Testing Artest

When the Ariza-Artest trade first went down, my general opinion was that it wasn't nearly so bad as people made it out to be--that, sure, it would've been nice to keep Ariza but Artest is certainly comparable.

But the more time goes by, the more worried I get that this was, in fact, a pretty bad move. Artest hasn't really impressed me so far: he seems kind of slow and lumbering on defense, and hasn't seemed to hit any kind of rhythm offensively. Meanwhile, Ariza is just getting better, as everyone predicted he would.

So the Rockets-Lakers matchup tonight should be an interesting test, as I'm sure both players will be playing hard to show up their former teams.

Fantasy aside: Josh Howard is injured "indefinitely"--which completely fucks me over. Thanks, fantasy basketball, for making me care about Josh Howard's ankle.

Let the Artest era begin

"You know if somebody hits me, I'm going to react. I got hit with about three elbows. It's just not fair. I don't want to fight, I don't feel like doing it. If you throw an elbow into Ron Artest's chest, do you know who you're hitting?" -Ron Artest

Sigh. Here we go...

Mystery solved: it's record producer Lou Adler!

For years now I've been asking the question: "Who's that guy sitting next to Jack Nicholson??" You know the guy I'm talking about: he's old, tall, white, has a big beard and always sits next to Nicholson at the Laker games.

Well, randomly on YouTube one of the videos had him on the thumbnail, and it turned out to be a clip from a documentary about The Mamas and the Papas. Anyway, long story short, the guy's name is Lou Adler:



And now you know.

Artest to LA

Me and a fellow Laker fan at work were trying to figure out if this was a good move, and to tell the truth, I still don't know. I really liked Ariza--I liked how long he was on defense, and his 3-point shooting was really handy. I doubt Artest will be able play the role of knock-down 3-point shooter as well as Ariza had, especially during the playoffs (although Ariza isn't proven; last year could have been a fluke. Inconsistent 3-point accuracy happens. I mean, look at Sasha--he was terrible last year).

One thing I will say, though, is that I think people may have it wrong when they cite Artest's combustability as a negative. I haven't followed Artest's career very closely, so this may be wrong, but: for all that's happened with him, he doesn't seem like a team-wrecker. He's crazy, sure, and gets in fights all the time, but they tend to be fights with other teams (or their fans, as the case may be). His teammates in Houston seemed to like him. So I think he could actually be good in the "enforcer" role for the Lakers (a role that had to be played last year by Derek Fisher of all people). He can be the guy that "sends a message" to other teams when they, say, foul Kobe just a little too hard.

Think of it this way: if you're the Lakers on the road in the finals against a tough Celtics team and a raucous crowd, the fact that there's a guy on your team who just might take a swing at Garnett has got to make you feel more confident. I think Kobe and the Lakers are still scarred from being out-toughed by the Celtics two years ago, and that this move is meant to make sure nothing like that happens again.

A much needed W

Some Laker game. The first quarter was awful, and I think it had something to do with the quick turnaround for the Lakers--they had only one day to prepare for the Nuggets, which led to confusion on the defensive end and plenty of breakdowns. The Lakers gave up something like 3 uncontested dunks that quarter.

(By the way--it seems like the Lakers' defense gets stymied a lot. I feel like maybe our basketball IQ is lacking on the defensive end? Or maybe the system is just too failure-prone? I mean, if one person is late on his rotation it will often result in an easy layup/dunk. I don't know how many times I've seen someone blast past a Laker on the wing, and the baseline help is just nowhere in sight. And it seems that teams are good at coming up with offensive schemes that scramble the Lakers D and leave people wiiiiiiide open--like what the Rockets were doing with Brooks penetrating and swinging it to the weak side. So maybe it's a design flaw in the defensive system: when it's not implemented perfectly, it totally implodes. I dunnow.)

Ah well. It's good to see Kobe back--you don't realize until you see him play another team how thoroughly Battier and company had shut him down. He had the one 40 point game, but that was basically a fluke. I'm expecting him to average over 30 this series and make a difference in every game.

It's also good to see him in the post. I feel like he can hit fadeaway jumpers in the 8 to 10 foot range all day long--and of course draw all sorts of fouls by doing his nifty spin moves and up and under stuff. Kobe in the post = good.

Anyway, a loss would have been disaterous. If we can just start playing at tip-off rather than halfway through the second quarter, I think we might actually get through this series without too much trouble.

There's only one Shaq

As someone pointed out to me, he clearly wants to retire as a Laker.

Lessons learned

So, I've learned exactly two things from these NBA Finals:

• The Lakers are definitely going to need Bynum healthy if they want to be big enough and physical enough to go up against Boston next year.
• Kevin Garnett is a fucking idiot.

Kobe, Pau, and Co.

I would just like to say that the Lakers are playing some fine, fine basketball. Nothing too flashy: just consistent team play conducted with a high degree of intensity and focus. Of the six games they've played so far in the playoffs, not only have all been victories--but they've all looked like the same victory. Let's hope for a couple of more uneventful, 10-point victories going into Utah...

Vujacic in a nutshell

I've been meaning to post this quote from a Bill Simmons column where he hilariously describes the Lakers' evil 3-point specialist:

Unsung hero: Sasha Vujacic, quite possibly the league's best bench player of anyone who plays 20 minutes or less. He's a feisty defender, he shoots 40-plus from 3-point range, he can guard anyone and play three positions, he's a legitimate threat to get punched in the face during the playoffs and, if that's not enough, I'm almost positive that he's wearing some sort of hair net. We haven't had a so-much-fun-to-hate-him playoff villain like this guy in eons. He's like Bruce Bowen crossed with one of John Lithgow's henchman in "Cliffhanger."

Spot-on.