Tag: Basketball

My humblest apologies Mr. Jordan

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 6 Comments

Let me start by saying I think this discussion is down right ridiculous. I think the people who dare put Lebron James in the same sentence as Michael Jordan should be ashamed of themselves. I am simply here to defend Michael Jordan and his legacy. As usual, I have to educate those who can not educate themselves. It seems that fans and media personnel of this era live in the moment too much(thanks Facebook, thanks Twitter). It’s like people who saw Michael Jordan play forget just how dominant he was. And the people who never saw him play don’t do the proper research to understand and pay homage to his greatness. All they know is what is right in front of their face. Now I love having a thought provoking debate, but don’t you think we’re overreacting to Lebron’s accomplishments? NO? Not even a little bit? Okay, well let’s agree to disagree. I’m going to explain why all the Lebron fanatics are wrong.

We as responsible journalists must give Lebron all the credit he is due. He is the best player in the world right now. His combination of size, strength, leaping ability, and quickness are unmatched. The stretch he’s going through has never been seen before. Through his last six games his offensive efficiency is off the charts, averaging 30.8 points per game while shooting an amazing 72% from the field. As an all around talent we all know how talented Lebron is, and when it comes time for him to hang ’em up, I’m sure he will end up being one of the top 5 greatest players of all time(he has the potential to be the 2nd best of all-time, but not yet).  With all that being said, we still need to bring all of the Jordan comparisons to a tire screeching halt. For those of you who never saw MJ play, or for those who are having selective memory loss, let me remind you just how GREAT he was. Michael Jordan played in 15 NBA seasons, one being cut short due to injury and another due to his first retirement. His list of accolades is too long to mention every one, so I will do my best to highlight the most impressive ones. MJ was the NBA MVP 5 times and also won 10 scoring titles. He won rookie of the year, defensive player of the year, and was the leagues leader in steals 3 separate times. Last but not least, he appeared in 6 NBA Finals where he won all 6 and was named the Finals MVP in all 6. Not only did he win every Finals he ever played in, but the opposition never even took his greatness to a decisive game 7. Michael was also one of the best on ball defenders the league has ever seen. The list keeps going and going, but I think we all understand that Michael Jordan is the best basketball player that ever played. Period. The things that didn’t show up on the stat sheet were the things we really loved about Michael. His incredible will to win, his uncanny trash talk during games, and his incredible ability to hit game winning shots in the clutch. Those attributes are part of what made Michael so great. By the way, just imagine if Michael never took almost two years off in the middle of his prime to play baseball and never retired the 2nd time. I think he’d have at least 2 more championship trophies in his trophy room at home. I’m just saying, unfortunately we’ll never know what could have happened.

Now, the problem is ever since MJ finished his final game a decade ago everyone has been searching for the heir to his thrown.  For Lebron, this all started back in Akron, Ohio when the media donned him as the Next MJ.  This task has always put too much pressure on Lebron and forced him to live up to a standard rather than be himself.  During the early part of his career, that pressure brought about insecurities and highlighted his mental weakness.  For an athlete of his stature to care what people think about him is astonishing to me.  From the pressure of carrying a mediocre Cavaliers squad to the NBA Finals(and get swept) to his departure to South Beach, he has shown that the pressure was too much to handle.  He seems to finally be finding his stride, and we are witnessing Lebron in his prime.  Lebron’s ceiling is to become the 2nd best player of all time.  To do that he needs to win at least 4 or more titles and at least 3 or more MVP’s.  However, I still think to be compared to MJ you need to be “the guy” and not use such a talented supporting cast to win titles.  Most people think I’m being ridiculous but if you want to be compared to the best, your greatness needs to stick out like a sore thumb.  And just like Kobe, you can’t be the best who ever did it when you play with the likes of Shaq.  Sorry.

The bottom line is we live in the society of the “knee-jerk reaction”.  This has caused the sports world to act and react to everything in a matter of seconds.  It’s good because we can stay current and up to date with important events, but it’s bad because we jump to conclusions too quickly when it comes to athletes, teams, and coaches.  Everyone needs to pump the brakes with this Lebron vs. MJ talk, and just let Lebron be Lebron.  I promise you will enjoy his achievements much more, and we will also realize that there has always been and will always be 1 Michael Jordan.

P.S.  Happy 50th Birthday Michael!!

 

I am currently also a contributing author at intheneutralzone.com.  If you enjoy my writing, please head over there and check out more of my work.

