A deserving loss

That was great way not to win a game.  Going into the 4^th with a 15 point lead and only scoring 16 points.  Giving up 19 offensive rebounds, getting out rebounded overall, and missing 12 free throws.  Through hustle alone, the Pacers got 23 extra shot attempts.  You can shoot a lower percentage and win when you get that many extra attempts.  The Lakers should be embarrassed with that lack of performance.  Tonight is the second game of a back to back against the Sixers.  Depending on which team shows up it’s a coin toss as to who will win.  I’m thinking Phil chewed their ass last night and they come out focused with more energy. 

Whoa!!

The Lakers won in donminating fashion last night. Apparently Phil chewed their ass at the half and they decided to play. Going into the half they had a 2 point lead. They ended up winning the game by 27. Even with a bad shooting from Kobe, they took care of business.
Dallas on Friday.

Here we go again

The Lakers play the Nets tonight at home.  The Nets are a 500 club at best, but can really push the ball.  If the Lakers play like they did against the Kings it will be the second loss of the season.  The Lakers gave up 33 points to the Kings on turnovers alone.  They need to take care of the ball and control the tempo. Quick shots create fast break opportunities and I’ve noticed teams taking advantage of Gasol and Bynum struggling to get back on defense.  Pound the ball down low and let the bench run and gun.

-Keys to the game as always are rebounding and turnovers

Prediction:  Lakers get the wake up call from Jackson and blow the Nets out by 20+

Disappointed

I have to say that has a crappy game last night.  There is no way the Queens…errr Kings should have been close to winning that game.  Both of their star players are hurt and we played at home.  The fact that Jackson had to put the starters back in the final minutes of the game is ridiculous.  The bench should have been able to finish the game.  But its not only the bench that played bad, but the starters could only match baskets in the first quarter.  The Lakers allowed way too many easy layups and couldn’t defend the pick and roll.  Many they assumed this would be a cupcake game and didn’t come focused.  If that’s the case, this team is in for a rude awakening.  Yeah, we did come away with a win, but seriously, this team is trying to win a championship not just the play offs. 

 

Ugly Win

A win is a win but an ugly win.  The Lakers were outrebounded by a smaller team and allowed a lot of dribble penetration.  16 steals and 11 blocks shows the commitment on the defense, but they have room for improvement.  Gasol had a great game and it could have been better.  Gasol lit up Gooden in the post and for whatever reason, we went away from that.  The Bulls refused to double Gasol and he was making them pay.  I’ll give the Bulls credit for tough interior defense and the surprising play of the bench.    The Lakers missed as least 8 point blank shots under the basket and Kobe had 0 free throws.  Can’t remember the last time that happened.  Rose had a good game and managed to find the holes to the basket on several occasions.  I noticed that Rose is just as fast with the ball as without.  He’s a very dangerous player in that aspect.  The Bulls are a good team and will easily make the play-offs assuming they stay healthy.  As to my prediction, the Lakers were ahead at the half and never looked back but…wrong again.  Next game @ Phoenix

New Big Stick

In an effort to squeeze a few more yards out of my drives, I just bought a new driver. Should be here next week sometime.

Lakers vs. Bulls

Tonight should be a cake walk.  This Chicago team is very young and very inexperienced.  They play the typical small ball and will more that likely try to push the tempo and struggle when the game slows down.  If they can shoot like the Pistons did they should have a good chance of winning.  That’s assuming the whole Laker team shoots like crap.  I don’t see the Bulls having a chance of winning this game.  The Lakers are big inside, deep and versatile.  Ben Gordon is their leading scorer and typically he gets shut down by Kobe.  I’m interested in seeing Rose play.  I’ve watched his numbers in the past week or so and they are solid.  We’ll see what he can do against a much larger front court. 

Keys to the game:

As always, rebounding and turnovers

Limit the amount of penetration and help defense on the drive and kicks.

 

My bold and arrogant prediction:  Game over at the half.  Lakers by 20+ with bench playing close to half the game and putting up 40% of the points.

