The demise of the Lakers without Andrew Bynum has been greatly exaggerated or should I lead this with Kobe Lamar Odom > LBJ? Nah…I just let the statistics beat for themselves.
There are those among us that – even before this game who believe that…even without Bynum the Lakers were the favorite to represent the West again in the NBA Finals…where they would most likely fall victim to the Celtics. After this 6-0 roadie with the last two wins over the top two teams in the east….I am not so sure that even the Celtics can stop the determined Kobe Bryant and company this year. Yes – I said that without so much as a smirk on my face. Go ahead and accuse me of being a homer…I don’t mind – I have numbers to back me up.
The Lakers are in the Celtics heads and they are deinetly in LBJ’s head. Consider this…The Lakers stopped the Celtics two biggest winning streaks this season…the first on Christmas where their dominating 92-83 win snapped the Celts 19 game winning streak…remember this during a time when the Celts were 27-2 coming in and people were talking 72+ wins… the second on Thursday where the Lakers refused to be “punked” by the Celtics without Bynum but fought their way to a 110-109 OT win to snap the Celts 12 game streak. As far as LBJ…In two games this season v. the Lakers here are The Chosen One’s numbers….14 of 45….31% FG – Under 20 PPG in both.
The results for season series? Lakers 2-0 on the Celtics…Lakers 2-0 on the Cavs. It’s not the postseason yet – I get that…What about the fellas from Cleveland and Boston though?
Yes…the my big lead had (no offense TBL) had to be the Lakers. Sunday gave us a preview of the two potenetial NBA Finals matchups. The other being the Spurs taking it to the Celtics. Add to it Steve Nash dishing 21 against the Pistons……come to tink of it it’s is not just Lakers > East…it may be West > East. I may take this back if the East beats a top tier soon. Until then…that statement stands.
Brandon Roy buzzer beater…Magic > Nets…Dwayne Wade scores…and the rest of the scores.
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Pitchers and Catchers report in three days. We all gotta know that the A-Rod news is not the way we wanted to transition into spring training…So I will lead with Ryan Howard and his 3 year/ $54 M contract to avoid arbitration and then follow it with Manny still being unsigned and the reasons behind it…To follow up and not really get into the A Rod controversy too much in TMA – becasue the follow up post should stand on it’s own – I give you another controversial player pontificating on the subject instead….Curt Schilling thinks ALL 104 players should be named…no just ARod…will you guys still be my friends if I agree with Curt…just this once? Oh…Andruw Jones to the Minors.
Nick Watney won Torrey Pines this weekend…the bigger news from the PGA Tour…Tiger has a son. This means Tiger’s debut most likely gets pushed back to March 12th at Doral….I take back Tiger playing match play this month…or at least reduce it to about 25%.
Larry Fitzgerald > All other WRs. NFC > AFC because of him 30-21…football talk is over? Not when it comes to #15 and an NFL man’s opinion of his NFL chances. Is Lawrence Taylor on Dancing with the Stars football news? Other Athletes = Shawn Johnson, Olympian and Ty Murray, Rodeo…Apologies to Jen…but SEC > Big TEleveN …and to wrap the football notes up – Dirty Bird turns Jail Bird.
Daytona 500 this weekend – for fun we debuted a NASCAR post on Saturday night…the “traffic” (pun intended) was not too bad… Kevin Harvick won. NASCAR, once a Southern sport is pretty global now…Almost like WWE Wrestling. The fan bases cross over political and economic lines – even though somke people may not admit they are fans of either sport…you know both get watched on a wide scale….Speaking of WWE…some people refer to it is a “soap opera for men” – but this drama involving Chris Jericho doesn’t appear scripted…(h/t Total Pro Sports)
Athlete deaths aren’t confined to the professional ranks…In fact the rest of us are just as susceptible… Maybe even moreso…. Reaction to Michael Phelps marijuana use cost him Kellog’s…but do the rest of us care?
North Carolina @ Dook on Wednesday….do you need another reason to hate Dook?
