Two Words: Game 7

My thoughts on yesterday's game...not so much a recap because who wants to recap that junk. But I had to anyway for Lakers Nation and tried to make it as positive as possible... I promise it's not too much of a downer!

Sizzling

So I taped the game against Utah last night because I was out for dinner; I ended up watching it this morning at 7am before work hahah. Kind of fun, and kind of ridiculous. Just like the game. It was incredible, the Lakers were on such a roll. Everyone was contributing, everything was clicking, and it was so much fun to watch! Kobe makes shots that take my breath away and are so routine (for him) at the same time. He's gorgeous to watch. And Lamar had the most amazing circus shot in the fourth quarter. It was straight out of Kobe's playbook last season versus OKC, and spectacular. It was such a high tear drop rainbow over the backboard into the basket, and his reaction was hilarious. It was a look on his face like "hmm, guess that worked...cool!" Shannon had a moment of his own, a monster of a missed dunk that would have been bananas if he made it. To be fair, his attempts are better than most people's makes, so it was still cool haha. He looked so sheepish and had the biggest grin on his face. It was cute to see him slouch over to the bench and Kobe give him a bear hug and smile. Leave it to Andrew to sum it up nicely on ESPN Los Angeles' McTen: "He tried to get a little bit too freaky on it." -- Bynum on why Shannon Brown missed a breakaway dunk in the fourth quarter. hahah. Here's my Lakers Nation recap of the game as well.

A Win in Denver

Great win over Denver on Friday!! Ron was incredible, and had a season high 19 points while stifling Carmelo on the defensive end all night. Pau, Kobe, Lamar and Andrew all had double digit points as well; another balanced effort. The game was close at halftime (I think Denver was up by 3 even), but Kobe turned it on in the third and the Lakers pulled away big time. It was fun to watch and even though the Thuggets (as I like to call them) are imploding internally, I still like beating them haha.

I think my new plan when I watch games, besides taking notes, is going to be immediate reactions, so I can type them up the next day. If I do it immediately, when I'm thinking about it, hopefully that will make me less lazy about updating. I know the quality of my posts have taken a dive lately... alas, that's what happens when life and grad school applications get in the way! And now that football season is effectively over, my entire sports brain will be given over to the basketball gods. Hooray!

I'm going to dinner tonight, so I'll be DVRing the Utah game BUT I have a Lakers Nation recap due tomorrow so I will be watching it when I get home haha. What a nerd I am!

Mavs Win... boo

Here is my Lakers Nation recap of the Lakers-Mavericks game two nights ago. It was a bit weirder to do than my other ones because I had plans that night so I DVRed the game and watched it yesterday morning. The weird part was I found out the Lakers lost before I watched the game, but still had to watch and recap it since my Lakers Nation schedule is more set now. Haha. I don't feel like it colored my commentary too much; luckily it was a fun game in any case, despite the loss ;) Onto Denver tonight!!

Sometimes...

One reason it has always been difficult for me to keep a journal or a blog is that I'll have so much to say, get behind and then lament how behind I am and how much I want to write.

In that respect, I've enjoyed watching the Lakers very much this past week. They're still having some problems putting games away, but I can tell that their mentality has improved, and that's the most important thing. The talent is always there, as is the work ethic for the most part, so to get their brains back in sync is the key. It was definitely weird to see Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic in Nets uniforms last Friday. They made invaluable contributions to the club, but I can't say I'm sad to see them go. Kobe and Derek continued their tradition this season of giving former Lakers their 2010 championship ring before tip-off; in this case, it was for Jordan. I will say that I expected them to give the Lakers some problems, just because of their intricate knowledge of the offense and whatnot. It was fun to see Kobe burn Sasha a couple times though ;)

I didn't see the loss to the Clippers because I was too mired in distress and despair from watching my Patriots lose to the team I hate the very most. Now that I think about it, it reminded me a lot of Game 6, 2008 Finals. The Lakers and Patriots came out flat, and the infallible amazing superstars played liked garbage. Plus there is no one I hate more than the Celtics in basketball, and no one I've hated more the past 3 years in football than the Jets. The Colts, I respect. Most teams I respect. But the Jets are pompous loudmouth asses, and I hate them. It's sad because I love the color green and feel like I can't wear it ever again, between them and the Celts. oh well.

