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Archive for the 'Tim's Take' Category

Caron: A Laker for Life?

Published by Tim-4-Show on February 18, 2008 in Tim's Take. 152 Comments

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Last night and early this morning, the rumors began swelling that Mitch was not done with his “tweaking” of the Lakers.

Before Andrew Bynum went down, many fans were pleading with the front office to do not much more than a minor “tweak.”

Then we witnessed the Pau Gasol blockbuster that spawned an avalanche of Western Conference trades in an attempt to match the fire power of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Even after the trade onslaught, our dream line-up includes two seven footers, a six-ten rebounding machine, the best in the game, and one of the most under rated point guard role players in the NBA. In other words, our line-up would still match up favorably against the top tier teams in the west, and perhaps even the Celtics of the east.

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Our Time is Now

Published by Tim-4-Show on February 1, 2008 in Tim's Take. 109 Comments

Much to the chagrin of Lakers fans who pleaded for the front office to only “tweak” the roster, Mitch Kupchak has officially pulled off a blockbuster in mid-season.

Effectively, this trade means that management is striving to “win now.”

In dissecting this trade, it’s plainly obvious that the front office feels they can win an NBA title this year.

We’ve seen Javaris Crittenton in action. He has so much talent that we’ve nicknamed him “Hollywood”. His athletic prowess and, more importantly, his determination made him an optimistic jewel in the eyes of the Lakers Nation. We were all looking forward to his second and subsequent years. He’s extremely versatile and most of us felt he would become an All-Star in the NBA. He was certainly a good player to have around as Kobe enters his 30s.

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Death of Brokeback Mountain

Published by Tim-4-Show on January 23, 2008 in Tim's Take. 10 Comments

The last time we played the Spurs, I made the statement that the Lakers wanted to “kill” Brokeback Mountain. Well, I didn’t mean that literally…

The passing of Heath Ledger is certainly a shock to this writer. I also find myself in a reflective state, pondering the meaning of life and what mine will be all about when it’s said and done.

On the bright side, the Lakers were able to defeat Denver like they were a junior varsity high school squad. I’m sure Melo’s ankle only helped us win, but it still felt nice. We went on our big run by playing small ball: Farmar at PG, Fisher at SG, Bryant at F, Lamar at PF, and Turiaf at C.

Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling we’ll see more of that line-up in the coming weeks as we wait for our players to rehab their injuries.

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To Boo, or Not to Boo

Published by Tim-4-Show on January 20, 2008 in Tim's Take. 87 Comments

Long before the topic de jour came about, the Lakers Nation has debated the abilities of Kwame Brown amongst themselves. There was once a day when the crowd at Staples chanted “Kwame! Kwame!” Obviously, those days are long gone. Now the Lakers Nation is feuding back and forth about the appropriateness of booing a home player.

In the aftermath of Thursday night’s debacle chastising words came forth from fans in all four corners of the globe, the media pundits, and even from the Lakers themselves. This was to be expected. Contrary to prevailing wisdom, the boos to Kwame were also to be expected.

Let’s begin by stating the obvious. Caron Butler was a fan favorite and was our number two player in the 2005 season. We were a lottery team that year, but Caron’s inspired play made many of us fans feel hopeful. Then, Lakers management traded him for Kwame Brown. Having grown accustomed to shrewd trades by our management staff, many of us fans held out hope that Brown’s abilities would blossom for the Lakers.

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Young Guns Want to Kill Brokeback Mountain

Published by Tim-4-Show on December 13, 2007 in Tim's Take. 15 Comments

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On November 13th, the Lakers were slaughtered by the San Antonio Spurs. True to Texas and the old western mythology, the game became known in the Lakers Nation as the Brokeback Mountain game.

Out of four quarters, the Lakers held San Antonio under 25 points only one time. It was in the first quarter when the Spurs scored only 21 points and held the Lakers to a paltry 15! For you math majors out there, that’s barely a point a minute… for an entire team.

