Kobe Kaboom

So maybe L.A.'s just too small a town for two Kobes.

S.O.L. picked an interesting week to be down here in LaLa Land.

Well, y'all know the Kobe of which I speak, the poor under appreciated L.A. Lakers superstud. He's got a new teammate in Los Angeles this season -- George Karl's son Coby, who incidentally was NOT named after either Kobe or a Japanese steer.

The big question is how long the two will actually share a uniform. Since the younger Coby is a rookie draftee, you can rest assured if he goes anywhere, it will be the developmental league. So yeah, crazy as this world is, it's getting crazier here in L.A. while As the Kobe World Turns continues.

For those of you living under a rock, Kobe Bryant announced in a frenzied 24-hour period that he was sick and tired of the Lakers losing ways and he wanted out of Lakerland unless they replaced GM Mitch Kupchak with ex-GM and Kobe father figure Jerry West. Only since West was under an expiring contract with Memphis and since he and Mitch K. are buddies, the Logo got bent out of shape when his protege was called out by his once favored son. Then Kobe seemed to diplomatically back away from his trade request only to raise it again, only with no ifs, ands or basketballs. Whew. Must've been quite a day in the Kobe crib.

The long summer pushed on. Kobe went to play for the U.S. National Team and demonstrated to his superstar teammates that he could actually pass the ball. This news flash did not go unnoticed by his new running mates, some of whom the Black Hole was campaigning Lakers management to bring to L.A. by any means available. No matter that in doing so he completely dissed his current teammates.

The blockbuster trades got done this summer, but the Kid went to Beantown and the other O'Neal stayed put in the Midwest.

So Kobe arrived at Lakers training camp determined to put a happy face on his predicament and collect his paycheck (which is more than tonight's lottery payoff). Poor Kobe. Poor, poor Kobe.

Behind the scenes, apparently, Kobe and the Lakers had agreed to keep the trade request matter under wraps. Then early this week, team owner Jerry Buss told the L.A. Times that he would entertain offers for his disgruntled superstar, not that he expected to get even close to even value in return. However you read it, it was a compliment to Kobe but Kobe cried foul.

In one of his now famous punk ass moves, he asked out of practice three straight days. Philip claims it was "leg fatigue". Right, S.O.L. is having excuse fatigue. The rumor mill went on tilt at the news that Kobe cleaned out his locker, a story he flatly denied. His agent said he was "just organizing" it.

Here's S.O.L.'s take: I think Kobe got wind of the comments and blew a a major gasket. I think he absolutely did clean out his locker in a fit of churlishness. (Looking back from our current perspective of the real Kobe psyche, can anyone now believe that he didn't mail in that second half against Sacramento four seasons ago? Or the 2005 second half in Game 7 against the Suns? Wake up people.

Instead of facing the music like a man and understanding that his own erratic behavior started this whole trade story nonsense, he took his ball and went home.

I think a person could argue that Kobe has about as much talent around him as LeBron James has in Cleveland. Maybe Cleveland is slightly better and plays in the weaker East but if the roles were reversed, James would be thinking about how his talent could make his teammates better not how much better he is than his supporting cast. He certainly wouldn't call out his boys in public, not like this.

I've said it before. Kobe hastened the end of the Shaq era and he's getting exactly what he deserves in return. The Lakers haven't won a playoff series since Shaq left. If Kobe's the best player on the team than why shouldn't he take some of the blame?

Further, his immature blabbering this summer was directed at the team that stood by him in his darkest days, that rehired Phil Jackson to appease him and didn't flinch when he "tested" the free agent waters with the crosstown Clippers when he knew all along he wasn't going anywhere.

I hear fans in L.A. cry that Kobe should be mad that the Lakers haven't done much to make the team better. I agree that Mitch is a lousy GM but how come nobody asks who would want to play with the second coming of Pistol Pete? A moody, selfish, jerk who hogs the ball in the All-Star game so he can improve his own legacy.

If Kobe wants to know what's wrong with his team, all he has to do is look in the mirror.

Welcome to the NBA

Los Angeles Sunset
Roll out two welcome mats this week for young comers, LeBron James and Deron Williams.

For Deron (pronounced like Darrin), the welcome party was not a good one. Coming off a great Game 3 performance in which he single-handedly got his team back into their playoff series against the Spurs, Williams had to fight the effects of a stomach flu and a tough defense down the stretch in watching his team flail, fade and fall to the Spurs in the crucial Game 4. Now the Spurs get two of three in San Antonio to close out the series and get to their fourth title game in the last decade.

Meanwhile, the young Jazz have only to sit and wonder why. And part of the reason is with the meltdown of the team's one supposed veteran. Derek Fisher, until now an inspirational figure and floor leader during Utah's playoff run, completely fucked his team last night. His flopping has always been more suited for World Cup Soccer than the NBA and when he wasn't getting the calls last night, he lost his cool and Utah lost the series.

I'm not sure this is a game you can rebound from but Deron Williams is such an unusual character and such a gifted player, that I think it's entirely possible to see this series return to Utah. Playoff teams have to grow up sometime. Why wait til next year?

Halfway across the country, the NBA's so-called lessor Division is playing basketball too. The feeling among most experts is that Detroit and Cleveland are playing for the right to lose the NBA finals to whoever comes out of the West. I think it's overstated but there's no doubt that the East is way behind the West in terms of fielding the NBA's best basketball teams.

Like the Spurs, the Pistons rushed out to a 2-0 lead and looked headed to an easy series win. But LeBron James continued his maturation as player and leader and with each passing quarter, his play has subtly and not so subtly improved by noticeable increments. Cleveland didn't so much as beat the Pistons on Sunday, LeBron took it from them.

