Awwww cripes do the Lakers suck ... they have not won a game outside of Staples. Fucking adversity!

Sixers 12-4. Iverson passed Kobe in the scoring race ... now he's reeling in T-Mac.

-Superman-

How about some props to Bobby Jackson for SAC TOWN!! practically carring the team with Bibby, pedja, hedo, and pollard out with injuries...i think Sac should just let bibby come off the bench for the first month or so...kings are 16-5, 10-0 at home.

Shaq is a mere shadow of his former self. Sure he can score over 20 points a game but almost of his shot attempts are further away from the basket than last year. He is not getting position. He is not bulling his way to the basket, and he is not exploding past his man. His style of play now is very reminiscent of Kareem's, except without Kareem's shooting ability. In times past, opposing big men would have to foul Shaq on almost every play or he would score for sure. Other teams would have to give their 3rd string center ample playing time just to distribute around the fouls. Remember haq a shaq. Not so anymore. The foul count on opposing centers is not even a factor in all these games that the Lakers are losing.

What's interesting to me is that the other players and Jackson are not commenting on this. Last night with the Lakers down by 5 in the fourth quarter the Lakers repeatedly went to the perimeter shot. The players themselves definitely are not looking at Shaq for the sure points. Maybe he's just out of shape, but the fire is definitely not there.

Scarus

Yeah, Shaq is out of shape and it limits his intensity, but hasn't limited his numbers. How bad is this team with 2 of the top 5 stars in the game getting their numbers and playing time night in and night out, and still not being able to beat anybody but the lowly Grizzlies...and even that is a struggle.

I think that the Lakers will be the toughest team in the league to defeat come May...problem is that if they don't get it together like NOW, they could miss the playoffs. Guess what, the regular season is 25% over! If the inevitable 15 game winning streak follows another 20 games like they've had, it will be too late. If they could win 33 of their final 41, they will not approach a 50 win season if they continue to play sub-500 basketball over the next 21.

Laker fans (not me) don't have to panic, but if they aren't REALLY nervous about now, they aren't seeing the predicament very clearly.

2 of the top 5 stars, but the 10 other guys are a bunch of CBA rejects. Since the Fakers pay the two stars so much, they can't go and get anybody worth a shit either. Even if they right the ship, they won't get through both Dallas and Sacramento. The Lakers are done, close the fridge or whatever the dead guy used to say. NEXT!!

Sixers 15-4 ... yeah baby.

-Superman-

I am a big Iverson fan also a big fan of his clothes line but I do not think they can even cum close to the Fakers when they are all healthy.
Give them a month they will slip into the playoffs and slip into another championship.
Just let me go the reverse direction and say if they do not make it they will be ranked right up there with the 91 Mets

How bout that Yao Ming? What a great player he will becum !!
The Rockets next season ??

Milky

Well, I Am a DieHard Laker fan, and I agree completely with Erip. If they don't get it together soon they're going to be battling to even make the playoffs. I sure would hate to be a number one team though....i.e. Dallas, having to play the Lakers as a number 8 team in the playoffs.

Amazingly, I also agree with Superman, this once.
If the Lakers are seeded at the bottom and have to battle their way up through all the higher seeded teams, without ever having the home court advantage, well, then they are going to battling against the odds. I wouldn't bet against them but I don't think I'll be betting the kids' college money this time around.

I'm still amazed that no one on the Lakers is pointing the finger at Shaq. Last night he shot about 30% and all Phil wanted to talk about was how lousy the refs were. Shaq, himself, was blasting his teamates for not having any desire. There's a lot of trade talk in L.A. nowadays. I guess no one wants to get on Shaq's bad side and thereby be the first one shown the door.

Scarus

Shaq did have a bad night, but his current field goal is 48% while the rest of the lakers are shooting 39% and playing with as much intensity as grandma trying to kill a 'roach. Shaq is not in shape and yet he's the first to say he doesn't make any excuses for himself. Given that he has taken the Lakers to the promise land the last 3 seasons, he needs to be vocal about his guys not stepping up.