 

If you could have one wish, what would it be?

I couldn't think of a good poll to post this week so I posted a question .

7-1

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The first loss of the season
was at home to the Pistons. At least it was a loss to a playoff bound
team. Despite getting 26 more shot attempts the Lakers shot poorly
from the field and worse from the 3 point. 16 free throw attempts is
a season low. I don't think they played that bad. Rebounds, assists,
steals, and blocks were the same and only 11 turnovers. The Lakers
were getting good looks at the basket, they just weren't falling.
Also, there were several point blank shots that bounced around the rim and went out. The one stat that stocks out is the free throw
differential. The Pistons had 34 attempts. Apparently the Lakers
weren't as aggressive as the Pistons. I didn't see it that way
watching the game but who knows what the refs are actually looking at.
This is a wake up call for this team. They played ugly the past few
games and still came away with a win. The Pistons are still an elite
eastern team and if the Lakers don't bring it every night, it will be
another disappointing season.

WRONG!!

Thankfully I’ve only predicted one game correct.  The Lakers pulled out another one against a tough Hornets team.  They showed their toughness buy rallying back from 21 points down to get within three.  A Kobe 3 pointer sealed the deal with a little more than a minute left.  I listened to the game on the radio since it wasn’t on TV.  Since I didn’t actually watch the game, I don’t have as much to say.  This is where I get on my soapbox to talk about “blackout” games.

I used to buy the NBA package but the stupid blackout games pissed me off.  So if you’ve never bought a sports package here is a reason not to do it.  First, they advertise that you’ll get all 82 games of your favorite team.  In the fine print it says subject to blackout and you don’t know what games will show and which ones won’t.  All the Laker home games are on Fox so that means you buy the package for 41 away games.  This doesn’t include the games that will be televised on ESPN, TNT and NBC.  So now it’s down to say…20 games?  I got the package a couple of years ago and of those 20 games about 5 were blacked out.  What a deal $180 for 15 games.  Now I’m a B-ball junky but mostly Laker games.  If you were a Memphis fan, the package would be worth it because Memphis doesn’t get much love from the networks basically because they suck.  So if you’re a fan of a sucky team it might be worth it.  I think the cable company should offer pay per view for each game.  They could charge $10 a game.  Just a thought.

 

Western Conference Finals Preview

Lakers @ Hornets

According to a majority of the analysts, this is the predicted match-up for the western finals.  I would have to say it’s a toss up between New Orleans and Utah.  Looking at the stats for the both teams, the Lakers would have the edge in just about every category except assists.  Chris Paul accounts for about 75% of the teams assists.  In the past, the Lakers have had problems defending penetration and the quick slashing guards.  Tonight will be a good test to see if the portion of their game has improved.  Last year this team really beat us up on the boards and around the perimeter.  The pick-up of Posey will make covering the perimeter that much more important.  Although better on paper, the Lakers are playing the second game of a back to back.  I think the Rockets were a good example for what to expect for the rest of the year.  Teams are going to come at them with everything they got.  The Lakers will have a huge target on their back till the end of the season.  Being undefeated only magnifies things.

Prediction: Lakers are going to come out flat, falling behind early.  Lose the rebounding game and turn the ball over 20+ times.  Gulp…Dare I say it?  Hornets by 6.

6-0

Despite having fewer assists and blocks and being out rebounded, the Lakers grinded out another win.  It wasn’t pretty, but it’s another win.  Dallas came out with more energy and that is what kept them in the game.  On the boards they were much more aggressive and that turned into second chance points and fast break opportunities.  Dallas lead pretty much lead the whole game, but the Lakers stayed within striking distance.  The one thing that stuck out about Dallas is the fact they have no inside game besides the low post turnaround jumper.  That is where they lost the game.  I’ll give it to Dallas, they shot the skin off the ball for 3 ½ quarters.  Down the stretch, you have to play a slow down half court game.  In the closing minutes of the game, Dallas was forced into contested jump shots.  They made a few, but in the end they went cold and that cost them the game.  Their starting 5 and 1 off the bench were all in double figures but the other four were 0,0,0,3.  This team has no bench.  Times like these really make that Kidd trade even more unbelievable. 

