying to make a splash so he can get some more twitter followers, or maybe he has a book coming out soon, I don't know!!!!!  Trading Kobe would be a Huuuuuuuuuuge mistake, and one that the rest of the league should hope that the lakers make.

Kobe Zoom VII as seen in the ALL-STAR GAME

Kobe's All-Star shoes were pretty over the top, but I was digging the glow in the dark sole 

The Kobe System

This has been out a while, still funny though

Lakers Trade Talk

Feeling Like Waldo

Let me start off by saying that ONLY the lakers would get robbed of a perfectly legit trade by the NBA.  The trade that the lakers tried to make for chris paul was just as fair and maybe even better than the trade that was allowed with the clippers.  The commissioner was just afraid that he would look as though he had a laker bias but whatever.  What's done is done, but that mishap has led to the loss of a disgruntled Lamar Odom, and started the ball rolling on Gasol's ever descending confidence.  Now that's all done, it is what it is, but David Stern single handedly put the lakers in a hole this year!!!!   Now, on to Dwight Howard.  I still feel like the lakers have a shot at him but I honestly don't think he is worth giving up both Gasol and Bynum for unless we get Jameer Nelson in the Deal.  The size of Gasol and Bynum is still a huge advantage, I'd rather see them move some other pieces to at least get a decent point guard.  One of the more recent rumors is that the lakers are looking at bringing in Michael Beasley from the wolves.  I live in Minnesota so I watch almost every game that beasley is a part of.  I will not argue his talent for one second, but he is inconsistant and often seems to wreck the wolves chemistry all by himself.  If the lakers can get him for a pick or a couple of out bench players fine, but if they end up getting gasol out of LA, the lakers are in deep shit!!!!  My basic philosophy around trades for the lakers is that they don't move gasol unless they can make a significant upgrade at point guard.  The trade idea that I like the most is Carl Landry and Luis Scola for Gasol, I think that would be a decent trade for both teams!!!!  I guess we still have a few weeks to see what happens, I'm just praying that the lakers do SOMETHING!!!!!