Future Looks on Point

Wasn’t this supposed to be the draft where only the Clipper’s were getting an NBA ready player? Before the season even started, Blake Griffin, who has yet to play in his first NBA game, was projected as the only player to make an immediate impact on his team.

Seven games into the NBA season, that all changed, when the electrifying lefty Brandon Jennings dropped a double nickel 55 points on the Warriors in a four point victory. Jennings sent shockwaves throughout the NBA, and put the Milwaukee Bucks on the NBA radar for maybe their first time ever.  What’s even more important, the Bucks have a 12-16 record, good enough for second in the central division trailing only Lebron’s Cavs, and 7^th in the east.  That’s right…seventh! That’s good enough for a playoff spot if they started today and ironically, would be playing the Cavs in the first round. All this while their supposed franchise player Michael Redd has been in and out of the lineup and averaged a dismal 12.3 points per game, clearly lingering from his injury. With former number one pick Andrew Bogut in the center, sharpshooting guard Michael Redd making his way back from his injury, and the explosive Jennings running the show at point guard, the future in Milwaukee is looking bright

Moving back to the Western Conference, Clipper’s young rookie Blake Griffin still hasn’t been able to show off his potential as he suffered a knee injury in the preseason, but it’s another California rookie that has been stealing the attention. Sacramento’s rookie Tyreke Evans has picked up the slack with leading scorer Kevin Martin out with an injury. Martin is currently second in the league in scoring with 30.6 points a game, but has only played a team low 5 games thus far. He is working his way back after having surgery on his left wrist on November 6^th, and according to his 8 week projection absence, should be expected back sometime early in the new year. So when Martin went down, it looked like he was taking the whole franchise with him. Enter, Tyreke. With nothing to lose, the Memphis prodigy has led the Kings to a very impressive 13-16 record. At 6’6 and 220 pounds, Evans is currently averaging 20.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists a game. The last rookie to average 20-5-5 was a little someone named Lebron James. What’s most impressive is the Kings won a total of 17 games last season, with Evans running the show, their on route to more than double their win total this season. On top of all that, the Kings have sophomore power forward Jason Thompson leading the team in rebounding with 9.1. With one of the youngest teams in the NBA and leading scorer Kevin Martin coming back soon, the Arco Arena may be getting loud once again.

In their only meeting this season, the Kings won a thrilling 95 to 96 victory on a reverse lay-up by Evans with .9 left on the shot clock. Jennings had 15 points 9 assists and 6 rebounds to keep the Bucks in the game, but Evans’ last two of his 24 points were what sealed the victory in this exciting match-up between the point guards of the future. Although Griffin, the talk of the draft has yet to play in his first NBA game, Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans have given the NBA plenty of reasons to smile. You can guarantee these two promising point guards will have many more battles to come in the future.

Ron-nnesy...Growing up?

The inevitable finally happened. The Lakers knew what to expect when they offered their Trevor Ariza money to the volatile but statistically better Ron Artest. The same Ron Artest responsible for the infamous brawl at the Palace, one of the worst fights in sports history. The same Ron Artest known as Thug Raider, the Queensbridge native that asked for time off to tour and promote his CD, My World. The same Ron Artest that worked at Best Buy his rookie year…to receive a discount?

Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers saw it differently though. They saw it as the same Ron Artest that was an All-Star not too long ago. The same Ron Artest that won Defensive Player of the Year. The SAME Ron Artest that led a depleted Rockets team to seven games against the Lakers last year.

Yeah he’s a little…whats the word, crazy? No, no that can’t be it, cause Ron-Ron’s got a point.

 “I know that’s what they say, but we’re all crazy. When white people have fun, what do they do? They drink and bang their heads and they grab you and go, ‘Come on, Ron! Let’s go!’ I’m like, ‘Now, these mother­------- are crazy!”

It’s easy to judge and point fingers at Artest’s antics and call the man crazy…okay its really easy to judge and point fingers at Artest’s antics and call the man crazy, but you can’t question the man’s heart.

“Certain things aren’t worth your career, but nothing is worth selling your soul for.” The Lakers knew what they were getting when they signed Artest to a long-term deal. A combustible but fiery defensive specialist with some offensive firepower, but also all of his extra baggage, and Artest has yet to fail to deliver both. Recently, Artest sparked controversy saying that he used to drink Hennesy during halftime when he was on the Chicago Bulls. That’s the key word though, used to drink. Now I know, that in itself is nothing to be proud of, but it sure seems like Ron is finally growing up. “I (still) party and have fun, but not like I used to,” admitted the Lakers star.