 

iPhone

The iPhone is officially gone.  I returned it this weekend.  I loved just about everything about the phone.

• Easy to use
• The contacts, calendar, and e-mail applications synced to the Macbook seamlessly
• Setting up multiple e-mail accounts was easy.  I had a Yahoo, Gmail, and my work e-mail all going to the phone.
• The iPod integrated into the phone was great.  The phone came with ear buds that doubled as a hands free.  You could answer a phone call, pause and forward a track all from one button.
• When connected to Wi-Fi, the browser worked really well.  The pinching and grabbing of the screen made surfing really easy.

So with all of these great features, why did I return it?  The phone function of the iPhone sucked.  Its supposed to be a phone first and a nifty gadget second.  I got more dropped calls in the three weeks I had the phone than the two years I had my other phone.  A few years ago I wouldn’t have cared, but with two young kids, when I need to get or make a call I need a phone first and gadget second. 

I will say that after having a great piece of technology such as the iPhone, it will hard to go back to my “normal” phone.  I’m looking into the iPod touch as a replacement.  All of the features of the iPhone plus better battery life minus the “phone” part.  But, apparently you can convert the iPod touch to make phone calls…..huummmmmm

5-0

I didn’t get a chance to do a pre-game blog for the Houston game.  I would have predicted a close game.  That wasn’t even close to what happened last night.  The Lakers started out slow and were down by 12 at the end of the first.  The second quarter was the beginning of the run.  The Lakers held the Rockets to 5 points in the final 7 minutes of the second to take a 2 point lead into the half.  The second half was all Lakers holding the Rockets to 34 points.  Other than a slow start, I don’t think we could have played any better.

 

Game Numbers:

All the numbers were dominating.  Better from the field, the 3 pt, Free throw, out rebounded, more steals, more blocks, and fewer turnovers.

The first correct prediction

After rambling in several posts about how the game will go, I actually guessed, err predicted the outcome. I'm not expecting it to happen often so I will enjoy it when it does happen.
After a disappointing first half. It was a flashback to a few seasons back. Kobe came out ready to score. That is normally a bad way to start a game. At the half, 36% from the field and 27% from 3 and 66% from the free throw and only down by 4. Rebounds were equal as well as turnovers and steals. The Clippers were sharing the ball much better. I'm still wondering how the Lakers managed to keep the game close.

The 2nd half was much different. The Clippers stayed close through the third quarter only down by 4 going into the fourth. The turning point of the fourth quarter was at the 8 minute mark. The score was tied and the Lakers turned up the defense and held the Clippers scoreless for the next 7 minutes. Although the defense was impressive, this game was clearly won at the free throw line. The Lakers struggled shooting 39% from the field but remained aggressive going to the hoop. It was an ugly game but as Rick Fox said, "you have to win those ugly games".

Game Numbers:

30 more free throw attempts

10 more rebounds

12 steals and turnovers

Lakers/Clippers II

Another match-up with the Clippers should mean another win.  The Clippers finally have Camby in the lineup.  I don’t think it will matter.  I caught Camby’s first game of the season and he was a bit rusty.  It also looked like his heel was bothering him as he wasn’t as explosive and aggressive as he’s know to be.  He’s listed as questionable as is Davis.  If they don’t have Davis, things will go from bad to worse. 

 

Bynum injured his shoulder in practice bumping into Mihm.  He says that it s a little “tight”.  Well, it better loosen up because he hasn’t looked good in the first three games.  I think it’ll take at least a dozen or so games for him to get into the full swing of things.  Unfortunately, it’ll take the press and so called analysts (excluding myself) half the time to start the speculation that the Bynum contract extension was a bad move.  I’m glad the Lakers signed Bynum and I think they got a deal assuming Bynum stays healthy. 