(And I realize unless you personally know me, that paragraph must have seemed more than a little odd. I've been a Lakers fan my whole life, and a Patriots fan since I was 14. Didn't see the problem until the Celtics were good again and I was supposed to hate everything Boston haha... I figured, it was two separate sports and I had legitimate reasons for both.)

In any case, the Oklahoma City game on Monday was a fun one, as always. I love Kevin Durant and their team is so young and talented, and fast! We each give each other matchup problems, which makes for a fun season series, and playoff series too. Last year was a nail biter, and I expect something similar this postseason as well. One of the highlights of the night for me was when Kobe actually dunked the ball and hung on the rim!!! I don't remember the last time I saw him do that haha. OKC settled for too many three point shots (ironic since their one of the worst in the league, percentage wise), which is due to the Lakers' awesome presence in the paint. Lamar played again like the All Star he deserves to be. And Ron is coming back to his old self. Like I said, very encouraging all the way around. I don't care if this recent winning streak is against sub-500 teams; they're good morale boosters, especially after we lost badly to many sub-500 teams. One good test was Monday; tonight against Dallas is another. And then..... Boston on Sunday! Dun dun dunnnnn. I can't wait ;) Of course, if we lose I'll say it doesn't mean much because it's the regular season... but you can be sure if we win, I'll be shouting it from the top of a mountain haha.

Mamba Magic

Here is the link to my Lakers Nation recap of the Lakers-Warriors game. Also this paragraph from ESPN's Lakers blog is amazing:

Kobe Bryant displayed his full repertoire of celebratory actions in the fourth quarter.

There was the Dikembe Mutombo finger wave with 3:10 remaining when he drove into the lane, absorbed the contact from Andris Biedrins and still made the layup, sending him to the line for an and-one and Biedrins out of the game with six fouls.

There was the lower jaw jut, dubbed simply "The Kobe Face" that he displayed several times after canning a couple jumpers with the defender glued to him.

And there was the arms spread out in full Michael Jordan "Wings" fashion after he hit his dagger of a pull-up 3-pointer with 43.9 seconds left that doubled the Lakers late lead from three to six. (Usually when Bryant spreads his arms out like that he'll go into airplane mode, but Wednesday he just settled for taxiing.)

"You have a responsibility to your team to try to come through in those situations and make the right play," Bryant said. "Tonight, I did that."

Said Lakers coach Phil Jackson: "He's been waiting to have that kind of game. We haven't had many finishes like that for a while and that's what he loves to do."


I definitely remember seeing all three of those things, including throwing his fists straight up in the air (which maybe was the beginning of the Wings thing haha), but I didn't think about it til this guy wrote it. So soooo awesome!!!

I like this

Man. Between Sunday night's thrashing of New York and last night's massacre of Cleveland, the Lakers are on quite a roll. And I love it!! It was really fun watching the Knicks game because my friend Edwin is from New York and a huge basketball fan, and really fun to watch with. Not mean or trash talky at all. Plus we went with our friends to my favorite bar to watch; it was my first time watching a Lakers game at Millers since the season opener! I kind of lived there for games last year hahah. Made me really miss my friend Ashley... she'd watch any game with me, and we usually did so at Millers with a basket of fries and a mason jar of beer. So many fun times. But she's coming to visit in February and we will continue the tradition!

In any case, the Lakers played really well and it was also cool to get to see Amar'e play. Andrew got a vicious dunk on him in the 3rd quarter, it was aaaamazing! And Shannon had a crazy dunk of his own (naturally) in the first half, although instead of a straight breakaway, it was more along the baseline and slammed home. Killer. It was also interesting because Kobe has such a special relationship with the Knicks' coach Mike D'Antoni. He played with Kobe's father over in Italy and was the inspiration for Kobe's #8. At the same time, he's been a great adversary, coaching the Suns for those years that they knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs. Also, I now wish I watched more of the second half, because I missed Ron's flagrant foul and Andrew's two technicals. Not that I advocate violence or stupid play, but I do like my guys to be aggressive. On that note, Ron's been having a good turnaround lately, more efficient, better D. The Lakers in general are playing MUCH better D and I love it.

