Warriors announcer said if coach Mark Jackson were not a religious man, no way he could have remained as relatively calm as he did. Three worst calls, all late 4Q (4Q refs, all of you):ElUno20 said:The lakers took 34 more free throws than the warriors today. 34. The warriors only took one more three than the lakers.
Kobe may also have given another Oscar performance gimping around trying to get one idiot writer to give him a third place MVP vote
Next year was supposed to be his last season so this is curious.Blacken said:He's already talking about a comeback. As much as I don't like the guy, I have to tip my cap. Dude has balls.
soxhop411 said:
This is such BS! All the training and
sacrifice just flew out the window with one step that I've done millions
of times! The frustration is unbearable. The anger is rage. Why the
hell did this happen ?!? Makes no damn sense. Now I'm supposed to come
back from this and be the same player Or better at 35?!? How in the
world am I supposed to do that??
I have NO CLUE. Do I have the consistent will to overcome this thing? Maybe I should break out the rocking chair and reminisce on the career that
was. Maybe this is how my book ends. Maybe Father Time has defeated me...Then again maybe not! It's
3:30am, my foot feels like dead weight, my head is spinning from the
pain meds and I'm wide awake. Forgive my Venting but what's the purpose
of social media if I won't bring it to you Real No Image?? Feels good to
vent, let it out. To feel as if THIS is the WORST thing EVER! Because
After ALL the venting, a real perspective sets in. There are far
greater issues/challenges in the world then a torn achilles. Stop
feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with
the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever.
One day, the beginning of a new career journey will commence. Today is NOT that day.
"If you see me in a fight with a bear, prey for the bear". Ive always
loved that quote. Thats "mamba mentality" we don't quit, we don't cower,
we don't run. We endure and conquer.
I know it's a long post but
I'm Facebook Venting LOL. Maybe now I can actually get some sleep and be
excited for surgery tomorrow. First step of a new challenge.
Guess I will be Coach Vino the rest of this season. I have faith in my teammates. They will come thru.
Thank you for all your prayers and support. Much Love Always.
Mamba Out
Blacken said:He's already talking about a comeback.
jmcc5400 said:The Lakers have to amnesty Kobe now, don't they?
Gunfighter 09 said:I have been wondering about that. Can you amnesty an injured player? They are so far over the cap after they re-sign Dwight and coupled with the fact that Kobe is a free agent after next year, it really doesnt matter in cap terms, but in cash, with the luxury tax and his $30M salary next year, it would be a $50M decision for the Buss family.
The other factor is that the Lakers couldn't re-sign Bryant if they amnestied him, which would possibly lead to a fan revolt. He might be even more beloved than Magic among Laker fans.
Ed Hillel said:I don't know what I think of Kobe. My initial reaction is that I am sad, and I'd have rather seen him go down fighting, but I have to let it sink in.
What I do know is that I am 100% convinced the refs in this league are beyond incompetent. And I don't mean as in "really fucking incompetent", I mean it's something beyond that. Let's face it, these games have been rigged in favor of the Lakers down the stretch. Stern is altering games to get the Lakers into the playoffs. That is what's happening.
mandro ramtinez said:I would definitely rather have seen Kobe and the lakers get rolled in the first round. Looks like Kareem's scoring record is safe, as unlikely as it was that Kobe even made a run at it.
jmcc5400 said:The Lakers have to amnesty Kobe now, don't they?
SemperFidelisSox said:Dwight already had his bags packed for Brooklyn, this just makes the decision easier for him.
jon abbey said:They could sign him again in 2014-2015, which makes sense all around. There is a good column up now on ESPN (Insider, pay side) with all of the specifics as to why they should do this and why Kobe should actually be the one to suggest it publicly:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9167145/nba-why-los-angeles-lakers-release-kobe-bryant-amnesty-provision
There was one but Stern's office destroyed it. No, I poked around a bit but couldn't find one. The overwhelming numbers of videos today are on his injury, on which they called a foul that didn't have to be.DreamShake said:I didn't catch the game last night and I know that ESPN isn't going to do a satisfactory job of showing the calls, so does anyone of a compilation video of the most egregious calls?
