The title of my blog holds very true as the NBA finally begins their season and already the former 2 time defending champs are being buried as the new look stadium rivals have become the newest hype in the league.
Over the years I have seen numerous abuse to the former champs that have left me scratching my head, but what happened to them this year is plain ridiculous and hypocritical. According to Mr. Stern, he was forced to void the trade that would have depleted the Lakers of two very skilled big men for one perennial All NBA player in his prime due to it not being fair to the league and the aforementioned All-Star's former team the New Orleans Hornets. Now the exact excuse was that CP3 arrival to a big market like Los Angeles pretty much elminates what the Player's union and the owners painfully took months to agree on, also it made the Lakers too good, too fast, that's a direct quote.
So the Lakers were screwed, Lamar's feelings were hurt, Shannon Brown decided to go to a team where defense is not noticed, and Ron Artest focused on his new name rather than working on his game. Not a great start. Across the hallway the Clippers beat the Lakers to CP3 and immediately became the new Kings of Los Angeles, what was that? Los Angeles? But didn't Stern say...WTF? OK, i'm confused, wasn't the first trade voided, because CP3 should not play in a big market? Hmm....surely Stern knows, the Clips are no longer in Buffalo right? I mean isn't this one of the biggest crocs of shit that have graced the sports pages, pathetic. Too add insult to injury Lamar's hurt feelings was sent over to the reigning champs the Mavericks for pretty much nothing, WTF!! So, I guess as long as the Lakers no longer improve, the league considers it fair, ha!, I still can't believe haters still say the Lakers get all the breaks, please. Honestly I wasn't too thrilled with the trade when I heard of it, felt the Lakers were giving up too much, unless Dwight Howard would join them later then it would have been awesome, and it's pretty clear it made the other teams curse and start bitching about the Lakers new fortune, oh well, this are the Los Angeles Lakers, they'll always be a top draw, and will find a way to contend. What bothered me was the hypocritical reason the team was given, "CP3 can't go to a big market", what do you think LA in LA Clippers stands for dumb ass! I think as a fan you would appreciate it if at least they were honest "You know we just can't stand seeing more banners being raised by the Lakers, and we're tired of constantly getting our assess handed to us by ya'll" would have been more acceptable. Regardless, karma is a bitch, and this will come back and bite them in the ass, and Lakers fans will be laughing.
Moving on,
Well now with Phil gone, and their best players older, slower, and surrounded by role players, dark days await the former champs, well at least to pretty much any basketball "experts"., Stephen A. Smith even has the new LA Kings contending for the west crown next spring and stand firm that future Hall of Famer Black Mamba will not finish his days in purple and gold. Even our very own beloved Magic Johnson commented that CP3 makes the Clippers contenders, are you serious?
I happened to catch both of the pre-season match up with the boys from LA-LA land and apperentaly it set records of most watched pre-season game, no joke. The first game was close in the first half, then the former Champs got shell shocked of so mamy Clippers fans or something, cause they totally sucked in the third falling behing by as many as 27 points led by the new guard combo of CP3 and Laker killer Chauncey Billups. The Lakers startes came back and actually cut it to 13 before the Clips continued their hot ouside shooting adding to the drama that there are new ballers in town. I wonder what would of happened if the Lakers had trounced the Clips? It probably would have been dismissed as a pointless pre-season game, but the roles are reversed it's not pointless when you beat the former Champs, of course not, the Lakers are not judged by other teams standards, any win against them counts, regardless who plays doesn't it? I heard media adored cHeat lost a big lead to state rivals Orlando, yet I don't hear or see anyone bashing them as done, ridiculous how much the Lake Show is hated.
On their last meeting without Black Mamba the Lakers came out strong and dominated the inside with Bynum abusing the Clips front line all through the first half until turnover again caught up to them and allowed the Clips to come back and lead big before rallying back and almost force over time, pretty cool game actually. Not much was made of the game without Mamba but the Clips were clearly frustrated in the first half as their expected highlight reel against an old team without direction did not play like such in the first half. The guards did not dominate like the first game, this time former Laker Caron Butler did the damage with some pretty impressive shooting from outside. On the plus side the two rookies for the former Champs look promising, the title holdovers looked solid especially Bynum, and they seem to be again playing with passion, it's all we ask for as real fans.
The thing that stood out was the commentary for the game where the Clips were praised for almost every play, it was entertaning actually. I don't know who the announcers are and really don't care, what did catch my attention was the BS that came out their mouth, for example:
"In Chris Paul, they now have the best point guard in the league, and the best veteran in Billups" Say what? While there's no denying CP3 is among the best 2 point guards, when it comes to 'veterans' I can think of a few future hall of famers who I would classify better thatn Mr. Big Shot, even if this homer meant best veteran guard, I wouldn't place Billups in front of newly crowned champ HOF bound Jason Kidd, 3 point leader Ray Allen, former MVP Steve Nash, and of course Kobe Bryant.
"There is not a better running center than DeAndre Jordan" Has this person ever seen highlights of Superman Dwight Howard?
"The Clippers have one of the best if not the best bench in the league" Current bench warmers for the new LA kings are: Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Ryan Gomes, Brian Cook, and rook Travis Leslie. Yes, I'm sure this bench strikes fear for the benches of Champion Dallas, Miami, Chicago, San Antonio, OKC, hell even the Lakers.
In conclusion, the long awaited season finally starts, I can only hope it is as intriguing as the last few weeks.
Go Lakers!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
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