Go Lakers

The Lakers need a win tonight to have a legitimate shot at getting past the first round of the NBA playoffs. I think they have a good chance too. They played good D in the first game and every starter scored in double digits. But, in the paper and on sports talk radio (yes, I listen to sports talk radio, it’s truly a vice) they bashed the Lakers and especially Kobe Bryant. I hate how much bad press Kobe gets (okay, I know he had off the court issues, he’s arrogant, aloof, etc…). But as far as the media is concerned he can’t do anything right on the court either. If he scores 50, they say he shoots too much. If he scores 23 (like he did in the first game) they say he’s too passive. The headline in the L.A.Times sports section was “Passive Regressive”, with the byline reading, “Lakers pick a strange time to play team ball”. Strange time?? I’d say the perfect time. Basketball is a team game. The Pistons are a great team because they play as a team. Now, I know the Lakes lost the first game, but they had a great shot at winning and they played entertaining basketball. They exposed the Suns inside, and Kobe wasn’t jacking up crazy shots. When I play pickup basketball, there’s nothing worse than having a guy on your team who’s just jacking up shots, even if he hits them and your team wins. Rather, it’s much more enjoyable to play with a bunch of guys that will pass and cut and shoot the open look.

In addition, I just read that Kobe is going to change his number from 8 to 24. That is whack. That’s gotta be a conspiracy with Nike to force people to buy new Kobe jerseys. Anyhow, I just hope the Lakers play good team ball again tonight and come out with a win on top of that.