It’s definitely better than the Pro Bowl, but the NBA’s All-Star Weekend is no slam dunk

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

Come Thursday night, the NBA will wind down the first half of the season with two thrillers. First, you will have a rematch of the NBA Finals from last season as Miami travels to Oklahoma City(and this could very well be a preview of this year’s finals as well), and then you will have a showdown in the city of angels. The Clippers will try to continue their winning ways against their cross building rivals(get it, I said cross building instead of cross town because they play in the same arena, well at least I thought it was funny), the Lakers. Once the final buzzer sounds on that contest, it’s off to Houston for the 2013 All-Star Weekend festivities. Now I know that the All-Star Game’s TV ratings have been climbing the past couple of years, until last year(“hey, let’s put the All-Star Game on TV at the same time as the Oscars!!” “Good idea!!”, said the two employees who were surely fired as soon as the ratings came out). However, I believe the NBA is not maximizing it’s potential throughout the entire weekend.

The game itself is not what I have a problem with. You can’t make superstars try in a game that is solely meant to be an honor. The game gets good enough ratings as is, and I still tune in because basketball is fun to watch when the score is 184-179. You get to watch the NBA’s elite throw alley oops to each other, and in the off chance that the game is close down the stretch they do actually try. The one problem that I have with the game is actually the voting process. This game is meant to showcase the leagues best players. It is not meant to be a popularity contest. I understand why the NBA allows fans to vote but it ruins the integrity of All-Star appearances. Think about it. When the talking heads debate whether or not someone is a hall of famer don’t they always bring up how many All-Star teams they’ve been on? How are you going to tell me that Joe Schmo from his couch, who doesn’t even know the first thing about basketball(he has heard of Kevin Garnett though), should have any say in who gets in the hall of fame? Most people would probably say, “you’re overreacting, it’s just the All-Star game.” That’s my point. This weekend should matter. It should be an honor for the best players in the league to say, “I’m an All-Star.” I think the NBA should allow a combination of the coaches and hall of fame committees to vote on All-Star appearances. If the committees aren’t willing to get involved with active players then the NBA should decide on a collection of well respected basketball journalists to vote on the All-Star game.

The biggest problem I have with this weekend is what happens on Saturday. These days, the slam dunk contest is essentially a joke. Remember when the slam dunk contest used to mean something? And it was more exciting then the game itself? Yeah, me too. But those days are long gone. One of my most vivid memories of any All-Star game is Vince Carter’s spectacular dunk fest of 2000. Carter threw down one unbelievable dunk after another, putting together a highlight reel for the ages. If you ask me, that is still the single greatest slam dunk performance of all time. No offense Mr. Jordan, but I’m sure you were watching the beginning of Vinsanity too. Anyone remember who assisted Carter in that slam dunk contest?? No peaking at the video, that’s cheating. Yes, it was a young Tracy Mcgrady. The most memorable moments in slam dunk history are definitely Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins in the 80’s battling it out for the title of slam dunk champion. That concept seems laughable now a days, and that’s what has me steaming mad. Michael Jordan was the best player in the NBA every time he competed in the slam dunk contest(hell, he was the best player whenever he did anything). Fans also got to see greats like Clyde Drexler and Scottie Pippen perform once upon a time. That is what the fans want to see today. They want the best players in the league to battle it out like the slam dunk contest still means something. You have to be an avid basketball fan to even know who the competitors are in this years contest.  No offense to the guys competing, but are you tuning in to watch Terrence Ross?  Nope, didn’t think so.  Lebron James and the rest of the superstars of the league are doing the NBA a disservice by not competing. They are only hurting themselves and their brand by not putting together the best show possible at a star studded weekend.  I mean, it’s not like any of the guys we want to see would be inconvenienced by competing.  They are already going to be in Houston.  Instead of tweeting little jokes to cause a stir about possibly maybe hopefully competing in the dunk contest(what a subtle way to get attention buddy), Lebron should come on TV and emphatically say, “I’m going to bring the dunk contest back to life by competing in it and winning it!” If he did that and implored other superstar dunkers like Russell Westbrook to compete, everyone else would follow suit. Listen I’ll still be watching all the events this weekend, including New York Knick James White in the dunk contest, but don’t tell me you wouldn’t rather see Lebron do a 720 dunk or watch him dunk from the 3-point line. Insert haha here…

Here’s the slam dunk roster I would like to see:

Lebron James, Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, J.R. Smith, Javele McGee, and Josh Smith

Now tell me you wouldn’t tune in to watch that!

