Retooling a Champion

I know it's kind of crazy to talk about the needed reconstruction of a back-to-back world champion, but I feel the need to. The Lakers are going to need to cement two glaring spots in their roster if they hope to end the 2010-2011 season with the insanely unprecedented accomplishment of Phil Jackson's fourth three-peat. And here are my hopes for those spots ...

We're losing quite a few locker room soldiers this offseason. Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar, DJ Mbenga, Adam Morrison, and maybe Josh Powell are all likely to aim for a few more bucks than the Lakers are willing to pay for guaranteed back-up guys. I'm going to pencil in Derek Fisher for a return, but it's probably going to be at a reduced role for the first time if Mr. Buss' wallet has anything to say for it. The two needs that that leaves the champs with is a starting-caliber point guard as well as a wing who preferably is a knockdown shooter.

This two part checklist will have to be accomplished in tiers. We'll either have to snatch a top tier wing with the full midlevel exception and a lesser-noted PG with whatever pennies are left, or the other way around. For the wing position, the prime candidate is easily Mike Miller. And the Lakers for sure know that. The early word is they've already thrown $30 million at him and are trying to force him into an immediate agreement on it. It's easy to understand why, as Miller is probably one of the ten best long-range bombers in the league today, hitting 48% of his 3s last season with the Wizards. If he can stay healthy for the length of the season, an Artest/Miller wing combo next to Kobe Bryant is perfect for literally any individual situation. Next to Miller, I like T-Mac as a darkhorse candidate. If he's serious about wanting to win a fricking playoff series in his career, he just needs to sign with L.A. regardless of the money. If those guys happen to fall through, the 2A, 2B, and 2C options are guys like Raja Bell, Matt Barnes, and Anthony Morrow. If you can add a feared defensive specialist like Bell or Barnes in addition to Ron Ron, the Lakers can shut down any backcourt in the league. Any of these guys instantly add a far favorable stretch shooter who can get on the floor, unlike an Adam Morrison-type guy who is strictly a mop-up player. Who cares if Kobe innately hated these competitors when he matched up opposite against them?

Tier 1: Mike Miller, Tracy McGrady
Tier 2: Raja Bell, Matt Barnes, Anthony Morrow

Or L.A. could go a different direction with the MLE and offer it all to try and steal Steve Blake. Although the guy seems to be a guaranteed candidate to change teams darn near every single year, he's the kind of younger, heady veteran who could pick up the Triangle Offense pretty quickly and flourish specifically in that lead guard role. He's a tad taller at 6-3, which is what Phil prefers, and he just makes solid decisions with his 3-point shot and passing ability. He's a guy who's only averaged double figure points once in his career, but he's still a highly coveted player due to him having a seemingly perfect game to be the heir to Derek Fisher's place with the future Kobe Bryant era Lakers. The next group of potential point guards include Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour. Earl is completely deferential and as strong a defensive presence at the 1 as you will find, while Luke is the creative plug-in point who would hopefully nestle into a comfort zone since he wouldn't need to force the action as much as he previously did with Seattle and Milwaukee. After that, we might have to try to squeeze whatever is left from Gilbert Arenas' shooting partner for minimum money.

Tier 1: Steve Blake
Tier 2: Earl Watson, Luke Ridnour
Tier 3: Javaris Crittenton, anyone else

If only to fill out the league's required roster minimum, the Lakers might have to pick up their 2010 second round draft picks, Devin "Guy Who Ruined UK's Season" Ebanks and Derrick "UL Flunky" Caracter. And regardless of if we may have to look into flipping Lamar Odom for either cap relief or completely unforeseen available talent, I'm inclined to believe that the 2011 season will be another banner year for the Los Angeles Lakers. Phil Jackson wouldn't let it happen any other way.

... and do the John Wall.

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Potluck Post 6/12/10

I've been out of regular posting for a good while now. School had been tearing me up pretty bad this past semester and then I've just been outright lazy since the summer started, so here's a little catch up. Drake. John & Demarcus. Terrence Jones. Kobe. Kanye. Here we go.