The Lakers were held under 25 in all quarters except the final quarter when garbage play entered in.

The Young Gun Lakers, led by Billy the Kid, I mean, Kobe Bryant have shared some legendary moments against San Antonio. In game 1 of the 2001 Western Conference finals, Billy the Kid lit up the Spurs defense for 45 points. To compliment that game, the Lakers dealt with a 14 point deficit and a Phil Jackson ejection to rally from behind and sweep the Spurs on their home court in game 2. Duncan punished the Lakers with 40 points of his own and Kobe had 28 including the game clinching three pointer that put the icing on the 13-5 run to come from behind in that game.

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Where Do We Go From Here?

Published by Tim-4-Show on December 6, 2007 in Tim's Take. 53 Comments

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After last night’s epic battle, the bottom three teams in the Western Conference are now separated by a mere half game. The lower echelon consists of the Lakers (11-8), Denver (11-8), the Warriors (10-8), and followed by consensus playoff contender Houston (10-9). It’s not as though the teams with better records are a picnic to move beyond either.

If the season continues at this pace, our team will squeak into the playoffs and face a very formidable opponent in the first round. The question will not be, “can we win” but rather “will we win?” The Lakers have the ability to beat most teams on a given day, but winning a seven game series followed by another seven game series followed by another and yet another is quite a
different story than winning one game on a given day.

I posed the question earlier in the season, “Do the Lakers Have What it Takes?”

Nearly 20 games into the season, you can forecast our chances at succeeding in the four series gauntlet leading to an NBA title with some decent accuracy.

This article has been three full weeks in the making because I didn’t want to be accused of having knee-jerk reactions.

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The Lakers Nation: “We Want Revenge!”

Published by Tim-4-Show on November 20, 2007 in Tim's Take. 40 Comments

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We all originally came to this site for one reason: to “GetGarnett.” Now the time has come to get back at Garnett. Though we have two more games before the big finale this week, we can certainly discuss how we might stack up against the most hyped team in the NBA.

It has been roughly 15 years since a game against the Celtics actually mattered as much as it does this coming Friday. Some of us had grown apathetic towards the Celtics until this past summer when former Celtics Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge, and even Larry Bird himself gave the Lakers Nation a collective “screw you.”

Just in case we need some reminders of why this upcoming game is important, consider the fact that the Lakers and Celtics have competed against each other ten times in the NBA finals. Of those ten meetings for the title, the Lakers have only defeated the Celtics twice, and those were the last two meetings in the 80’s. Of the eight times that the Celtics crushed our hopes, half of those times were devastating game 7 defeats.

If you thought losing to Phoenix two seasons ago in game seven was horrible, just imagine what it was like when we lost eight times to the Celtics in a row and four of those were heart crushing game 7 losses.

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Do the Lakers Have what it Takes?

Published by Tim-4-Show on November 12, 2007 in Tim's Take. 89 Comments

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Winning an NBA title is no easy task. In the last 20 seasons, only 6 franchises have won the championship. That same ratio holds true for the entire span of NBA history, because in 60 NBA seasons, only 18 franchises have had the privilege to hoist a championship banner.

Fortunately for you, the Lakers have had their share of titles. However, the past does not equal the future or present. We as fans have a tendency to think that winning NBA titles is our birthright when actually the complexion of the league has changed dramatically.

Almost every championship caliber team has had at least one player that transcends the generation and lives in the annals of the Hall of Fame. Our Lakers team has one of those players.

These championship teams have also tended to be great defensive teams. Sure, there have been a few that weren’t noted for their stellar defense, but we can certainly say that a top defensive team has a much greater chance at a title than an average defensive team. Right now, our team is displaying the effort on defense that will bring in many more wins than losses. The team defense is accented by Kobe Bryant, who is playing defense at a level that will win games and win him the defensive player of the year should he continue at this pace. The rest of the team has followed his lead. Still, they have a lot of room for improvement, and that’s the good news.

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