lakersgrounds

heat vs. mavs

2006-07-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

an interesting nba finals trivia i've read is that given the number of nba teams there are, one would think that there is an even chance for any team to win the finals but this is not so. from 1979 till 2005 only seven teams have become nba champions:

los angeles lakers (80, 82, 87, 88, 00, 01, 02)boston celtics (81, 84, 86)philadelphia 76ers (83)detroit pistons (89, 90, 04)chicago bulls (91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98)houston rockets (94, 95)san antonio spurs (99, 03, 05)

this has been the only time since 1971 that two teams who have not been to the finals before are battling for the larry o'brien trophy. so to whoever wins, you've truly come a long way baby!

Out & About: Storm/Mpls Lakers 16u AAU

2006-07-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

#2 posting 5.7.2006MN 16u Qualifier Pool AStorm 50, Mpls Lakers 37First the Lakers were hampered without out two talents--Talisha Barlow out with a thumb injury, and Kiearah Strickland out with a possible ACL injury. I was not there for the first points, but the Lakers led early 4-0. The Storm grabbed the lead for good with an old fashioned three point play by Bauernfeind to make it 15-12. Bauernfeind scored nine points during the climb to the lead. The Storm closed out the first half with a 16-6 run. Krista Kaput scored on three straight possessions for the Storm including the last points coming on a three. The Lakers on the other hand, had a rough time finding the bottom of the net as they were 0/10 late in the first half on their possession run until Jenny Ostrom stopped the dry spell.The Lakers actually had a 12-2 run stretched over the two periods. Ostrom and Aune each had two 3s on consecutive possessions to cut the score to 28-26 Storm. At that point the Storm strung together six straight possessions to re-establish themselves at 39-30. Loren Schuetzle scored six straight for the Storm as they pushed their lead to 43-30. The Lakers suffered two other droughts, one of seven and one of nine. In fact they ended the game 1/14. The Storm was not hot either as they finished 1/9.What do the numbers mean? http://gbbrecruit.blogspot.com/2006/05/numbers-explained.htmlRosters: http://gbbrecruit.blogspot.com/2006/05/aau-rosters.htmlplayer, hs, points, possessions, pp100, floor %PLAYER EVALUATIONSSTORM STARTERSMaggie Bauernfeind, Rosemount 13, 7, 185.7, .714 big point guard, arms and legs, decent speed. RF: strengthLoryn Schuetzle, Pierre, SD 10, 14, 71.4, .357Sierra Moeller, Pierre, SD 3, 6, 50.0, .333 RF injured, didn't play HS ball in 05-06Michelle Hugelen, Rosemount 2, 6, 33.3, .167 has size RF: waiting for offense to developJulia Rickert, Duluth East 6, 7, 85.7, .429 has started to lose some weight. RF: needs to be able to go hard for longer stretches. verticalBENCHCassie Hovland, Apple Valley 5, 11, 45.5, .182Brittany Hover, Clayton, WI 2, 3, 66.7, .333Krista Kaput, Hill-Murray 7, 9, 77.8, .333 had that one streak in the first half. RF consistencyLAKERSSTARTERSAunDreah Aune, Mpls Roosevelt 7, 12, 58.3, .250 RF: shows emotional displeasure. Easy to frustrate with physical play.Melanie Wigen, Blm Kenndy 1, 13, 7.7, .072 RF: head down on dribble. forces thingsChelsia Hooker, Park Center 8, 10, 80.0, .400Kim Grant, 2, 5, 40.0, .200 wide bodyJenny Ostrom, St. Anthony 13, 16, 81.3, .375 wide body with some instincts. Has 3 pt range. RF: foot speed. verticalBENCHChaundera Riley, Mpls North 2, 4, 50.0, .250TRENCH PLAYERMaggie Bauernfeind, Rosemount--Hot early, steady throughout. No wasted motions, Size, speed, winning every time I see her.BY THE NUMBERSStorm 50, 64, 78.1, .344Lakers 37, 64, 57.8, .266Great defense? I don't think so. That is not to say both teams played hard, intense, and wanted to win. Both teams did that. Both teams never quit. But offensively, and this was to be true all through the day, teams were at a disadvantage. The teams don't practice as often as HS teams. They don't know each other that well on the court yet. Some never will. Both of these teams were under the HS averages in the number crunching of what I saw all season.I am going to bed now. It has been a loooonggggg day. I will report on all the games in due time. The turn-around on these games is 5 minute warm ups. Not much time for me to digest the numbers much less digest my food. I did shoot up my insulin without problems--I started that on Wednesday and it was the first time in public.I want to thank all my readers who have been feeding me news, tips and information.Next up: Tomorrow with more news, more game results/anaylsis, and, of course, Thorpe and his Soap Box.