It's the simple things that count...

Tracy Murray is not the best defender, but given the awful shooting % of the Lakers right now, they need to have him playing a few more minutes.
Shaq should get the ball inside because that's how they won so many games in the past. Give it to shaq in the post. If the defense collapses on Shaq kick it out to one of the guards or a teammate cutting down the lane and you get two or three points. Repeat as many times as necessary. This will eliminate a lot of the turnovers they're getting when they try to force passes to teammates who are often in uncomfortable positions. It's so obvious, it got me thinking if Phil is doing this on purpose just so he can have some drama on his next book.

On defense, Kobe is trying too hard and getting a lot of silly fouls. Yesterday he got a couple silly ones against Jackson and even got burned by Jackson for playing him too close trying to poke the ball away from the guard. Let Fish take on the guards and draw charges like he's done for the last 6 seasons.

With 25% of the season gone is time to start playing and stop BSing!

A funny thing happened as I was thinking about responding to my friend Superman's "dead guy" post. I ran to the fridge to get a beer (congrats, S, you've finally succeeded in driving me to drink). Now, I'm generally not a huge beer drinker, but I have a box in my fridge of "American Craft Beers" (left over from a recent party at my place) that contains a sample of 10 different bottled beers from 10 different small, unknown brewing companies. I reached into the box to grab a beer, and as chance would have it, it was a bottle of a beer called "Dead Guy Ale" !!!! The timing of this cracked me up.

As I'm sipping on my Dead Guy Ale, I have to say it tastes remarkably good, good enough to wash away the mildly bitter taste of the Lakers' slow start. If you like dark beers, you might want to check out Dead Guy Ale (Rogue Brewery, Oregon). Here's the website: http://www.rogue.com/brews.html#deadguy

Soo... first a word about the dead guy (Chick Hearn, LA Laker announcer). He was, in fact, one the best friends of another dead guy (Wilt Chamberlain, Superman's wet dream toughguy hero). I'm not sure where I'm going with all this. It must be the Dead Guy Ale talking... Anyway, they've just re-named the street outside of Staples Center to "Chick Hearn Court". They are thinking of giving the playing court inside the building the same name, so that all games will be "Live, from Chick Hearn Court." The irony of all this is that Chick Hearn, when he was alive, could never read a map or find a street, according to his widow. And... Charley Rosen, in a recent ESPN.com article writes, "When Wilt Chamberlain coached the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors in 1973-74, he was faced with a personal conflict on the night of a crucial home game. It seems that one of his 20,000 girlfriends was in town just for the night, so he opted to forego the game. In his absence, Chamberlain recorded an inspirational audiotape that assistant coach Stan Albeck dutifully played to the team. From all reports, nobody was particularly inspired that evening ... except for Wilt's date." Anyway...

The three-time defending world champion Lakers do need to start winning, of course, if they wish to make a run at the championship this year. I don't see it as the crisis the rest of you do. Their mission this year is to get to the playoffs, and then get hot. Three-time defending world champions do not typically hit the ground running, diving after every loose ball and playing like there is no tomorrow. We --and they-- already know what they are capable of. We --and they-- already know that championship teams typically start out slowly, and then peak as the playoffs approach.

I think the situation makes sense in terms of simple paradoxes. And Phil Jackson has always been a master of what seems to be a paradoxical approach, an approach that transforms seeming adversity into strength when it counts.

The general opinion around the league is that it is crucial to "upgrade" through post season signings, drafts, and trades. Paradoxically, the Lakers chose to make extraordinarily few changes in their ageing roster in the off-season. This has been seen my many outsiders as an unfortunate failure. But the team has succeeded in keeping its experienced nucleus together this season -- no small feat. The stability in personnel means that the championship blueprint is already in place, currently lying dormant. No other current NBA team has such a blueprint, except perhaps the San Antonio Spurs, and I wouldn't bet the farm on them going particularly far this year.

