Felt like writing something after watching yesterday's game. I'm fairly new to the site, and I haven't written any fanposts or anything like that before, so more than anything else this is just a place for me to think out loud really. Cheers to anyone who actually is taking time out to read this.

There was just something about yesterday's game that made me reflect a bit. I didn't get to watch Game 2, so I don't know how I would have reacted then, but yeah, Game 4 hurt. Not just because the Lakers lost, when it looked all game that a win was almost inevitable. Somehow Game 4 just felt like the end of an era. I know the Lakers can still reel off 3 straight, but it doesn't seem likely at this point.

I also know the Lakers aren't defending champions, but last year's sweep was different somehow. It felt similar in some ways to 2002-03, the team was coming of 3 straight deep postseason runs, and a mixture of fatigue, injuries, as well as some weird combination of nonchalance and overconfidence. The Lakers were probably more talented than the Mavs. They would be back this year better and stronger. The run wasn't over.

This time, it's different. This feels different. The Thunder are better. The Heat are better when they aren't tripping over themselves. The Spurs are better with all of their depth. If/when Rose returns to being 100% the Bulls will be better. The Clippers and Grizz and Nuggets, these are the teams the Lakers will be battling next year, maybe the Spurs will come back down to earth as well. The NBA is probably looking at an era of Heat and Thunder dominance, it's time for a new rivalry. Maybe I'm just saying this to make me feel better. Somehow, though, it almost feels like a pick up game where you've driven to the basket for layups on too many possessions. Time to let someone else have a go.

I only started watching basketball in 2000, I used to watch the Laker game on TV and so I became a Laker fan. I grew up watching Kobe and Shaq. That was dominance, particularly in 00/01. I didn't fully appreciate at the time the fact that I was watching the greatest team I would ever see play. I have, on the other hand, appreciated the fact that Kobe is the greatest player of his generation, the greatest I have ever watched. It's been fun, through the early championship years, the Shaq-Kobe fallout, the odd year that was 2005, Phil's return and Kobe's individual brilliance in 06/07 (damn those Suns) and the return to dominance post-Gasol. Now, it's all coming to an end. A few years from now, or perhaps sooner, all of this will be blown up and it will be time to rebuild around Bynum. I'm not sure what that is going to mean, because I'm not sure what to make of Bynum.

This is where Stern has hurt us with nixing the Paul trade. At the time I had mixed feelings, before Gasol's regression and Odom's disappearance in a Mavs jersey. Now I see only what could have been, a team built around Paul and Bynum, a continuation of the Laker legacy of always finding a way to add top talent. Bynum in the middle of the draft, the Gasol trade, the Kobe trade, signing Shaq. If I go back before my time, I see names like Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Wilt, West, Baylor. The list goes on. Anyway, no point thinking of what might have been or I could imagine a world where the Lakers are up 3-1 instead of down.

Still, it's been amazing being a Laker fan, even for such a short period of time. I don't doubt there will be more greatness ahead. In fact just writing this makes me think how odd it is to be so downcast about a future built around a 24 year old who might arguably be the second most physically gifted and skilled player in this league after LeBron. How many teams would kill to rebuild around someone like that?

Anyway, this is already dragging on long enough, enough randomess. Thanks again if you actually took the time to read all the way through. Hopefully the Lakers win tomorrow's Game 5 and bring the OKC series back to Staples.

Went to Game 3 at Staples Center, and I did not go home disappointed.

Here are some random observations that I logged in my head throughout the game, to share with you now:

• THE 13TH MAN -I have been to a least a dozen games since the Lakers moved from the Great Western Forum, and I have never experienced Staples Center like that, with people standing at appropriate times, and "D-FENCE" chants pretty much from tip to buzzer. And did anyone catch the Lower Merion 33 jersey wearer in the front row jumping up from his seat to yell at Sefolosha taking a 3 pointer 5 feet from him? Not sure that's sportsmanlike, but that's how engaged the crowd was. And the energy was evident especially after the game. Spontaneous chants of "Let's Go Lakers" rang throughout the hallways of the arena as we exited the building. I'm guessing we were right at the perfect peak of being the underdog, yet having tremendous hope. You'd never hear that kind of enthusiasm if the Laker were the favorites. Kind of an amazing feeling, but also a reality-check about where the Lakers stand in the series.