 

This is the last of the cupcake games.  The next four games are against playoff bound teams.  Home @ Houston, a back to back against Dallas & New Orleans on the road and home against Detroit.  Will we go 4-0 in this stretch?  Probably not.  My prediction is 3-1.  New Orleans is a tough match-up on any night.  Coming out with a win on the second game of a back to back with New Orleans having three days rest is a stretch.  Let’s just say I will be impressed with a win.  I’ll take a 1-3 record as long as they win that game.

 

Tonight’s prediction:  Lakers by 18

11 lbs 2 oz

In a non basketball related topic, Cole had a doctor appointment Thursday and chunked it up another pound in a week.

Nuggets/Lakers

The Lakers can go ahead and notch up another win.  This Denver team was no match for the Lakers last year being swept in the playoffs.  The addition of Bynum and the subtraction of Camby for the Nuggets spells doom.  The fact that Denver will likely be playing without Melo on the second game of a back to back coming from playing the Clippers doesn't help.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, Camby is a solid role player and plays good defense.  The knock on the Nuggets last year was the fact that they didn't play defense.  Well, that was directed at everyone but Camby.  So what does Denver do?  They give Camby to the Clippers for basically nothing.  This will be a good test of the Laker interior defense.  Iverson is cutting and slashing guard.  It's been proven time after time that he can't win games by himself, and if he gets shut down, then what?  The Nuggets will play small ball starting two power forwards.  Nene and K-Mart aren't exactly the most aggressive rebounders and pair that with that fact that are matching up with Gasol and Bynum, and you have a miss match on both ends of the court.  But....the turnover prone Lakers will have to take care of the ball because Denver can work well in the open court.  Denver managed to rack up 12 steals against the Jazz in their opener.  If they can manage 20+ they may have a chance.  

Prediction:  Lakers by 20+ in another blowout.

2-0

I’m not sure where to start with last night’s game.  It was the second game of a back to back.  Sure, they were both at Staples, but typically on opening night a little more energy may be expended due to the off season.  That showed in the first quarter.  The Clippers came out of the gate with a lot of energy.  They were tough inside and managed to strip the ball from Kobe 3-4 times.  Their interior defense was tough and they got out and ran the floor.  If it weren’t for a last second three, it would have been a tie after the first quarter.  In the middle of the second quarter, a 14-0 run was the beginning of the end.  I think the Clippers ran into problems when the bench came in.  Suddenly the game went from a half court set to a run and gun.  I give a lot of credit to the bench.  I was cussing them in the Finals last year because they didn’t show up.

 

Numbers of the game:

55- bench points

7- players in double figures

19- rebound margin

16- turnovers

52.6%-3-point percentage (actually higher than from the field)

 

Next game Sat @ Denver

Lakers Win!

Last night’s win is a good start to the season. Unfortunately, the Blazers didn’t play nearly as well as I had thought they would. Roy started out the game 0-9 and Aldridge was a no show. Oh well, its only one game. I’m sticking to my prediction that the Blazers will make the play-offs. I’m going to hold off making any judgments on Oden. He will carry the curse of the No.1 overall pick and all the criticism that goes with it. Come on, the guy’s 20 years old and played one year of college.

As far as the Lakers are concerned, defense was great last night. A couple of numbers stand out in the box score, turnovers, blocks & rebounds. The Lakers looked good inside taking care of the defense boards and racking up 7 blocks. Hopefully, establishing an inside presence will keep those quick slashing guards from getting to the basket for easy lay-ups. The turnover damage was 15 and that’s right where they should be. I can remember at least 2-3 unforced turnovers so in reality, its more like 12 turnovers. If the Lakers continue to take care of the ball, the wins will start to pile up. Scoring was evenly distributed. Three players in double figures, four a basket away from double figures, and 36 bench points. Bynum looks like he’s still trying to get his timing and Walton still recovering from an ankle injury, made a quick appearance. Looks like things can only get better.