Losing at the beginning of the season may actually have a paradoxical effect later. Typically opposing teams play extra hard against defending champions, adding to the wear and tear. By losing now, the spotlight shifts off of them to other teams that are currently winning. The Lakers become less of a "target". Phil Jackson predicted that the Lakers would lose many of their early games. To me, it actually sounded like a request.

The shortage in personnel (due to injuries) looks like a setback. But the paradoxical silver lining is that many players are getting playing time that would elude them otherwise. Lots of people bemoan the fact that Shaq had to miss the beginning of the season due to a surgery rather late in the summer. But the Laker organization has no problem with this. (The bigger problem is that S. Samake wasn't around to capitalize on his extra minutes). Another aspect is that Kobe, who perennially has grandiose plans to become a one man show, had the opportunity to fizzle and burn early in the season, rather than being a pain in the ass all season. For Jackson, it is a win-win situation. Notice that he didn’t discourage or block Kobe’s efforts. If Kobe somehow fails, then he’ll be more likely to follow Jackson’s plan later, thanks to the early season gift. If Kobe succeeds, then Jackson can integrate the new information into his later plans.

Will all this translate into a successful postseason? I think so. If the Lakers get and stay healthy, and if they have enough juice left in the tank at the END of the season, I think so.

For those of you who dislike the Lakers, it must be fun to lob criticisms at the champions and act like they are in the tank. At moments like this, any anti-Laker fan can pontificate and feel like an expert, especially if they suffer from amnesia or low IQ. Enjoy this brief, shining moment.

Dogster,

Nice short post.

I was once at a Conquistadors game and Wilt was reading a magazine during the game.

Hey Dog,
Nice theory and I would like to ask you: Since the Lakers have dug a nice little hole for themselves right now, in order to make the playoffs they would need to step it up and start winning when? Your explanation does make sense if they get back to .500 before the all-star and then just start killing teams going into the playoffs. Last year, Utah was the 8th seed with 44 wins, so the Lakers need to be about 10-15 games over .500 by the end of the season to assure themselves a spot.
So, my only request is for the Lakers to be at .500 by the all-star break and turn the switch from there going into the playoffs.

After tonight the Lakers will be 7 games under .500 so they'll have to go 14-7 in the next 21 to achieve .500 by season's halftime...the reverse of their likely record after tonight.

Their saving grace may be that it may not take as many wins in the west this year to make it to the 8th seed since the east is stronger and will win more regular season cross-conference games this year than they did last.

Dogster, your post is elegant, if myopic. I assure you that Phillip, Mitch and Ervin are more concerned than you seem to be right now.

Your theory that absent front line players builds overall team depth and confidence is generally a sound one. That opportunity is created. However, in this particular case it wasn't cashed in. The only thing the Lakers have learned from this episode is that they are a weaker outfit than they thought when their superstars don't control the game. The roster had an opportunity to step up, but they demonstrated that they haven't got it. Self-confidence has got to be at an all time low for this unit and so is their confidence in each other. Perhaps the benefit to the Lakers will be that the front office may now be spurred to make some mid-season deals...bring in some new faces.

Your theory on Kobe is interesting and appealing too. Problem is a player like Kobe has got to believe that he can win the game all by himself even if that leads to mistakes and bad judgment. A Kobe who doesn't harbor the delusion that he is in fact the new MJ is just another high scoring guard. That's an equation the Lakers have to accept if they are going to get the most out of his talent.

Paradoxically myopic even. LOL.

The problem is this Laker team has no depth. 3 years ago Horry, Fisher and Fox were coming off the bench. Now they're starters ... that basically says it all. Sacramento is 8-10 deep when healthy.

Despite their troubles, L.A. can obviously beat any team at any time cuz of Shaq & Kobe. It would not surprise me in the least if they thrashed Dallas tonight and then turn around and get whipped by Utah on Sunday.