Word is that shooting guard and quality defender Larry Hughes will miss tonight's game with a food injury but I'm not so sure this will slow down LeBron just yet. I think a switch went off somewhere in the course of the fourth quarter in Game 2 and he's coming to understand how to win playoff games. I don't know if he has the horses to help him but I do know that the Pistons are beatable (Chicago won two straight off the Pistons in the last series after they took a 2-0 lead against them) and Dwayne Wade proved last year that they are susceptible to a one-man team.

The Pistons strength is keeping the game close until the fourth where their quality defense (especially in playoffs) and ice-water shooters (Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton) hit just enough down the stretch to give them the win. But in a close game, there's no guarantee of stopping a guy like LeBron when he gets it. And right now, he's getting it in a big way.

It's clear by now that S.O.L. fears the end of the basketball season is upon us and for that reason, I'm rooting for the underdog in both series. I'm not ready to give up on the hoops obsession, even if USA basketball is coming this summer. Shit, especially since USA basketball is coming.

Poor Kobe

Kobe announced this weekend that he’s frustrated by the lack of progress by his Lakers and the inability of the front office to surround him with a championship caliber team.

Kobe’s solution is to invite Jerry West back to L.A. when the Logo officially steps down from his current job in Memphis.

The irony here runs deeper than a black hole. In the Kobe-said, Shaq-said fallout in L.A. two summers ago, plenty of blame went around. But no one can convince me that Kobe did not want to be The Man in Lakerland, at any cost. The cost was, apparently, Shaq being run out on a rail – all the way to South Beach where he got his, with the help of Dwayne Wade and a bunch of has been backups.

Meanwhile, Kobe has the Lakers to himself, continues to fail to learn what it takes to be an actual leader of them and wonders why he’s been watching the playoffs (and in his mind less talented players) from the confines of his own home?
Deny all he wants, but Kobe could have gone to Jerry Buss and been a real man and said “do what it takes to keep the big fella – I’ll make it work”. But he didn’t and if anyone’s surprised at the results, they’re not paying attention.

You can’t call yourself a leader. You have to actually be a leader. You don’t have to be a nice guy, you have to get your team to believe – not in you but in themselves. You have to show them the way and let them know they can follow you over the steepest cliff and if they crash, you will crash together. And never, for even a second, let them think you will ask of them what you wouldn’t do yourself.

You want a team leader? Watch the Utah-Spurs game tomorrow night. Take a gander at a kid named Deron Williams. Shoot, you could have your pick tonight in Cleveland – between LeBron and Billups. You want leaders. Them there’s leaders.

Don’t cry for Kobe. Unless you want to cry for his thick head.

Warriors Wash Out

My Backyard, Healdsburg, CA April 2007
Golden State's run in this year's playoffs was both inspiring and awesome -- and at times completely frustrating.

Tonight's Game 5 loss to Utah summed up the Warriors' run -- the good, the bad and the oogily.

All you have to do is look at the last minute of the third quarter. The score is 77-73 Jazz and the Warriors have the ball and a little bit of momentum, what with their usual sure-fire three-point shooting not anywhere in building. Stephen Jackson has the ball on the wing and he's being guarded by Matt Harpring, who truth be told has been giving Jackson a tough time. But Harpring is known for his hard-nosed, football-style defense and Jackson won't be the last offensive player who lets him get under his skin.

Instead of sharing the ball, Jackson tries to go one-on-one against Harpring forces an ugly shot and the Jazz get the rebound. On the way down the court, a frustrated Jackson takes down Jazz point guard Dee Brown (who is playing for the first time since suffering a scary neck injury in Game 1). Jackson draws a flagrant foul, giving Utah two foul shots and the ball back. Bad enough until Jackson's jawing brings him a technical foul on top of that. So it's three free shots for the Jazz and the ball back.

Unbelievably, the Jazz miss all three foul shots and do not even score on their ensuing possession, and the Warriors are still in the game -- even after they just miss an ill-advised three-point shot on their next possession. Ah, but the writing was already on the wall.

There's a tiny bit of redemption in the way the Warriors handled the loss after the buzzer. As the final seconds were ticking off the clock in Utah's clinching 100-87 win, Jackson walked over to Utah coach Jerry Sloan and offered a congratulatory hug. The rest of the Warriors manned up too, staying on their opponent's court under a rain of purple and white confetti, to give propers to the winners.

As stupid as they played in the tight moments of this series, they handled the aftermath with aplomb. Here's hoping they come back more mature -- especially Jackson who is alternately a great team player, a solid citizen and a total freaking knucklehead who lets his emotions overrule is better intincts.

Congrats to the Jazz who proved that size really does matter in the NBA playoffs as they make it to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1998. The good news for Jerry Sloan is he won't be seeing Michael Jordan on the other guy's sideline. The bad news -- his team is going to be the dog to whoever makes it out of the Suns-Spurs war.

You'll hear a lot about how Derek Fisher was the difference-maker in this series and how Carlos Boozer ruled the paint, but allow me to give a shout out to Andrei Kirilenko and Paul Millsap, two of the unsung heroes that made sure the Jazz got their business done. Kirilenko, who was in tears after a particularly poor performance in Utah's first-round series with Houston, has rediscovered the confidence that once made him the NBA's best all-around player. He hasn't yet played like the AK-47 of two season's ago but if he's able to reclaim that magic, the Jazz might just make it to the NBA Finals.

Millsap was just a beast inside. He was first to a lot of loose balls and offensive rebounds and he played great interior defense. He came through in some big moments, not bad for a guy who is getting his first taste of the grand stage of the NBA playoffs.

So much more fun to be had this postseason. I'll be checking back in with you after tomorrow night's game.

Suspending Belief

Magic World, May 2007
S.O.L. is not down with NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson's decision to suspend Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw a game each for their actions Monday night. The starting center/forward and his main backup were guilty of leaving the bench after their team leader was pummeled by the Robert Horry at the end of the Suns' comeback win Monday night.