NBA Conference Semifinals Schedule

2006-07-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

A schedule of relevent upcoming games in the Tournament. Aside from the chance to see the Los Angeles Clippers square off against the Los Angeles Lakers (a confrontation not unlike a Liverpool-Manchester United soccer game) these are the only ones that truly matter.
Friday May 19th 7 PM EDT - Detroit Pistons @ Cleveland Cavaliers, broadcast on ESPNFriday May 19th 9:30 PM EDT - San Antonio Spurs @ Dallas Mavericks, also on ESPN
or it could be put as
7 p.m. - Pistons at Cavs
9:30 p.m. - Spurs at Mavs

As neccessary we could have Game 7 for each series.
Sunday May 21st 3:30 PM - Cleveland Cavaliers @ Detroit Pistons, broadcast on ABCMonday May 22nd - Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs, broadcast on TNT, time to be determinedIt is my attitude that there better be a Game 7 for each series. The Friday night games are on a cable station that I cannot get so I cannot watch it. Sunday the Pistons game is available on that standard broadcast network ABC.

I still wonder why all of the tournement is not available on non-pay TV.

Pierce the Valley

2006-07-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

You. Yeah you, the one currently reading this. If you know me well, then you would know why the title of this post is as such.

Los Angeles. The City of Angels. I have been here for a month and I miss all my friends terribly. My ribs hurt due to the awful cough that I have been nursing for quite a few days now. The weather is damn cold, even Baguio in December is way warmer. Prec, in one of her e-mails to the APSM yahoogroups asked me to relate what I have been doing here. So if you have nothing to do, grab a warm cup of coffee and sit back, you’re in for a long, albeit a very interesting (or so I hope) read.

First stop. The Jetsons. Well, at least that was what came to my mind upon getting out of the airplane. Let me tell you, the Los Angeles International Airport is fantastic! I was in absolute awe of the architecture of the airport. Strangely though, it reminded me of the famous cartoon series the Jetsons. Huh. Oh yeah, the grueling plane trip itself was mostly uneventful- the sheer highlight of the 16-hour flight was when the plane rocked a little upon hitting some sort of kerfuffle (if you don’t read Harry Potter, then you won’t know what this means) in the air. That and the four year old Korean girl behind my seat intent on relentlessly tugging my hair until I stared at her baring my evil fangs.

We then arrived at my Nanay’s (grandma) house and after I let her deplore how despicably thin I was getting, she force fed (hehe) me four to five servings of everything on the table. After that, I discovered that I had no sense of the time or date whatsoever, and I was feeling a bit (a lot, I think) woozy. Must be a case of serious jet lag, either that or too much chocolate (the latter, I bet). So I took a bath (yes, I am obsessed with taking baths) and went to sleep.

The city government said that Los Angeles is suffering from air pollution. My mind’s eye went back to Manila and I scoffed at that declaration. Los Angeles is very clean. Los Angeles is terribly beautiful.

