Gs

If you don't know what a G is, it is hard for me to explain, I will try to nail down a definition and then post in this entry. G stands for gangster, but it is bigger than that. for my definition it is some who has confidence, does what he does and doesn't care about anyone else opinon. Here is my list of Gs:

-Indiana Jones
-Doctor John "Kill Dear" Shilts
-Andrew Hoover
-Cooper Elliot Redpath
-Lamar Odom
-Kermit Washington
-Wilton Norman Chamberlain
-William Theodore Walton III

this is of course a working list, like all of my lists. I plan on doing an entry on Doc Shilts. the second, third and fourth are all people I know personally not people who are famous or anything.

David Halberstam & Kermit Washington

While I will admit that, I was unaware of Halberstam’s sports writing until his premature death, I did manage to check out his “masterpiece” Breaks of The Game before the library could set up its display about him. I have now read page 217. It starts slowly, but I read over 100 pages today, so it has certainly gotten very good.

In honor of Kareem’s 60^th birthday, I decided to read his autobiography Kareem it was from this book I started to have a real respect for Kermit Washington, his work ethic and the way he was vilified by “the Punch.” From pages 200 to 216 in the first edition of The Breaks of the Game Halberstam talks about Kermit Washington’s upbringing and how he became the all-star caliber player. It was very moving for me and I am now looking for a Kermit Washington Lakers Jersey so if you see one let me know.

A review of Bright Eyes’ latest album is coming soon as well.

Lamar Odom Needs A Hug

Lamar Odom needs a hug or a big stuffed animal or . . . something. He deserves it. To see the look on his face as he fouled out with a few seconds left in what may be his last game as a Laker was terrible. Lamar Odom poured his heart into this season, before the season his infant son died and he struggled with other things as well, but in the season opener, he ended up with 34 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists. I thought this would be his year; he played like an all-star until he sprained his knee against Houston. Up to that point I voted for him on every computer I could find. I knew this could be his season. After he returned from his injury the Lakers were already on their slide, it was painful. It was clear that Odom was trying but he had lost a step, lost his rhythm and most importantly lost confidence. I was very frustrated with him during that part of the season. Then he injured his shoulder and could not believe that fortune could ho-nestly deal him one more blow. He sat out a couple games; I imagine that he must have had an epiphany. He knew that he had to Carpe Diem (like Kobe say) and save both his and the Lakers season. While he did not save our season by any stretch of the imagination he tried and showed that he had heart and loyalty, unlike a certain snowboarding sloviean. Even though his elbow and been hyper extended in game three of the phoenix series he continued to play. Last year Odom’s play really picked up after the trade deadline when all the rumors of the Lakers shipping him off had died down. This year, even after the headline “Odom’s Last Game as a Laker?” appeared on espn.com he poured his heart into this game, giving 33 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists. The look of absolute despair on Lamar’s face as one of the ball boys put the NBA logo stamped towels on his head was an expression of his loss and all of the emptiness he has felt this year.

Last year, after receiving a text message from the NBA informing me of the Lakers inability to close out the Suns, I felt so empty. I felt out of it all week. I knew today that I would not feel the same way because this slide started before all-star break, it was to be expected. At least we did better than the defending champs. Then I saw that dreadful look and it made me feel worse than last year, hopefully this will not last as long. One of the commentators said as they saw that same look on his face “If I had to choose someone to be on my team, I would have to choose Lamar.” Well, I am not sure if I agree if I purely wanted to win, but Lamar genuinely cares which is important. Ultimately, we should’ve traded Bynum for Kidd. Then our big three would be Kobe, Kidd and Odom, which would certainly be formidable. I think Kidd would have really been able to take advantage of Odom’s strengths while take the ball handling load of Odom’s and Bryant’s shoulders. Then we would have maybe Kwame or Moore at center and Luke at small forward. We might have had a chance at winning this series or at least competing for more than one game.

One major problem people had with J-Kidd is that he wouldn’t have been able to learn the triangle or that he wouldn’t be able to run the triangle at all. The truth of the matter is we aren’t running the triangle, lets just try winning first.

P.S. KG! KG! KG! KG! KG!

P.P.S. Lamar can’t start talking about wanting to retire a Laker, it really depresses me.

Dallas - Golden State Game 5

I watched the final quarter and a half of the game. I thought Dallas was in control when they were up 53-32, obviously not. I watched Golden State take the lead and extend it to 9. I was sure Dallas was dead because the Warriors kept making three pointers that didn't make any sense. Everything was going in, it was unbelievable. Then the big German came alive, why? I certainly couldn't tell you. But more importantly than that there were some questionable calls. Not horrible, just questionable. Baron's final foul, if I had been in that refs place I would've called it the same way, but it was a foul. Then they called it out of bounds on the Warriors when it looked like an over the back. There were a couple other questionable calls. As long as the warriors don't pull a 2006 Lakers, they should be fine. As of right now I don't believe Dallas can win at Golden State, I'm excited for the game on Thursday, I'm just not sure I'll be able to watch which is a Killer.

Toronto - New Jersey

Alright so this is my second update, it hasn't been that long since my first but obviously the Toronto had a Win or Summer Break game tonight. Although, I thought they would be able to win this series, I didn't think they would win this game. Anyway point is when The Nets crushed Toronto J-Kidd played like he was a god, put here to play basketball. His current stat-line 1:23 left in the 3rd- is 5 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 turnovers and guess what the Nets are down by more than ten. basically he is the Heart, Mind Body and Soul of that team and basically anything else he could possibly be. If J-Kidd has another Triple Double this series is over and maybe even if he doesn't. If he continues to play like this than the Raptors could win the series.
Update: Well it's also to important to note that all of the Raptors "role players" have shown up in a serious way. Four players are in double figures and neither Bosh nor Ford is having a productive game.
Note: I'm not watching the game, so I can't comment on how much each member is contributing non-statically
Update: T.J. Ford had to leave due to a VC elbow to the mouth, so that would explain the unproductive game. Bosh is also saddled with four personal fouls. This could be real bad news for the Raptors because it seems that this elbow to the mouth some how effected the nerves in T.J.'s arms. He missed part of his rookie year and all of his sophomore effort due to back problems stemming from a collision with Mark Madsen. T.J.'s injuries could back which would be awful for the Raptors and Colangelo. I have to say I was surprised by the trade, because trading big for small and healthy for sick doesn't make any sense. Yet, this season Villanueva was the injured and T.J. Ford played very well, so it seemed that the Raptors got the better part of the deal. In the words of the immortal Hikaru Utada "Time Will Tell."

Matt

My First Post

So, this is my first post, I don't have that much to say. but, let's start with the basics I am a Lakers fan, but this is in no way, shape or, form a Lakers Blog. They may come up a tad more than other NBA teams because I pay more attention to them. I also plan on talking about music a fair amount, mostly reviews of albums and stuff like that. I'll post up a (working) list of my top 100 songs ever, so everyone can have an idea of what I listen to.
The NBA playoffs happen to coincide with the best time of the year, which isn't exactly a good thing because it can be a bit of an overload. Amazingly in the first round this year there is only one series that at this point must go beyond 5 games. that series is the Utah-Houston series, which might be one of the better ones in terms of pure basketball, but is awfully boring to watch. This is coming from someone who loves low scoring games and good defense. Something I don't often see from the Lakers. I'm so proud of the Bulls because they swept Heat, I picked the Bulls to beat the Heat, but not in 4 games. It is too late for first round predictions so I'll predict the second round before it begins.

That's it for now,
Matt