• OKC FANS IN DA HOUSE - My friend and I sat next to a couple fitted in OKC Thunder gear. I couldn't resist giving them a nice welcome by telling them, "You came to the wrong game, because we're going to win this one, but I'm not so sure about tomorrow". My friend was prophetic when he consoled them in advance with, "At least you'll get tacos". I was a bit embarrassed when the upper deck started chants of "Westbrook sucks" after the World Peace summit.

• MORE FISH PLEASE - Except for a layup up where he blew by Kobe, Fisher was putrid. I can't believe the Lakers point guards don't take advantage of every single opportunity when they are being guarded by Fish. At least Kobe knows what to do. Watching Fisher trying to guard Kobe one-on-one was high comedy. And the running "Activate Mission: Sabotage Thunder" joke for Fisher has still not gotten old. Unfortunately Fish may have shown his hand too early, and Scotty Brooks might play him less the rest of the series. But I hope not!

• NO MORE OF THIS LINEUP - Early in the 2nd quarter, Coach Brown had this Fab Five on the court: Blake, Sessions, Barnes, Hill, and Gasol. Please, mercy, never let me see this again. There is not a natural scorer in the bunch, and the offense consists of approx zero players who are willing to create a shot. You always have to have either Bynum or Bryant out there, else the lineup is one that might work well if there were no shot clock. Unfortunately, there is a shot clock, and this group does not work well given 24 seconds to make something happen. Speaking of 24 seconds, why don't the Lakers guards try to "walk the dog" more, and let the ball roll so that time doesn't start? I know they're slowing down the game, but they're always giving themselves only 16 seconds to really start their offense, and I'm always checking the shot clock to make sure they pass the half court line before an 8-second violation can be called. They're wasting time that they could be using to create offense.
  

• MANU GINOBILI'S BROTHER? - James Harden plays similarly to a certain Spurs wing player, with shifty moves that make getting to the rack look effortless. He can also knock down the three, and he seems immune to Kobe's pump fakes (does he have some antidote to Black Mamba venom?). But he's also a dominant lefty, like Manu, a fact that seems to sometime escape Laker defenders. I know it's easier said than done, but a strategy of pushing him to his right would seem appropriate.

• KOBE - I won't lie, my favorite subject. Of course, he took some bad shots, but he also made some ridiculous shots, and his mere presence in a lineup gives it immediate offensive legitimacy. You always have to worry about him if you are on defense, and it takes its toll, especially if the Lakers supporting players show up and make some baskets. I'd love to see more of the PG-Kobe screen and roll, it's so effective if the PG is aggressive, because the defense has to pick their poison, and most of the time the poison they pick is "not-Kobe". Blake got at least five points running the pick-and-roll with Kobe, and while the credit goes to Blake for making the shots themselves, the credit goes to Kobe for Blake being open or having space to go to the rack in the first place. Box score watchers get hissy at statements like this, but you can see this effect all the way from the upper deck. It's real, and it's significant.
• FOULS AND MORE FOULS - Speaking of things you can see from the upper deck, you can't see the if the "ticky tack" fouls are warranted, but I can tell you this from high up: when Kobe is trying to establish post position, he's fouled just about every time. It's like a wrestling match, and every defender is fighting to keep him from getting to where he wants. It's understandable, because if Kobe gets good position in the post, it's a recipe for disaster for the defense. But defenders since time immemorial have been uprooting Kobe and pushing him off his spot. Think Raja Bell. If you don't fight as a defender, you're dead, but still, those are fouls. Look at tape of the 80s basketball, and you won't see so much shoving of the post player. Defenders respected when the player had position, and attempted to guard them from there. In Kobe's era, there's constant shoving in the back, arms being placed where they shouldn't be, and a ton of reaching.My favorite is the defender pushing with his chest, as if not using arms means it wasn't a foul. This happened to Durant too, by World Peace, but Durant doesn't try to get that post position as persistently as Kobe, which might be a function of the effort required and the potential reward for Durant. With all this contact happening, fouls are going to get called, and if, with all the other fouls, you're put into the bonus, then you're really in trouble because now every post foul you make is two shots, or the alternative is Kobe's going to get good post position, and then you're at danger of being scored on. Kobe must love being in the bonus.