To keep you reading (and so I won’t sound like a tourist guidebook), here is a glimpse of Los Angeles through my eyes (wide-eyed, drooling tourist), from places that I deem worthy of my interest to those most worthy (I simply cannot find a sight least worthy, if you know what I mean) Here goes (boy, I hope I paint this right)…

First Stop. Santa Monica. We live in West LA, very near Santa Monica. To those who have watched Bruce Almighty, remember when Jim Carrey says b-e-a-uuuutifuul? Well, no other word to describe Santa Monica. Santa Monica Bay. Santa Monica Pier. My body and brains were not cooperating with each other due to the sheer excitement of my foot actually landing on Santa Monica Pier. Wow. I feigned nonchalance though, for fear of abduction, but my eyes were wide as I tried to soak up every sight in front of me. We drove past theatres and auditoriums; most significant is the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium- gorgeous and palatial. My grandma got tired of driving, so we walked along Palisades Park which had a nice view of the ocean. Spent a good chunk of one whole day sight-seeing and picture-taking in Santa Monica before going home. Oh yeah, on the drive home, my stomach hurt a lot, what with the infusion of junk food and more junk food. I’m never eating pizza again (for the next two days at least, hehe.)

Next stop. Game 6. PHOENIX SUNS versus Los Angeles Lakers. Staples Stadium. Ok, admittedly, this is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. The Phoenix Suns is my absolute favorite basketball team in the world. Seeing Kobe-I’m-an-arrogant-devil-kill-me-now-Bryant get beaten on his home court is priceless. (Yes friends, I adore basketball. I never let you guys notice because that would shatter the nice and sugary image that I supposedly have *sinisterwink*) Raja Bell is the hottest guy ever placed on the basketball court- he was suspended for apparently shoving Kobe, but hey, that just goes to show. Kobe is in desperate need for a shove to his arrogant head. I had to restrain myself from calling out “I adore you!!!” to Steve Nash (two-time MVP), reminding myself that this is a basketball game, not a rock concert. I saw Charlize Theron (well, the back of her gorgeous head) and Denzel Washington.

Next stop. Griffith Park and Los Angeles Zoo. Griffith Park is home to the Griffith Park Observatory, Griffith Park Ampitheatre, and the huuuge Los Angeles Zoo, which in turn is home to over a thousand animals (I had this bizarre feeling of being right-at-home in the zoo… kidding.) When I was looking at snakes, I was kind of hoping that the glass would vanish (Harry Potter book 1), but hey, no such luck. Admission was 10 dollars (No, I do not want to contemplate how much that is in Philippine peso, please don’t make me.) The zoo was great; they even had this tour thing where you ride on carriage thingies because the zoo, as I said earlier, is way colossal. I’m thoroughly reminded of UP Diliman and the APSM tambayan (LA zoo-UP, APSM-animals in zoo. Kidding. Hehe.) Oh, I saw some koala bears and chimpanzees. They wanted to get out and go see the Philippines (Nyahaha). Ok, for those who want to hear more zoo adventures and mishaps, e-mail me, otherwise, I go on to the most exciting part- Hollywood. The Hollywood sign can be seen in Griffith Park, by the way.

After my grandma finally persuaded me that no, snakes don’t talk, and no, koala bears do not eat chocolate, and finally no, broomsticks don’t fly (I’m such an eccentric person), and after a whole day of bonding with animals and non-animals at the zoo, we went home and prepared ourselves for Hollywood the next day. Remember my excitement in Santa Monica? Well, nothing could have prepared me for this. Hollywood. Wow. I wanted to stay. I kept wishing that my head could turn a full 360 degrees so that I could take in everything that I was seeing. I mean, my hands were cold and trembling from the excitement, thank goodness I did not pass out. I once heard that to visit Los Angeles and not see the Grauman’s Chinese Theater is like visiting China and not seeing the Great Wall. So ok, picture this- a petite 20 year old girl standing in front of the theater, mouth hanging open in astonishment. Yup, that was me, looking up at the theater. What happened when I looked down? I saw prints of well-renowned and much-respected people of the entertainment industry. I saw the print of Durante’s nose (why anyone would willingly press his nose on wet cement, I have no idea), McQueen’s shoeprints, Henjie’s ice skating blades, and many more. I wish that I was capable of freezing time, I wanted to savor every moment in that place, go through every minute detail, and moreover, I wish that I had Dumbledore’s pensieve so that I could go back to that blissful memory everyday. I kept also wishing that Dom-the-movie-buff was there too, so that we could be speechless, wide-eyed tourists together. Next, we saw the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Odditorium, and of course the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hey, I just had a wild thought. Hollywood deserves a much better treatment than this, so I’ll end this for now. My next post will be devoted entirely to Hollywood in all its magnificence.