If the season ended today, L.A. would be in the Lottery ... which might be the best thing for them in the long run. They won't win the title this year, so why not get a young stud in the draft? I've got $500 that says L.A. won't win 15 straight at any time during this season ...

Ownership: a one-line "dead guy" comment obviously aimed at one specific board personality predictably elicits a 500 word rant. Sweet! It'd be funny if it weren't so easy ...

-Superman-

Damnit, I was just kidding around. I meant to say it would not surprise me if the Lakers get worked by both the Mavericks and Jazz. Ha ha. 64-36 Mavericks at the half in the Lakers "statement" game. I guess they can't just turn it on when they want to ...

-Superman-

Damnit, I guess they can. I promise to never talk smack at halftime again. Kobe rules. I'm going out drinking ...

-Superman-

What a game ! this wil be the turn around game for the Lakers !!!
Lakers are not fakers they are takers !!!!

Milk

You would have to be dead if you didn't enjoy this freaking game! What a game! I thought it was game 7 against Porland all over again except that this time they came back from 26 points!! I'm not completely convince they're back, but is nice to know they still have hearts of champions.
Who is this milkster loser anyways!!!

That Lakers-Mavs game was fun. I had an opportunity to go, and turned it down, unfortunately. The outcome is not too surprising if you've been paying attention (see my previous essay).

Superman, keep posting. I love your posts. Have you ever considered becoming a sports writer?
You understand so much about basketball, stats, and winning. I'm in awe. So I want to encourage you here... Everything you say is so interesting and deep. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the game as much as I did.

THE LAKERS game was fun to watch anyone that watch that game saw history being made that was the Biggest half time come back ever 28 points and the Lakers WON the game, hopefully this will turn things around.

KidCisco

2nd biggest comeback ... Utah came back from 34 in '96.

Yes, I had fun watching that one. Probably not as much fun as you though.

For all the drama it was one win ... 8-13 is nothing to talk smack about. 15-5 on the other hand is reason to smile.

-Superman-

Superman, are you talking about a game comeback in 1996 ? or a HALFTIME comeback? I was talking about a halftime comeback if not so please correct me.

I am the biggest LAKERS fan in the world, I really think the lakers should have done MORE in the off season to make the team better and address the back up center position and to GET a real POWERFORWARD, they haven't had a real one sense James (BIG GAME) Worthy. or Bob McAdoo or Maruice Lucus or Orlando Woolridge or even a young AC Green.

Until the Lakers do this they will burn this team out because they will have to play this way EVERY NIGHT and give 110% each game to win!! there want be any nights off.

KidCisco

Jennifer Lopez is going to get her fourth ring before the Lakers do.

I really wished I didn't have to go and do the work thing. I missed a hell of a game.

Superman,

Say it an't so?

You not only jinxed the Mav's with your half time sarcastic comments, but just piled icing on the cake of the hated Dogster.

Dogster does have a point regarding your sports perdictions this year.

Uh Dallas is going to be good this year or something to that effect and now this catastrophe.

Next thing you know Sacramento will get hit with injuries.

benwhorubssaltinthewound

"This is indeed one of the toughest losses I can remember as a coach,'' said Dallas coach Don Nelson, who has 40 years of NBA experience. "We don't normally lose games when we're ahead. This is an exception to the rule by an exceptional team...

The Mavs are off to a great start, so why all the angst over one loss? Don Nelson has spent a quarter of a century creating some decent regular season teams that don't seem to hold it together when they need to. The chips weren't exactly down last night, but the crash and burn was a bit familiar. Don Nelson and assistant coach Dull Harris need to get some monkeys off their backs, especially with respect to the Lakers, and they missed a golden opportunity last night.

Dogster,

I am surprised that Phil didn't take Kobe and Shaq out of the game when they stated getting close in the fourth quarter.