If you want to see more of my work, please check me out at intheneutralzone.com.  I am now a contributing author on that site as well.

Mid-Season NBA Awards

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 3 Comments

It’s that time of year again. We’ve played about 50 games so far, and it’s time to gear up for the All-Star Game. It is also time to dish out some mid-season awards. The awards to be given out are MVP, Sixth man of the Year, Defensive Player of the year, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. Some of these races have clear cut winners at this point in the season, and some are so difficult to differentiate a front-runner that we need to delve further into each category. I am here to clear up any confusion as to what you’ve seen thus far in the 2012-2013 NBA season.

Let’s start with the easiest debate, Rookie of the Year. If the season were to end today, the obvious winner for this award would be Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers. There are some other nice rookies this year(Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal, and Dion Waiters come to mind), but Damian is head and shoulders above everyone else right now. He has started every game this season for the Trailblazers. In those games he is averaging 18.2 points on 42% from the field in 38.5 minutes per game(not to mention he’s shooting an impressive 85% from the charity stripe). That is the easiest award to give out, but the rest are a little tougher. Don’t be scared. Just close your eyes, count to three, and rip off that band-aid.

Let’s move on to Sixth Man of the Year. For me this is a two man race between Jamal Crawford and JR Smith. Both have been instant offense off their teams bench. They have both been an integral part of their teams success this season. As much as I love the Knicks, this award has to go to Jamal Crawford. Not only did he outplay JR this past Sunday in a head to head match up, but he has been the better player all season, barely.