Lakers/Clips

This should be an interesting year for the Clips. Typically the joke of the league, the addition of Davis and Camby will be interesting. I can't say enough about Camby. He can block, rebound and despite a funny release, can bury the midrange jumper. Is he a direct replacement for Brand? Absolutely not. But the pick-up cost the Clips nothing in cap space so why not. The Clips will probably be better than the Nuggets but that still won't earn than a playoff spot. I think the Clips will improve over last year. I'm not sold on the 2 and 3 spots. Mobley isn't getting younger or quicker. This will be Thornton's second year. I can't say much about him because I don't know much. He will be splitting time with Davis.

Game Predictions:
Kobe torches Mobley for 25+
The Laker bench show it's depth in the second quarter
Davis will look to run & gun but find out the cast around him is much less athletic

Keys to the game:
The Laker interior D needs control the amount of damage that Davis can do off the dribble.
Rebounding on offense and defense will be key. Camby and Kaman are great role players and work hard in the trenches. Bynum and Gasol will get the better of the match-up but if they get lazy, tehy will get out-wroked. The Clips will probably want to run and gun. I don't think Davis's game is suited for the half court so they'll be looking to kick the ball out and start the break. If the Lakers can control the tempo, the Clips will probably resort jumpers. Our weakness will come if we get sucked into an up tempo game. Don't get me wrong, the Lakers can run the break with the best of them, but turnovers will make and break this team.

County Games Golf

This is pre-post to the upcoming annual County Games Golf.  My work has an annual golf tournament to determine who will represent the County at Corporate Challenge.  Corporate Challenge is local to the Las Vegas area.  The event replicates the Olympics.  It encompasses all the local public agencies as well as participating private businesses.  The County sends the first place team to Corporate Challenge and the second place team is the alternate.  

I have entered the event the past two years.  Typically its at Silverstone.  http://www.silverstonegolfclub.com  The first year my partner and I came in third.  What a day.  50 degrees 20-25 mph winds all day.  For those of you who golf, you know what 20 -25 mph wind can do to the ball.  Last year we won the event and were able to attend Corporate Challenge.  We shot -7 under but that was hardly competitive.  The winning team ended up shooting -12 under.  As a note, the format is a two-man scramble.  I wish I could shoot -7.

This years event has been relocated to a different course.  http://www.bouldercreekgc.com  This is a really nice course with three different 9's.  It's a typical desert type course but it has always been in great shape every time I've played there. The tournament is set up to play from the whites which cuts off close to 600 yds.  Maybe the 635 par 5 will be reachable.  We'll see.  

Open Season

The Lakers open the season against the Blazers on Tuesday.  I've been waiting for B-ball season to start since we lost in the Finals.  I can't stand baseball and football is good enough to follow till B-ball season starts.  The Olympics was a great teaser but having Kobe, D Wade, LeBron, and Howard on the same team is fun to watch till the slaughter starts.

Anyway, on to my totally biased view of the upcoming game.  A note before I start.  I'm using the ESPN depth chart to view the prospective match-ups at each position.  

At the point, you have Fisher vs Blake.  I'm giving this to Fish.  For one, I doubt Blake will be playing the majority of minutes.  From the looks of it, the rookie Bayless may be finishing games.

I'll make this disclaimer now.  With the exception of a few players, Kobe will always have the advantage over the other 2 guard.  enough said.  But...Roy has a ton of game.  I'm not sure where he is with his knee.  Prior to surgery, Roy was excelling into pre-superstar status.  This year may place him up a level.

At the 3 it shows Batum starting.  Don't know anything about this dude or dud.  I do know that Outlaw had a couple monster games against us last year.  Assuming Outlaw starts, an Odom vs Outlaw is an interesting match-up.  Knowing that few can match Odom's versatility, defensively, Odom may have a hard time containing Outlaw on the O-boards.  On the offensive side, Odom has a definite advantage.  Given Odom's tendency to be radically inconsistent, I'll call this a push.  If, for whatever reason, Jackson decides to start V-Rad, I'll give the advantage to us considering the chip on Odom shoulder should jump start his game to drop 15, 12, & 6 on whoever they put in front of him.