The rule in question -- "all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of the bench" -- during an altercation was enforced to the letter of the law. But what about the intent, as many people have argued today, including Suns' chairman Jerry Colangelo who spoke to the New York Times by phone after the decision was handed down early Tuesday afternoon.

"Someone takes out one of your players, and you’re the one that gets penalized," Colangelo told the Times. “Horry again was the culprit, and we lose every which way. I guess you’d like to believe that a rule is a rule, but fairness and reason should have entered into the equation. The spirit of the rule is more important than the actual stepping on the court.”

So it's not a big surprise that Colangelo wants his main big man on the court for the pivotal Game (in a series tied at 2 games apiece) but what good does it do to disembowel the Suns when the players in question didn't exactly run out onto the floor? What they did was take a few steps off the bench before being pulled back by assistant coaches. Can't the rule include the discretion of the NBA as to the players' intent -- or at the very least that they did not in any way ramp up the intensity of the moment?

Horry, who's forearm shiver was disgraceful and dirty, got a two-game suspension but S.O.L. thinks that was two lenient. Cat shouldn't be allowed back on the floor this playoffs -- even if the Spurs get beyond two more games.

Frankly, I'm not all that convinced that they will, even with the huge advantage they've now been given with the Suns best player not named Steve Nash sitting at home in street clothes. Sure the Spurs are the deepest team in the league, but with Big Shot Bob not even in the building, they will at least be missing a major playoff weapon and experienced playoff performer.

I've don't think the Spurs play dirty, as Stoudemire and others have alleged during this playoffs in before, but this play was dirty and San Antonio's defense of it (coach Gregg Popovich said he "didn't think it was such a big deal,") makes me lose a lot of respect for a group I previously thought were true professionals. Fuck 'em.

I'm rooting for the Suns tomorrow night. Tune in, sports fans. I gotta feeling this one is going to be one for the ages -- and Phoenix is going to rise up from this injustice.

Golden State Goodbye???

It's early in the second half of the Warriors - Jazz Game 5 -- a series that the Jazz is leading 3-1, and the game is tight, but it feels like Utah is going to pull this game out. I just think the Warriors' short-rotation is sucking wind and the Jazz big men are imposing their will on the smaller, quicker Warriors.

Whatever happens, S.O.L. gives a major salute to the Warriors for an inspired and thrilling -- and surprising run. Here's hoping it keeps up -- either this season or next.

Ad Nauseam

A note about watching the games on TNT. First, loving it in HD so props there. But what's with all the lame promo ads for "House of Payne," "The Closer," and TNT's other upcoming t.v. series. Hey, as a t.v. writer, I appreciate them pimping their own shows, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing and playing the same damn ads over and over and over and over again is too much of a good thing. I mean if I hear that tear-stained screaming woman crying "They murdered my son!!!" one more fucking time, I'm going to throw my beer at the freaking t.v.

And speaking of adverts, what brainiac at Heineken came up with the new lite beer spot? Putting the beer bottles under a spotlight and blaring the song Pussycat Doll's "Don't Cha" is likely causing an increase in the serial killer population.

All I can say is thank God above for the mute button.

Ringing in the New Season

Mets at Dodgers, Dodger Stadium 2005
Well, so much for the World Champs. The Mets just finished off a nice first series of the season by destroying the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game sweep and raining on their victory bling parade.
As much as I'm a pimp for the Mets, I have to say they were helped along by the awfulness of the Cardinals who misplayed easy fly balls (three times) and were decidedly impatient at the plate. New York outscored the St. Louis 20-2 and turned eight double plays in the first two games (which hadn't been done in forty years). It's possible they might have had some more in Wednesday night's 10-0 drubbing, but the Cards only got one guy to second and that was in the, um, ninth inning. Ho-hum.

Let's not get too excited. The Mets travel to Atlanta to face the Braves this weekend and so far, the youngins down South have looked very, very sharp. They go into game three against Philly looking for the sweep. Speaking of the Phills, Jimmy Rollins must be feeling a little sheepish
about now as even after a minuscule sampling of games, the Phillies have to be very concerned about their bullpen.

Break up the Pirates - the Bucs swept Houston this week and are 3-0 for the first time in ages and ages. Well you might think that if you looked at their recent record of futility but the last time they were 3-0 was back in '03, a season in which they finished 75-87, four games back of the Central Division champion Cubs.


NBA Down to the Wire

Well, well, well, Lakers fans. What did S.O.L. tell you would happen to Kobe and krew when they started playing teams that belong in the NBA? After tearing up the likes of Portland and Memphis and Sacramento, the Lakers have run into a wall and face the very real possibility of dropping way down the playoff chart as both Denver and the Clippers (and Golden State) are surging at the same time the Lakers are flat-lining.

In the last six games the Lakers have gone 2-4, beating Golden State and Sacramento and losing to Memphis, Houston, Denver and last night, the improving Clippers. All of the losses exposed the Lakers' horrid defense and now only one game in the loss column separates them from losing their hold on the number sixth seed in the Western Conference playoffs to Denver or the Clippers. Lucky for the Lakers, the Nuggets have continued to be schizophrenic -- going 5-5 in a series of games where they could have easily gone 8-2 or 9-1, had they not suffered from some last-minute meltdowns and last-second buzzer beaters.

Frankly, after watching Denver play the last couple of weeks, I'm at a loss to predict how they'll do in the playoffs. Being so inconsistent doesn't bode well for playoff success, that's for sure. They are so big and fast and long, you have to think they'd be good on the defense and they've got three legit go-to scorers in Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and to a lessor extent, the improving J.R. Smith. But man, they play like a bunch of idiots sometimes. You wonder if guys like Nene even have any brains in his head. Maybe that's why he only goes by one name. Do not get me wrong. I love the guy. But man, his basketball I.Q. is severely lacking. All you had to do see what I mean about the Nuggets is to watch last night's game against Sacramento, in which they blew a 71-50 halftime lead and ended up playing for their lives in the fourth before pulling it out. This time of year, a playoff-bound team hoping to make any kind of run should not be giving back 21-point leads.