Last night's game was unbelievable from the get-go. Like I've said before, I try to watch every Lakers game no matter the opponent A) because I like to and B) because you never know when something special will occur. And holy shit.... the Cavs were eviscerated! 3rd largest margin of victory by the Lakers since the shot clock era. 112-57.... it was amazing to get such a decisive victory, but at the same time I felt bad for Byron Scott (former Laker!) and the Cavs. I turned it off in the 4th quarter and watched Iron Man haha. Saw the replay later of Shannon's half court 3rd quarter buzzer beater- he's been doing that a lot this year! The crazy thing was it didn't look like a giant heave, it had really nice form to it.

Excited for the Golden State game tonight, I hope the Lakers continue their dominance. I'll be writing a Lakers Nation recap for it as well :)

Lakers Sting the Hornets

My newest game recap, which is going to be a weekly occurrence from now on!!

And now, this special and hilarious message from one Kobe Bryant:

Bryant was then asked about his alternating right- and left-handed sweeping hook shots he made in the lane in the final minutes to close out the game.

"That’s all Mamba, baby," he said.

Plus I love how much of a smartass he is:
Bryant responded to a New York Post report that quoted him as saying his surgically repaired right nearly was nearly "bone on bone."

"Do I look worried? Did we win last year?" Bryant said after the game. "My knee last year was the size of a balloon and we still won, so I'm not that concerned about it. We just got to be smart and pace things out."

Update City

Major slacking on my part... I've been away from my computer and stressing about grad school applications. But the Lakers looked really great last night! The past two games against Detroit and Phoenix, the defense has been much better. Apparently they are working on new defense schemes in practice, to which I say FINALLY! What they were doing before was obviously not working. After losing those horrendous three games, the Lakers beat down on New Orleans and squeaked out a 4 point win over Philly (a win is a win, I'll take one any way I can get it these days!). Of course, I didn't watch those games and was beginning to think I was bad luck haha, but they won last night against Phoenix and I saw that :) There was a backslide against Memphis on Sunday, but like I said: the past two games they have looked loads better.

It was awesome to watch a good old fashioned butt kicking against Detroit on Tuesday. Sometimes if the game is really in hand, I'll switch channels, but it's been so rare to get a win lately and a win like this in particular that I savored every single second and every single point. The starters got to rest for most of the fourth, which gave an opportunity for guys like Caracter, Joe smith and Luke to play. I'm not a big Luke fan to be honest, but he was hilarious and pretty good this game. He hit a three and then got a technical for taunting the Pistons bench. Like I said, hilarious. That is so not his personality and plus if I were him, I wouldn't be jawing after hitting one shot. He doesn't play enough to earn that right lol. Though on the next possession, he hit another three, which was sweet.

Last night I got to watch part of the game while I was babysitting (the boys are twin 7 year olds, and 5 and dont seem to care about watching sports haha... they were happy playing on their computers after hwk and dinner and let me put on the game). I got home in time for most of the third and it was a great game. Kobe hit some sick shots, including that crazy layup near the basket where he got all twisted and a really nice 3. Ron played well, coming up with some big steals and timely shots- Shannon too. They both hit big threes when the Suns were trying to mount a comeback. Andrew has continued to play well, getting an absolutely monsterous block at one point. The scary moment for me was when Lamar went down hard on his elbow and wasn't getting up... I started to freak out, but I think he'll be alright. It was a frightening moment though. I read that the Lakers held the Suns to 4 fast break points, which is insanely excellent. And Kobe is now the 10th leading scorer of all time, passing Dominique Wilkins during the Detroit game. Quite a feat. Overall, I was very pleased with their effort and level of play. Derek put it away with a killer shot late in the 4th, and he and Kobe did a hilarious hand slapping greeting by the bench, loved it.

I really hope this new energy and focus continues, I love my Lakers and want them to play like this all the time :)

Also, most of the slacking is going to stop soon, because starting this week, I will be writing a game recap once a week for LakersNation.com. I'll always post the link and article here too, so for at least one game I can kill two birds with one stone. I'm a little nervous, but it is a good opportunity and it will be fun! I just have to remember not to stress like it's homework or something haha. My first one of the new year will be tomorrow against the Hornets.