• TRUE CLUTCH - Metta World Peace. Whereas I think most players just hope not to play worse in pressure situations, this guy actually does seem to be a better player under pressure, it's so strange. But just want to give some credit here, because the guy has some of the strongest, quickest hands I've ever seen. He even blocks shots without seeming to leave the ground! I started to assume he got a hand on the ball anytime a Thunder player lost the ball, even though one time, I think Durant just lost it himself. Also, I have to think that one of the most frightening situations to be in is at the bottom of jump ball scrum with World Peace trying to wrestle the ball from you. Nothing good can come from being in this situation.
• SHOOT THE FREAKING BALL - You don't have to tell Bynum or World Peace this, but you have to shout it to Gasol, Blake, and Sessions. Blake is a better shooter than World Peace, but World Peace will pull the trigger if he's open. If Blake had World Peace's mentality, the offense would run a lot smoother. Sessions was more aggressive tonight in driving to the rim, but I still saw him pass up at least one open shot. It wastes the effort of the offensive machinations that take place to allow you to be open when you don't take the shot when you are open, and you also show the defense that they can afford not to close out on you and help elsewhere. You never had to tell Farmar or Sasha this, and while it may have been frustrating at times to see them miss, it kept defenses honest. Yeah, I mentioned Farmer and Sasha.

• STILL NOT ON TOP - Self explanatory

Munich!

Months of qualifying, group stage and knockout ties have lead to one last match. Bayern Munich, the Titans of the Bundesliga and winners of four European championships, face off against the The Blues of Chelsea, who are seeking their first European championship.

Storylines to watch for:

• Bayern is participating in its second UCL final in three years. Two years ago, Bayern fell to Inter Milan. Bayern has been able to exact some measure of revenge, as it defeated Real manager Jose Mourinho in the UCL semifinals. Mourinho managed Inter Milan in 2010 against Bayern.
• Chelsea is back in the UCL final for the first time since 2008. The Blues fell to Manchester United in a particular bitter fashion as John Terry, "Mr. Chelsea", slipped and missed a penalty shot that would have clinched the club's first European championship. Deja vu for Chelsea faithful, as Terry will miss this final as well due to receiving a red card for a ill-advised knee to Alexis Sanchez.
• Bayern is the first de facto home team in the history of the UCL, as Munich was chosen as a neutral site for the final. This gives Bayern a decided advantage in the final, although Chelsea veterans are likely to point to their stout draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou as a rebuttal.
• Both sides are missing key back line players. Bayern will be without David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo. Chelsea will be without Terry, Raul Meireles, Ramires and Branislav Ivanovic.
• Both sides are also unlikely adversaries, after pundits gleefully awaited a Real-Barcelona matchup. Both Bayern and Chelsea have the momentum of the underdog going for them, as they both faced dire straits in their respective semifinal second legs and persevered onto advancement.

Continue reading this post »

ESPN experts have no idea what they are talking about. Yahoo experts have no idea how to write. Fans elsewhere are just haters. Well, it is time for us to put up or shut up.

Silver Screen and Roll is chock full of fans who know their basketball, from the very top to even the most random and infrequent visitor. Let's put all that basketball knowledge, along with bluexfalcon's input, into determining who WE think should win the Big 6 awards. Now, Defensive Player of the Year.

But before we move on... SSR has voted, and our choice for Most Improved Player is... Andrew Bynum

Bynum wins what has been to this point the most tightly contested and also controversial SSR award. After an extended voting period and fuzzy math that would make Vladimir Putin proud, Bynum wins the MIP vote with 34.4% of the vote. Here are the full results.

Andrew Bynum: 33 votes

Jeremy Lin: 29 votes

Ryan Anderson: 18 votes

Nikola Pekovic: 10 votes

Greg Monroe: 4 votes

Kyle Lowry: 2 votes

(Each award will be up for about a half-week of voting and commenting. After the voting is in, the winner will be announced and we will move onto the next award.)