The only Lakers under contract next summer are Nash( who deal will be expiring the next year) and presumably Howard. The chances that Nash retires are probably pretty high. They set it up so they would have basically Dwight, Nash's $9M expiring deal + $45M in cap room in summer of 14 when Kevin Love, Lebron, Kobe etc are free agents.Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
What if they amnesty Kobe and some other teams claims him? Even if Kobe refused to report to that team in 2013-14, they would still technically hold his rights (and thus his transferable Bird rights). So when Kobe did want to come back, the Lakers could probably only offer him chump change given their cap situation while somebody else could offer him real money. I have a hard time seeing Kobe agreeing to a plan in which he not only sits out a full year (when otherwise he might be able to come back midyear) AND the Lakers can't necessarily pay him in 2014-15.
Edit: The Lakers might lose his Bird rights even if he went unclaimed. I'm not really sure how that works. In any case, their ability to pay him in 2014-15 after an amnesty seems to be a real issue.
Kevin Love isn't a free agent until the sumer of 2016. Next year, Lebron James has a player option for 20 million that he most likely will exercise.Gunfighter 09 said:The only Lakers under contract next summer are Nash( who deal will be expiring the next year) and presumably Howard. The chances that Nash retires are probably pretty high. They set it up so they would have basically Dwight, Nash's $9M expiring deal + $45M in cap room in summer of 14 when Kevin Love, Lebron, Kobe etc are free agents.
We're both wrong, summer of 15.swingin val said:Kevin Love isn't a free agent until the sumer of 2016. Next year, Lebron James has a player option for 20 million that he most likely will exercise.
Love indicated he would consider taking advantage of the opt-out clause in his four-year, $62 million contract extension if the team has not made the playoffs, which the Wolves have not done since he joined the team in 2008.
Love can become a free agent after the 2014-15 season. When asked Wednesday if he still wanted to be a cornerstone of the franchise, Love said: "Absolutely. I want to be here for five years. I want to end my career as a Timberwolf."
Ed Hillel said:Paging MartyGrin...MartyGrin to the back of the thread.
Grin&MartyBarret said:But most importantly, Dwight Howard is a terrible free throw shooter and teams want to put him on the line. He's 3rd in the league in free throw attempts, and for comparison's sake, he has nearly double the number of free throw attempts (606) than the Jazz's leading free throw attempter (not a word, but whatever), Paul Milsap (321). Howard averages 0.87 free throw attempts per field goal attempt. Utah has nobody who even approaches that. As for the spike, over the last 20 games, Howard has taken 223 free throws. Over the prior 20, he took 135. The total differential between Utah and the Lakers over that period amounts to 206 free throws. That means that Dwight Howard has taken 43% of those free throws. Who is happier that Dwight Howard's taken 223 free throws in the 20 games, the Lakers or their opponents?
Ed Hillel said:I understand all the reasons you cited above, I really do, but those last 15-20 games are really just too much. Isn't it just a tad strange the disparity over 60-65 games or so goes from 3-5 to 13-15, and it just happens to coincide with the time that the Lakers and Jazz emerge as the two contenders for the 8th seed? If you have been watching these Lakers games, your eyes should tell you what's happening. It's been painfully obvious. What's most telling to me on that graph, though, is the huge drop for the Jazz. Yeah, they've gone 10-10, but they're basically a .500 team overall. All of a sudden they're dropping 8-10 FT a game consistently?
Those lines over the span are too consistent to be random. I haven't worked with stats for a very long time, but I'm pretty sure if you plugged the first 60-65 games of that chart into a random distribution, the odds of it coming out the way it has over the past 15-20 games would be around null. Like I said, I do understand basketball isn't completely random, and I think you can argue Dwight getting healthy/trying harder may have some effect, but I don't think any combination of everything you cited above could come near covering the gigantic statistical anomaly that appears around the 65 game mark.
they're between 6 and 8-1 dogs depending on where you look onlineswingin val said:Anyone know what the Spurs/Lakers series odds are? I can't find it anywhere.
I have a friend willing to give me 4-1 odds if I take the Lakers. I feel dirty, but I think they have a decent chance at winning the series.
I actually found it soon after I posted. Found one that was +1100! That seems ridiculous, IMO. Can't resist putting down 50 bucks with those odds.scottyno said:they're between 6 and 8-1 dogs depending on where you look online