This win sorta upsets your theory(I was buying into it) that the other Laker players will get needed game time and other teams will not be out to get them.

Pure sorcery! I am dead. Please, no flowers. Any donations you wish to make should be sent to the Curiousone/Sampson Fund for Tijuana Orpans.

Nice knowing you all. The rest is darkness.

hey what about mark cuban talkn smack before that laker game saying how he cant wait to wup em. now im not a laker fan but what a jackass for gettn in front of the cam and talkn shit like that. what a game and what a comeback. best ive seen i think ever.

sincerely,
so. cal basketball fan

Kid, yes halftime comeback. The CNNSI site is showing Utah coming back from 34 down in the 2nd half in '96. Last nights Laker game was #2, replacing the Sixers (currently in first place by the way) against Boston in '88. They quoted Elias Sports Bureau as the source.

Ben, yes, that was regrettable. I am an unfortunate soul whose three best friends are Laker fans, so I got the business all night. I don't begrudge them their fun because I've had a lot more to laugh about this year than them ... as in Miami, Cleveland and Vancouver.

One win, no matter how dramatic, changes nothing for the Lakers. They still have no depth, and they are going nowhere this year except home. Does anyone really think the Lakers could beat that Mavs team 4 times in a series? No way.

-Superman-

To be fair to Cuban, when they interviewed him at halftime he said you can never count the Lakers out, cuz they were the champs ... very respectful I thought.

-Superman-

Cuban was also saying on tape on "Best Damned Sports Show" that he will never make a prediction.

Superman, you just have to recognize the sorcery angle. It is simply not possible in real life for a team as dominating as Dallas has been to blow a 26 point lead in 12 minutes. Metaphysical intervention has definitely taken place. Lakers have always been deep inside the Mav's heads - this game was the Mav's opportunity to exorcise the demon. Now, the Lakers (with Shaq healthy) will NEVER lose to the Mavs for the rest of the season or in any playoff game. It's up to the Kings.

I'll be returning to the afterlife now.

Did y'all enjoy the Spurs game last night? I generally ignore such trivia, especially when they play the generally weaker teams in the east.

Disrespectfully,
Dogster

Oohh that really hurts. A first place team losing at San Antonio following an eight game win streak ... the sky is falling. LOL. I will chalk your weak effort up to another overindulgence of Dead Man Ale.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Lakers have not fared very well against that generally weaker conference ... last I saw they lost to the Eastern Conference dogs, Cleveland and Miami, who not so coincidentally each got whipped by Philly the very next night. Maybe L.A. softened them up for MVP Iverson. Ha ha.

Erip, I don't believe in any such junk. I believe Dallas inexplicably changed the way they were playing/got bored and Kobe got hot. Simple as that.

-Superman-

Nyah nyah nyah nyah.

I give you a compliment, and this is what I get in return? Where is the love? We can always count on you for insightful analysis and accurate predictions. When the Lakers are reduced to a lottery pick and the Sixers win the championship, we can all, finally, celebrate your genius together.

Is there a statistic for sorcery?

“I meant to say it would not surprise me if the Lakers get worked by both the Mavericks and Jazz.”

Superman, my friend. I think we can all agree with you: (1) The Lakers are weak and worthless; (2) They didn’t deserve to win any of their 3 recent championships; (3) Phil Jackson is a second rate coach; (4) Kobe is a second rate player; (5) the Laker bench is a bunch of CBA-ers; (6) Shaq isn’t anywhere near as good as Moses Malone was; (7) the Lakers are so bad they’ll miss the playoffs and get a lottery pick, and (8) the Sixers will win the championship this year. It is very difficult for me to respond to your well-reasoned analyses; this is too hard. You do not have a continuing string of wrong predictions, it is simply a series of bad calls. Sooner or later you are bound to guess correctly. Given your level of sports expertise, it is inevitable, given statistical probabilities. Superman, you are my hero. Winner.

Wanna get away?

