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      WCF Game 2: Lakers put Suns away late

      May 19, 2010 /

      Phoenix had a chance to win this one. They were tied heading into the fourth quarter, but with their normally productive reserves in, the Suns started to fall behind. Down four with 7:48 left to play, Alvin Gentry put Steve Nash (11-3-15) back in the game, and he promptly threw the ball out of bounds and gave up a wide open three to Jordan Farmer…Lakers up nine. L.A. goes on to win, 124-112.

      The other emerging edge for the Lakers is Pau Gasol (29-9-5). He’s simply better than Amare Stoudemire (18-6-1), or at least he looks better against the Suns’ porous defense. Lamar Odom (17-11-4, three steals) has also played well in this series, so well in fact that he forced Andrew Bynum (13-7 in 18 minutes) to the bench.

      As for Kobe, he was in pass-first mode tonight, posting 21-5-13 on the heels of his 40-point outing in Game 1.

      The Suns shot 49%, which is great, but L.A. shot 58%. They have to find a way to limit the Lakers easy shots as the series moves back to Phoenix for Game 3 and Game 4. The Suns desperately need to even the series. Otherwise, it’s over.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Should Braves consider Gonzalez as Cox’s replacement?

      May 19, 2010 /

      Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the Braves should look to bring back Marlins’ manager Fredi Gonzalez when Bobby Cox steps down at the end of the season. Gonzalez was Atlanta’s third base coach for four years prior to his first season with the Marlins in 2007.

      Back to Gonzalez. It shouldn’t take much convincing for him to come back to Atlanta. In his four seasons as Marlins manager, the team’s payroll has ranked 29th, 30th, 30th and 26th (this season). Yet, Florida is over .500 for the third straight season, is coming off a second-place finish and in 2008 he was voting The Sporting News Manager of the Year in the National League for an 84-74 finish despite the majors’ smallest payroll.

      The Marlins have little fan support. They have a kooky owner, Jeffrey Loria, who actually balked at bringing Gonzalez back this season. Loria denied an ESPN report in October that he was exploring hiring Bobby Valentine to manage. But given that the report came from the nation’s best baseball reporter, Buster Olney, I know who I’m siding with.

      The problem, as Schultz notes in his article, is that Gonzalez’s contract runs through 2011. That doesn’t mean he’s untouchable until then, but it does make things a little more difficult from the Braves’ perspective. Plus, the Marlins and the Braves play in the same division, so I wonder how that would work. (Although Bruce Bochy went from San Diego to San Francisco in the same type of scenario and the Giants and Padres play in the same division.)

      That said, Brave fans have to at least like the thought of Gonzalez winding up in Hotlanta. Cox will go down as one of the most respected skippers in all of baseball and the Braves would be wise to hire someone with experience to fill his shoes. Gonzalez has done an admirable job in Florida and might be able to give Atlanta the shot in the arm that it needs.

      Of course, it’s only May. Who knows what will happen over the course of the next four and a half months leading up to Cox’s retirement.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      Cutler: “I learned a lot of things (last year).”

      May 19, 2010 /

      Jay Cutler is ready to put last year’s struggles behind him, but before he does he wants to make it clear that 2009 wasn’t all bad. At least he learned a couple of things while throwing a league-high 26 interceptions.

      From the Chicago Tribune:

      “It was a rough year,” he said. “I’m not going to say it wasn’t. I wouldn’t say it was all bad. I learned a lot of things. Had some success in Denver, and then we came here and hit a few speed bumps. But I think it made me a better player. … I haven’t lost any confidence in my abilities.

      “You have to play within yourself, get back to some of those things that made you the player you were in the past, and not trying to force it. I think that’s kind of where I got in trouble last year … trying to make some plays, trying to get back in the ballgames, and trying to push the ball down field.”

      I think part of the problem last year was that the Bears thought they were better than they really were. Jerry Angelo tried to use toothpaste to fill the holes along the offensive line and the move blew up in his face. Defensively, the Bears weren’t as good as they had been in previous years and when Brian Urlacher went down in Week 1, then things really started to fall apart.

      When everyone expects a team to be good and it’s not, its star players start to press, which is what Cutler did. His offensive line didn’t give him a lot of protection, which in turn made Matt Forte useless and the receivers weren’t good enough to rise to the challenge and bail Cutler out. So what happened was Cutler tried to do too much and he usually paid the price for it.

      Cutler may work wonders with new offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Quarterbacks usually don’t struggle to learn Martz’s system and tend to improve in their first year. But that doesn’t change the fact that Angelo still hasn’t fixed the problems on the offensive line, so it’s important that Cutler doesn’t fall back into the same bad habits that made him fail last year or else the Bears will be in trouble again.

      It’s good to hear that Cutler hasn’t lost any confidence in his abilities, although confidence has never been a problem for him. He needs to trust in his teammates and in turn, his teammates need to step up and help take some of the pressure off his shoulders.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      Did Kobe quit against the Suns in 2006?

      May 19, 2010 /

      Much has been written about that Game 7 against the Suns four years ago, where the Lakers became just the eighth team to lose a series after taking a 3-1 lead. Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com watched the game with fresh eyes to see if Kobe really did quit on his team.

      The Suns won the game 121-90. But they didn’t win because Bryant took just three shots in the second half.

      The Lakers, as a team, shot poorly and were routinely beaten by the Suns’ pick-and-roll sets on offense.

      L.A. decided to switch on the screens, leaving Nash free to shoot over big men who didn’t close out fast enough to harrass his shots. Marion, Thomas and Boris Diaw were free to either shoot over smaller Lakers guards or roll all the way to the rim. When the Lakers did close out fast enough, they often over-pursued, leaving Nash and Barbosa opportunities to use their quick first steps to blow by unbalanced defenders. There was even one possession in the third quarter in which Parker was picked and George stayed with Diaw instead of switching, leaving Nash wide open as he traipsed in for a layup.

      Lost in the “Kobe tanked” narrative was the fact that Barbosa and the Suns’ bench outscored the Lakers’ reserves 50-21. And obscured by the idea that Kobe didn’t do enough to help his team win was the fact that the Suns shot 61 percent from the field, while no Lakers player (other than Bryant, who finished 8-for-16) shot 50 percent or better.

      I tend to agree. Kobe wouldn’t quit, but he wears his emotions on his sleeve, so if he’s following the game plan — in this case, getting his teammates involved — and it’s not successful, then his body language might make it look like he has quit.

      Remember, this is all pre-Gasol stuff, and Kobe’s frustration was mounting. He often glared or screamed at his teammates and was generally an a-hole to play with.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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