I'll take a minute away from slaving over prospective parade routes for some thoughts from last night's game:
- Which is the more suprising stat: four Brad Miller blocks or seven Kobe Bryant assists? (Of course, four of those assists were in the Lakers' sterling first quarter.) Brad wins. Nice defense, Bradrock! (Yeah, I know it was Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum. Don't ruin this for me.)
- I hope every hoops fan that notes Kobe Bryant's 30 points last night realizes that Artest more or less shut him down until late in the fourth quarter, when Kobe added nine to his total in garbage time. And to hear the ARCO explosion when Ron-Ron blocked that three-point attempt in the first quarter? Holy crap!
- Speaking of Kobe in garbage time: The last 1:37 of the game was a surreal message from The Basketball Gods. The game was over, but Kobe still drilled two back-to-back 30-footers to get his point total over Ron-Ron's 28. So what does Mike Bibby do with the less than 10 seconds left, the shot clock about to go off and the entire arena on its feet? He gives Kobe, Phil and pretty much the entire Los Angeles metropolitan area a giant middle finger, hits a flatfooted three from the elbow and rides his pony to the lockerroom. MB10 out-Kobe'd Kobe. Yeah, boy.
- Ladies and gentlemen, Rick Adelman: "I have no response to Phil Jackson no matter what he says. I mean, who cares? The bottom line is, I guess you can say 'Scoreboard' tonight. Phil's going to have his opinion, and he can say what he wants. But who's buying into it? It's all B.S., is what it is, so why should I worry about it?" Holy crap! I think Adelmania just wants to make sure everyone knows that the whole offseason flirtation with Mr. Jeanie Buss? Still stuck firmly in Coach's craw.
- Lakers fans are blubbering about a Gavin Maloof "throat slash" at the end of the game. (Via The Cavalier at YAY!Sports.) The problem? It looked a whole lot more like a "it's over" motion than a "throat slash" gesture. Maybe because his hand was up around his mouth? I don't know. For fans who say that the rivalry is only in the minds of Kings fans (nevermind the dozen or so national writers and TV personalities who spoke in excitement prior to last night's game), they sure are trying to find something to make themselves feel holier than those affiliated with the Kings organization. I hardly think these marks heavily discuss Larry Miller after a loss to the Jazz. (Note: not talking about all Lakers fans, just the annoying, moronic, conceited-because-of-their-place-of-residence Lakers fans. You know the type.)
- Another note on Kobe-Artest II: Would you prefer 30 points on 28 shots or 28 points on 15 shots? Just checking.
- Poor Lamar Odom. He could've scored 50, the way he played early. Why is Kobe getting his and Lamar playing with confidence so mutually exclusive? I mean, no one but Kobe on the Lakers had more than 12 shots. He took more than twice the shots of every other player, and Lamar and Smush Parker were both pretty hot. Of course, when Kobe was getting assists in the first quarter, the Lakers were winning. When he began dominating his team's offense, they started losing. Makes a whole lot of sense.
- Speaking of Smush: He reminds me of some 90s point guard. Can't figure it out for the life of me, though. And it's not necessarily his game, more his body. Any ideas?
- If the "throat slash" thing gets some attention, I've got a t-shirt idea: "My owner can kick your owner's ass." Original, I know.
- I was going to send the Goal Tracker to an early retirement, after it fell quicker than the Walls of Jericho. But Ron-Ron, in the TV postgame, inspired me by saying "It's not fun if you don't set goals." (It's like he's speaking directly to me sometimes. Am I a prophet or something?) So I'm taking nominations for new goals. I figure once the playoffs roll around, I'll go all Old Sacramento and do the "Beat Phoenix" thing. Unless y'all give me a better idea.