It's been a while.

It's been a lot of vodka shots...

But for some reason, it's still hard to believe the all-mighty empire that us Lakeshow faithful so strongly believed in fell apart in 8 surreal days. I still find myself hoping that this is just some sick divine joke and someone will spring out of nowhere and say, "Psyche!" But no, the king is indeed dead, and all is indeed lost in the City of Angels.

I haven't watched a basketball game since Game 4. It's hard to watch anything basketball related and not think of this tragedy of epic proportions.

I'll leave the blaming analysis to the pros here. I'm just trying to find some decent closure for this bullshit season, and I hope this is a worthy eulogy.

This season has always been shaky. Sure, they were still the most talented bunch in the Association. Sure, Kobe is still el loco diablo with a basketball. But this group had some serious mentality issues. No championship contenders go on lengthy losing streaks like them (to teams they have no business losing to), but we all knew the plot in this fairytale. We knew that Phil Jackson will win his 12th ring, piss on Red's grave, and ride into the sunset. We knew that Kobe will match MJ in the bling category and seriously start a convo on GOAT. We knew that this is the year that we catch up to Celtic's banner count and watch their AARP core kneel before Father Time.

Then the fairytale that all of us (perhaps even the players) believed in started falling apart. It happened so fast, so furiously, and so silently. Once the fairytale curtains fell, we were no longer the defending champions, we were no longer in the chase to tie the Celtics. Kobe wouldn't get his 6th ring, at least not this year. And the Master of Winning got swept into retirement. All the LAL message boards were flooded with picture of FAIL and FACEPALM.

And that's the pathetic reality that all of us will have to live with for the rest of our lives as Laker fans..

How would we describe how we collectively feel? Disappointment, anger, shock, disgust, heartbreak, shame, depressing, OMGWTF... the list goes on and on, and all of this negative emotion led to the outbreak of stupid trade ideas like zits right before prom. It's a long list, but please allow me to add one more to this list:

Forgiveness.

Forgive them for their arrogance. Forgive them for their mental meltdown. Forgive them for royally screwing PJ over. Forgive them for failing and facepalming. Forgive them for being human.

Pulling sayings out of the cliche hat, I declare that our championship window is still open, that this core, after ALL of them see Ron's psychologist, is still the best team around. I say that with enough veteran rest and mental revival, they can still push it next year. And I defy anyone to find a trade that could get us a better core than what we have now.

After all, we owe them at least a chance at redemption right?

We don't judge a man by how many times he fell from grace, or how hard he fell. We judge a man by how many times he summons the courage to get back up. One fuck-up, no matter how colossal, doesn't get to define a career, and this shouldn't either.

Shit happens, even to Laker fans, who are the luckiest fans in the world. We don't have to wait 50+ years to end the championship drought. We don't have to wait for Donald Sterling to return to his home in the Seven Circles of Hell to even get a shot at winning. We don't hope for good lottery every season, only to see them flame out in a losing culture. Other fans pray to see their team in the playoffs, we expect a parade in June every year. We're too spoiled for our goddamn good, and I guess a piece of the humble pie is good for us all.

So here's to our fallen heroes, and all their facepalming flaws. And here's to next season, and its warm promise of a second chance, and an opportunity at glorious redemption.

Purp and Gold all day mofos! 

-Mike

In mythology, we have heroes who inspires us with their legendary feats. We Laker faithful know of one such legendary hero in Kobe. However, a legendary hero's tale is incomplete without a legendary villain, and that's where Pat comes in.

By creating this super team, he is in effect creating the perfect three-headed Chimera for our hero, one Kobe Bean Bryant, to slay. And should he slay it, his legacy will rival that of MJ's. I'm not saying whose legacy is better, I'm just saying that it would be noteworthy to point out the 3 headed monster that's in Kobe's trophy case during the debate.