Next let’s talk about Coach of the Year. This is a tough one, so let’s throw all the potential candidates out there and then break them down until this makes sense. The candidates are Mike Woodson, Mark Jackson, Frank Vogel, and Tom Thibodeau. If you read my blog you know I am a die hard Knicks fan, and while Woodson has done a phenomenal job with the team so far, their most recent struggles against good teams might hurt him for now.  He did, however, do a great job right from the start of the season.  He was motivating Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, Jason Kidd, and even Rasheed Wallace to maximize their potential out on the floor.  He had everyone buying into his concept of team defense and an uptempo offense.  It was working perfectly until Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert came back from injuries.  I believe it will work out in the end for the Knicks, but there is definitely a growing period that the Knicks and Woodson are going through right now.  The final chapter for the Knicks will determine whether Woodson is the Coach of the year or not.  As of now, I say he is not.  As for Tom Thibodeau, he has impressed by continuing to succeed without his superstar.  For the second straight season Derrick Rose has missed a significant amount of time, yet the Bulls continue to put up winning records. His team plays a defense first, physical brand of basketball that creates nightmare match-ups for smaller teams and turnover prone teams.  It is also extremely impressive to win with Luol Deng as your best player(no offense to Luol he is a nice little player, but let’s be real, he is NOT a #1 guy). With all that being said Tom is still not the coach of the year. Who is? I’m getting there just calm down! The popular pick right now is Mark Jackson.  I like what Mark Jackson is doing with Stephen Curry and the rest of those boys, but his team is not good enough to push him to the top of this debate. While I always liked him as a player, and I personally always thought he would make a good coach some day(ahem, Jason Kidd, ahem), he is not the coach of the year at this point of the season.  My pick for coach of the year right now is Frank Vogel.  I bet most of you don’t even know what team he coaches. That is part of the reason why he is coach of the year right now.  He is a nobody to most people, and he is succeeding with nobodies.  Even his best player who is not playing right now due to injury is a nobody amongst the ranks of superstars. I like Danny Granger’s game, but he like Luol Deng is not a #1 guy. The only problem for the Indiana Pacers(ohhh that’s who Vogel coaches) is that Granger IS their #1 guy. Frank Vogel is my pick for Coach of the Year.
There could have been a nice segue into this next category, seeing as The Pacers have two candidates for Most Improved Player, George hill and Paul George. They have both vastly improved their games, but I think this award is a two man race. Greivis Vasquez and Jrue Holiday have both taken their game to the next level. They have both increased their points and assist totals tremendously from a year ago, and they both have bright futures ahead of them. No disrespect to Greivis, but Jrue Holiday has taken his game into another stratosphere. He has quickly become one of the premier point guards in the NBA, and the league recognized this by selecting him to his first all-star appearance. My award for most improved player goes to Jrue Holiday.
This next category is the toughest for me to choose. It is difficult to find a clear cut winner for Defensive Player of the Year. There are many worthy candidates so far this year that include: Tyson Chandler, Serge Ibaka, Larry Sanders, Lebron James, and Joakim Noah. Larry Sanders and Serge Ibaka will most likely be battling each other for this award for years to come. They are both physical presences underneath the hoop and both block approximately 3 shots a game. It is not due to their lack of defensive effort that they aren’t going to win this award, it’s because someone else on this list has managed to stand out above all the rest. This is me building suspense. Next, what else can you say about Lebron James? The guy is as physically gifted an athlete as anyone who has ever stepped foot on the hard wood. He can guard 4 positions at anytime while still managing to dominate on the offensive end. He is not going to win this award though(at least not this year), but don’t feel too bad for him I’m sure he’ll win another award real soon(hint hint). The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Tyson Chandler, has yet again found his way into contention for this award, however when he played the Bulls earlier this season he learned why he isn’t going to repeat as DPOY(he would get my vote for the most intimidating man on the planet though if that was a real award). Joakim Noah has placed himself at the forefront of defensive forces in the NBA. Man is he ugly!! Anyway, as much as I dislike Noah, he does anchor the best defense in the NBA. When he’s on the bench they give up 10 more points then when he’s on the floor.  Joakim Noah gets my vote for Defensive Player of the Year.
Finally, last but not least, the MVP award. This is always a fun debate because people think it’s strictly about offense. It mostly is, but you really need to look at the overall skill-set of a player plus his impact on his team to measure the MVP. The candidates this year are: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony. There are two honorable mentions for this category, Chris Paul and Tony Parker. Parker is doing spectacular things that go mostly unnoticed, especially with a banged up Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli on his team. Chris Paul will be in this conversation at the end of the year because he is clearly the best point guard in the NBA. For right now though he has missed too many games to be considered for this award. I love what Carmelo Anthony is doing this season, and I hope he can sustain his outstanding play throughout the whole season, but he doesn’t do enough of the little things to make his teammates better. Let me see if I can use an analogy that makes sense for this argument. Kevin Durant is like The Utah Jazz in the 90’s. If it wasn’t for that Jordan guy and the Chicago Bulls, they might have a couple of rings right now(sorry John, sorry Karl). Get it? Not yet? See, Kevin Durant has improved every facet of his game this year. The problem is that there is this guy named Lebron James in the NBA. As good as Durant is(28.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 51% from the floor, 43% from three point range, and 90% from the free throw line), Lebron is better. Sorry Kevin, I know I’m pulling for you because I certainly don’t like Lebron “I can’t win a title without an all-star roster” James, but Lebron is on his way to another MVP.  As much as I don’t like Lebron, I must give credit where credit is due.  My vote for MVP and best player on the face of the earth is Lebron James.

March Madness in….February?!?!?

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

What a Saturday in college basketball!! If this day was a sign of things to come, then you better hold on to your hats. Four games were decided by 3 points or less, and two of those games required extra time to be decided. If you missed the Louisville vs. Notre Dame game, well I guess you don’t read my blog(I told everyone it would be one of the games to watch this weekend). This game went 5 overtimes and both teams cracked the century mark in points(you don’t normally see that in college basketball). Notre Dame was outplayed throughout most of this game except for when it mattered most, down the stretch. Time after time they made clutch plays to continue pushing this game to an extra frame. At one point, Jerian Grant of Notre Dame managed to score 12 points in 42 seconds!! Garrick Sherman of Notre Dame didn’t enter the game until overtime, and he had 17 points! In one word this game was ; CRAZY!! This was another reason why everyone should learn to love Big East basketball. It is always epic. Notre Dame pulled out the win 104-101.

In the other game that found overtime Saturday night, Wisconsin willed their way to victory. With the clock running down in regulation, Ben Brust hit a runner from just inside half court to send it to overtime. The crowd went crazy, and Wisconsin carried the momentum into overtime. Wisconsin pulled out the win against #3 ranked Michigan. Get ready for March Madness because it’s on the way. This weekend has been an example of things to come in the best time of the year in sports.

