Whims of the Whimsical

Legends Never Die

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Missed a few.

I am a good two weeks short of write ups. I have game notes I'm just lazy. Plus unless they are fresh theres not a lot of point.

But yay we have a win streak.

Highpoints: Kobe at age 34 scoring 30+ in 8~9 Games Howards free throw percentage is on the up. Gasol is looking good! Old, but good! NASH IS BACK. THE SLICK BASTARD.

That is all. LAL 13-14 Playing the Knicks on Christmas Day. Come on Kobe give me a W for Christmas. 

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The Western Rivals.

It could be said that our greatest western rivalry is to those who we share a building with, however the team in the town of Oklahoma City are easily the real rivals. We beat them badly in a playoff series where we went on to win the Rings, they came back and beat us in a tight conference semi final series before getting blown out by the Heat in the overall finals.

All this leads to our first meeting of the season, they've been through a light restructuring - losing their 6th man of the year (and in my opinion the best clutch player they had) to Houston in exchange for the over rated Kevin Martin. While we have almost totally up heaved.

Now again we enter the game, massively undermanned. Two starters out, both some of the best players at their positions and on top of that we are still down our back up point, no chance to implement the D'Antoni system that revolves around Steve Nash coming back. All of this is excuse making because we have Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard on our starting rotation, both the best players at their respective places and both incredibly smart basketball players. Meaning regardless of the situation we should be able to play hard and well.

... and we did. Now we lost I'll give you that, however with everything that's gone against us we managed to hold the most powerful offence in the league to only beating us by 6, narrowing down a 15pt lead throughout the 4th quarter. Who. Says. Kobe. Aint. Clutch. The Mamba delivered some unbelievable shots and the Lakers delivered some orchestrated plays and defensive rotation that gives every Laker fan that spark of hope that we can pull this back once Nash is in.

Howard is hitting free throws, admittedly he was at the line less tonight as there was no Hack-A-Dwight being played. Which I love to see. On top of that he is being agressive and effective, the giant was 2pts short of a double double in the first quarter. QUARTER! Not half, QUARTER!

But the best thing I saw in this game (barring Kobes inhuman 4pt play against the 7'2" Center) was the consistency, bench and role players are getting the work done on a consistent basis, I now longer cringe when its time for the second unit. Sure there is a drop in offensive efficiency but that is the point of stars.

LAL @ OKC 108-114 Lakers head home to play the Jazz on Sunday.

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30,000

30,000.

Now lets take a moment to realise that only 5 people in the history of NBA have ever done this. 5. And the youngest of all at 34yrs is Kobe Bean Bryant. A sweet slice saw him go from 29999 to 30001, I mean this move was pretty. He pushed hard for the points, nice and aggressive to start but came out 1-4, ended strong enough in the 4th for around 3mins of garbage time.

Jamison playing steady at last, consistent points and effort from the 4.

Howard was hitting free throws! I mean yeah like 60% but that's still an improvement right right?? 2 for 2 for the first part of hack-a-dwight, which despite the commissioner sitting at the commentators table was just before the end of the 3rd. Show some respect.

LAL @ NOH 103 vs 87 Would have been a taco night if it was at home, LA move to 9-10 and face our conference rivals the OKC on Friday.

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8-10...

Now my prediction at the beginning of the year was that we would struggle to a point and then bring it back. That point was 3 games ago. We were supposed to be winning by now. 

However good things were seen from this loss, Dwight is shooting better (keyword better, its still a terrible percentage but 50% down the stretch vs 43% this season is better). Despite being 2 starters and a key bench player out we were able to hold one of the most promising young teams in the league right until the 4th quarter. Which brings me nicely to the clutch time, I held Lakers as one of the best 4th quarter teams ever thanks to the veteran shooting of DFish and Mr Clutch himself, since then however a new centre has appeared in our midst who draws intentional fouls from 8mins left in the 4th right up until 2mins. Its legal, its effective, but man is it demoralising to see a 15pt lead shrink where you are getting 1pt down the stretch everytime as opposed to shooting the ball as you should. D'Antoni is right to keep him on the floor, D12 needs to learn to make the free throws.

And it will come.

Kobe had himself a good night, very aggressive  great life in his legs, looks like he's finally shaken the flu. And quietly racked up 39 of the 52 points he needed for 30k, unless the Hornets are packing some anti Kobe powers he'll easily get the 13 in the game. May pull a late nighter for that one.

Jamison still performing well, I mean like 6th man well. And that is what I like to see. When Pau gets back from resting his knees, Nash is looking to come back within a few weeks. It can still turn around. D'Antoni's system will start to piece together.

LAL @ HOU and lose 107-105 Lakers move to 8-10...

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Little bit of Magic..

Lakers last game of the homestand, against Dwights former home. Now taking the stats on paper, this is possibly the best offensive team playing one of the least exciting, least productive in the league. And yet we lose? What is this madness?? From the Orlando point of view it was just a solid game, kept playing where they were being effective, rolling bigs and wide open 3s. Yet no sparkle. Call me biased but how do people watch the Magic, there was no flair or factor. 

