Thank you Pau Gasol....

2014 marks the last season of Pau Gasol at Lakers. He won 2 championship rings long with Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson while he was with the Lakers.



His new deal which is worth 22+Millions over 3 years will send him to Chicago Bulls.

Am I happy as a Lakers fan? Not really because our front court is almost empty besides Jordan Hill. Ryan Kelly and Sacre? MEH. Can we attract anyone else? I doubt.

Am I happy for Pau? Yes! He has been on the trading block news for the longest time since their fail attempt at the 3-peat where Phil left along with it. I believe Bulls will be a good places for him considering how much he enjoys moving the ball, and hopefully the young blood and the change of environment will give him a new life.

Thank you Pau. It was fun while it lasted. Good luck!

Lakers, bouncing back to domination?

My Brud DT's post reminded me that I haven't been writing for this blog for the longest time.  So what happened? Maybe the passion of writing basketball left the same time Kobe and the Lakers walked off the court torn and broken. As a sports fan, it's hard to see your own team suffer and not just a little scratch but a major blow in this case.

How can we allow the Lakers to suffer such humiliation? It's the gold and purple we are talking about, we are the kings and we dominate.

What does it mean to dominate?

To dominate means on any days, ANY, when your friend ask you "Lakers vs Utah" - Lakers. "Lakers vs Bulls" - Lakers. It's almost like a faith, I don't even care who Lakers is playing against, I don't even care if someone is not feeling well or the opponent is having a 17 games winning streak, it's the Lakers.

"Dominating means we believe we will win, we know we will win regardless of who we are playing against."   

Google 72-10 and you will see the meaning of dominating.

Still the best NBA record. Jordan's 2nd 3peat

92' Bulls: 67-15 - this is dominating.

86'-87' Lakers - dominating.

71'-72' Lakers - Longest winning streak before MJ and the guys took over.

3-peat, Kobe and Shaq.

What does it means to the sports? More haters? More bangwagoners? Boring games as it's all "expected"? Do we want to see a dominating team?

Do we have a team like this as of now? Are the heat a dominating team? Yes, they are a good team, they win games, big games but are they dominating? They won 2 rings back to back and now they are chasing their very 1st 3peat and the only thing in their way now is Pacers and Either OKC or the Spurs.

They have had it easy, Bobcats and Nets for their 1st 2 round of the playoffs but that doesn't means they are not a good team. Like it or not they are going down onto the hall of fame. I'm a hater and I'm proud to say that.

THIS... Still hating it.


This is sports and we don't have a sure win but to dominate the game is possible and that means a lot of work. It's the same thing in life, regardless of what we do, if we want to be good we have to put in the effort and make things happen.

How much time does Kobe and the Lakers have to bounce back? Is Love the solution? Will a new coach be able to turn the team around? How much can the Lakers do in the coming off season?

IT'S OPENING NIGHT!

After months of talking and uncertainty during the off seasons, NBA IS BACK!

On opening night we have 3 games

ORL : IND
CHI : MIA
LAC : LAL

Frankly, I wasn't at all interested in the ORL vs IND game. All eyes on CHI vs MIA because of this man. All talks about him since he was out for 15 months and we want to watch how he will lead the bulls against our defending champion - Miami Heat. (I feel a sharp pain every time I say this.)

D Rose #TheReturn

How did it go? CHI 95 MIA 107. The Heat's D was madness and the way they play as a team and moving the ball was beautiful. I know it's too early to say but these guys are in the zone.

Is there a better way to start the season than having a derby game? LAC vs LAL. We all know Kobe is still out, Steven Nash was more like Stiff Neck for now and the rest of the players are just the rest of the players. To make things worst, LAC has gotten Doc Rivers but guess what? Looks like Doc have to start the season with a L.

LAC 103 : LAL 116.

To be honest I didn't like how the starters were playing in the earlier part of the game. A lot of run and gun and we see players taking jump shot and Gasol taking 3s. And yes he did make it. But I don't believe that is the best for the team to have a 7ft shooting from outside instead of showing some paint presence. The ball movement was pretty good from the 2nd half onwards and players like Farmar, Hill, Henry and Meeks just started to light things up. The team ended the game with 5 bench players with double figures. I can't say I am all excited about this team and the coach as a Lakers fan but I must say they have given their very best on this opening night. It's too early to say anything more but I hope they keep it up. This is why I love sports, always expect the unexpected.