The Los Angeles Lakers….Oh how the mighty have fallen

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 2 Comments

So I have this friend that is a “Big” Lakers fan.  You know the type, they talk all kinds of smack when they’re great, and they try to explain to you how they knew this was going to happen now that they’re spiraling out of control.  He’s the type of fan that probably hopped on the Lakers bandwagon around the turn of the century, you know when Shaq was still there and they started winning consecutive titles again.  So rewind to before the preseason even started, and let me recap what this “fan” had to say.  “Dude, there is no way the Lakers aren’t going to win the title this year”.  “Did you see that picture of our starting five?”  Yeah, well that “all-star” caliber starting lineup has only played 132 minutes together so far this season.  How’s that working out for you?  I’m here to tell you who’s to blame for this train wreck, and that their season, while it has been a disaster so far is not completely lost yet.  Any major problem you have in an organization, a business, or even your own family always starts at the top.  Let me see how I can say this without having a potty mouth, ummmm, okay got it: “poo doesn’t travel uphill.”  The problems in a family don’t start with the kids, they start with the parents.  The problems with a business don’t start with the $12/hour employee, they start with the owner(s).  So, why would the dysfunction that is the Lakers have started with the players?  It obviously started with ownership and upper management and trickled down to the coach and finally has effected the players negatively.  So when you watch the Lakers struggle on both ends of the floor, you can’t blame Kobe Bryant, and you can’t even blame Dwight Howard.  For the root of the Lakers struggles let’s look up, first at Jerry Buss.  Yes, I said Jerry Buss.  Who is that is ruining one of the greatest franchises in sports history?  That would be Jim Buss.  And, who is it that made Jim Buss Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Lakers?  Yes! You are correct again, that would Jerry Buss.  I’m tired of these ultra wealthy business men whom mostly created their multi-million dollar businesses on nothing but hard work and a brilliant idea, just handing over their fortunes to their self-entitled kids.  Our kids don’t always turn out to be carbon copies of the best form of ourselves(as much as we want them to).  Just because daddy was a great entrepreneur and knew how to run one of the most successful sports franchises of all time, doesn’t mean little Jimmy Buss can follow suit.  With that being said, and now that Jim Buss is making decisions in Los Angeles, we can all point our fingers at him.  Jim Buss decided this past November to hire Mike D’Antoni, not Phil Jackson.  I know that all of you reading this already knew that but let me write that again.  HE HIRED MIKE D’ANTONI OVER PHIL JACKSON!  So as hard as it was to get past that, let’s get past that.  Now am I saying that the Lakers would be 25-17 instead of 17-25?  Most of you might say no, but I’d say uh, yeah maybe they would be.  We are talking about PHIL JACKSON HERE!  He’s one of if not THE greatest coach of all time.  Again, we can’t change the past so let’s analyze the present.  Let’s keep playing the blame game(I don’t know about you, but I’m having fun with this)and all point our fingers at Mike D’Antoni.  Mike D’Antoni is not the answer for the Lakers.  With that being said, I don’t know if Mike D’Antoni is the answer for anyone in the NBA.  His style of coaching, if you can call it that, just doesn’t win championships.  See, this is isn’t the Minnesota Timberwolves who were content just getting to the Conference Finals.  The Lakers are like the Yankees, it’s championship or bust.  Everyone is asking if the players should be adjusting to their coach or if the coach should adapt to the players on his roster?  This is a very dumb rhetorical question if you ask me.  Obviously, the answer is the coach must tweak his coaching “system” to fit the players on his roster.  Players in the NBA are who they are.  That mind sound vague or confusing, but it’s true.  You can’t ask Kobe Bryant to lock down the other teams best player and then score 30 points on 65% shooting every night.  As great as he still is, he’s not 24 anymore.  You also can’t expect Steve Nash and the rest of these three toed sloths to sprint down the floor and play at a pace that’s better fit for an Olympic track.  No disrespect to Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, and that guy who changed his name to the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard, but they are just too old and too slow to play at this frenetic pace.  That’s like taking a 1988 Pontiac station wagon out to the race track and expecting to blow by people on your way to the checkered flag.  It just doesn’t work like that.  Now, like I said earlier, I don’t believe D’Antoni is the answer in L.A., but I don’t see the Lakers firing another coach mid-season and carrying anymore extra payroll.  So it looks like they’re stuck with D’Antoni, for now.  I read an exchange between Grantland’s Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons last night.  