Category: basketball

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Lakers: Random Thoughts On 2-5

LA has been blessed with some of the best home team announcers. Along with Vin Scully, the absolute best was Chick Hearn, who changed the commentating game and invented terms like “air ball,” “triple double,” and “slam dunk.” His partner behind the mic in his final years was Stu Lantz, who will forever hold a special place in my heart for the love but also the impartiality with which he provided (and still provides) color commentary. He has always been full of useful tidbits of information that provide insight into the game.

One of the things Stu has always stressed is starting and finishing quarters. During the Shaq/Kobe era, we were absolutely the best at that. The third quarter, in particular was ours. We OWNED the first five minutes of the second half, and it made the difference so many times. I don’t know what Phil told them in the locker room, but they would use those opening minutes of the third to either turn the momentum to their favor or put a team away for good. It was goddamn inspirational and I miss it. I know coming up short in close games is a virtual inevitability with such a young team, as these guys just don’t have the experience to know how to close out games yet. But I will be much relieved when we figure it out and start winning some of these games where we have earned a W but end up losing because we stumble at the finish line. Continue reading “Lakers: Random Thoughts On 2-5”

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Questions Surrounding the Return of Rondo and Ingram

The fallout from the brawl in their second game of the season continues to be felt by the Lakers, but perhaps not in the way initially expected. With Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram suspended for 2 and 3 games, respectively, the question was who would step up in their absence, and would the team be able to scrap together any results without two impact players. After two straight wins without them, the situation has shifted somewhat.

The Lakers are 2-1 since the two starters were suspended and have bounced back well after starting the season 0-3. This is thanks in no small part to the play of Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma, who have done more than just deputize since the suspensions. Kuzma in particular has jump-started our offense and has slotted in perfectly next to LeBron. In fact, the two have looked so good together that Ingram’s formerly assured starting spot looks considerably more tenuous than anyone expected. For his part, Lonzo has performed capably at point in addition to – even more critically, considering LBJ’s ability to function as the primary play maker – playing some stellar defense. With Rondo and Ingram set to come back over the next two games, the question now becomes: do they get their starting spots back? Continue reading “Questions Surrounding the Return of Rondo and Ingram”

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New Writing Gigs

I had two new articles come out today on Managing Madrid and Lake Show Life:

No Straight Line: Fandom In The Age Of #MeToo
This is undoubtedly a difficult subject, and putting it out there has been tough. A fellow woman writer on the site recently published another great piece on the matter, and she helped me through the process. I wish I could say the responses weren’t largely horrifying, to the point that comment sections had to be shut down and police reports filed. Despite all that nonsense, these are important conversations to have, and I am extremely grateful to the staff at Managing Madrid staff for supporting these types of stories. That is something exceedingly rare, especially in the world of sports writing, and I have honestly been blown away by it. I cannot thank them enough, but I would love it if anyone around these parts has any way to provide positive feedback through Tweets, Facebook shares, or just generally non-reprehensible reactions. I doubt the trolls could ever be outnumbered, but if we could busy them elsewhere it could gum up their whole process. In the meantime, I’m avoiding all that as much as possible. Please, though, do check it out and support it if you can.

Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons to look forward to 2018-19 season
This one is more your standard preseason prediction piece with a run-down of exciting narratives for the coming season. Not nearly as heavy, considerably more upbeat, and maybe a little bit of fluff, but hyping up your favorite team who has recently been pretty poor seems like an always useful endeavor. It’s finally basketball time, and I’m excited to see where LeBron takes this group. A nice little fluff piece to balance out the heaviness of that last one.

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Stuff I Like: Maurice Cheeks

Sports have always been a big part of my life, but I got all the way caught up around 4th grade, when I fell head over heels for basketball. I played it at every opportunity and watched every game I had access to. I bought used copies of old basketball-themed VHS tapes from the local rental shop and watched retrospectives on teams and players I loved. I had one that recounted the story of the Lakers in the 80s called “The Drive For Five” about their incredible run of championships during that decade. I had another one called “Michael Jordan’s Playground,” a movie which was essentially an MJ highlight reel book-ended by a cheesy story of a boy being cut from his high school basketball team. I remember watching this one with my sister while eating elbow noodles with parmesan cheese. When she got mad at me for brushing my crumbs onto her lap, she yelled, “You’re getting that on my nerves!” Dork. Continue reading “Stuff I Like: Maurice Cheeks”