Yeah I'm biased...

For the second night in a row Kobe has look frustrated on the court, not getting the calls he should and lacking on the defensive effort. Still come Kobe time he turns it on, racking up his bagillionth 30pt game trying to keep the ailing Lakers in contention. 

Dwight was effective again, racking another double-double he constantly looked frustrated however by his lacking on the free throw line. His old team were playing Hack-a-Dwight in order to throw him off and it work, unless we are blowing teams out in the 4th they can play hack-a-dwight all they want until they catch up. D'Antoni has to work on some offensive plan where we draw fouls on bigs. Get a switch on Kobe, the Mamba can draw them like few others...

Few other notes, Metta hits his 1000 career three. Pau remains remarkably inconsistent and yet Jamison seems more than able to fill his rotation. Look for the Spanish Tower to be a bench factor soon, second unit Centre for the AHaD (Anti-Hack-a-Dwight) #itsathing 

103-113 LAL vs ORL Lakers drop back below .500 again...

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Howard with the three!

Not many times will the highlight from a blow-out win be in garbage time. But last night a historic moment in D12's career. His second 3pt make! Also a 20 point 20 rebound game....

The Lakers were back on form, scoring what they did in the Pacers game just after the half, and every one was contributing. Defence was solid, and the offense was outstanding. We are afflicted with a label of "no depth" but man did we show that! 54 Points coming of two bench players, Meeks hitting 7-8 3pts and Jamison just going off on one, scoring at will from every point on the floor. Haters may credit the poor defensive decisions by Denver, but our execution was phenomenal.

Pau, still inconsistent as a whole but if he gets traded we will lose something special, a 7ft player with the basketball IQ rivalling the best points on the floor, a 4 who can shoot the midrange game and play the post. Most importantly he has the heart and experience of a champion. D'Antoni you keep the Spaniard!

Kobe, while having a fairly average scoring night put on his passing hat and quickly racked up 5 assists in the first ending up with 8 overall. The explosion off the bench meant he got to have some well earned rest as well. Still a little under the weather and you can tell by the lack of lift on some of his shots, but Kobe is Kobe he won't be down for long.

LAL vs DEN 122-103 No tacos for the homecrowd, but we get back to .500 

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The Flu Game

Now if you are over 14 years old and claim to know basketball you have heard of the illustrious Jordan Flu game. A game in which MJ was in pieces before the game yet some how came out and scored 38 and gave the Chicago the edge in the series.

Roll forward 15yrs to last night, where Kobe Bryant was taking a nap during warmup in order to shake off the flu (sound familiar) admittedly it was a playoff game or for that matter one of import, however the fact remains that when the going gets tough the tough get going. 

Kobe Bryant put up 40 points (2 more than the former flu maestro) in a poor game from both sides. The first 3 quarters looked like a game I would play down the park, many bad shots, little assists, and a score that could be counted on the fingers of the players (not even including thumbs!). However the 4th proved to be one of the most edgy and exciting quarters of basketball I have seen this quarter, it really came down to the wire with Hill knocking in a game winning basket at 0.01 on the clock. However at 24.5 the Mamba gave fans chills, actual chills. I stood from my chair and cheered (normal at the game, strange when watching on your mobile phone...) the flu ridden Kobe takes a pick from Pau turns wide left and pulls a dagger from behind the 3pt line, the angle, the arc. All pitch perfect.

Pau started bad as everyone did, yet pulled it back with some stella 4th quarter play. While usually he seems to get stick from fans this time there are two people who will feel the wrath.

D12 and MWP both have been improving of late, Dwight even went 2/2 from the stripe at one point, Metta on the other hand was doing nicely from behind the line. However when it came down to it, that immeasurable quality was what was needed, the clutch factor, the edge, the dagger. None of which these guys had missing crucial free throws 0-4!! I mean Metta please? You are a shooter!!

77-79 LAL vs IND Lakers fall back below .500 and start the homestand with a loss.

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Who says the second of a back to back is harder?

MEM vs LAL

Q1 - Possibly the worst I've seen the lakers play a quarter this season.

Early in Q2 and the bench are closing the gap? Am I watching the wrong team?! 

Nope as its turns out I was watching the right team, annoyingly so as behind Kobe we manage to close the gap to as low as 4 before Memphis come back and show everyone exactly why they are top of the conference. Possibly one of the roundest teams ever to play the game, not explosive stars but my god can they play the team game well. Need more from Pau and Howard at all times.

106-98 to Memphis 

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DAL vs LAL 

Now this was a D'Antoni game, fast paced action packed! Not only did we wipe the slate clean in terms of the loss they gave us on opening night, but Pau managed to clear his name with a solid performance from the Spaniard. Maybe he was going easy on his brother? Howard still looking sluggish but has those signs that you know he's close. We exploded to a 26 point lead by the half and never looked back, bench was empty by 4 minutes left in the game.