For now, I will leave you with a question that has been haunting me for quite a few years now- According to Hogwarts, A History, you can’t apparate or disapparate in Hogwarts. So, how did Dobby and Kreacher, house elves, manage to do it?

Not So Fast: Is Small Ball Really the Wave of the Future in the NBA?

2006-07-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

Go anywhere on the internet these day’s and you’ll read about it…No I’m not talking about Paris Hilton’s new love interest(s), or three thousand useless Chuck Norris facts, but I am talking about the National Basketball Association’s recent renaissance. Unless you have been living in a closet over the last month, I’m sure that you are well aware of how fabulous this year’s NBA playoffs have been. On a nightly basis, sports fans from around the world have been treated to tremendous, high paced NBA action. Each series has had its share of game winners and controversial plays. But more than anything, the style of play is what everyone is talking about.

In years passed the league was bogged down by the “defense win’s championships” mantra that permeated throughout the sport. Teams like the late 80s Detroit Pistons, mid 90s New York Knicks, and the recent Detroit Piston’s were successful by playing a grind it out, defense first style. As well, most teams felt that the only way to combat such a style of play was to have a dominant low post presence. The era from 1988-2000 was probably the greatest era for low post players in the history of the league. During this time, Shaquille O’neal, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Brad Daugherty, Rick Smits, Hakeem Olawjuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Vlade Divac, Robert Parish, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Kevin McHale, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Jack Sikma, Mark Eaton, Chris Webber, and many more were known for dominating the game down low. Today, there is a dearth of traditional big men in the league. Most of the 6’10” and over guys in the league today prefer to play on the perimeter. Just look at Kevin Garnett and Nowitzki. In the 80s those guys would have been Centers, expected to play down low and bang. In this day and age they are on the perimeter shooting jump shots. Having your bigs play on the perimeter opens the game up for guard penetration and a high paced style of play.

Side Note: If we are going to blame anyone for big men liking to shoot on the perimeter more than on the inside, maybe it should be Sam Perkins, who after nailing the game winning three pointer in game 1 of the 1991 NBA Finals decided that he was going to be a three point specialist rather than a low post threat. Shortly there after you would see guys that have always been better on the low post (Charles Barkley comes to mind) decide that they too would be good three-point shooters.

The slowdown, stuff it inside style of the Knicks, Pistons, and others, and the emergence of the dominant center was also accompanied by the emergence of the shoot first point guard. Many believe that the shoot first guard emerged because of Michael Jordan. The guards that would occupy the league during this time had grown up idolizing Jordan and his highlight film style and all sought to emulate that. Instead of coming in the league trying to play the role of a traditional point guard, these guys came in with the intention of trying to lead the league in scoring. This created a game where offenses were not very complex and you pretty much had tons of isolations, a few pick and rolls, and a lot of throwing the ball inside to your big man and then moving out of the way.

Slowly but surely the dominant big man started to fade from the league. As some of the low post stars from the late 80s and early 90s retired, you started to see less and less skilled low post men being drafted. Meaning the big men that ruled the previous era were not being replaced by comparable talents. This created a time where you knew only two teams were good enough to win a championship. Those two teams were the Lakers and the Spurs.