You see, Superman is great, but he would not be who he is to us if there was no Lex Luthor. Same with Batman and the Joker, or Spider-man and the Green Goblin. In fact, Bellerophon was a nobody until he killed Chimera, one of the most feared monster in the land. One that has all of nature's best parts, and can freaking breathe fire. It is because he slew this legendary monster that he became a legendary hero. 

Which brings me back to my point. We should not be afraid of such a formidable team. We should embrace it. We should thank Pat for giving Kobe a chance to define his legacy: as the legendary hero who took down the Chimera of the NBA. 

First off, let me directly address Phil for a sec:

Hey buddy! Congrats on the 11th ring. You know you wanna make it an even dozen before you sail blissfully into the sunset. And we ALL want you back! Seriously, it's been a week already, this retirement sh*t ain't funny no more!

ahem...sorry, I lost my cool there a little bit. 

With the depressing news that Brian Shaw is checking out Cleveland (oh God I hope not), who're our candidates?

This is just my opinion, and if you must be mean and bash me, oh wellz, I heard "you're adopted" is always a good comeback line...

Here're our top 2 contenders: Byron Scott or Brian Shaw. 

So if Shaw is thinking about Cleveland, he must see that 1) Phil is staying, 2) Buss family wants to terminate the triangle offense or 3) Cleveland is waving a lot more mullah in his face 

Either way, I hate this new development because this means Byron Scott is either the favored first choice,, or he just become one. You don't get to coach the Lakers without being an A-lister yourself, and I don't see any viable candidates throwing their hats in yet. So if Shaw doesn't think he has a shot, then crap, that could mean that Management sees Byron Scott as the next coach.

And here's why I don't like it:

• His track record in NO: He has one good season, and everybody was dubbing them the "up-and-coming" team of the NBA (a title that OKC has rightfully won this season). What happened after that? Well, not much. He eventually got fired, and from the stuff I read about him, he doesn't seem to be a good coach. you've heard the golf story, you've seen him go with weird rotations, you've heard how he's CP3's buddy, but not coach. his performance there raised a bunch of red flags for me, personally. 
• He has a new system in place of the Triangle and whatever Defensive Scheme we've cooked up. And new systems don't get inside of your brain till next next year. Are we seriously doing this in the middle of a 3peat attempt. SERIOUSLY?!?
• Brian Shaw offers stability and locker room respect that a 3 peat attempt team needs. He knows the system and he can run it. He won't be Zen Master, but he's the closest thing we have .
• The guy is known to "wear on role players". Yeah, like that'll help our 2 drafted prospects and Sasha/Luke/Odom. Can he stand up to Kobe? Or will he just be his golfing buddy? (or worse, will he be just Jerry and Jim's golfing buddy?)

So yeah, I have a few issues with him, and I would much rather prefer Shaw at the helm. I like our system, and I don't see why we need to change it. I want a stable transition in the midst of our championship window. (and you can fuck around all you want after it closes) Shaw is the best candidate for that and I hope he doesn't take the Cleveland offer. 

But assuming PJ and B Shaw is gone, and by God's good grace Byron Scott is NOT it, what do we have?

JVG- there's a reason why he's free to bash on NBA refs when they fuck up- it's cuz he's never coming back to the jungle (or at least he's confident that he's not going back)

Marc Jackson- I really haven't thought of him as a candidate, and he hasn't really done any high-profile coaching job to impress me.

Hubie Brown- As old as a dinosaur, but I like his analysis and basketball mind. I guess Fish can handle rallying and inspiring the troops?

Those aren't MY picks however. The dark horse I'm personally rooting for will shock you to say the least. That man is Mike Brown. 

DUN DUN DUN!!!

I know, I know. He is the "incompetent" coach that led a favored Cavs to their demise again. But if back to back 60+ W's is "incompetent", then what are those <30 W coaches? Legally Braindead?

