Posts Tagged ‘los angeles lakers’
6.02.10 9:32 pm by Pat
LA vs Boston once again! Sorry LeBron, but we are about to witness, for the second time in three years, one of the best rivalries in all of sports. In 2008 the Celtics embarrassed the Lakers in a game six blowout and several Lakers admit that it still stings when they think about it. If you’ve read anything about the series so far, undoubtedly you’ve heard people compare and contrast the 2008 versions of these teams with the current version. A few differences in personnel here and there, but the core of both teams is still intact.
If you’ve read any of my prior NBA related article, it’s no secret that I am neither a Laker fan nor a Kobe Bryant fan. But, for this article I’m going to try my best to set aside my bias (did I mention I’m a lifetime KG fan?) and write my analysis from a neutral perspective, as much as possible. If you want bias, you can look to a known Celtics fan Bill Simmons and follow his tweets during the finals or you can read this article by Charley Rosen who wrote a very Laker friendly preview this week. Not to go on a tangent, but at least Bill Simmons doesn’t try to hide his bias. Charley Rosen called Derrick Fisher the “best position-defender at point” without adding a “…just kidding” afterwards. A quick peek at his Wikipedia page revealed that he was an assistant to Phil Jackson during his CBA days in the 1980′s and co-authored a book with him. We’re on to you Charley.
Anyway, instead of writing a match-up review or an elaborate prediction detailing how I came to my conclusion, I’m going to try something different. I’m going to do a brief write up on what I would do if I were coaching either team. I’ll provide my prediction after my team by team plan so I can go on record with my guess. I’ve been horribly wrong so far, so I can’t really lose at this point.
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4.05.10 11:16 am by Brian
Here at The Sports Geeks, it isn’t all just sporting news and analysis; we like to touch on how sports play a role in other aspects of daily life as well. For this article, I’m taking a look at EA Sports’ Madden NFL video game franchise and a potential opportunity for this year’s demo to help teach fans about this year’s new playoff overtime rules.
Edit: Thanks go out to PastaPadre, a leader in the sports video game community, for mentioning this story in his April 13th, 2010 write-up on the Madden NFL 11 demo.
In the video game business, few games are as sure a sale as EA Sports’ yearly incarnation of the Madden NFL series. Since an exclusivity deal was struck between the NFL and EA Sports in December of 2004, the series has been the only officially-licensed video game representation of the league. While this move angered fans of the NFL 2K Sports series of football games, sales of Madden NFL have not shown any signs of slowing down; such is the safety of being the only licensed product on the market.
With the introduction of the current console generation, the Madden NFL team has put out a downloadable game demo on the online services for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 before the retail release of the full title for the past few versions of their title. Some might argue the necessity of such a demo—given that consumers surely know from year-to-year whether or not they’ll be making a purchase—but in some ways the demo has come to serve the role of a “teaser,” satisfying the appetites of gamers waiting for the new iteration of the game as the season approaches.
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8.03.09 2:13 pm by Matt
During All-Star 2009, LeBron threatened to “clean up” the Dunk Contest. He hinted that if the rules were tightened up and he talked some fellow superstars into it, he’d participate.
Here’s the thing: sure, LeBron can jump high. REALLY high. But there’s just a limit to how high people can jump. Through the legs and a variant thereof is the go-to move in the finals every year, which leads to boredom, which led to a push toward creativity, costumes, and chicanery of all sorts.
Since LeBron and his superstar competitors can only repeat the through-the-legs so many times, I’m here to bring some ideas to the table for an All-Star filled Dunk Contest.
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Posted in Lists, NBA, Videos, What To Watch | View Comments
7.26.09 10:02 am by Matt
NBA analysis seems to consist of relating every move to the Summer of 2010, dreaming of players for teams to get during the Summer of 2010, or just talking about the Summer of 2010 for no other reason. The Summer of 2010 probably has a player card on ESPN.com. “The Knicks are smart to pick up those contracts that will expire in the Summer of 2010 so they can make a run at LeBron James.” “That’s a great trade for the Pistons, clearing that cap space aimed at Dwyane Wade in the Summer of 2010.”
Well I say PHOOEY. Here’s why we’re in for a big, massive, giant, huge BUMMER of 2010:
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7.11.09 11:37 am by Pat
I’ve been following the NBA trades and free-agent signings as closely as I can and, needless to say, there have been some interesting moves. I said that during this year’s playoffss there were a few legit teams against a handful of pseudo-contenders. This upcoming season promises to be the opposite of that as several teams have made roster changes that put them in contention for the crown. The teams everyone seems to be talking about are the Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Spurs, Cavaliers, Nuggets, and now Mavericks with the Shawn Marion acquisition.
The defending champions made the most publicized move of the offseason so far by acquiring Ron Artest and bringing some toughness and defensive tenacity to LA, while providing a scoring threat as well. In the process, the Lakers lost Trevor Ariza in what essentially turned out to be an LA-Houston swap as these two players just traded teams. Laker players are eager to sing the praises of the move and are declarining that another three peat is on the way. Others, including most of the sports writers outside of Los Angeles, don’t know if it was the best option. I tend to agree with the latter. Artest is undoubtedly a better scorer and more physically intimidating player than Ariza. He will help bring some much needed toughness to the Lakers and has years of relatively consistent production/performance in comparison to Ariza. Ariza was heralded as a great three point shooter in the playoffs, which he was at 47%. But he shot just 32% from deep during the regular season. Which number is a better representation of where he will shoot this year? I don’t know, but I’m leaning towards going with Artest on the offensive end.
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7.06.09 12:37 pm by Pat
Despite being on vacation for a week at a rather remote lake in northern Minnesota, I was able to stay in touch with the sports world while away. The following post is going to cover a variety of topics that I wanted to touch on. There are lots of things that get on my nerves, and sporting events are no exception. If I may go back a week or so in the sports world, I’d like to discuss the Ricky Rubio situation that has arisen. After being drafted 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the same guy who said he’d play in the NBA “for free” and that getting out of his current contract wouldn’t be a problem, now is talking about remaining in Spain for one or two more years. Couple that with him saying that Minnesota is “too cold” and skipping the Timberwolves post-draft press conference, it looks as though Rubio has no intention of putting on a Wolves jersey anytime soon, if at all. While this situation bothers me in part because I am a Timberwolves fan, I would dislike this situation regardless of the team. I still hold a grudge against Eli Manning for refusing to play for the Chargers and think that Yi Jianlian and his agents were wrong in how they scoffed at the idea of playing in Milwaukee. The point of the draft is that the best players go to the worst teams. Demanding a trade or refusing to play defeats the purpose of the draft and, in my opinion, lowers the integrity of the sport in question.
Looking at the Rubio situation, it is obvious that he would not balk if he were to play in New York (which can be cold as well, Ricky). All I heard about from Rubio was that the NBA was his dream and he was excited to play, but once he found out he was headed to Minnesota, he changed his song. This is nothing more than a desire to make as much money as possible. New York is not a better team than Minnesota, but endorsements may come quicker for him there. There are some who believe that the big name players belong in the big markets because it “helps the NBA”. My question in return is that if a big name player refuses to play in a small market in favor of a New York or Los Angeles, how does the small franchise survive and thrive? If every college/foreign star heads right for a large market, how does the NBA expect to make money from the small market teams? Do they just bank on a sellout when the Knicks or Lakers come to town? Or should the NBA allow the small market teams to become glorified junior varsity teams who are perenially whipping posts for the big teams on their run to the playoffs? The draft is one of the few things that instills hope in a franchise and its fanbase, and landing a big name player brings some excitement which, in turn, sells tickets and merchandise.
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