Both of those teams had the last two remaining dominant low post players in Shaquille O’neal and Tim Duncan, and because of it, every fan knew that the championship would pretty much be decided between those two teams. This started to change a bit following the 2004 season as the Pistons had just beaten and un-organized and overconfident turmoil filled Laker squad in the NBA Finals. Following that debacle we saw Shaquille O’neal get shipped out of Los Angeles. We also saw teams starting to realize that it was possible to beat the Spurs or the Lakers in the playoffs without having a dominant low post threat. Following that season Shaq’s injuries started to pile on, which caused him to be extremely less effective than he was in years past. Tim Duncan would guide his Spurs to one more championship in 2005, but this was only after Detroit pushed them in the brink in that year’s Finals.

Prior to the implosion of the Shaquille O’neal led Los Angeles Lakers, teams around the league had started to try to develop a more up tempo style to combat the low post excellence of O’neal and Duncan. These teams figured that if they ran, they would be playing to the strengths of their versatile big men that liked to play away from the basket and run the break, as well as play against the strengths of Shaq and Duncan, who hated to come outside of their comfort zone and play perimeter defense. The New Jersey Nets, Sacramento Kings, and Dallas Mavericks were the first teams to do this and do this well.

The Kings took the Lakers to the brink of elimination in the 2002 Western Conference Finals, by using their versatile, perimeter loving big men (Webber and Divac) to cause mismatches that took Shaq out of his comfort zone.

The Nets would make the finals twice during this time, almost defeating the Spurs in the 2003 Finals. They relied heavily on the fast break and the prowess of their leader Jason Kidd. Kidd would push the ball so hard and so often that he wouldn’t give opposing teams to set up their half court games.

And then there was the Don Nelson coached Dallas Mavs. Nellie always believed in an uptown, wide open style of play and had successfully implemented the style while with Golden State, during the days of Run TMC. With the aid of lightning quick, pick and roll loving point guard Steve Nash, and versatile three-point shooting seven-footer, Dirk Nowitzki, Nellie transformed the basement dwelling Mavs into one of the better teams in the league.

Yet Shaq and Duncan were still dominant enough during this time to combat this up tempo style. That is, until the league implemented a few rule changes.

As outlined by Bill Simmons, Liz Robbins and others, the league (aided by Jerry Colangelo...who just so happened to own the one team to benefit the most from the changes) implemented rules that would open up the game and increase scoring.

Take a look at how Simmons outlines the most pertinent rule changes. I think he nails all of them right over the head:

1. They sped up the game by giving teams only eight seconds to get the ball over midcourt and resetting the shot clock to 14 seconds in certain situations (after a foul, a kicked ball, an illegal defense, and so on).

2. They started whistling players for the shoving/grabbing/clutching/mugging crap that had been plaguing the league since the Riley/Daly days (I still think Riley should serve some prison time though).

3. They cracked down on flagrant fouls -- almost too much, actually -- allowing players to attack the rim without worrying about being splattered against the basket support.

4. They relaxed the illegal defense rules, allowing smaller teams to use soft zones and to double-team scoring threats more easily (also allowing teams to play more scorers at the same time, since they couldn't be as much of a liability defensively).

5. Referees were ordered to allow moving picks as long as the player setting the pick didn't stick a knee out to trip the defender.

With the new rule changes and the aging of players such as Duncan and Shaq, you have teams such as the Mavericks and the Suns emerging as legitimate title contenders. You also have players such as Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki (who in years past were ridiculed for being soft and for lacking on the defensive end) becoming MVP canidates. Seeing this, I wonder how well a guy like Jason Kidd would have done if he were playing in his prime during this time. In my opinion, I thnk he would have gone down as one of the greatest players of all-time if he would have played a majority of his career during this new era of hoop. Let’s just put it this way: He almost won the championship in 2003 playing this style despite the fact that the rules hadn’t been changed yet. As well, he did this with a team that had no shooters. Just think about it. Put Jason Kidd from 2001-2003 on last year’s Phoenix Suns team. There’s no way they aren’t walking away with the title.