I thoroughly enjoy Thank Me Later. I wrote a pretty harsh column on the notion of Drake ruining a good thing by becoming popular. And while many of those points still ring true in the contextual sense of commercial reception, I've had a personal 180 on my opinion of the dude. My roommate at school has met Drake four separate times and still holds that the kid is a genuinely nice person. What further standards can I act self-righteous enough to hold another artist to? Drake has his style and raps about what he wants to rap about. He doesn't try to hide that he intentionally makes certain kinds of records. He has the arrogant boi-1da street banger. He has the Kanye-helmed 808s-esque singing joint. He has the career(-so-far)-reflecting album closer. But he still goes out and makes music. And at this point, I'm just glad that the album doesn't feature Gudda Gudda or Lil' Twist. "Fancy" is the only cut that I'm inclined to say outright sucks, but that might be more so because of my utter distaste of all post-DMX Swizzy. So while Thank Me Later may not strike me as perfectly as Man on the Moon did a year ago, I've still spun this leak endlessly with genuine enjoyment and will be shelling out a purchase on opening week. After seeing him in concert and having a crazy good time, I have a legit investment in his career. So here's hoping that he throws a great pre-Draft party for my UK boys.

Speaking of the future greatest point guard ever ... I hope John Wall saves the Wizards. It's guaranteed that they will take him with the very first pick and though I'm inclined to believe that a Wall-Arenas backcourt wouldn't be optimal, John'll make it work. I just think Gil is kinda the one player in the entire league who wouldn't be content deferring at times to a player of Wall's magnitude for the good of the team. He's kind of annoying like that. All future Wizards decisions must be made knowing that the ball needs to be in J's hands as much as humanly possible, whenever he wants, so he can get NBA-adjusted in the first 15 or so games of the season. I don't know if they have enough talent to compete for the playoffs after their roster implosion last year, but I wouldn't be surprised if John found a way to sneak them in there. It is the East after all. And staying with the Cats ... whoever doesn't pick up Demarcus Cousins in the proceeding draft picks after J will innately regret it down the road. His body is the perfect NBA big man prototype that you can never find with an aggressive attitude mixed in. He will not only be an immediate contributer, but he'll be an all-star within three years with KG, Duncan, and the last remaining '90s bigs on their ways out. Neither Favors nor Monroe nor anyone else from this class who was not a Kentucky Wildcat will be able to compete with Cousins' career. If an NBA GM is dumb enough to skip over Boogie because of his perceived attitude problem, then they won't matter anyways because they'll be promptly fired once he hits his professional stride. That's a guarantee in my book. Quote me.

I cannot believe we got Terrence Jones. When dude came for a visit forever back for the Blue-White game, I sat at a table with him and John Wall (who was destroying way too many crab legs from Hooters) while we watched the Bulls and Spurs play on TV. That's the first time I understood why J came to Kentucky hands down (he sweats Derrick Rose like none other) and the time that I gave up on TJ committing to UK. The kid was as nice as possible and became a personal favorite of mine after admitting he was a Laker fan even though he lives in Portland, but I could just tell how insanely homesick he was just from spending a single weekend that far away from his home. He was talking about all of his other scheduled visits and he wasn't even looking at another school that wasn't plastered right on the Pacific coastline. So I had him pegged for Washington and told everyone confidently so for that day forth. Little did I know the commotion that would come due to that decision so many months later. From now on I'll just firmly entrust all my recruiting worries in Coach Cal's hands. He's infallibly great at selling his offensive system, the tradition of the school, and his professional track record. No one thought this 2010-2011 roster could possibly look so great after our mass early departures, but Coach Cal had his plan all along. Since every single potential LeBron destination is filling out its coaching position without a genuine Calipari scoping (no matter what Adrian Wojnarowski keeps making up), it's safe to say that our all-time 2011 recruiting class will remain intact as well and we will see an unprecedented level of talent funnel through my great University. It's a good time to be a Wildcat fan. There will be no violations on our books. There will only be similarly immaculate 3(or less)-loss seasons.