The Winners

ROY: Kyrie Irving

SMOY: James Harden

MIP: Andrew Bynum

Continue reading this post »

I'm sitting here in my bed, Indian-style, hands crossed, praying for a Lakers-Clippers western conference finals. Many reasons: Lakers get home court all the way, Clippers are automatic losers in the eyes of one Donald Sterling (a "gimme" for all you Laker fans out there), and Lakers want to apologize for last year's playoff collapse against the dreaded Dallas Mavericks. Well, they've stumbled upon one of the strangest road blocks in their treasured franchise history: George Karl's starless Denver Nuggets. No-namers like Javale McGee running the block party, Ty Lawson having an unconscious scoring night, and Timofey Mosgov (whose last name entered the Merrian Webster's ghetto dictionary by way of Harry Potter and Griffindor) doing the double and triple frustration play to Andrew Bynum. Lakers are up three games, so is Denver. Saturday's Game 7 will determine the fate of your fabled Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

So yeah, Game 7 has a couple silver linings. Ron Artest/Metta World Peace returns from a seven game suspension. Lakers regain home court advantage. 80% of game sevens have been favored towards the home team. And Kobe Bryant still managed to pull off a 30+ point performance. But here's something that people are forgetting: Kobe's game 6 stats served him no good if the game result ends in a loss, and God, was it an embarrassing loss. When Jordan had that flu game against the Utah Jazz in the 97-98 NBA Finals of Game 5, they won that game. Ultimately, the inspired performance of Jordan battling through sickness lifted the Chicago Bulls through a game 6 and won their six and final trophy. If you want to do Kobe-Michael comparisons, the Lakers should have won game 6.

Now, they're forced to win game 7. The fate of the franchise is on the line. Everyone's job is on the line. A win in home court could give the Lakers renewed focus as they head on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder, and prevent history from repeating itself by defeating the San Antonio Spurs, when they first won the championship on the 98-99 lockout season. There's so much pressure going against the Lakers that if they choke, we might have to say goodbye to Pau Gasol, Ramon Sessions... hell, the entire team might be gone. Maybe Jim Buss will ultimately trade his protege, the presumed seven footer who was meant to be known as the resurrection of Shaquille O'Neal for a center who is not only powerful on the court, but professional and mature off the court. But holy hell, the Lakers can still win game 7.

And the only way the Lakers can win a game 7 against the Denver Nuggets is by committing a flagrant foul 2.

Yep, you heard me right. Injure a player on purpose so that you can steal the game. Yep, it's bush league. Sure, you'll get a bad rap for it, and you'll be thrown out of the game. But ultimately, the dirty tactic worked for both the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Hornets when one of their players did the running man (Jason Smith) and the judo chop (Robin Lopez) to Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers. They had a very good reason for delivering such blows, too. All Blake does is dunk. He's not a very good defender, his jump shot is not fully developed yet, and he flops. And he's got a very mean mug. Blake Griffin is public enemy number one, a plague to the entire NBA, and you want to purify the courts of his acting antics. How do you put a stop to it? You take him out, the hard way. The flagrant foul, a cheap shot, a move designed to disrupt a player's focus and way of thinking, reverting it back to childhood. It's like going for the head, but instead, it's Sub-Zero yanking the head off in a violent fashion. (Damn right I ain't postin' it, too graphic.)

The Lakers can do it, too. Already they've managed to pull one off. It was the day when Ron Artest/Metta World Peace unsuspectingly concussed James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder. There was a momentary lapse in the Lakers-Thunder game, when they were down by 17. Chances of the Lakers return to glory stayed slim to none until Mike Brown pulled out Andrew Bynum in exchange for Jordan Hill and brought in second-year guard Devin Ebanks. OKC didn't have an answer to either of these two men as they were playing for something more. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant had problems making their shots. Without James Harden controlling the floor, the Thunder were discombobulated, and a fourth quarter comeback by the Lakers followed. Kobe Bryant came back, and the Lakers pulled off an overtime victory that ultimately stole the Pacific Division from the Clippers.

If the Lakers want to win game 7, they'll need to give Denver what they want. George Karl has set up plays for the Nuggets requiring two or three players to suffocate Bynum whenever he has the ball. Bynum is now the Lakers weakest link: the more he stays, the more he suffers from getting teamed up. He'll lose focus and display his malcontent on the court. Instead of giving the Nuggets a pissed off Bynum, the Lakers should reward the Nuggets with no Bynum at all. Remember how the beast did a nasty clothesline to J.J. Barea back in game 4 last year? He did it at the wrong place at the wrong time, when they were on the verge of being swept by the Mavs. But when you are in a situation where the Nuggets are continuously going to damage you in the paint and turn you into a lost cause, this is the perfect time for you to check out early. Deliver a fatality (but not too serious, okay) to a Nugget player, and have them assume the early victory. But Lakers got Jordan Hill and Josh McRoberts. Pau Gasol will be forced to step up now. Ron Artest/Metta World Peace is back. Rookie Andrew Goudelock the Mini-Mamba will surely be needed. And don't forget about the Lakers own Michael Jordan, Kobe Bean Bryant.