This new style might have also done away with the classification of a player as a tweaner. In years past, if a player did not fit a certain mold he would be outcast from the league. Think John Wallace or Ed O’Bannon. I believe those guys would have been great under a Phoenix Suns style system with these type of rules. Why do you think a guy like Tim Thomas is finally emerging? Do you think Shawn Marion would have been this much of a factor in the league during the mid-ninties? I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have. Same could be said for Boris Diaw. If this were five or six years ago, a player like Boris Diaw would have no chance in the league. He would have been labled a tweener and sent back to play in France.

Side Note for Laker Fans: Imagine Laker tweener Brian Cook on the Suns. It’s safe to say that he could easily score 20 ppg in a role on that team. All he would have to do is run and spot up and drain. It’s a perfect system for guys like him.

Even smallish shooting guards should be able to find a place in the league now. Imagine Ben Gordon or Nate Robinson in the Suns system. Those two guys would be bigger than they already are if they were able to play alongside Nash. I mean, look at what Dallas is doing. They are getting away with playing 6’2” Jason Terry at his natural two guard position, with smallish Devon Harris running the point. The are able to do this because it is no longer necessary to have players that fit a traditional height and size for a certain position.

Despite the change in style of play around the league, I still think that a team with the dominant low post threat has the best chance of winning the championship. It’s just that the new rules have evened the playing field a bit. In years past, a team like the Suns or the Mavericks would have no chance at the title. That is definitely not the case this year.

But look, Shaquille O’neal and his Miami heat still have a very good chance at the title. Is there any question that if he were half the player he was in 2000 that the Heat would be easily marching their way to the championship. I mean seriously, Shaq was a baaaad man back then. He would have punished the Suns into oblivion. The first round Laker series proved that a team with a good strategy and with the patience not to fall into the Suns high paced game can beat them. I mean the Lakers almost beat the Suns using this strategy with Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, and Luke Walton as their best post players. Imagine if that were Shaq inside instead of the Kwame.

Since that Laker series, all of the teams that have played the Suns have foolishly not followed the Lakers classic game plan. Instead of slowing the game down and taking the Suns out of their comfort zone, both the Clippers and Mavs have decided to try to keep up with the Suns and beat them at their own game. That’s just not a very feasible strategy. If the Mavericks (and Nowitzki in particular) were savvy and versatile enough to switch from their fast break style and bang the Suns inside a bit, they might have a better chance of winning the series than they currently have.

I’m sure you are going to see many more teams switch to this style of play, meaning that you are going to see more and more teams draft whatever the best player is on the board rather than draft a player that fits a certain need. But I still believe that a dominant big man is the most dangerous weapon in all of basketball. If the Shaq of yesteryear were playing today he would still be just as dominant. So before you totally write off the importance of having a low post player, look out for the Dwight Howard’s and Greg Oden’s of the world, because I have a feeling that they are going to eventually prove that the low post position is always going to be of importance.

LA Lakers

2006-05-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

The team is renowned for the fanbase of celebrities, such as musicians and movie stars who attend its games. Without question, many are present only during successful times for the team. During such times, near-court seats at an important Laker game are a desirable place for entertainment figures to "be seen". Each network broadcast, and many local broadcasts, of Laker home games invariably includes a few moments taken out to show on camera the various celebrities present at that particular game, and clearly many attendees are more interested in this aspect of their attendance than in the team or the game itself.

Los Angeles Lakers

2006-02-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

The Lakers began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen bought the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League for $15,000 and relocated it to Minneapolis. As the Gems had by far the worst record in the NBL, the Lakers had the first pick in the 1947 dispersal draft, which they used to select George Mikan, later to become, arguably, the greatest center of his time. With Mikan, new coach John Kundla and an infusion of former University of Minnesota players, the Lakers won the NBL championship in that 1947-48 season and joined four other NBL teams in jumping to the Basketball Association of America, where they promptly won the 1948-49 BBA championship. The NBL and BBA merged to become the NBA in 1949.