It was actually pretty interesting.  They were pretty much saying how D’Antoni is so stubborn, he’d rather go down with the ship then try to adjust his own style.  Here is an excerpt from Bill Simmons:”He’s basically saying, I’m here only because of my system.  I can’t actually coach.  If you give me the wrong players for my system, it doesn’t matter – I will keep using the system anyway, because Plan B would be coming up with a more inventive way to coach these guys.  And I can’t do that.  I’m not good enough.  So if it’s OK with you, I’d like to go down in flames with my system.”  Personally I think he is spot on with what should be going through D’Antoni’s head.  I’m sure he’s already gone through this kind of inner conflict, when he was the coach of the Knicks.  If only someone in the Lakers organization had sat down Jim Buss, taped his eyes open so he couldn’t look away, and forced him to watch the first half the Knicks 2011-2012 season, they might not be in this predicament.  This is like a horrible remake of an already horrible movie.  We all know how it’s going to end.  So now that we’ve established the chain of command that put this in motion, let’s talk about the players on the floor.  Everyone is also trying to blame Kobe Bryant for the Lakers troubles.  To those critics I say, are you out of your mind?  Kobe Bryant is 34 and is having another phenomenal season.  Also, to the critics who try to call Kobe a selfish player, he is in a system that asks him to shoot as many times as possible.  People are also trying to blame Dwight Howard for their struggles.  Yes, he’s having a down season compared to his own standards, but he’s still averaging 16.7 points, 12 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game.  Man, what horrible numbers, especially on a team that has Kobe Bryant shooting as many shots as humanly possible.  What also boggles my mind is why Dwight Howard has been playing through an injury that is obviously affecting his play.  They should have rested him until he was 100% or as close to 100% as he can get before playing him.  Dwight Howard can become a free agent at the end of this season, so the Lakers should be doing everything in their power to keep him healthy, happy, and in purple and gold next season and many more seasons to come.  Now on to Pau Gasol.  He is a special talent, and can be a key component to a championship caliber team.  Don’t believe me?  Just check Gasol’s numbers and minutes from their last two championships.  This, just like every other players struggles can be attributed to one person, Mike D’Antoni.  Which leads me to another great point that Bill Simmons made yesterday, he said: “I’m glad we finally got to Pau.  Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you’re a professional basketball coach and your system is telling you, “I should play Early Clark more than Pau Gasol,” you need a new system.”  I couldn’t really come up with a better way to say that, so I let him say it for me.  Thanks Bill.  In closing, if you ask me what the solution is, you have to do what no one in the world would do, fire D’Antoni, and hire a 3rd coach in a single season.  From a purely wins and losses perspective, this is the only move Jim Buss should be thinking about.  Unfortunately we all know that owning a sports team is strictly a business venture for 99.9% of owners, and he’s not going to come out of pocket to hire a 3rd(even if it would be the right one, cough, The Zen Master, cough)coach.  Little Jimmy is probably upset that Phil’s setting up shop with his little sis.  Resentment is an ugly character trait, Jim.  Especially when it aids in your own self-sabotage.  The other fix I would make is to play to Kobe, Pau, and Nash’s strengths.  And that is to let Nash orchestrate the offense like he knows how, while favoring the Kobe side of the floor slightly in each possession.  Let Dwight Howard get healthy, and I’m sure you’ll see the production we’ve all been expecting.  Now as for Pau, get him the damn ball inside the post!  He’s a great passer for a big man so even he can find Dwight Howard from there.  And most importantly he is a great low-post player, stop forcing him to shoot 18 footers.  If you take time to look at his numbers, you’ll see that they are far better when he is inside the paint opposed to outside roaming the earth, like Quentin Richardson in that old D’Antoni Pheonix system.  How dumb are the Knicks by the way(says the Knicks fan)?  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, and fool me 3 times, well I don’t know what you call that.  The D’Antoni “system” got us with Quentin Richardson, Amare Stoudamire, and then Mike D’Antoni!!  Really?!?!?  Come on Man(said in a Keyshawn Johnson voice)!  Finally, let Ron/Metta I’m not calling him that scare the other teams best player into submission.  Or play physical, whichever way you want to go with it.  The Metta guy isn’t what he used to be either, but if he stops expending energy on the offensive end and focuses all his efforts to the defensive end, they might have a recipe for success.  Back to reality we go, the Lakers need to win between 25 and 29 games to have a shot at the playoffs.  Is it likely? No.  But, I’m telling you there is a chance.