I mean I've never seen a playoff team make so many stupid mistakes. I'm surprised George Karl has any hair left on his head. If these guys could put it together, they could beat anybody. I mean it. Even Dallas and Phoenix.

As for the Lake Show, their game last night against the Clips was a perfect microcosm of their season. After a tight back-and-fourth first quarter, the Clippers outplayed the Lakers on defense and built a double-digit lead by halftime. In the second half, the Lakers tightened up their D and the Clippers just tightened up, and the Lakers got to within one. But the Clippers made the plays and the Lakers did not and that was all she wrote. Kobe finished with 29 points but shot only 13-34 to get them. A few of his shots caromed off the backboard they were so off-line. And this was a game where Lamar Odom and Luke Walton were playing well and yet Kobe still tried to take it all on himself. Two games ago against the Kings, the Lakers won fairly easily by sharing the ball (Kobe had 13 assists and didn't lead the team in scoring) and yet the King of Stubbornness misses the lesson.

The Clippers double-teamed him whenever he got the ball and Black Mamba forced several shots, expecting the refs to bail him out. (Even I thought he got fouled a couple of times only to change my mind on seeing the replay.) The Clippers broadcasters said the game had a real playoff feel and the refs called it like that -- everybody was getting mugged under the basket. But the Clippers played into that and the Lakers didn't. (I mean if there's one thing you learn playing in the NBA is to adjust to the way the refs call the game. They're human. Sometimes they have good games, sometimes they suck. Sometimes, like last night, they're reffing is frustratingly uneven. But there was a time in game where it was clear they were letting everybody play, where they were only calling the most obvious fouls. You have to adjust your game accordingly. )

I'm not sure, having looked at the potential match-ups, how much falling down the playoff seeding chart would hurt the Lakers.

If the season ended today, the Western Conference playoff picture would look like this:

1. Dallas vs. 8. Clippers
2. Phoenix vs. 7. Denver
3. S. Antonio vs. 6. Lakers
4. Utah vs. 5. Houston

The Lakers have had success playing the Spurs in the past (not that S.O.L. thinks they can beat them this year) and there's just no way Kobe and Kompany wants to see Steve Nash or Dirk Nowitzki in round one. The Suns aren't the same team they were last year when the Lakers took them to seven games. There is one big difference. (Say it with me everybody: Amare!)

So you see how come to think of it, the Lakers would be fucked no matter who they play, especially the way they're defending the hoop these days. Maybe they can muster enough team defense to slow down Tim Duncan or Tony Parker or Manu Ginobli but all three? I think you can bet the house on that not happening.

The Lakers have a big week ahead of them. After what should be an automatic win at Seattle, they have four games in six games against Western Conference playoff opponents - a home and home with the Suns, a visit to Denver and at home against the Clippers. After that it's smooth sailing with Seattle and a finish at Sacramento, both lottery teams. The thinking goes they'll make the playoffs if they finish at .500, which means they need just two wins in those final seven games. The question is can they win enough games to keep their hold on the sixth spot, and will it even matter?

50 By Any Name Ain't So Sweet

Kobe Bryant and his 50-plus output for four games in a row has been the talk of the pro basketball world. Kobe’s taking the Lakers on his back. He’s mad as hell and doesn’t want his boys to miss the playoffs. Could he break Wilt's other record? Man oh man.
Anyone who reads this blog knows that S.O.L. thinks Kobe, while an extremely gifted scorer, is overrated and doesn’t belong in discussions of the greatest NBA players ever. I mean compare him to Pistol Pete, but Magic and Bird and Jordan? Dr. J? Oscar? Elgin? No. No. No. No.

Bryant has been shooting lights out of late – and he’s getting to the foul line a lot too. While he goes to the line fairly often (despite what his coach claims), he goes through stretches where he has huge swings -- four times here, 13 there. But the last four games, he's been living at the foul line. An interesting development considering it started after his coach called out the NBA refs for supposedly targeting Kobe. Fodder for the conspiracy theorists I suppose, but it's bullshit. And more than that, it proves how much Phillip has changed his tune since his sabbatical from the NBA.

Before the streak, Kobe’s Lakers had lost seven games in a row ( this a few weeks after dropping six straight) and were within two miracle shots by Kobe from losing number eight. To put this into perspective, no Phil Jackson team has ever lost more than five straight before this season.

Those shots he took, by the way, were the same ones he’d been chucking up and missing at the end of those string of losses. The same shots he criticized another scoring machine for taking himself during his 60-point outburst.

Don’t believe me? Find a replay of the end of their loss in Philadelphia. The Lakers were within striking distance in the fourth quarter when Kobe dribbled the ball the length of the court and with something like 16 seconds left on the shot clock, took a desperation three from three-feet behind the arc. It clanked off the rim and the Sixers turned the predictably long rebound easy two on the other end, all but sealing the win.

Afterward, Kobe's not-so-thinly-veiled comments were directed at his team, not inward. Never inward. "It was just bad execution," he said. "We've seen teams deny me on the floor before. When they do that, that's when you go deeper in the offense."

Translation: my teammates didn't make enough shots.

Maybe you should involve your teammates, Kobe. Translation: pass the damn rock.

Most players take shots like that and they're riding the pines. Not Kobe. He's 'great'. And when they go in, he's the MVP. (Don't get me started on Kobe should be the MVP nonsense. I hardly want to dignify that by explaining how wrong that is.)