Image from LA Times.com

As for the ORL and IND game, I have to give it to Roy Hibbert and Paul George. These fellas are putting are big big numbers.

16 Rebound and 7 Blocks for Roy. and 6 rebound, 5 Ast and 24 Points for Paul.

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Very good opening night as a whole. I love this game!

Good Bye Dwight and Hello Summer.

As a Lakers Fan, I am glad that the whole Dwightmare is over. I am just glad that all the silly media news about Kobe, Dwhine, MDA and what not. I just felt that sometimes players need to be given more space off the media space. They need to focus what they should be focusing on - playing the damn basketball.

And this post by "Meeks" is fake btw.

If you have been following the news and rumors online, it seems pretty legit when someone stand up and pointed out at the fact that "Lakers always get the Yes." So what is the problem now? The whole social web knows that there are a few things that Dwight wanted.

- Firing of Mike D. (Is it me or Dwight really likes to get coach off their pay cheque?)
- Hiring of Stan VAN Gundy Phil Jackson.
- Be the main man of Lakers.

So the point here is that if Lakers really wanted Dwight as much as it seems, he would have easily make the 1st two points happen with a snap of fingers and giving $30 Million to make him feel like the main man should be enough and not by putting up all the banners and posters to fake it. So why didn't they do it? Simply because, the truth is that -

Hey Dwight, we just ain't that into you. I wish I had the time to put Dwight, MDA, Buss, Phil and Kobe's faces onto this poster.

Enough of the whole Dwightmare Saga and HELLO SUMMER TIME!

1 of the reasons why I love summer.

 Like many other NBA fans, I always enjoy watching a team getting big names like Howard or Nash but 1 thing I enjoy even more is talent scouting. It's never easy to look out for young stars especially when you are not located in the US where everything is happening there. We don't get that much information about NCAA or neither do we get to meet them in person or see them LIVE as compared to many other sports writer in the states. All we know is based on what we can read off the internet but thanks to NBATv I get to watch the whole Summer league for the 1st time!

Before I hit the sack last night, I managed to watch the match between Boston and Orlando. Other than watching the 2nd draft pick in action, someone else caught my attention.

Wearing no.41 - Big KO - Kelly Olynyk.

From Wikipedia -

Kelly Olynyk (born April 19, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an NCAA All-American while playing for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
He moved to Kamloops, B.C. in grade 7.^[1] He is currently studying for a Master of Business Administration at Gonzaga University, having earned a bachelor's degree in accounting in December 2012, and formerly played basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs before announcing on April 19, his 22nd birthday, that he will skip his senior year and declare for the NBA draft.^[2] He also represents the Canadian national basketball team. Olynyk was selected with the 13th overall pick by the Celtics in the 2013 NBA Draft.

This 7ft caught my attention immediately because of his ugly hair height. He was standing above all and the next thing I saw was that he has the moves. He was quick, he has some sweet steps and RANGE! 

 

I love a big man that hussle below the board grabbing rebound but a big man with range is always hard to stop. Big man like Dirk and Love are very good example. 

I'm watching this young man and I hope the Celtics groom him up well. Give him some beef as well as some play time when the season starts. I believe I will see quite a bit of him since big ticket headed to Brooklyn. 

The only problem I have with him from the game is that as a big man, I don't see a lot of work from him on the D and he might be a little soft for the NBA still. And also his hair. He needs a hair cut. 

Enough of Dwightmare and let's watch Summer League!

The Greatest Assist From the Last Man Standing

We are a day from the announcement of the Dwight Howard Sweepstakes. This decision from Superman will undoubtedly change the fate of the Lakers for a while (a year max). But this post is not about Dwight. It's about the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant.

