Mailbag Omission - Lake Show Preview
Today we had an RW first. I got flagged down for neglecting to include
a loyal RW reader's question in the November Mailbag. You know what
David? You just earned yourself an entire column! Here's what David
from Los Angeles, CA wrote:
What is the potential and future of Trevor Ariza? He's athletic, a strong defender, and has been hitting open 3's in the first few games of this season. He's easily the most dynamic player on the Lakers and the most fun to watch.
David, I'm going to use your Ariza question to talk about the Lakers as well. I hope that's alright.
First, to address Ariza, I love when he's in the game. I'm not sure that I love him as much as Stu does, but I do love when he's on the floor. He can lock down any player on the court besides a 5. I'm not sure that he's easily the most dynamic player on the Lakers because we have this guy named Kobe Bryant, but let's just say that the dunk countdown is in full effect when Ariza is on the floor. However, while he may be hitting shots early on in the season, the Trevor Ariza three for me is not a good Lakers possession. He gets the same reaction from me as a Lakers fan that Alfred Aboya gets from me as a Bruins fan when he chucks up a deep shot. It goes something like, "NOOOOOOO!!!" Ariza is now shooting a woeful 32% from 3-point land and still shooting 50% from the field. You know what that means? He's really good at making lay-ups and dunks and a liability on offense when he tries anything else. Just think of him as Mark Madsen except uber-athletic, amazing on defense, and not as fun of a dancer.
Speaking of Ariza, he went to UCLA for a year but I don't really consider him a true Bruin. I think it takes at least 2 years for a guy to endear himself to his college fans. Do Syracuse people feel the same way about Carmelo Anthony? Georgetown fans with The Answer? Trojan fans with O.J. Simpson, I mean O.J. Mayo? Sorry about that, force of habit when O.J. and USC are brought up in the same sentence. I don't know. I'm happy that a former Bruin is excelling in the pros but with guys like Ariza, Love, Westbrook, etc., I just don't have the same attachment that I do with a guy like . . . crap, we don't have too many good pros lately. Ok, I guess I'll develop the attachment. Ariza's the man! So is Baron Davis even though his two year career was shortened due to injury! Sorry, back to the Lake Show.
The rest of the Lakers season will play out one of three ways:
1. The Lakers suffer a major injury like last year and come close but don't win the NBA Championship.
2. The Lakers beat the Celtics in the Finals avenging last year's defeat and giving me a perma-smile.
3. The Lakers beat the LeBrons in a sweep in the Finals making me even happier than if they were to beat the Celtics.
The Lakers just have too many weapons when healthy to lose any game that matters. Last year the Lake Show fell apart because of the Pillsbury doughboy impersonations going on inside the paint on our side of the equation. That won't happen with Andrew Bynum manning the lane. With this year's healthy squad the Lakers pose to many problems for opposing squads. Here are the reasons while the Lakers will win:
1. Kobe Bryant
You know how determined Kobe was last season to win a title and cement his own place in NBA history? Multiply that by 10 for his desire coming into this year. He was embarrassed in the Finals and MUST win this year to satiate his hurting ego. I promise you that the Olympic Gold did nothing to help. He needs to win a title without Shaq. Kobe is the best player in the NBA. A determined Kobe is an absolute beast.
2. Pau Gasol
Last year Pau had to play out of position at the 5. He had to bang around with the big boys and you know that the big Spaniard is counting his lucky stars that he doesn't have to do that again this season. Now he gets to play his natural position at the 4 and rotate from high post to low post depending on who's matched up with him. Put a small on him and he'll take him down low. Put a big on him and he hits a medium range jumper, takes him to the hole, or gives him about 25 up-fakes in one sequence giving the opposing guy a severe case of motion sickness. Pau will once again be a Top-10 or 15 player in the league.
3. Andrew Bynum
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v62-DjyeBDs)
Enough said.
4. Trevor Ariza
He's an X-Factor for the Lakers. The energy he brings and the potential momentum shifts alone can give the Lakers much needed boosts that they haven't had in seasons past. Add to that the fact that you don't want to have him guarding you and you have a quiet reason as to why the Lakers will win the title this season.
5. The bench
Lamar Odom is the sixth man. Is there another team in the NBA that he doesn't start and get big minutes for? Farmar has been looking solid backing up Fish. Sasha is knocking down shots and being generally annoying to whomever he's guarding. The Lakers can throw big bodies in there to beat up on opposing teams by using up fouls. The rest of the guys are doing a good job cheerleading.
6. Phil Jackson
You don't mess with the zen-master.
Again, I don't watch a lot of the NBA other than the Lakers games and the marquee matchups plus the NBA on TNT shows, but from what I've seen, I just can't fathom the Lakers not winning this year with all of the different ways they can beat you. They can go bigger than any team I can think of in recent history. They can go "small" which means they're still tall but quicker than the opposition. They can shoot outside. Clearly they can go high/low. And is there a player in the NBA you'd rather give the ball to with the game on the line down the stretch besides Kobe? To anyone who thinks there is, watch that Olympic Gold Medal game and tell me who was coming up big or even bothering to do anything down the stretch. The only other answer I'll accept if you watch that film is Rudy Fernandez. I'll still take my chances with Kobe.
