Noj

Happy Birthday!

Lime for Mexican food, lemon for most others.

I don't think there are any shooting guards outside Michael Jordan's shoes who can win without a great big man. Even Jordan's teams had sort of a "big man by committee" between Rodman, Longley, Weddington, etc. Pippen added to that as well with his superior rebounding.

I've only rooted for the Lakers, and I pull for the Clippers because I'm a homer. I suffered through the Vlade/Van Exel years after growing up with Magic/Kareem/Worthy. Magic is still my favorite player of all time. Kobe was an incredible player--when he played within the system. The open 20 footer created by Shaq double teams was a friggin' layup to the kid. The decision to play without a big man is a huge digression from what made him successful.

I bought the Verve "Unmixed" versions of the first two compilations, so I could have clean versions of a few tracks whose albums I haven't seen available.

Here's a mighty big "if" for you, Bruce: If, in a century or so, the Pistons franchise is able to catch up to the Lakers in terms of Championship trophies, then you can have the last laugh. Until then, this Laker fan will whine and cry all he wants. The PaperClips will never win it all. The franchise exudes losing. They were twice the team the Lakers were this season...on paper. They'll play with any team all night long and blow it in the 4th quarter. I still watch them and root for them anyway.

Thanks AB, I'll heavily consider your comments. Constructive criticism welcome!

Thanks sidewinder! As my first forray into professional design/illustrating, I'm hoping to step it up a notch or two. B-)

Well...... That's basketball isn't it, a TEAM effort??? Isn't that why they have 12 men instead of just 5??? Karl Malone was never the issue with the Lakers, you are still grasping for straws.. B-) DETROIT ROCKS YET AGAIN!! I understand what's happening on the floor much better than what's happening on the business end of things, I'm definitely not grasping for straws here. I watched the Lakers all year last year, I know for certain that Karl Malone was the glue that held the whole team together. As the season progressed, the offense was run through Karl because his passing ability was by far the best on the team. It is a team sport, but take a future Hall Of Famer off the floor and the team will weaken, obviously. My analysis was spot on for why the Lakers played so poorly in the Finals. Detroit also specializes in defense, and came in playing their very best basketball. That's hardly the team one wants to face when dealing with crucial injuries, infighting, and having to re-tool the offense to deal with the gaps.

Maybe Monty Stark will plug it over at AAJ. He posted about the earlier release. I bet it will repeat a bunch of tracks from the other disc--I wonder if the newly added material will be worth the upgrade.

I've always considered Booker T. & The MG's in a similar vein as The Meters--they keep it simple, and groove their asses off. My favorite tune is "Bootleg." I dig their version of "Summertime" too.

I think if Karl Malone hadn't gotten injured, we'd be talking about the Lakers' fourpeat.

One can't forget the freakish 0.4 second shot Derek Fisher hit to sink the Spurs in San Antonio. That shot propelled the Lakers to play beyond their injury-riddled roster, but only in getting past the Spurs. When the Finals rolled around, there was no Malone, no Devean George, Rick Fox and GP were playing the worst ball of their careers, and Kobe decided he'd rather force shots than work the ball to Shaq. Combine that with not having anyone to match up well defensively with Rasheed and Rip, and there it was...

I've met the very personable and generous RDK. After years of reading posts I feel like I know many of you! Hopefully the opportunity to meet in person will present itself some day.

80, but I'm not counting my chickens.

Aren't I going to be me?

I've got 1/3 of the Stitt, if someone's got the other 2/3 maybe we can work something out...

The kid can peak over the top of the rim and look down through it. I bet he can grab the top of the backboard. More hops than Jordan and Dominique in their respective primes.

The Pistons have lost that much steam, Guy? I was figuring they would duke it out with the Heat in a seven-gamer for the East.

I'd love to see the Suns win, I think they're playing the most exciting basketball in the NBA. However, I don't see them getting past Tim Duncan's Spurs, and even if they did I don't think they'd beat the Heat or the Pistons. Running teams have a hard time beating teams that are stronger in the half-court set, so teams that have big men such as Duncan, Shaq, or Rasheed Wallace/Ben Wallace slow the game down. No turnovers, no fastbreaks, no victory for the Suns.

Among active players, this lead-off batter is third behind two pitchers for fewest HR per at bat.

Happy Birthday!

The Cleveland fans would burn down the stadium if they let him go.

Shit. How 'bout Yao? Can we get that son of a gun from Houston?

Hey man, I've got no choice but to be optimistic. I'm grasping at straws. Leave it up to me and I'd trade Kobe's ass and start from scratch. KG would have more of a chance of winning with Kobe than anyone in Minnesota. Kobe's still a great basketball player. The Lakers are not a losing organization historically, while the Wolves have no history at all.