115-89 Lakers cruise to be over .500 again at 7-6. Finally got a win on the road and split another back to back.

Home to face the Pacers on Tuesday. Gonna be a good one.

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241

2 games in one post.

First 95-90 LAL vs BKN 

D'Antoni's first game on the bench and yet the first where we were forced to play slower, their D kept us to under 100 less running, more sets were played. Interesting to see that we can still perform D under pressure. Mr Klutch Bryant nailed some sealing free throws whilst talking trash to Wallace, you cannot teach the composure that Kobe has.

Second 113-97 SAC vs LAL 

Home game for the kings and second vs the Lakers this season, they took the win, and frankly they deserved it. Some impressive crowding defense in the paint lead D12 to what I think is his lowest scoring session as a Laker. The killer was however that Pau was also out of rhythm we had 2/3 of our scoring units effectively out of action. Despite some stella play from KB24, closing the gap late in the 4th to just 4 pts, with no second option the Kings were able to smother Kobe and force the gap to widen. With more time with the new coach sets will be in play that can get Pau and Dwight out of slumps.

Los Angeles stay at .500 after this back to back. 6-6

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Who needs sleep?

119-108 LAL-HOU 2:26am I awoke for the Lakers homestand against the new and offensively loaded backcourt of the Houston Rockets. We came out the gates huge, stupidly high scoring first half at 68pts, to make that scoring outburst even more apparent they hit last years season average halfway through the 3rd quarter! And by 11:17 in the 4th we hit the century mark, I mean sure the rockets did too meaning no tacos for the fans but in compensation you fans got to witness Kobe Bean Bryant dishing out his 19th career triple double.

Pau hits 15000 career points of a stella bounce pass from KB, for a big guy he really can shoot that perimeter.

D12 rocked some emphatic dunks! Pity the hack-a-dwight defense is still proving to be present, close games could be determined by the big man at the line and if he can't hit them there could be issues.

3rd and 4th players at the point! We are currently playing 4 deep at the point gaurd position and boy are these guys trying to dispute the Bench reputation. Both playing hard offensively, coming up with steals and buckets when the opportunity arises. By the looks of the injury reports the Steves are back in the lineup shortly so make the most of it Morris and Duhon.

Jordan Hustle Hill! Need I say more?

And finally, Kobe Bryant. The guy leads the league in points and yet still finds time for a tripdub, who says ball is a young mans game. Lets watch the veteran get to work!

LA move to .500 mark. Bickerstaff rocking the best Lakers Coaching record at 4-1

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Lakers? Why you running so fast?

114-102 LAL - PHX  The Lakers with fast break points??? What is this? New coach D'Antoni wants 117 a game, and dam the Lakers went for it. Every player running the floor, too many streaks by the suns for that 117 mark but seeing as our season average is sub 100, and last years was around 85 beating 100 is a step in the right direction. 

Pau had the hit hand to start 5 for his first 5, defense changed and he no longer got it the effort was there but more aggression needed in the post.

D12 needs to sort out his hands, every team in the NBA is slapping at the ball trying to force turn overs, he needs to grip that ball like a teenager does his penis.

Kobe had another stand out performance  pushing his scoring numbers again. This guy is 34yrs of age and yet he blows by players 10yrs his junior like the age difference is the other way round.

Jordan Hill. This man is just incredible, a nobody compared with the giants of the Lakers, I barely knew his game when he came over in the Fish trade. But my god does this guy bring it every single game. He is everywhere of the offensive glass and the defensive end. If he doesn't make it to one of the NBA defensive teams I will be astounded.

LAL move to 4-5 for the season, 3-1 under Bernie Bickerstaff

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Going to start tumbling Game reports after all Laker games. The good, the bad, the purple and gold. Enjoy.

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The resting place of my Kobe V's.  This is no tale of sadness, no venture of regret.  I will not grieve at their passing nor morn in their wake. They are not mere objects destined to gather dust, they are tokens of pride and virtue that have done their time, their final dance was one to behold, the final flurry of the magic they once held. They gave speed and quickness when needed most, they held against stronger foes when others would have buckled, they flew when others fell. This the end my friends may we meet again. 

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Nike Security

Not usually two words that go together, normally its Nike Swish or Nike Running or perhaps teen wearing Nike tracksuit shot a man in the face. But no today Nike and Security are being put together. Why I hear you ask? Well mainly because without any effort on my part I was able to get the status of an order the name of the receiver, the home and billing address of said receiver and the time the receiver would like the package to come, indicating to me when the home of the receiver would be empty and prime for robbery. 

Isn't it really lucky that in this case I was the receiver of the package, next time I'm calling them up spouting 8 jumbled numbers and letters and seeing what delivery I can redirect to my house. Any one for some Air Jordans?

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Can I marry her?

.... and the sandwich