So there you have it David. I'm sorry for not including your email in yesterday's Mailbag and I hope that this column all to yourself has appeased you.
Kindest regards,
RW
What is the potential and future of Trevor Ariza? He's athletic, a strong defender, and has been hitting open 3's in the first few games of this season. He's easily the most dynamic player on the Lakers and the most fun to watch.
David, I'm going to use your Ariza question to talk about the Lakers as well. I hope that's alright.
First, to address Ariza, I love when he's in the game. I'm not sure that I love him as much as Stu does, but I do love when he's on the floor. He can lock down any player on the court besides a 5. I'm not sure that he's easily the most dynamic player on the Lakers because we have this guy named Kobe Bryant, but let's just say that the dunk countdown is in full effect when Ariza is on the floor. However, while he may be hitting shots early on in the season, the Trevor Ariza three for me is not a good Lakers possession. He gets the same reaction from me as a Lakers fan that Alfred Aboya gets from me as a Bruins fan when he chucks up a deep shot. It goes something like, "NOOOOOOO!!!" Ariza is now shooting a woeful 32% from 3-point land and still shooting 50% from the field. You know what that means? He's really good at making lay-ups and dunks and a liability on offense when he tries anything else. Just think of him as Mark Madsen except uber-athletic, amazing on defense, and not as fun of a dancer.
Speaking of Ariza, he went to UCLA for a year but I don't really consider him a true Bruin. I think it takes at least 2 years for a guy to endear himself to his college fans. Do Syracuse people feel the same way about Carmelo Anthony? Georgetown fans with The Answer? Trojan fans with O.J. Simpson, I mean O.J. Mayo? Sorry about that, force of habit when O.J. and USC are brought up in the same sentence. I don't know. I'm happy that a former Bruin is excelling in the pros but with guys like Ariza, Love, Westbrook, etc., I just don't have the same attachment that I do with a guy like . . . crap, we don't have too many good pros lately. Ok, I guess I'll develop the attachment. Ariza's the man! So is Baron Davis even though his two year career was shortened due to injury! Sorry, back to the Lake Show.
The rest of the Lakers season will play out one of three ways:
1. The Lakers suffer a major injury like last year and come close but don't win the NBA Championship.
2. The Lakers beat the Celtics in the Finals avenging last year's defeat and giving me a perma-smile.
3. The Lakers beat the LeBrons in a sweep in the Finals making me even happier than if they were to beat the Celtics.
The Lakers just have too many weapons when healthy to lose any game that matters. Last year the Lake Show fell apart because of the Pillsbury doughboy impersonations going on inside the paint on our side of the equation. That won't happen with Andrew Bynum manning the lane. With this year's healthy squad the Lakers pose to many problems for opposing squads. Here are the reasons while the Lakers will win:
1. Kobe Bryant
You know how determined Kobe was last season to win a title and cement his own place in NBA history? Multiply that by 10 for his desire coming into this year. He was embarrassed in the Finals and MUST win this year to satiate his hurting ego. I promise you that the Olympic Gold did nothing to help. He needs to win a title without Shaq. Kobe is the best player in the NBA. A determined Kobe is an absolute beast.
2. Pau Gasol
Last year Pau had to play out of position at the 5. He had to bang around with the big boys and you know that the big Spaniard is counting his lucky stars that he doesn't have to do that again this season. Now he gets to play his natural position at the 4 and rotate from high post to low post depending on who's matched up with him. Put a small on him and he'll take him down low. Put a big on him and he hits a medium range jumper, takes him to the hole, or gives him about 25 up-fakes in one sequence giving the opposing guy a severe case of motion sickness. Pau will once again be a Top-10 or 15 player in the league.
3. Andrew Bynum
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v62-DjyeBDs)
Enough said.
4. Trevor Ariza
He's an X-Factor for the Lakers. The energy he brings and the potential momentum shifts alone can give the Lakers much needed boosts that they haven't had in seasons past. Add to that the fact that you don't want to have him guarding you and you have a quiet reason as to why the Lakers will win the title this season.
5. The bench
Lamar Odom is the sixth man. Is there another team in the NBA that he doesn't start and get big minutes for? Farmar has been looking solid backing up Fish. Sasha is knocking down shots and being generally annoying to whomever he's guarding. The Lakers can throw big bodies in there to beat up on opposing teams by using up fouls. The rest of the guys are doing a good job cheerleading.
6. Phil Jackson
You don't mess with the zen-master.
Again, I don't watch a lot of the NBA other than the Lakers games and the marquee matchups plus the NBA on TNT shows, but from what I've seen, I just can't fathom the Lakers not winning this year with all of the different ways they can beat you. They can go bigger than any team I can think of in recent history. They can go "small" which means they're still tall but quicker than the opposition. They can shoot outside. Clearly they can go high/low. And is there a player in the NBA you'd rather give the ball to with the game on the line down the stretch besides Kobe? To anyone who thinks there is, watch that Olympic Gold Medal game and tell me who was coming up big or even bothering to do anything down the stretch. The only other answer I'll accept if you watch that film is Rudy Fernandez. I'll still take my chances with Kobe.
So there you have it David. I'm sorry for not including your email in yesterday's Mailbag and I hope that this column all to yourself has appeased you.
Kindest regards,
RW
Comments