Yours in whoring,

Dogster.

P.S. We’re gonna name a beer for you, buddy. “Dumb Guy Ale”

What fucking predictions have I made? None, other than L.A. won't win the championship this year ... I missed where "It would not surprise me" is a prediction. LOL. It would not surprise me if Dogster is butt-fucking-ugly, either, but I'm not predicting it.

So, are those all things you wish I had said? Since you twist what I write to fit your weak argument:

1-4) Take a reading comprehension class. 5) You got one right!! Good for you!! 6) You just made that one up all on your own! 7-8) Never said it. So, are you really that stupid, or are you just drunk again? I thought you were supposed to be intelligent ... is that just another one of your fantasies too?

Now that you mention it (since I never did), I think a prime Moses of the 1982-1983 variety would have given Shaq fits ... a definite foul-trouble nightmare at the least. Shaq has a marginal scoring edge, but Moses was a better rebounder by far, infinitely better free-throw shooter, and played 1,207 straight games without fouling out. You must still be bitter at that 4-0 sweep Moses put on the Lakers in 82-83. Let it go dude.

Start talking smack when your team gets to .500. Until then, shut up.

-Superman-

Wow! Tonight's game vs. Utah wasn't a close contest at all. Malone looked 80 years old and Shaq is beginning to dominate while Kobe's shot attempts to assist ratio was very impresive. There is still a long way to go, but I like the progress they're making. Phil shortened the rotation to eight players and I think this will continue up to the point where the Lakers are a few games over .500.

-Jarocho

S.D. Union today had a very nice article about Malone and Stockton and their long careers.

Malone is/was a great player and I agree he and Shaq would have had some great games if Malone was ten years younger. Problem is that he is now almost 40.

Sixers 107 Lakers 104 ... pathetic performance by Philly. They definitely need to tighten up and stop letting bad teams hang around. Oh well, a win's a win.

-Superman-

The lakers looked good tonight.
I still say they make the playoffs and Horry takes it from there.


Milkweb

kings lose at home to san antonio last night, have to take on phoenix on the road sat night, i will be there, in my kings weber jersey, .. last time i had to tell some punk kid to chill out with the "go back to russia" remarks aimed at Pedja.. I told him that pedja is from yugoslavia actually, lol... Kings have Bibby back, lets see what happens now.. 22-7...

oops wishful thinking, they are Going to be 22-7 after sat night, lol..

The struggling Lakers needed overtime to beat the Vince Carter-less Toronto Raptors and go 1-3 on their just concluded road trip.
Has anybody noticed the lack of talent among the other 10 Laker players and wondered how much GM Mitch Kupchak figures into the equation?
Think about it. Coach Phil Jackson has zero confidence in scrubs (I mean subs) Mark Madsen, Tracy Murray, Gennaro Pargo and Slava Medvedenko and they are not even a consideration when rotating the starters to the bench for a rest.
That leaves Jackson with 8 players.
Two of those 8, Brian Shaw (all 37 years of him) and Karim Rush (the first round draft pick with potential) compete for playing time behind Kobe. Jackson trusts the slow footed Shaw, but Rush represents the future. Quite a quandary when deciding how to distribute the 8 minutes that Kobe sits out.
GM Kupchak virtually gave all his remaining salary cap available money to reserve Devean George this past off-season. However, George still remains an enigma missing games with lingering injuries and still not looking any closer to replacing the aging Rick Fox at small forward.
Samaki Walker was a free agent sign after San Antonio lost all interest in him. He still looks like a waiver wire addition after spending nearly 2 years learning the triangle offense.
Should Kupchak be blamed for letting super quick reserve point guard Tyronn Lue get away thru free agency?
Should Kupchak be blamed for giving all his salary cap bank to Devean George?
Former Clipper Earl Boykins, all 5' 5" of him, is doing some nice things for Orlando at the league minimum salary. Why does Kupchak still keep rookie Gennaro Pargo if he is not developing and a better (and cheap) Boykins is around who could dribble the ball and put pressure on the other team's ball-handler?
Reserve centers Sean Rooks, Greg Foster and Jelani McCoy have been cut loose by GM Kupchak yet the Lakers presently have no reserve center.
The trade deadline will arrive in February but how do the Lakers improve?
I can't imagine any rival GM making a trade that would help the Lakers (when you yell 3-peat in people's face you don't make many friends).
Besides, the Lakers don't have salary cap room to make trades that would help and the players they would offer in return are old and cannot help another team (that's why they are available).
It seems that if the Lakers wanted a better result this season the time to do something about it was during the past off-season ... and they failed to improve themselves at all and are now stuck with aging starters with subs that offer no help.
Jerry West, now in Memphis GMing the Grizzlies, must be laughing his ass off!