Look at who the Lakers beat during Kobe’s 50-plus streak. Portland, Minnesota, Memphis and New Orleans. These teams are combined 60-plus games UNDER .500. Translation: they suck. Two of them - Portland and the Grizz -- are among the worst defensive teams in the league. Give the green light to any number of NBA players on any given night and they'll put 50 up against those guys. Way to go Kobe! Wanna play my high school next?

Pardon S.O.L. for not getting all giddy over Kobe or the Lakers. All of them but one weren't decided until the final minutes. Kobe's points barrage was the difference you say? Against teams like those, it shouldn't be. Not one of those wins makes up forthe Lakers getting blown out at home against Dallas or on the road against a fairly middling Denver team or getting LeBron-ed by Cleveland just before the All-Star break - or losing the season series against S.O.L.'s lousy New York Knicks. Playoff teams are supposed to beat lottery-bound teams.

Ah, but a Lakers fan would argue that these last four games have been different because they have their starters – Luke Walton and Lamar Odom – back from injury. Nice try but it don't fly here.

I like Walton’s game. He’s a nice complimentary player (which is like calling black athlete “articulate” I think) but he’s not going to make a huge difference on this team. And Odom. Man, I’ve always loved Odom’s game but reality has trumped perception – as well as he fills up a box score, Lamar just isn’t a difference maker. He loses focus, he makes bad plays and for whatever reason, he has difficulty finishing at the rim (if there was a stat for missed layups, he'd be in the top three in the league). He is probably the most frustratingly inconsistent talent in the NBA. Add to the mix his shoulder injury, which will probably require surgery in the offseason.

I think the Lakers have done yeoman’s work getting production out of big man Kwame Brown but expecting more from him at this point is just dreaming. And Brian Cook is never going to be the rebounder they need at the four, even when he comes back. And Vlad the Snowman? If the Lakers are counting on him to lead them into the second round of the playoffs, Chick Hearn is going to call out the fridge from the afterlife. This is the guy Jackson calls a "space cadet."

The better teams have proven they can stop the one-man Kobeshow, as we'll see in the coming weeks. First two should-win games - the enigmatic Golden State and crappy Memphis, again -- spurring predictions that Kobe will go for 60-plus six games in a row. Color me excited. Let's see him go for 60 against Houston (Jeff Van Gundy would rather eat his shoe than let Kobe score that many points) AND win the game. After the Lakers have a brutal stretch of eight home-away matchups - two against Denver, two against the Suns and two against the suddenly surging L.A. Clippers. Seriously, if the Clips continue playing well and take those two games against the Lakers, they could pass them in the standings. Not that I'm predicting that here.

And while Kobe’s firing up 20 more shots a game then his teammates (as he did against New Orleans), how is that going to prepare them for when it’s on them to make baskets?

This leads to another oft-made point here and that is that if Kobe wants to be considered great, he has to not only play great, he has to be a leader -- on both ends of the floor. At one time, he was considered a premier shut-down defender but he doesn't seem interested in playing 'D' anymore. I refer you to this excellent blog. Basketbawlful writes eloquently about what he calls the myth of Kobe's defense. In it, he makes a number of compelling points in comparing Kobe to Steve Nash, who is widely considered a defensive liability (not by S.O.L.).

(And really, the discussion about who's a better player between Nash and Kobe ought to end on who makes their team better. In almost any category you want to measure, any meaningful statistical analysis, Nash means more to his team in terms of wins and loses than Kobe does. Simply put, Nash makes his teammates better.)

Basketbawlful is one of the few NBA observers who has noticed how often Kobe's been torched by the guy he's guarding this season. Did anyone notice how many points Memphis' Mike Miller (sounds like a blues guy, doesn't it?) put up against the Lakers? That's right, folks, 33. And who was guarding him? Oh, dear, yes. We already talked about Agent Zero's 60 (Kobe ASKED to guard him in the fourth and it made a difference only in Arenas getting more points). And when LeBron was going off on the Lakers in the fourth quarter of their victory last month, he was doing it against Kobe, in the fourth, with the game on the line.

Thursday Thoughts on Sports

Oak Tree at Sundown
Cha-ching

S.O.L. was upset to hear about the news that Wimbledon is finally, finally going to start paying women tennis players the same money that the men get. Well, it’s a little late for S.O.L. and her devastating forehand, isn’t it?

Truth be told, the differences in pay are small -- the ladies' finals winner got 95 percent of the men's champ last year -- but surely principle is worth five percent.

Still, we think this is fair as the women draw just as much (perhaps more) fans to the tour than the men do. They deserve an equal cut of the proceeds. The fun detail of this story is that Wimbledon officials have been under pressure for years and years to make this change and perhaps the final tipping point came from what some might see as an unlikely source.

Two years ago, on the eve of her finals match against Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams went with the WTA's Larry Scott to a meeting of Grand Slam officials and "made her point in very articulate fashion," Scott told the New York Times in an article that's to run in tomorrow's issue. It's already on line at www.nytimes.com. (There's that word again, UMB. :-D)

It's a beautiful thing to see the Williams' sisters changing tennis off the court as much as on.

Trade Winds

The NBA trade deadline passed with a whimper this afternoon with a handful of small deals being done – and none involving any of the big names who were said to be on the block. Still in the same unis are Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and Mike Bibby.

What did happen was the lowly Portland Trailblazers sending Juan Dixon to the rising Raptors for Fred Jones – both backup guards. Yawn.

Most of the trade talk circled around New Jersey star PG Jason Kidd going to Los Angeles to play with All-Star MVP Kobe Bryant. The general consensus was that it would be a great deal for the Lakers, as long as they didn’t give up too much for him.

As it was, though, the Nets weren’t going to just give them Kidd, even if it would help them with cap room space so they could go after a marquee free agent in time for the opening of their new arena after next season. Speculation has they were offered Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown (both of whom are on the injured list, Mihm out for the entire year) and Jordan Farmar, with Farmar being the star of that deal. But they wanted either Lamar Odom or the young center Andrew Bynum and the Lakers balked.