I have said it before and will hold to the fact that I think Kobe Bryant is the greatest basketball player of all time. The NBA Finals is currently tied 2-2, but I fully expect the Lake Show to pull it out. Kobe's skill set is so vastly superior to any player ever, plus he adds to it unrelentingly on a yearly basis. His long range prowess is what notches him above MJ in my book. Here's exhibit A. He still can be a slasher whenever it's in the game plan, but his midrange game and the billion ways he can get a quality look off is where his natural dominance has lied in the last seven or so years. But I don't need to regurgitate everything you already know about Mr. Bryant. I just wanted to remind you that he is now one of the ultimate and prolific winners in NBA history. Besides his late game heroics (having that reputation cemented with seven game winners this year) in general, he's now made his way to the Finals for the seventh time representing the Western Conference. And in case you haven't watched any professional basketball since Michael Jordan retired, the West has been the far stronger conference in each of those instances. In hopefully capturing his fifth title within the next week, how can anyone deny Kobe's resume? Do you actually remember that there was a discussion as to whether Kobe or T-Mac was the premier wing in the league only five years ago? It was a misguided argument back then that has turned into a psychotic one now. Kobe's run of playoff vengeance this year has been nothing short of brilliant and awe-inspiring. I'll be watching the next two or three games praying that he finishes off his first hand in rings finally.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that the Kanye West comeback will be epic. There's no way around it. This guy is most prolific commercially viable rap artist ever. With his new single "Power", he's continued his constantly evolving sound that never ceases to impress and push boundaries. He's completely unpredictable and no one but the G.O.O.D. Music family and certain guys like Premo know what to expect from his full-length return to rapping, A Good Ass Job. I just know it will be great. His catalogue ensures so. He literally cares what no one thinks about the next direction he takes because he knows the masses will eat it up. It's encoded in his DNA. The man is a legend. Now and for as long as he graces us with his creative genius.

... and do the John Wall.

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Where He Belongs

Thank God the Lamar Odom situation got resolved. Both parties legitimately needed each other to keep the NBA world balanced. While the Lake Show could have made a minor tweak trade to try and replace LO if he decided to go elsewhere, there's pretty much no one who would have had a similar impact simply do to Odom being a four-year vet of the triangle offense and five-year vet of playing off of Kobe Bryant. That can't be highlighted enough. Playing with certain players is an art, and choosing to stay with the champs is a very enlightening move in showing that Lamar is one of those malleable players who can willingly fit with Kobe.

Artest, in my mind, is a beautiful addition to this roster and will pick up right where Ariza left off. While I loved the role our former wing played with his hustle, hard cuts, opportune 3 balls, and team orientation, I sincerely believe that Ron Ron can provide all of that along with a better jumper, a throw-in post game, and more intimidating all-around defensive presence. The only thing I think we lose is some speed on the wing and a defender who can stick to those pesky super-quick guards. But Ron is much better suited to clamp down on those equally troublesome and usually dominant small forwards with the all-around floor game like Carmelo Anthony, LeBron, Paul Pierce, and Tracy McGrady (if he's still alive). This naturally relegates Kobe to preferably defending the second offensive option, an assignment which promotes an even stronger presence on both ends of the floor by him. So it's win-win.

Strictly on Lamar's side of negotiations, though, I actually do think he could have outrageously thrived somewhere else. Unless there was another trade to compliment LO's signing (like the Boozer rumors), then I didn't really see Miami going anywhere to far. They would have been crazy fun to watch because Wade & him had a naturally chemistry in Wade's rookie season and they would have easily picked right back up five seasons later. But that team has so many holes in it at up to 3 different positions, so forget about them in the now nonexistent theoretical big picture. But who I really would have (begrudgingly) enjoyed watching him play for was the Trailblazers. Can you imagine a lineup of Andre Miller/Brandon Roy/Lamar Odom/Lamarcus Aldridge/Greg Oden? That's beastly. Then in turn they would have one of the upper tier benches in the entire league. That would have instantly propelled them up to the top of the Western Conference in a dead heat with the Lakers and newly molded Spurs & Mavericks.

But, again, it's not happening. So while I'll detail some other teams in later posts, the Lakers are where it's at this season. Lamar Odom decided to stay put and the championship trophy will decide the same next June. Our single casualty this offseason (unless and unexpected trade comes along) is Ariza. But with management re-upping every other player on the entire championship roster and adding the one character who will force the team from ever becoming complacent ... we have a dynasty on our hands. Thanks, Lamar. And I made this entire post without a retarded candy reference. I swear, I will strangle the next ESPN reporter or random person who thinks they're informed and tells a Skittles joke while talking about dude and giggles to themselves at their attempted hilarity. You're not clever and it wasn't a good joke anyway.

Great quote by Odom: "Riding off Kobe’s coattail ain’t bad. He’s got something special going around. I’ve got to be around. I’ve got to be one of the apostles. There was no way I was going to pass up playing with Kobe, Pau, Andrew and Ron-Ron."

... but do take my word for it.