If the Lakers commit a flagrant foul 2, they will automatically win.

ESPN experts have no idea what they are talking about. Yahoo experts have no idea how to write. Fans elsewhere are just haters. Well, it is time for us to put up or shut up.

Silver Screen and Roll is chock full of fans who know their basketball, from the very top to even the most random and infrequent visitor. Let's put all that basketball knowledge, along with bluexfalcon's input, into determining who WE think should win the Big 6 awards. Now, Most Improved Player.

But before we move on... SSR has voted, and our choice for Sixth Man of the Year is... James Harden.

Harden wins the SSR SMOY award with 81.3% of the vote. Here are the full results.

James Harden: 52 votes

Lou Williams: 4 votes

Al Harrington: 3 votes

George Hill: 2 votes

Ramon Sessions: 2 votes

Jason Terry: 1 vote

(Each award will be up for about a half-week of voting and commenting. After the voting is in, the winner will be announced and we will move onto the next award.)

The Winners

ROY: Kyrie Irving

SMOY: James Harden

Continue reading this post »

ESPN experts have no idea what they are talking about. Yahoo experts have no idea how to write. Fans elsewhere are just haters. Well, it is time for us to put up or shut up.

Silver Screen and Roll is chock full of fans who know their basketball, from the very top to even the most random and infrequent visitor. Let's put all that basketball knowledge, along with bluexfalcon's input, into determining who WE think should win the Big 5 awards. Now, Sixth Man of the Year.

But before we move on... SSR has voted, and our choice for Rookie of the Year is... Kyrie Irving.

Irving wins the SSR ROY award with 75.4% of the vote. Here are the full results.

Kyrie Irving: 49 votes

Ricky Rubio: 11 votes

Iman Shumpert: 2 votes

Isaiah Thomas: 2 votes

Kenneth Faried: 1 vote

(Each award will be up for about a half-week of voting and commenting. After the voting is in, the winner will be announced and we will move onto the next award.)

ROY: Kyrie Irving

Continue reading this post »

This NBA season has been quite the intense trip ... games almost every night, a bunch of different events, trades, and new items that all seem intent on topping the previous entry for ridiculousness and scope, it's been, well, exhausting. And sadly, along the way, there have been casualties. You may have noticed a distinct lack of "whilst"s in your life of late, and that is because we have sadly lost our favorite Australian teenager, Saurav A. Das, to the apparently brutal academic schedule of your typical Australian undergraduate student. We thank him profusely for his dedicated service (and 3 AM game watching) and wish him the best of luck.

With that sad announcement comes a whole bunch of good ones, because Silver Screen and Roll has some new blood, and we are extremely blessed to be able to bring on not one new writer, but THREE of them. And the best part is, these guys are all ringers. They've all been in the game in one form or another for a long time, and Silver Screen and Roll is lucky and proud to have them ply their trade within our humble confines. Introductions abound after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Well, here it is.

You guys/gals re-named the create-a-caption contest. This is the 1st edition of the Silver Screen and LOL caption contest. Enjoy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edition 2.2 (season #2, contest #2) of SS&R's "unofficially official" create-a-caption contest has begun. The time to submit captions for week #6 has ended and the rec's have been counted. The winner for last week's contest was..........................{drum roll}.............................cldpc.

Congratulations to cldpc on this week's win. It's his fourth overall win in the create-a-caption contest. Someone else will need to step up big time in order for him not to be named this next champion. There are 2 "weeks" left in this contest. Thanks to those of you who participated in this weeks contest. I hope to see most of you posting in the new C-A-C thread, as it makes it worth while when more people participate in the post.

Continue reading this post »

ESPN experts have no idea what they are talking about. Yahoo experts have no idea how to write. Fans elsewhere are just haters. Well, it is time for us to put up or shut up.

Silver Screen and Roll is chock full of fans who know their basketball, from the very top to even the most random and infrequent visitor. Let's put all that basketball knowledge, along with bluexfalcon's input, into determining who WE think should win the Big 6 awards. First up, Rookie of the Year.

(Each award will be up for about a half-week of voting and commenting. After the voting is in, the winner will be announced and we will move onto the next award.)

Continue reading this post »