Basketball is the second longest standing relationship I have with anything close to my heart (My parents are #1). My NBA following started in 95-96 during the second Bulls Dynasty. Like all young fans, I was a fan of the star players and not particular franchises. I deeply loved some players and hated some as well (Sorry Grant Hill. I didn't know what you did but I did appreciate you more recently).Through the years, I grew from the blind media driven fan to the one who appreciates stars for the good character qualities that we can look up to and learn from. And then finally to one loves the game and its history, being able to pick a team team close to his heart and cheer for until he dies. So I have seen the game evolve and Kobe grow to be the man he is today.

I was never a Kobe fan until recent years. In fact, I hated him when he came into the league. Even after the Lakers won 3 straight titles, the hatred did not change. I always thought he was arrogant, selfish and childish. He was a player who would jeopardise the team's future for his own individual glory. I can't remember of how this turned around. But I guess the 04 season where he got into some trouble off the court was a slight nudge in the different direction. Because even though he was going through so much, he never gave up on the season and led the Lakers to the NBA Finals. After that, the Lakers broke up the team and went into a rebuilding process. Kobe never stopped fighting and kept going, and when the Lakers miraculously stole Pau Gasol (WORK YOUR MAGIC AGAIN MITCH!!). The Lakers became championship contenders again. They didn't win the gold easily, getting humiliated by the Celtics on their first trip back to the finals after the Shaq and Kobe era. That however, made them closer and forced Kobe to mix team ball together with hero ball, resulting in back to back titles shortly after.
I grew to like Kobe because this dude works his butt off everyday. Even if he just won the title, he would be back in the gym in next day. He wasn't as physically gifted as Jordan or Lebron, he had to work hard to be elite and yes he did. 

However, the Black Mamba's career is coming to an end. Even though he said he wants to play another 2 years and the numbers he put up are the best in his career, he is no longer the Kobe Bryant of old. I remember watching a Kobe-Lebron christmas day matchup a fews back.. They went head to head in one possession and Lebron just blew by Kobe, sending him to the ground. That was when I knew he couldn't keep up with the younger elite player. He is still a great player, don't get me wrong. But we all know that he has time off playing defense to save his energy on offense. Basketball is a two way game.

Kobe is known as the player of his generation (along with Duncan and Shaq). He is the last man and also the last great Laker standing. Now we need him to pass the torch to the next Laker generation. Kobe has never been one to share the ball or the spotlight. Even if he shares, he has to be the lead in the cast. It's either he shoots, or he has to get the assist.

When Kobe got injured, there were talks of the Lakers possibly amnestying him to save money and building. I considered this being the greatest assist by the Laker star ever. But now that he seems firm on coming back next season, the game has changed slightly. Kobe's role on the team has to change. He has to be the mentor and a catalyst of this next Laker generation. 

If the Lakers manage to sign Dwight, Kobe must be able to take a back seat at times for Dwight to shine. Having everything go through one player makes the team play predictable and easy to beat. This means that he has to be able to let Dwight play the way Dwight plays best. Whether the Lakers manage to get Dwight or not, they will have capabilities to sign two top players in 2014. But before that, they will probably not be able to contend with the top teams. There will be growing pains and this require patience, especially from Kobe himself. And finally when '14 finally comes, he will have to take on an even lesser role and focus on bringing the team together again to do it the Laker way, not the Kobe way. Playing it out for the team's future and putting his huge ego aside will be the greatest assist ever from the last man standing in Lakerland.

In a couple of years, the conclusion to the basketball legacy of the Kobe Bean Bryant will written but the one for the Lakers will continue. How will we be remembering them then?

The Perfect Team

As mentioned in our previous two posts, NBA free agency is upon us. With this topic as my main inspiration, I have decided to write a post about building the perfect team.

In life, we all are part of teams at work or in our daily life (no man is an island). We work as part of a team which is a part of a bigger organisation, we are members of of our families and we are in a relationship with another person. No matter how different our situations and circumstances are, we all hope for the best combo that fits.

As sports fans, we have fantasy leagues where we build our dream team by putting together the best players in the world. We love All-Star games because that's like a dream come true for fans as we get to watch these players actually play together for real. But in the sports world, like in real life... things are never so simple.

I think a friend of mine came up with the best line about putting together the perfect team. "The stars have to be aligned". In so many ways, it's extremely accurate. We need so many elements to fit together that makes it so hard to achieve.