That’s a wrap from Southern California at 1:20 am…Thanks for starting your day here at Sparty and Friends…Ill be here to read reactions and comments around your lunch time.
Plenty of reading throughout the day ahead…If I missed your favorite team or story let me know. Now and in the future…if you have tips or stories you would like to see in The Morning After please email them to SpartyAndFriends @ gmail.com
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homer! ben the orthopedic surgeon(Quote)
everybody getting a late start this monday morning? except for ben, of course. mizerle06(Quote)
ben is a tool. sparty(Quote)
well, I like him. so there. mizerle06(Quote)
Ben violates women. GatorTrey(Quote)
by the way, is there anybody that could be happier right now than barry bonds? the guy that is supposed to break all the records and have done it legally and cleanly has now been implicated as a PED-user and has yet to deny it. mizerle06(Quote)
is that a twinge of jealousy I hear in your voice, trey? mizerle06(Quote)
^makes no sense whatsoever. mizerle06(Quote)
I’m jeslpus that he violates women. Yes. GatorTrey(Quote)
Jeslpus is a new word. Had nothing to do with the treo. GatorTrey(Quote)
jeslpus? GatorTreo strikes again! sparty(Quote)
Charlie Axel Woods? Didn’t know Tiger was a big GnR fan. john(Quote)
long time reader, first time commenter…
love the site, guys. jeslpus(Quote)
A-Rod has denied using PEDs, just not since the report came out. I do find it interesting that Victor Conte said that the two drugs that A-Rod tested positive for could be taken orally and he might not have known because they are frequently used in shakes and stuff.
Not sure I believe that it happened that way, but Conte has no reason to stick up for him and knows way more about this than the rest of us. guyinthecorner(Quote)
you think mikey overuses the greater than symbol? sparty(Quote)
Picking up on the new slang. Dig it. GatorTrey(Quote)
GITC, and my client’s positive meth test was from a cold pill. Complete coincidence! GatorTrey(Quote)
ARod denied it before there was ever any evidence pointing in his direction. he has yet to deny since saturday and has only deflected and avoided questioning. that’s 100 times more significant than any benign denial before saturday. mizerle06(Quote)
welcome, jeslpus. hey, turn down your radio. sparty(Quote)
trey, your client could have received a positive result after a meth test from the Frosty he ate the night before. happens to me all the time. mizerle06(Quote)
A-Rod has a legal case mounting now that this information was leaked. it was under seal. I have no problem with him not saying anything at this point. he will probably take the Giambi route. sparty(Quote)
there are only three options when accused of something: confirm, deny, or deflect. many times, deflecting is an extension of confirmation of wrongdoing. if innocent, what ARod should be doing is denying and suing the crap out of MLB for leaking false information about his “anonymous” tests. instead, he is deflecting and positioning himself for a legal case and the perception that builds is one of guilt. mizerle06(Quote)
I’m guessing he will go the “I didn’t know what I took was illegal” route. john(Quote)
he knows that he is guilty. he was probably tipped off about it, and that is why he responded the way he did. he was told not to answer any questions right now. sparty(Quote)
I can’t believe I actually agree with schilling. sparty(Quote)
the HOF voters have already set the precedent of not allowing admittance to eligible players with ties to PED’s. regardless of how low and dirty it is that anonymous test results were leaked, if he doesn’t completely exonnerate himself ASAP, he will be nothing more that a nicer Bonds. mizerle06(Quote)
sparty-
I was watching the MLB Network and they had a guy on who basically said that A-Rod can sue the MLB for damages and would have almost no chance of losing. It’s just a matter of if he wants to cause that much trouble which he probably doesn’t.
The guy said that because he submitted to the test because the MLB said that it was for survey purposes to see what percentage of players were on the juice he can sue for his results coming public. He can argue that if you want to know the percentage, you never should have recorded names in the first place. Even if you did record names, nobody should have tried to match the names to the serial numbers. Even if somebody did, the list and samples should never have been in the same place. Even if they were, they should have been destroyed. Even if they weren’t, they should never have been turned over. Even if they were, the documents should have been sealed. Even they were, they should never have been open to anyone, Even if they were, they should never have become public.