We thought the best analysis of this trade came from an unlikely source, ESPN broadcaster and Hall of Famer Bill Walton. Walton is a smart guy but he tends to be too emotional – on both sides of the spectrum. Either he kisses serious ass or he hates you. There is no middle ground with Bill, it seems. In the interest of fair disclosure, S.O.L. once lent her cassette tape (this was back in the day, folks) of one of Bob Dylan's recent blues albums (we're talking early 90s) and he never returned it. So we've been a bit down about the Red Head.

At any rate, we like his take on the Kidd/Kobe combo which is that their styles of play are just not compatible. Kobe likes to handle the ball and create his own offense (and at least this season, try to involve his teammates). Kidd is a distributor who can score if he needs to but would rather pass first. Kidd needs the ball 12/48 and while he's no Steve Nash, he's a pretty good pure point. Neither one of these guys, Walton argues, move all that well without the ball. I think the way he put it was that they'd be standing around watching the other guy dribble. We have to agree with Bill in that we can’t see how this combo would make the Lakers better.

Which is not to say the Lakers do not need to get better. In recent weeks, the most overrated team in the league this season, has come down to earth. For the first time in Philip’s career, he has lost six games in a row. Yes, S.O.L. is a Kobe hater but would someone please defend his play at the end of the last few games? You know when he takes a ridiculously long three-pointer with plenty of time left on the shot clock instead of trying to work the ball around for a better look? Sure, he does make those crazy ass shots but he doesn’t always make them, and he doesn’t have to, what with four other guys on the court with him.

He has a learned behavior at the end of games which has given him a rep of being a tremendous clutch player. But I would make the argument that for every one of those Hail Mary’s that go in, a whole lot of them don’t. For every time he makes a last-gasp, buzzer-beater to win or tie a game, that same stupid shot costs his team a chance to stay in games late, games (like last night in Portland or twice recently against the Cavs or at home against the Knicks) that became losses but should be wins.

Following this to its logical conclusion, S.O.L. believes that while Kobe is extremely smart and a very skilled player, he is not gifted with the same sort of basketball I.Q. that would place him in the category of the great players of our era, with whom he is constantly being compared.

The the jury’s out on Lebron’s bball I.Q. because there’s just not a big enough sample yet but if you watch how Steve Nash, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan, and perhaps Kevin Garnett play basketball, you will see players who seem to adjust within the flow of the game in a way that doesn’t make you wonder if they know there are four other guys on the floor.

In recent weeks, too, Kobe has added a new dimension to his game – not playing defense. And yet another, which is driving to the hoop hard, not getting a foul called and dropping out of the play while the rest of his team races back to defend his T.O. He even took a bunch of boneheaded shots in the All-Star game – just because he was rewarded with the MVP, doesn’t mean he plays the game right. Just ask any hold ‘em player about losing his AK to a seven deuce off-suit.

Sad News

Speaking of great players, S.O.L. has just learned while writing this the sad, sad, sad news (as reported by friend and former colleague Ric Bucher at ESPN.com) that Celtics legend Dennis Johnson has died suddenly, at the age of 52.

Johnson was the MVP of the 1979 NBA finals which saw the SuperSonics beat the Washington Bullets. Later, he teamed with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish for the Celtics 1984 and ’86 NBA Championships.

S.O.L. met the man they called DJ when she was in Los Angeles and he was an assistant coach for the Clippers (he actually filled in as their head coach when they fired Alvin Gentry with 24 games to go in the 2003 season). He was a great guy. Smart, funny and S.O.L. thinks would have been a great, great head coach. At the time of his death he was the head coach of the Celtics D-league squad, and it remains a mystery to S.O.L. why he was never offered a head-coaching job in the NBA.

R.I.P. DJ.

Coming out of the Locker Room Redux

Ally and Sylvia, Palm Springs, California 2006
The other shoe dropped today. Interestingly, the response to ex-NBA baller John Amaechi coming out as a gay man last weekend has been pretty tame. One player said he didn't want to be exposed to a teammate's "gayness", another said the media was making too big of a deal about it and a couple others said it wouldn't be easy to have a gay teammate.

But the biggest criticism so far as been that Amaechi didn't come out soon enough.

We're still waiting for the first gay man to admit to being gay while he's actually an employed professional athlete. And yes, do not check your calendars -- it is still the 21st Century. Well, I'm not waiting for that day but rather the day when admitting your gay is as shocking as admitting you break the speed limit.

But the real hate parade has apparently only just begun. Ex-NBA point guard Tim Hardaway said this during an appearance Wednesday on Dan Le Batard's sports talk radio show, Sports Talk 790 in Miami:

"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," Hardaway said. "I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."

His remarks were not provoked by Le Batard, who simply asked him what he would do if he found out one of his teammates was gay. His first response was that he'd want the guy off the team and that being in the locker room with him would make him "uncomfortable."

Is it any wonder why gay athletes stay in the closet?

I've said it here before but to me being homophobic is the last bastion of bigotry in America. Here in NoCal, I heard a local sports talk guy rail on about how Hardaway's remarks are going to bring him a world of hurt. And even Hardaway apologized later Wednesday and an interview broadcast on a Fox Sports TV affiliate, but I'm betting nothing happens to him, nothing that affects his future in or around basketball. A lot of people think gay people are not normal or dangerous or sinners.

My friends will tell you that I'm uncomfortable around sex talk and it's true -- I like the idea of privacy and I think it's important in a world where people admit their most humiliating secrets on national television, to honor everyone's private life. Whatever you do as two consenting adults is your business -- just don't give me the gory details, you know?

