Los Angeles Lakers Rosters, Statistics, Records, News, and More!
Kobe 5th Most-Disliked Pro Athlete
09.15.10
Frankly I don’t know why I’m posting about this, because as a Laker fan, I could really care less how Kobe is viewed by people who aren’t Laker fans, let alone basketball fans. But in the interest of reporting news regarding the Lakers, I’ve decided to put it up.
The Q Scores Company, which conducts popularity polls, placed Kobe Bryant as the 5th most-disliked American pro athlete behind Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick, golfer Tiger Woods, and Cincinnati Bengals’ wide receivers Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco.
I guess the most-interesting part of the story is that LeBron James’ popularity has plummeted, he’s now 6th right behind Kobe.
According to the report, James is viewed in what the company considers a negative light by 39 percent of the general population. In January, while still a Cleveland Cavalier, he was viewed positively by 24 percent of the population, negatively by 22 percent, according to the figures from the Q Scores Company.
In fact, his popularity figures were the highest the company had ever seen in January, so he took quite a hit after he made his decision to play Miami. And frankly, that’s not a big shock.
ESPN has the entire article if you’re interested.
LAKER ROSTER: The Rookies
09.14.10
As rookies, Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter can count on spending a lot of time at the end of the bench during the regular season, if they’re not shipped off to the Developmental League. In either case, you can view the presence of the rookies as addition by subtraction, as they won’t have to do much of anything to match the output of Josh Powell and Adam Morrison. Plus the combined salaries are considerably lower. And they are young. Ebanks, a 6’9″ 215 lb small forward from West Virginia, is only 20. Caracter, a 6’9″ 265 lb power forward from Texas-El Paso, is 22. As second round draft picks, no one should suffer from super high expectations here. I would only expect to see them playing in the preseason and games that are routs (one way or the other). My hope is that they work hard in practice, learn the offense, and realize that their role, coming off the bench, is to preserve and build on any lead that the starters create. Last season It seemed to me the bench was keen on jacking up long distance shots when they didn’t turn the ball over, and letting the opposition drive to the basket without offering much resistance. In short, perfo
rming poorly both offensively and defensively.
Ebanks has been compared to Trevor Ariza, and if he’s as good defensively, that works for me. The Lakers are a little thin at the power forward position, so I believe Caracter will have more opportunities for playing time. There have been some comparisons to Shaq, as far as commitment to conditioning anyway. His contract has incentives for him not to balloon up in weight.
The Lakers are one of the more veteran teams, so I like having a little youth as well. Management was sufficiently impressed with their potential to sign them to contracts, so here’s hoping they contribute in some fashion to the Three-peat.
It’s a long season, so having players that the coach has enough faith in to play during the season, thereby allowing the starters to rest, is critically important.
Your World Champion Miami Heat?
09.09.10
Don’t worry, Laker faithful. It’s not that I am rooting for the Miami Heat to win the championship next year. Far from it. My hope is that they will be booed excessively on the road. And in a few days, my blog will state the reasons the Lakers will be successful in their quest for a three-peat. I just want to present the case for the possibility that the Heat could really win it all. Let’s look at 3 areas:
- Coaching
- Talent
- Hunger
I observed during George Karl’s absence from the Nuggets playoff series last year a team without direction, basically a chicken with it’s head cut off. They lacked discipline and focus. I have always felt that Phil Jackson hasn’t always got the respect he deserves. His detractors like to point out that he has won with Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant. They fail to acknowledge that all of these players have been coached in the NBA with the same key teammates, and not achieved the success that they have with Phil. In the last 20 years, 3 coaches have accounted for 17 championships. And the 3 coaches with single championships in that span were Pat Riley, Larry Brown and Doc Rivers. Now Erik Spoelstra is not a proven entity, but you know Riles will step in if the Heat lose 3 games in a row. So the Heat have plan A and plan B set up for coaching for the season.
The Heat were much more successful, despite cap restrictions, in developing a roster than I expected. I thought it would be LeBron, Wade, Bosh and 11 guys that were either as old as the stone age (think Shaq) or no-names. Instead, they have Udonis Haslem, Eddie House, Mike Miller, Mario Chalmers, Da’Sean Butler, Carlos Arroyo, Joel Anthony, James Jones, Jamaal Magloire, Juwan Howard, and Zydunas Ilgauskas. While I don’t believe those guys are the best at their positions, it was more than I thought the Heat would be able to do.
And I know you’re thinking – can you put a team together like that, have it mesh, and be successful in its first season? And I am reminded of the Boston Celtics in 2007-2008, when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce. I think the Heat have a lot to prove this season. Teams that play the Heat, like those playing the Lakers, will be exerting extra effort because they know they must. So I don’t think the Heat will break the Lakers streak of 33 straight wins. Nor do I think they will hold the best single season record. And I do believe they will lose back to back games this season. The East got better during the off-season, with key free agents either staying in the East or signing up in that conference. I don’t see any team in the West that vastly improved their roster. Although I like the Thunder, with the Lakers strengthening their bench, I think the Lakers will have an easier time reaching the finals this year.
So this year, I will be rooting for the Lakers and whoever is playing the Heat. Three-peat time!
Recent Chatter