I always thought he was the prop to LeBron's "I'll do whatever I want" offense, but after reading this article by David Friedman, the same man that wrote this beautiful piece on how the Sports Media have no f*cking clue who the hell  Kobe Bryant truly is, I'm a believer. 

Here's his passionate defense of Coach Brown:

If your morning cereal can't last that long, let me bring out the key points:

• He's the convenient scapegoat for the fallout. You can't be that incompetent if you led your team to back to back league-best records in the reg season and raised your team's league rankings on both sides of the ball.
• If the management had any responsibility/balls, they'd ask LBJ to come in and pop in a DVD of games 5 and 6 and ask him, "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT WEAK-ASS SHIT?!?!" 
• He came from Pop's lineage. I know Pop is a classy man, but he doesn't waste time on incompetent idiots. 
• He came from a defensive-oriented approach, and he did it. The Cavs have league-leading defense not just because of those nice highlight reel blocks from LBJ, but because he somehow made defensive liabilities like Z and Shaq meld into a decent team defense.  

So here're my main reasons for supporting him (if we can't get B-Shaw or PJ):

• He knows defense. And Defense wins Championships. So even if we run some dumbass version of "Let Kobe bail us out" offense (which we're known to do from time to time), we can still win them ugly low-scoring games. We have 4-5 defensive pieces for him to work with, and only one huge hole in DFish. I'm sure he can think of some clever scheme. 
• And as the article pointed out, it's not as if he's an offensive moron. He has a few sets going for him, and if not, he can always pick up the triangle~
• The Cavs lost because they didn't put forth the effort, and you really can't pin that on the coach. The team captain sets the tone for the team and leads by example. So if your captain is sulking that some punkass named Rajon is outshining him, well, your outlook on the series won't be so sunny either.  
• He's a good coach who got fired because the front office is being held hostage by an ingrate 16 year old teenage girl. If he was coaching Orlando, he'd still be onboard. But because he's in Cleveland, and the true "Master of Panic" Dan Gilbert firesaled a championship contending team just to placate that spoiled brat, and as a result,  canned him. Which part of that seems fair to you? 
• How cool would it be to win ANOTHER ring in LeBron's face, with his ex-coach!?! If you can think of a bigger middle finger to him, LET ME KNOW!

So yeah, I hope I've made my case to you guys. Feel free to comment and get in the mix. Hopefully I made a lot more sense than that Bill_Walton troll.

Sorry for the length. I didn't know the Spirit of Josh Tucker would possess me tonight and make me go apeshit on this fanpost. This is my first serious post, and I'd have to say, writing long shit is fun!

Via ESPN: Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, after witnessing the destruction of his beloved Celtics in the NBA Finals, decided to submit to the full glory of Los Angeles by changing its nickname to "Beantown", after the 2010 NBA Finals MVP, Kobe Bean Bryant, who, despite a poor shooting night, rallied his troops (even that crazy one currently undergoing psychiatric care) to seize victory. 

"I just think it's the right thing to do. Los Angeles pwns us like noobs and I thought the people of Boston deserve a nickname as awesome as #24." Says Menino.

In unrelated news, Celtics manager Danny Ainge is contemplating signing Free Agent Miss Cleo to the team to help Paul "we ain't going back to LA"  Pierce and Big Baby "we're gonna win it here" Davis make better predictions about the future. 

Well, it's official! (Yahoo) Linas Kleiza has left the building (and the country)!

It's not like we didn't see this coming. Denver hasn't made the wisest investment choices (ie: Iverson), and over these past few year all they have to show for is a single WCF appearance and a couple of first round appearances.

I guess the owner is tired of shelling out all that cash, which makes me wonder: are they serious about contending? Because Kleiza is a pretty solid backup, and without him, Denver's bench looks much less scary. (And definitely not up to LA's level)

How will his departure change the epic bloodbath next year? I personally think that Denver is now down to 3rd/4th with Dallas. San Antonio is no the clear 2nd, and the most obvious challenger for LA in the West.

Discuss!