The boss
In any business, the end result is making money. With that as the goal, we put together the most efficient team with whatever means we have to achieve it. Similarly in basketball, the management has to balance between making money and winning championships. With the salary cap in mind, they put together what they deem as the right team to entertain the fans and try to win the championship. It's not easy to get a boss who sticks to the long term plan, backs his crew and pays the high salaries willingly. Therefore, these championship teams are hard to come by and usually don't last very long together.

The coach
The boss is the guy who buys the ship and owns the fleet, the coach is the captain who steers the ship in the right direction. The coach's team philosophy and system determines the identity of the team and how well he manages the players to play within his system will equate to the success of the team. With this new generation of players who focus on individual achievements and personal glory, this is not an easy job. That's why we are all looking for a Phil jackson.

The players

Michael Jordan once said "the organisation has to build the team, but its the players who win the championships". Putting together the key players who can play together and complement each other is already quite a tall order. Aside from them, you need to have role players who are willing to support them and come up big at certain key moments to be able to win. Like Rick Fox said "sometimes for a few minutes, a quarter or even a full game, you have to be as good as Shaq or Kobe"

If you are lucky enough to do all that and succeed, keeping the team together and prevent the egos from clashing will be even tougher. And simply putting star players together together doesn't equate success (just ask the '04 lakers). These players have to be able to sacrifice part of their individual game to play better together. A flush or straight beats an ace or two any day.

In conclusion, its pretty damn obvious how tough it is to build a perfect team. I have been blessed to be a part of some great teams, both in and out of basketball... We should appreciate the great teams we are part of and those we actually get a chance to watch (whether we like them or not, like Miami Heat). A perfect team is like clockwork, working together seamlessly and yet look so effortless, an absolute beautiful thing to watch.

Today's my partner-in-crime's birthday! Happy birthday bruh!
Hope some of your birthday luck will help us sign Dwight and put us back in glory quickly.

The Original Dream Team. Widely known as the best sports team ever assembled.

The 96 Bulls team with the best record ever 72-10 and capping it with a championship.

01 Lakers team who almost went on a perfect playoff run.

Hi, my name is Smith, his name is Daniel and we are Basketballholics.

Basketballholic - that's the new term I just coined and that's us.

We spent too much time following, thinking, reading, arguing, discussing and watching NBA. We take it a level higher, we have decided to write about NBA.

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore fan as I am bad with the history of the game but there is one thing you can't scrutinize about us and basketball is the love for the game.  

It's the off season and I ain't happy cause that means less real basketball action but lots of irrelevant PR and media talk about movement of players. The biggest talk in town of this off season has to be silly DH12 and how every team is trying to get him on board.

Picture Credit: Ryan Hurst.

Don't get me wrong, I am no hater of Dwight. Like every other Lakers fan I was all thrilled when super team of Nash, Kobe, Gasol and Howard came together. No doubt he was battling injuries and adjusting to a new system/teammates and still managed to put up some numbers of 17.1 PPG, 12.4 RPG and 2.4 BPG. Argumentably still the best center in the league but are all these necessary?

I know we have all went through the pain of watching star players walking out of teams like Shaq or "The One" - LBJ but I really don't see the need of such campaigns. We ain't getting votes for president here and moreover it's LA we are talking about. We are winners and we are a team of high prestige and I really don't see how "lowering" ourselves for this is going to help the team. It seems like to me that we are begging players to play for us which is weird, we are talking about LA here and not (insert whichever team that you really hate.)

Also on free agency and also a center, we have Nikola Pekovic.

He is younger. His numbers are a little short as compared to Dwight but I think he is an amazing player. He has a team which spent most of their time on the injury list but yet his productivity is awesome! I don't see people doing campaigning for him and in fact because of all this campaign and "cheapening" our own franchise, I don't even think we can attract him to LA as a free agent. You can stand by Dwight and call me an "ungrateful" LA fan but I don't think he have met the basic requirement of a great big in LA. It's only 1st year no doubt but if he ain't giving himself a 2nd year to prove himself worthy, I will rather let him go and pick up players like Pekovic. 

NBA is pretty much more of a sports entertainment these days than just being a sport. I am just glad we ain't heading to WWE's direction.