Prior to the season, Ron recently reached out to the man that threw the beer at him sparking the infamous brawl at the Palace, only to apologize and talk as “friends”…Friends?! You heard me, friends. When asked why, he responded “it’ll be something for people to understand when you fight with one another, you can always become friends, you don’t have to hold a grudge for the remainder of your life…”

Say what you want to say about the man, but he shines in the limelight, and theirs no denying he is one of the most real players to EVER play professional sports. His honesty is unheard of, and shocking, because no one wants to tell you the truth, especially celebrities, who must live perfect lives under the microscopes we watch them under.

 Ron has really flourished and capitalized on his so far small stay in Hollywood, and so have the fans. How can they not? Artest reached out to John Green, the man who threw the beer at him in Detroit, through one of his three Twitter accounts, promising to take the person out to lunch if they gave him John’s number. Artest has given away free tickets to fans, and has even made friends with a family through Twitter.

All this aside, how’s he playing is what it all comes down to. Artest said before the season, if the Lakers don’t win the title this year, “it’s on me.” Well, Phil wants him to shoot more, and with good reason. Sure Artest is averaging five less points since last year, but he is also shooting five less shots as opposed to last year, while also shooting six percent better from the field. He has looked a bit passive, but that is due to his obvious admiration for teamwork, and his desire not to interrupt the already offensively potent Lakers. Artest has been brought in for the obvious reason of defense, and is doing his part. Making sure no single player beats this team, and has led them to a number 1 ranking in defense throughout the league. Ron Artest is a very talented character, but most importantly, everything he says is genuine and real. The man is made for Hollywood, and how the Laker’s script ends up will fall in Artest’s hands, and how he chooses to write it.  

 

Lakers Bench Steady Mobbin'

Are they finally here? The Lakers team that actually looks like the team everyone has been dreaming about? So it seems, going into tonight’s game against a Chris Paul-less Hornets, the Lakers are riding a 6 game win streak in which they’ve hit the 100 point mark in all 6 games, and have won the last six by an average of 17.7 points. Sure, the competitions been fairly weak, but this is a huge improvement from previous Laker teams we have seen. I no longer panic when we face below .500 teams in fear that we will play down to their level, a problem that has haunted this team in years past. Everything is going right for this team, and  everything is clicking on all cylinders. With a healthy starting line-up, and the bench mob delivering, the Lakers are rolling past all teams (regardless of wins) in their way.

            Rolling past them doesn’t give this squad enough credit. Almost every player is contributing and filling their roles. This team is playing with a sense of urgency and chemistry that I hadn’t seen until Pau was in the line-up. Kobe is no longer aiming for 40, because he knows theirs other ways to obtain the W.

In the last two blowout victories against a controversial Warriors team and a winless Nets team, the bench has averaged a staggering 39.5 points a game. Not too mention, the development and hustle of players such as Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown have been tremendous. It’s no coincidence that the Lakers were able to rest their starters in two blowout victories that coincided with the strong play of the “bench mob.” Farmar to Brown is beginning to look like a consistent ESPN highlight reel, within their ally-oops and impressive blocks (Farmar on Skip to my Lou), seems as though the young UCLA native is beginning to grasp what is asked from him.

            It has bothered me to see Farmar’s production and minutes dip throughout his years in the league. His confidence has clearly been tampered with and has shown on the basketball court. A young point guard that has tremendous upside has been delivering sub par performances while his back up at UCLA Darren Collison is coming into town with an impressive so far rookie season, and his shooting guard at UCLA Arron Afflalo is breaking out of his shell for the Denver Nuggets. It has seemed up until recently Farmar’s development has gone backwards. Farmar changed his jersey number at the beginning of the season to 1, and with Phil saying he wants to limit Fisher’s minutes to around 25 a game (he’s at 26, his second lowest in his last 10 seasons) Farmar has shown he is deserving of more minutes as he has filed the role of point guard general quite nicely.

With a bench consisting of players like Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, and Sasha Vujacic, any of these players could explode for a 20-point game on any given night. Throw that in with an All-Star lineup that the Lakers like to call there starters, if the bench mob continues to play the way they have recently, it will be a steady ride on their way to another NBA championship.