So basically, the MLB screwed up really bad. guyinthecorner(Quote)
I guess he’s taking the McGwire-route instead of the Roger Clemens-route. the only problem with either, is he’s in the midst of a career that should last many more years whereas those guys were basically finished playing. he NEEDS to go the Giambi route and then some. ARod confessing, apologizing, and becoming tested more often than Lance Armstrong could pave the way for roiders to be in the HOF. mizerle06(Quote)
GITC,
He sues for that…he’s admitting.
That’s why he won’t sue for that. GatorTrey(Quote)
MLB screw up? Never.
I’d love to see Selig forced to retire over all this. I know he won’t, but I can hope. john(Quote)
did anyone watch the MLB network on Saturday? they were hammering the players union. sparty(Quote)
none of that stuff you wrote matters, gitc. if he can’t either prove his innocence or ask AND receive forgiveness, he can sue MLB and win until he’s blue in the face but it won’t ever change the perception that he’s nothing more than a juicer. mizerle06(Quote)
i’m a juicer now. sparty(Quote)
sparty, I didn’t watch the MLB network so I don’t know the context of how they were hammering the players union, but I do know the players union is a well-paid group of fools and should never have agreed to anonymous testing where it’s ever possible to match a name to a test result. how the hell is that even remotely anonymous? mizerle06(Quote)
it’s true. i’ve seen the size of his head. mizerle06(Quote)
A juicer and a playoff choker. john(Quote)
john – the funniest comment I heard all weekend was something along the lines of “he must have forgotten to juice during the playoffs.” I think it was a commenter here that said it. mizerle06(Quote)
but seriously, Schilling is right. If all these names don’t get released, the guilt by association will always hangover this generation of ball players. Of course, it also helps his case to make the HoF if his name isn’t on it. sparty(Quote)
there was someone on every site saying that. and on the radio. sparty(Quote)
by the way, has anybody ever noticed Hansbrough’s proclivity for spreading his legs every time his feet leave the floor. it’s like he’s got a thighmaster permanently strapped to himself and every time he jumps (blocking a shot, rebounding, layup, dunking, etc.) it splays his legs out. it’s awkward and extremely weird but I think it’s a ploy that accomplishes two things: 1) results in more foul shooting opportunities, and 2) makes his look like he’s jumping around and hustling more. mizerle06(Quote)
maybe they all read S&F and stole our commenter’s idea? mizerle06(Quote)
They should release the full list of names. There is no reason to single out one player even if it is A-Roid. cmfost(Quote)
A-Roid is a idiot. Did he learn nothing from watching Bonds and Clemens? Do not go down there path choose the path Giambi did. Apologize without admitting anything and fans will forgive you and move on. cmfost(Quote)
This guy over at SI is putting more of the blame on the union (specifically Gene Orza) for this Arod mess and not the league.
Basically it says that the list was made so that the union could try to get the percentage down to below 5% by finding false positives so that mandatory testing wouldn’t kick in the next year. BALCO hit while he was in the process. The Feds wanted the results of the BALCO people (Bonds, Giambi, etal) and Gene wouldn’t give them up forcing the Feds to subpoena thus getting all the names.
I think this sounds plausible to likely. I also don’t think the sorce of the leak came from inside baseball as this really is not in their best interests as they needed Arod to be the clean guy to break the record back from Bonds
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_heyman/02/08/rodriguez.union/index.html?eref=T1 Johnny(Quote)
johnny- heyman, verducci, and roberts are all in bed with the MLB network. or should i say MLB. sparty(Quote)
I’m sick of all the A-Roid talk already. john(Quote)
That might be true but that did sound plausible Johnny(Quote)
sorry, john, this going to continue shortly… sparty(Quote)
Watch A-Roid only hit 20-25 HR’s this season. john(Quote)
and we continue in a new post. sparty(Quote)
i wonder if lamar can get that kind of work done consistently…. jpmanahan(Quote)