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.