At the 4 and 5 I'm calling a push.  The Aldridge/Oden and Bynum/Gasol tandems are both a work in progress.  On a good night Aldridge can play the part of a monster and outplay Gasol.  But in the long run, Gasol will put up more consistent numbers.  Although the soft play of Gasol gets annoying.  I'm not sure what to think of Oden.  He was great in college for one year and that's all you can go on.  Bynum on the other hand showed the skills of a future all-star.  The only question for both is health and how they will jell with their counter part at the 4.

I'm still concerned with the quantity and quality of turnovers.  Several bad turnovers in a short stretch can really swing the game the other way.  I think that will be an ongoing theme for this years team.  Can they protect the ball?  This team loves to share the ball and when they do, there's flashbacks of the Showtime era Lakers.  If the turnovers can be limited to 10-12 a game, they will be very tough to beat.

I don't think the critics are giving this Portland squad enough credit.  They won 15+ games in a row last year.  You can't do that without having something special. When these teams meet there is an underlining rivalry dating back to the Western Conference finals in which Portland was a quarter away from the Finals.   I can't think of a tougher place for the Lakers to play than at Portland.  Since the game is @ Staples, overall I give the advantage to the Lakers.

Score 105-96

Cole "slaw" Ono

A recent picture of our ten pound monster. Cole had an appointment
this week and he had gained two pounds since birth. Makes sense
considering all he does is eat and sleep.

Fro

Big hair

Lakers 2008-09

So far I have managed to watch three preseason games.  Typically Sarah and I made a tradition out of catching the game that is in Vegas every year.  We didn't go this year.  We were blessed with the birth of Cole.

This was what I looked like towards the end of last years title run.  Needless to say, it was a tough series to watch.  I'm happy for KG but that's about it.  I don't care for anyone else on the team.  

This years Laker squad is almost identical to last year with the exception of Turiaf being traded to the Warriors.  I liked Turiaf, but like most PF/SF out of college, he was too slow to play SF and too small to play PF.  I liked his energy.  Sarah and I caught him outside after a preseason Laker game here and he was kind of an A-hole to us.  That turned me off a little bit.  Not nearly as much as it did Sarah, but it was disappointing.  I agree with the Lakers not matching the Warriors offer.  The squad is stacked with forwards so he won't be missed all that much.  The major addition to this years squad is Bynum.  He showed major promise in the few games he played last year.  Pair him with Gasol at the 4 and you have a monster front court.  This may present some concerns in terms of spacing.  That will be discussed in the coming months.  The talk right now is bringing Odom off the bench.  WTF?  Odom is one of the most versatile players in the league.  I believe he can play all 5 positions if need be.  Maybe that's his downside.  Jack of all trades, master of none.  That will make this years team that much more dangerous.  NBA champs?  Maybe, but its still too early.  I think winning the Pacific should be a lock.  My preseason predictions for the playoffs are:

1.  Lakers

2.  Hornets

3.  Jazz

4.  Rockets

5.  Spurs

6.  Dallas

7.  Suns

8.  Blazers

   

Where is this going?

So, its been several months without a new post.  I was struggling to come up with a "theme" for the blog.  Tyn Kup is a variation of the spelling of "Tin Cup" one of my favorite golf movies.  So I have come to the conclusion to focus this site on a few things.  Family, golf and misc. rambling.  Oh, and since basketball season is right around the corner, obviously this will become Laker central for complaining about the players, refs and anything B-ball related.  In addition, I just purchased an iPhone.  I'll be posting random facts or observations about Apples attempt to satisfy the worlds need for instant gratification through an electronic device.  It works for me.

Dinner at the buffet

We had dinner at Treasue Island with Sarah's aunt and uncle from Washington.

This is Ava's typical dinner set up. A 4 to 1 toy to food ratio. She ended dinner by hugging the cotton candy. I'll get video next time.

Ava