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Part Six: Move That Bus

We parted with one of our rising studs in Caron Butler to get … wait for it … wait for it … … … Kwame Brown. Laker supporters now had to defend the likes of Kuh-wah-me Brown. Maybe the most legitimate bust of a #1 pick in National Basketball Association history. And yet while he was a beloved Laker, I took the intiative to twist his inadequacies a lil’ bit. Yes, I’m guilty of it. His lack of mobility became his superb defensive fortitude and immovability! His refusal to offensively assert himself became his team-oriented selflessness! His ineptitude to develop any sense of purpose on the basketball court became his still untapped potential! His cement bricks for hands became his … no, those were the exact same. Those (purple & gold) rose-colored glasses that I refused to replace with normal contacts led me to root for, again, Kuh-wah-me Brown. I still can’t believe it myself.

But you know why I thought the team could work? The Lakers restarted their seemingly impossible re-rebuilding phase by bringing back the igniter that had never failed over an extended period of time. Ever. Phil Jackson. Freshly rested from his Kobe-snitching “The Last Season” book tour, our resident Zen Master decided that the bad blood really wasn’t that bad. If he brought this team of Chex Mix-like pieces together, then that would really be something. Could title aspirations come out of an utter failure of a season just because P-Jax was back at the helm? We would see.

The very first game of that season was so exciting that no one could be blamed for having hope. Future aspirations were heaped on rookie center Andrew Bynum, though everyone new Phil disregarded most rookies. Our newly signed (strictly because no one else wanted him) point guard Smush Parker would start his season-opening string of 20-point games that had everyone tagging him as an epic find and out-of-nowhere potential playmaking star. It seemed that way at first. Shut up. The specific excitement came in the form of an overtime game-winning possession against the Denver Nuggets. I guess Phil thought he would make an immediate legend of Kwame, because he designed the play for him. And it looked pretty good actually. The guy made a strong (albeit terrified) move to the basket for a lay-up. Which he botched, of course. But the ball got immediately tapped out and found its way into Kobe’s hands, and he in turn mopped up the mess by hitting a highly contested straight on go-ahead jumper from 22 feet. Let the ascension begin.

But it didn’t quite begin. Yes, this was a season of legend by the (soon to be former) #8 that will probably never be individually replicated, but the team didn’t live up to lofty bounce-back expectations. This was the stretch of Bryant’s career where he created a whole other standard of scoring expertise. Comparisons were blown out the window. The once-arguable matchup of offensive savvy between Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant was no longer relevant. In a near unbelievable first three quarters of a game against the Dallas Mavericks, Kobe outscored the entire opposing squad at a clip of KB: 62, Mavs: 61. He then proceeded to kick back the entire fourth quarter and never reenter the game, which led to harsh criticism of him depraving the public of an all-time historical performance. Just weeks later, as if a direct answer to the critics, Kobe came out firing again against the Toronto Raptors. When it was all said and done, every defender in the arena that night had Kobe imprinted on their foreheads to the tune of 81 points. Like … that’s … e-i-g-h-t-y o-n-e. Even further disregarding all semblance of logic, he went on a tear of four consecutive games with over 45 points scored. It became a day-to-day display of excellence for Kobe, finishing the season, unbelievably, with a scoring clip of 35.4 points per game. But somehow … somehow … we weren’t able to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the pack in the Western Conference. It seemed that the rest of the team sometimes sat almost in reverence to Bryant’s individual accolades, never quite coming together cohesively in any way, shape, or form. Only on the strength of Jackson’s pedigree and Kobe’s single-handed brilliance, we reached the playoffs as the 7th seed.

Which meant we met up with the MVP-having Phoenix Suns in the first round. That was during Steve Nash’s two-year reign of making a mockery out of the award-selecting panel. I still have a disgusting taste in my mouth from it. But you know what happened? Game 4 happened. The Lakers made all the adjustments to expose the Suns as fastbreaking phonies. We force fed Kwame and Lamar the ball down low to punish the undersized punks and overachieved our way towards perfectly setting up the commercial-ready moment where in overtime, a jump ball with 6 seconds left on the clock was recovered by Kobe at half court. He took the scene in slowly off the dribble at a diagonal, reaching the opposite wing in an exact amount of calculated steps. Everyone knew the ball would be his and his only. Every opposing player in the vicinity fell upon his shooting elbow. But Kobe, encompassing every facet of perfectionist determination, lifted into the air and gently released the orange roundie to meet its due company in the form of flipping nylon. With that buzzer-beater, the Lakers took a 3-1 series lead. We were on the verge of overthrowing the (*airquotes*) MVP and every playoff choker he called a teammate.

[to be continued]

... but do take my word for it.

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