But that's not good enough in America. America has been overrun by what I believe to be a minority group of extremely religious people who say they are doing God's will but are only spreading hate. I don't have to list the main culprits here, but the fact is homophobia is imprinted on to our cultural DNA to a point where one man's sexual orientation is a threat to another man, even if the subject never comes up.

Seems to me we've got a whole lot of very insecure guys out there.

I heard someone say recently -- someone who I consider smart, who's been around the block a time or two -- that she would worry if one of her son's elementary teachers was gay. She didn't want her son exposed to the lifestyle at such a young age. It doesn't matter to her that a gay man would normally never be interested in a child (that would make him a pedophile which is like calling a butcher a serial killer) and it doesn't matter that any teacher that brought his or her private sexual life in front of elementary school students would be out of a job before the bell for the next class.

It's okay to be ignorant and stupid about gay people because so many of the falsehoods (like they want to rape our sons) repeated about them are so widely believed. You would think that we would've have gotten past this by now, but there's just too many people in our country who refuse to let facts muddy their beliefs.

Interesting, in Le Batard's column based on Hardaway's comments, that runs in today's Miami Herald, Amaechi said that he was glad someone finally came out and said what they really feel about having a gay teammate.

``Finally, someone who is honest," he tells Le Batard. "It is ridiculous, absurd, petty, bigoted and shows a lack of empathy that is gargantuan and unfathomable. But it is honest. And it illustrates the problem better than any of the fuzzy language other people have used so far.''

In Amaechi's view, this kind of talk will only open up more dialogue on the subject, which is what he was after in deciding to tell his secret to the world in the first place. I guess.

The choice to come out of the closet shouldn't be a political one. It should be a personal, private decision for the person making it -- and no one else. Having said that, I'm rooting for a big time athlete to come out loud and proud -- while he's still actively playing his sport. The bigger his star, the better. When that happens (and it most surely will some day) then maybe we can do away with all these silly, ignorant myths -- and get onto something more important.

That's right, sports fans, this week is pitchers and catchers!


EDITED TO ADD: The news that Timmy H. has been banned from his appearances at the All-Star Weekend in Vegas, which means that S.O.L. is wrong, quite happily so. I watched TNT's post game last night (after Lebron out-Kobe'd the Lakers, who lost their fifth in a row) and liked what the guys had to say there. Especially Charles Barkley who came with the (and I'm paraphrasing not quoting him here) "if you think you've never played with a gay man on your team sometime in your life, you're crazy" take.

NBA Commish David Stern had this to say in a statement released after banning Hardaway from making appearances at NBA-sanctioned events this weekend:

NBA commissioner David Stern, upon learning of the remarks Wednesday, banished Hardaway from All-Star weekend in Las Vegas.

"It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours," Stern said.

I'm sure we'll see how big a disparity it really is. Stay tuned, sports fans.

Coming out of the Locker Room

Photo caption: Morning on Fire. January 2007

Former NBA basketballer John Amaechi came out last week, as in announcing to the world that he's gay. This shouldn't be a big deal except that there is no place in the world where homosexuality is more feared than in a professional sports locker room. I know. I've been there.

The good news for current NBA ballers is that Amaechi is no longer actually playing anymore . Whew! Their masculinity is safe for the moment, but S.O.L. wonders how long it will be until a current pro athlete can be a gay and nobody gives a shit. I predict the Cubs will win the World Series long before that ever happens.

But in perusing the web about this story this week, I saw more than a few message board comments about womens' pro athletes -- the gist of which is they're all lesbians. Um, could we all try to be a little less fucking ignorant?

Supposedly educated folk are not immune apparently. I belong to a private message board of professional writers and we have a sometimes lively discussion about the sports world. When someone posted about Amaechi's outing himself, it didn't take long before the thread turned into a guessing game about which women pro athletes are gay -- and how, really, everybody knows how most of them are. (I can't share any of the specific material here because I'm bound by the site's TOS rules so you'll just have to take my word for it.)

Labeling women pro athletes as gay may well be the last, best safest place for bigots to be out loud and proud. Even Wikipedia has a ridiculously biased (and unconfirmed) reference page on this subject.

For straighter dope, check out this book or the Women's Sports Foundation, which has long been a reliable place to get the truth out on this subject. In fact, there's a very thoughtful piece here that goes into all the ways women athletes are misrepresented or marginalized.

I have personal experience on both sides of the coin, having played sports as a child and then later covering womens athletics as a sportswriter. When I was nine years old, I was among the first girls in New York to play Little League Baseball with the boys. I'm happy to report that for the most part, my presence wasn't a big deal to my teammates and opponents. It was their parents and other adults who felt the most threatened.

One man, a gym teacher no less, once told my mother that her daughter shouldn't play baseball because and I quote, "she might slide into second base and get breast cancer." Mull on that heaping plate of stupid for a second. I was told to "go back to the kitchen" and was labeled a "tom boy" and a "dyke" -- I admit to the first but as for the second, well I'm here to report that playing sports did not turn me into a Lesbian. Not that there would be anything wrong with being gay, but seriously folks, for the vast majority of us, your sexuality is hard-wired into your DNA - you either is or you ain't and there isn't much you can do to change it.

There's a lot wrong about the way women are portrayed in the media in general -- I'm not sure you can be too thin in America today -- but one thing you can't really argue with is that being active is a good thing for everybody -- mentally and physically. The last thing a girl needs to worry about when the time comes for her to sign up for a sports team is whether it's going to make people question her sexuality.

Basketballing

Photo caption: h2O


We're coming up on NBA All-Star Weekend, which is in Las Vegas this year, which, frankly, makes about as much sense as having an AA convention in Amsterdam, but at least Charles Barkley is happy. The wisdom of having a major professional sports league's all-star game in Sin City is for another blog. Besides the game usually falling on S.O.L.'s birthday week (that’s right, we use the whole week), it's also the traditional halfway point in the pro basketball season. Everybody else is giving their first-half thoughts and far be it for S.O.L. to miss out on another opportunity to give an unsolicited opinion on sports.

