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Archive for the 'User's Take' Category

The Fringe Lakers

Published by Jim Murdoc on August 11, 2008 in User's Take. 26 Comments

Special thanks to Travis J. Rodgers for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

Coby Karl, Joe Crawford, D.J. Mbenga, Dwayne Mitchell, Sun Yue. What do these players have in common? They have a good chance of being on the L.A. Lakers when the season starts. Well, a better chance than I have of being on the team at least. Then again, none of them are a sure thing. So who has the best chance of making the team, what roles might they see, and what does it all mean for the Lakers?

Coby Karl - “George’s Son” is a 6′5 204 pound Shooting Guard who played in 17 games for the Lakers last season, doing little other than hitting 80% of his Free Throws. He was then given ample opportunity to shine for LA’s Summer League team. The results: we saw that Karl is a gunner who takes stupid shots and gets killed on defense. Of course he didn’t have Bynum backing him up, but Karl’s performance was disappointing to say the least.

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Wake up, Lakers Nation!

Published by Jim Murdoc on June 11, 2008 in User's Take. 33 Comments

Sugarcoat it or tell it like it is? That is the “Hamlet” question for Lakers fans Nationwide.

If you saw Kobe Bryant’s face pregame on national television on Tuesday, you saw him sitting on the bench during warm-ups; rolling his eyes away from the camera. He is a man who wants to tell it like it is.

Our Lakers are in trouble. Gasol has admitted himself, that he is having a Freddy Krueger type of series. Meanwhile, Odom has to keep reinventing a new way to phrase “more aggressive” everytime he gets interviewed and Fisher is as quite as his game and demeanor. These three are our best players right after Kobe, and they do not have their work uniforms on. Let’s not even mention the likes of Vlad and Walton who are playing like their not even employed.

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Welcome to the Rivalry

Published by Jim Murdoc on June 2, 2008 in User's Take. 26 Comments

Special thanks to MPLaker for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

Hollywood has turned to comic book heroes and old television shows to help satisfy the audiences’ demands for entertainment. Movies like Spiderman and Transformers are now some of the biggest moneymaking movies of all time because these movies provide heroes and stories that a majority of adults grew up with. These paying adults collected comic books and ran home after school to watch cartoons about robots from a planet called Cybertron and are more than giddy to revisit their childhood.

Thanks to Hollywood, new generations have been introduced to old favorites and Peter Parker and Optimus Prime are as fascinating now as they were back then. In following this trend, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that the Lakers and Celtics rivalry has returned and piqued the interest of many sports fans world wide.

Not just basketball fans, mind you, but football heads, baseball idols, and soccer players are looking up and taking notice of what is shaking up the NBA courts. Members of the New York Giants, who upset Boston’s beloved Patriots, showed up at several Knicks and New Jersey Nets games, Manny Ramirez was a towel waver at a Celtics game earlier in the season, and David Beckham’s mug is shown more at a Laker game than when he’s playing for his own squad, the L.A. Galaxy.

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An indepth look at what separates Kobe & Lebron

Published by Jim Murdoc on February 23, 2008 in User's Take. 49 Comments

Special thanks to Alvin Chan for submitting his take to the Lakers Nation and giving us the rights to post it on the blog. Once again, if you have your own take and want to see it on TLN, feel free to e-mail it to us at Articles@theLakersNation.com.

I think we’ve all seen the countless articles that circle through the Internet about who is the better player. It seemed as though after the Lakers played the Cavaliers in January, every sports fan was going out of his way to give his own two cents on who was the better player to whomever was willing to listen. I’m going to give you guys a little treat and just tell you, so you don’t have to think of it on your own.

It’s Kobe.

Look, Lebron James is an incredibly gifted player. He passes with the best of them, he is almost unguardable most of the time and his size gives him the defensive advantage on most small forwards. For the record, I love James. I think he’s a great player, but I don’t want you to be confused by the difference between ability and efficiency because players understand the subtleties but it seems as though a lot fans don’t quite get the nuance.

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Quit Kidding Yourself

Published by Jim Murdoc on December 11, 2007 in User's Take. 62 Comments

kidd2.jpg

Special thanks to Justin Page for writing this take and giving us the privilege to add it to TheLakersNation.com. Again, if you write anything Lakers related and you think that it deserves to be put on the Lakers Nation please e-mail us at articles@TheLakersNation.com.

The word is out and the rumors are swirling on where Jason Kidd will land if he gets traded from the New Jersey Nets. Lakers fans and media outlets seem to be on the same page, both would like to see Kidd join the Lakers.

I, and I’m sure you as well, have read article after article about what the Lakers need to offer to pry Kidd away from the Nets. Most of those articles have been written by experts, some by loyal fans. But the one thing that remains constant in those articles is that people are not being realistic about the Lakers acquiring Kidd.

