 Lakers Vs. Sixers. Hmmm, not well known for rivalries, but there still were a number of occasions where these teams had wars and disputes along the line. There was the Sixers and Lakers matchup in the eighties and one time in the finals as well. There was also the fact that Wilt Chaimberlain was in the Sixers before he came to L.A.
So the question comes with this: Can the Finals matchup of today matchup with the matchups of past years? and Can this series be a tough one for the Lakers? The answers for both questions is NO.
Why no you ask? Well, it just so happens that the Lakers beat the Spurs, a team that was the well prospect to win the NBA Championship or at least to the level of the Lakers, and the Lakers SWEPT the Spurs until they were all crying and running to their mommies. Do you reeeally think that the one-man army Sixers can really stop the Lakers' rampage through the NBA Playoffs?
Sixers = Iverson, Iverson and some more Iverson. Iverson is a 6'1' guard that always gets injured but never sits on the bench.
Lakers = Shaq & Kobe, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Robert Horry, and the rest of the cast. This team is totally in sync, as a team. NO one man army in this house.
Lakers will annhailate the Sixers un-doubtedly. The only way the Sixers can win is if 1) Iverson doesn't touch the ball and/or 2) Mutombo defends Shaq so well that Shaq's score would actually seem human.
This matchup is a definite yawner, and the only reason to watch it is probably because it is the freakin' NBA Finals.  Back on TRACK? After a miserable up and down rough start, the Lakers finally got on track and to prove that they have, they have only lost 1 game in the month of April and they finished with an 8 game winning streak. You would think that the Lakers would be quite happy and dandy, but are they?
The Lakers got lucky finishing 2nd place, after all the hub-bub with all the controversy with Kobe and Shaq, Phil Jackson and Jerry Buss's daughter, and the fact that they were losing too. With an 8 game winning streak to end the season, and ending with Shaq making all his free throws, there has to be some sigh of relief.
Then there's the fact that the Lakers have to face the deteriorated, but dangerous Portland TrailBlazers team. The same team the Lakers played in the Western Conference Finals last year.
With this, the Lakers have some worrying to do. Or do they?
The Blazers have lost 7 of their last 10 games and ended the season with a crumblimg 3 game losing streak.
Do they Lakers deserve to celebrate? Email me at Lakerz2k@hotmail.com or Instant Message me at tp8x8boi on AOL Instant Messenging. If you want to follow up on all of the Lakers' news. Check here weekly to get your updates on my opinions in the latest news. Select Committee on Playing Rules Named
NEW YORK, March 15 - NBA Commissioner David Stern today announced that the following individuals have been named to the select committee on playing rules chaired by Phoenix Suns Chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo.
Wayne Embry - Consultant to the Cleveland Cavaliers;
Stu Jackson - NBA Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations;
Bob Lanier - Special Assistant to the Commissioner;
Alonzo Mourning - Member of the Miami Heat;
Dick Motta - Retired after 25 years as an NBA head coach;
Jack Ramsay - NBA head coach for 21 years and currently a commentator for ESPN;
Theo Ratliff - Member of the Atlanta Hawks;
Ed Rush - NBA Director of Officiating;
Purvis Short - Director of Player Services of the National Basketball Players Association;
Rod Thorn - President of the New Jersey Nets; and
Jerry West - Recently retired as Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The committee will make its first report to the Board of Governors at the Board's next meeting in New York on March 30th.
(NBA.com) |
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Rider: To Cut or NOT to Cut. Isaiah Rider-
(Good): Career Average-17.0 ppg,
Career Three point percentage- .352
94-95 season- 20.4 ppg
(BaD) : Bad attitude, Bad ego, Drug problems,disagrees with coach, and not a good teammate.
If you were Mitch Kupchak, you would be pondering too. Should I cut the man or not? Will it be the same mistake of cutting Dennis Rodman? Will it be healthier for the team if this guy leaves the team?
My answer is slightly unbiased. Isaiah Rider has talent and he could be the main man if he'd just get rid of the drugs in his system before the games. We all know that he's high before every single game. It's no doubt. I've seen him play in Portland and Minnesota before the Atlanta fiasco. He was, or could have been, the best basketball player that I've seen. He could shoot, drive to the hoop, defend, and almost everything else and with him on the team is like a plum, sour on the outside and sweet on the inside, all you gotta do is peel the skin off.
Then there is the fact that the Lakers Organization is very strict. Even though Jerry West is retired, Mitch Kupchak has been working under West for a long time and the tradition of the Lakers is definitely "Play team ball or take a hike." Two living proofs are Nick Van Exel and Dennis Rodman. Nick Van Exel had a "this team is hopeless" attitude that the Lakers disliked and what did they do? They traded him. They didn't just trade him, they traded him to Denver for TONY BATTIE and then traded Battie for TRAVIS KNIGHT!
TRAVIS KNIGHT?? Are you kidding me? Nick Van Exel is 10 times better than Tony Battie and Travis Knight put together. That shows how much the Lakers disliked Van Exel.
Then there was the Dennis Rodman situation, where Rodman got fired for pretending to be sick, when he really was at Las Vegas, gambling is a** off. The Lakers, knowing that Rodman had a bad reputation of being a rebel, fired him, saying that he was "unhealthy" for the team's well being. Rodman also had a good reputation to be the greatest rebounder of all time and won 5 championships in 2 different teams(Detroit and Chicago). Surely, something like slacking off on the job wouldn't stop you from doing that.
Comparing Rodman to Rider, they are pretty much identical. The situation differs to the fact that Rodman was coached by interim coach Kurt Rambis and Rider is being coached by Phil Jackson(6-time NBA Champion coach). Can Jackson contain Rider like how he contained Rodman in Chicago? Is it possible? The answer will come with the reaction of the organization and when the time comes where the Lakers can't take anymore of Rider's pisspoor demeanor. |
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Sir Charles' Comeback? 
Charles Barkley on a TNT interview on live television said that he would consider that he would come back. Most likely Barkley's consideration to comeback was strictly lighted by Michael Jordan's rumor of possible return to the NBA. Although the public all knows that Barkley wanted to return just a response to Jordan's announcement, Barkley denies it saying:
"I can't control what Michael does. He's a grown man. Michael is Michael and Charles is Charles. I speak only for Charles. It might be fun to play for Michael, [but] he'd just have to get me under the cap.
"It's a long way away, and when I'm ready to make a decision I'll tell everybody," Barkley said. "I'm just using it as a motivational tool right now. The only way I can get up and work out twice a day for four or five hours is to use that [as motivation]. I'm not going to do it simply to lose weight." |
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