Let's play my favorite game, "if the season ended today ..."

So, if the season ended today, these would be the playoff match-ups:

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Detroit vs. No. 8 Miami
No. 2 Washington vs. No. 7 Orlando
No. 3 Chicago vs. No. 6. Indiana
No. 4 Toronto vs. No. 5. Cleveland


Western Conference

No. 1 Dallas vs. No. 8 Denver
No. 2 Phoenix vs. No. 7 L.A. Clippers
No. 3 San Antonio vs. No. 6. L.A. Lakers
No. 4 Utah vs. No. 5. Houston


Much to like about the East side of the draw, what with a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Finals in the first round and no rest for Lebron, with his Cleveland Cavs having to face the upstart Raptors right out of the gate (I like Toronto in an upset here). Lebron is the king, no doubt, but he just doesn't have enough of a supporting cast. I hope the Cavs ownership brings him some help soon -- he belongs on the NBA's biggest stage.

Out West, a lot of folks would say the Spurs/Lakers would be a pick ‘em, what with the Lakers and head coach Phil Jackson able to get in the Spurs’ heads in the past but not this year. Even L.A. at full strength and the “new-look” pass-happy Kobe, the Spurs are just too deep and too good.

I really don’t see a tough first-round series in the West. Utah is good and well-coached and Deron Williams is a star-in-the-making, but Houston is playing great. T-Mac is finally leaving up to his hype and if they ever get Yao back this season, they could be dangerous.

Sure, we're getting ahead of ourselves, what with all those games left to play, one of the “bubble” teams -- New Jersey and New York in the East; Minnesota, Golden State out West – could conceivably move in to the playoffs. I wouldn't bet on it, especially my hometown Knicks. What I wouldn't be surprised about is if shake up in the coming weeks in terms of who ends up ranked where.

Miami, especially, could advance to a higher seed and the motivation is there -- who wants to face a revitalized Pistons team in the opening round? (David Stern, TNT, ABC and ESPN sure don't.) DWade really is the best player in the NBA in S.O.L.’s oh so humble opinion and you can’t count out Shaq’s desire to continue to prove to You Know Who that he’s The Man. (Side note: did you see Dwayne in tears when they retired his college jersey the other night? S.O.L. was touched. Touched I tell you.)

The story all season (as it was last year) is that the West is so much better than the East. I can’t argue with that although the East has been decimated by injuries to impact players. I like the way Detroit is playing now. I think Webber (check out CWebb's graphically wondercool website)was a really excellent pick up. But I’m frankly underwhelmed by Flip Saunders, surprising for me because I always thought he was underrated when he was head coach in Minnesota. I may owe K.G. a really big apology there.

Every team in the East has a serious, serious weakness to be sure. Cleveland is soft and benchless, Miami is inconsistent, Toronto inexperienced, Washington isn’t very deep and Chicago and Orlando have trouble scoring during big stretches.

But I’d argue the West, beyond the top three or four teams, isn’t that hot either. The Lakers aren’t as good as people think (not as bad as S.O.L. thinks either) and even coach Jerry Sloan has said his Jazz are a work in progress. The Clippers are playing well below their talent – I haven’t seen enough of them to know why, but if I’m Elgin Baylor, I gotta be thinking about mixing it up either on the court or on the bench. If I’m Mike Dunleavy (Sr., that is) I’d worry about keeping my gig. Even San Antonio has looked downright mortal this season.

Dallas is the glamour pick of the moment but I’m absolutely convinced this club is for real. As much as I love the Suns (and I do love them), I think it’s stupid right now to pick against the Mavericks. For one, Avery Johnson might be the best coach in the league (take that, Phil), Dirk Nowitzki is a man on a serious mission and this is a better, smarter, more experienced team than the one that went to the finals last season. Even saying all that, the reason they go all the way this year is they’re playing at an extraordinarily high level every night, especially on defense.

No big surprise, then, that S.O.L. is picking Dallas vs. Detroit for all the marbles, with Dallas winning in seven. I reserve the right to change my mind later because this is my blog and I can do whatever the fuck I want, thank you very much, but as for now, I can’t see Dallas choking again.

Tune in next weekend when S.O.L. blogs live during All-Star festivities.

TNT Fucks Up

Speaking of the Detroit Pistons, if you didn’t catch their game against the Lakers earlier tonight on TNT (in beautiful HD – oh, how S.O.L. loves HD almost as much as she loves talking about herself in the third person), you missed one of Detroit’s best games of the year – and a major-league fuck up by TNT’s TV crew, led by the colorful-coat wearing sideline guy Craig Sager.

Just in time for Black History Month, TNT featured an interview with new Pistons forward Chris Webber’s “father," Mayce Webber, all about how Chris is making the transition to playing for his hometown team since signing with Detroit a couple weeks back. Nothing wrong with that, you say. Well, it is when the guy Sager interviewed wasn’t Webber’s father, but his (I believe) AAU coach. Oops, wrong black man. For anyone who wonders why so many African-Americans feel marginalized in this country, you might want to store this incident away for future reference.

I want to give Sager and TNT credit for coming back later, admitting the ginormous boo-boo and then actually (finally) interviewing Webber’s real father (one question and out), but I’m trying to figure out how they could make such a huge freaking mistake in the first place. I missed the TNT post-game show but I hope co-host Sir Charles had something to say about it and it involved serving up Sager & Company on a stick.

EDITED TO ADD: Right after I posted this last night and just before turning in, I surfed over to my friend's telling it real blog, Undercover Black Man, who was writing (almost at the same time) about similar identity mistakes. Doh! Apparently, ID-ing black people in America is hard. At least it is for many major media outlets. Read UBM's take here and here, and see for yourself.