Let’s break this down. First and foremost, “Team president Rod Thorn has admitted to receiving numerous proposals involving Jason Kidd, but is unlikely to pull the trigger on a deal unless he gets an overwhelming offer. Although sources have indicated the Lakers may be interested, they may be reluctant to give up the player the Nets want most, Andrew Bynum, despite coach Phil Jackson’s recent harsh criticism of the 20-year-old center’s conditioning.”

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The Kidd is the Answer

Published by Jim Murdoc on December 10, 2007 in User's Take. 78 Comments

Special thanks to Ahmed Sedam for writing this take and giving us the privilege to add it to TheLakersNation.com. Again, if you write anything Lakers related and you think that it deserves to be put on the Lakers Nation please e-mail us at articles@TheLakersNation.com.

So it appears, Jason Kidd is on the trade block. One of the greatest point guards in the history of basketball, is suddenly available. The Lakers need to take advantage of this golden opportunity. Who says lightening does not strike twice. It appears the Lakers and the Mavericks are the 2 biggest contenders in the sweepstakes.

Jason Kidd is the answer for the Los Angeles Lakers.

First, to all the devout members in Lakers Nation, that are confused, Jason Kidd is not washed up. This man who averaged a triple double in the ‘07 postseason is washed up? The case can be made, that it was in the weak Eastern Conference, however, a triple double is a triple double. Teams never get second chances to acquire big name talent, and this is the Lakers chance, to once again regain the glamour of Showtime.

Last year, the Lakers did have a deal in place with New Jersey to acquire Kidd. The Lakers however backed out, because they did not want to include Bynum. This made a lot of Lakers fans mad, myself included. But seeing the development of Bynum, I mean he is now one of the top prospects in all of basketball, and is starting to thrive as the starting center for the Lakers.

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Odom Needs to Improve for Lakers to Contend

Published by Jim Murdoc on November 26, 2007 in User's Take. 51 Comments

Special thanks to Justin Page for writing this take and giving us the privilege to add it to TheLakersNation.com. Again, if you write anything Lakers related and you think that it deserves to be put on the Lakers Nation please e-mail us at articles@TheLakersNation.com.

Lamar Odom is a difference maker for the Los Angeles Lakers. Using one of Hubie Brown’s phrases; he’s a player that’s going to get you 15 points, 10 rebounds, a blocked shot or two, and he defends the painted area well. Not to mention he’s a great team basketball player.

Before I get into Odom’s inconsistent play as of late, I would like to say I’ve become a big fan of his over the past three plus season’s in which he has sported the purple and gold. He plays with a lot of heart and he loves playing in L.A; he’s stated his desire to retire a Laker on numerous occasions.

Last season he played through a torn Labrum injury that would have put many other players in this league on the shelf. And if he hadn’t returned from that injury, the Lakers probably wouldn’t have snuck into the playoffs last year. Without Odom, the Lakers are a team that would finish anywhere from 9th to 11th in the brutal Western Conference.

Odom missed the first four games of this young season, so he only has nine games under his belt, which means he isn’t in pristine game condition. So by no means am I trampling and pouncing on the panic button with Lamar Odom, as many Laker fans are doing right now, when I say that Odom’s inconsistent early season play is really cause for concern for this team. But I’m very close to pushing that panic button.

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Many Factors are Key to Lakers’ Positive Start

Published by Jim Murdoc on November 23, 2007 in User's Take. 25 Comments

Special thanks to Justin Page for writing this take and giving us the privilege to add it to TheLakersNation.com. Again, if you write anything Lakers related and you think that it deserves to be put TLN please e-mail us at articles@TheLakersNation.com.

odom1.jpgThe winds appear to be changing from cold and blustery to warm and calm in Los Angeles. A 7-4 start with quality wins against what are expected to be top-tier playoff teams in the Suns, Rockets, Jazz, and Pistons have Laker fans optimistic about what was expected to be a tumultuous season just weeks ago.

Phil Jackson clearly has the attention of this team and although he hasn’t solved the Kobe Bryant trade demand; he’s done a great job at diffusing the situation. The entire team is making an effort on the defensive end of the floor despite having two poor games from a defensive rotation standpoint against the Spurs and Hornets. At this point, two poor outings out of 11 games is a major improvement over last season.

In addition, Phil also has Kobe playing defense similar to the way he played this summer with Team USA and Kobe’s still being very efficient on the offensive side of the ball (26.9 ppg; 46% from the field) while shooting less (19.5 field goal attempts per game compared to last year’s 22.8). What’s even more impressive is the fact that his supporting cast is stepping up offensively. In two double digit wins last week against the Pistons and Bulls, Bryant didn’t crack 20 points in either rout.

The make-up of this current team is really intriguing and if you were an outsider and didn’t follow the Lakers you’d most likely look at this roster and see a few nice pieces but not an entire entity. But look closely and you can see the personalities are a big reason for their early success. Kobe obviously is the fiercest competitor in the league and his intensity is unmatched. He called out Bynum who in turn vowed that “this is my year.”

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