me and my big freaking mouth, the Kings looked totally out of sync sat. night, and are 0-2 since bibbys return.. Weber made some comment after the game that the "team is not jelling" (in other words, let bobby j run the point!) i think bibby is trying to hard, rushing shots, not creating offense.. still, 21-8 isnt too shabby.. Look out for the suns, loaded with young talent, they play good defense, slash to the basket, have 3 point threats, and can bang in the paint, this Stoudimare kid (only 19) is going to be a force in the Western conference..

Kings probably got caught looking forward to the Christmas Day massacre. I would not worry about them ... they have more talent top to bottom than anybody else in the league. 21-8 with mucho injuries as well.

-Superman-

Now that my Christmas shopping is done and the wife and kiddies are all taken care of for the holiday I can't wait for Santa to deliver up the Queens tomorrow. Sure, the Lakers are humbled and have proven that they are very beatable. If they get "massacred", I say Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas. But I've been a very good boy this year and what I really want for Christmas is to feast on the spectacle of the crybaby Sacramento Queens getting their butts kicked up and down the floor at Staples.

Kobe's in a groove right now and I'm sure that Shaq will wake up for this one. Put that together with the fact that anyone who has ever put a lot of their money on Divac, Webber & Company is going to be on the recieving end of a handout at the local soup kitchen on Wedensday.

Noooo. Don't put your money on a massacre. You might do better investing in the market or even in finding true love in the Zona.

Scarus

someone needs to tell fatboy shrek he better wake up, this team has a bit more depth ( Keon Clark, jones, and jackson) than last year...
As far as the Kings fans being crybabys, yeah i admit, there are a lot of whiners out there.. But to be totally frank with you , Kings lost that series, the lakers didnt win it.. Kings didnt hit their free throws, and missed some key shots late, and of course, got into foul trouble, they CHOKED that series.. I am looking forward to a great game tomorrow, lots of intensity...Kings really need to beat the lakers handily send a message, if the lakers win, doubt and fear will start to creep into the kings players minds.

Lakers have two great players and the Kings have 3 great ones and 6 good ones...BUT Rick Adelmen is their coach...take it from a Blazers fan, Adelman will find a way to choke again even with the most talented team in the NBA....Especially against Phil Jackson. Remember he beat the most talented team in the history of the NBA with Kobe, Shaq and a bunch of scrubs.....

the most talented team in the history of the NBA? kings 2001?? I dont know about all that.. Bibby, ped, weber, divac, christie.... the bench had jackson, turk, pollard, wallace..i mean, come on they really didnt have the depth like this year.. Clark, jackson, bjackson and jones.. Kings are up by 3, 77-74, going into the fourth,

KINGS 105 LAKERS 99.........

thats all i have to say.....

No the most talented team in the history of the NBA was the 1999 Portland Trailblazers...Brian Grant, Jermaine O'Neal and Bonzi Wells came off the bench..two of the three have since been in the all star game and Wells will be an all star, regardless of his bad boy attitude. This years Kings team does rival that 99 Blazer team, hopefully this Kings team wont choke like the 99 Blazers also.