NBA Grapevine

JamFan
aka Don Allen

PIC OF THE DAY – Goes to Pau Gasol, who showed he is ready for the season to open even though the team stumbled in their first game. Pau had 23 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks. Wow, that is quite a start.

LAKERS STUMBLE IN OPENER – The Dallas Mavericks handed the Lakers their first loss of the season despite they were missing their two big men, Dirk Nowitzki and Chirs Kaman. In addition to Pau Gasol’s big performance, Kobe had 22 points, hitting 11 of 14 shots, and Dwight Howard and 19 points and 10 rebounds. The bench didn’t contribute a lot but showed promise if not consistancy. The difference in the game was that Dallas showed that they have their team chemisty in place while the Lakers are still looking for everybody to get on the same page. The Lakers did not display a consistant team effort over the 48 minutes and the defense allow Dallas to get off a couple of runs that the Lakers could not recover from. The right pieces are in place, and the bench is going to be better than advertised, they just need a few more games to get their rthym going. And our bigs need to stop any kind of penetration in the lane. Our interior defense needs to improve.
The Lakers shot 49% from the field. Usuallly that is enough to get the job done. But they only shot 23% from the 3 and a woeful 37% from the line.

HACK-A-HOWARD – In the first game we are already starting to see a strategy of just fouling Dwight if he is close to the basket instead of letting him score. Teams are doing this consistantly against the Clippers DeAndre Jordan. Jordan and Howard both share the same deficiency in hitting free throws. Last season the Clippers literally couldn’t play Jordan late in the 4th quarter. The Lakers might be faced with the same dilemma. Dwight only hit 3 of 14 free throws in game 1.

COACHING CONTROVERCY – In our Forum you are already starting to hear the drum beat of fans wondering if Coach Mike Brown is the right guy to coach this team. If the Lakers underperform, the media and sportwriters will be next. It seems a little early for this but the expectations are high and the Lakers haven’t won a game yet. How long will they stay with the Princeton offense if they don’t start to click. Kobe can change the offense all by himself if he gets fed up with the results. The coach can go along for the ride…..or not.

FIRST 3 GAMES ON TV FOR ALL FANS – For the blacked out fans (BOF’s), the first three games will be televised on various networks that they should have access two. Not to mention that sports bars will have access as well. After that, unless deals are signed, the black out will resume for some fans. You will once again be in the dark.

10/30 – vs Dallas – TNT
10/31 – at Portland – NBA TV
11/02 – vs Clippers – ESPN

TWC SIGNES DEALS WITH 3 PROVIDERS – TMC signed a deal with Charter Cable, AT&T U-Verse, and Verizon FIOS, that will bring the Laker games to fans who use these providers. Direct TV, Dish Network, and Cox Cable are still hold outs in a dispute reportedly about whether the Laker games would be carried as part of a special tier that would cost more money. As of now many more fans have access to the games than just a few days ago.
Not all of you will have access to NBA TV, but it is a free channel availlable on a lot of providers like Dish Network, but it may depend on what package you are on.

THE TEAM – The Lakers have a starting lineup that is equal to the best in the NBA. They traded away Andrew Bynum to get Dwight Howard and signed Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison as free agents. Jodie Meeks, Jordan Hill, and Devin Ebanks could be dangerous weapons off the bench. Let’s hope that after we have a few games with everybody available, that the chemistry starts to develope and the team starts to win.

PLAYER MATCHUPS – LAKERS VS CLIPPERS – GAME 3 ON NOV 2
CENTER – ADVANTAGE LAKERS – We all know what to expect from Dwight Howard at the center position and his first appearance as a Laker shows he will pick up right where he left off last season. DeAndre Jordan’s numbers are way up this preseason and he has shown he can actually score without using the dunk. DJ has improved but still has a ways to go to catch up with Dwight Howard.

POWER FORWARD – NO ADVANTAGE – Laker fans see Blake Griffin as the PF of the future and Pau Gasol as the veteran who has been there and done that. In many games, Blake will dominate most PF’s in the league. But the scouting report says that you guard Blake with a tall player with long arms….like Gasol. Pau’s height frustrated him last season. If Blake is going to beat Gasol, he has to do it with quickness.

SHOOTING GUARD – ADVANTAGE LAKERS – Right now the starting SG for the Clippers would normally be Chaucey Billups, who was playing really well for the Clippers before he got hurt. He should be back in the lineup shortly, but in the mean time, Kobe will have no problem with Willie Green, if he starts. Jamal Crawford has been playing well at the SG position for the Clips off the bench, but I expect they could also try to guard Kobe with Matt Barnes. Kobe will dominate no matter what they try.

SMALL FORWARD – NO ADVANTAGE – Metta World Peace is so different to Caron Butler that is hard to even compare the two. Caron is usually better at scoring and MWP is the better defender. The games this year will not be won or lost at the 3.

POINT GUARD – ADVANTAGE CLIPPERS – This is one area where the Clippers have an advantage. As much as Steve Nash is going to help the Lakers this season, Chris Paul is one of the top PG’s in the league. Not only can he score better than Nash, he is also a NBA All Defensive first team. There is a reason why he is an All Star and an Olympian. He also has been the Clippers closer last season. Steve Nash is smart, a great passer, and he can shoot. But he is slow. There will no uptempo offense and few fast breaks while he is on the floor. Moreover, he will be a liability on defense against quick guards.

THE BENCH – ADVANTAGE CLIPPERS – I know that most Lakers fans are probably not up to date on what the Clippers are doing with their bench. But this bench is eight solid players deep. They initially will bring in Jamal Crawford, Eric Bledsoe, Matt Barnes, Lamar Odom, and Grant Hilll. They also have Ronny Turiaf, Ryan Hollis, who is playing very well, and Willie Green. The Lakers counter with Antawn Jamison, Jordan Hill, Steve Blake, Andrew Gourdelock, Kevin Ebanks, and Jodie Meeks. The Lakers will have to rely on their starters a little more this season while the Clippers can more easily rest their startes because their bench is so deep and experienced.

SEASON ADVANTAGE – Anything can happen this season. We saw the Clippers sweeping the Lakers last year in the preseason, then losing the regular season series. Both teams have great starting lineups, but the Clippers have a deeper and more experienced bench.