After a long Christmas break, we're back for more. Congratulations to Clayton Fisher for winning the first Go Blue Radio contest, going 24-8 in his bowl predictions. Stay tuned for other contests to come, and hey, you might actually win something next time Clayton!
Just a few thoughts on the 2007/08 NCAA Bowl Season:
- What a way for Michigan's Lloyd Carr to go out. The seniors played great, and finally got that bowl victory they've been needing. It just seemed like one of those games where Mi
chigan would lead the entire way, outplay a team, should have a huge lead, and then lose at the end. But the defense held tough and brought out Tim Tebow's true colors. (Speaking of Michigan, with Arrington and Manningham going to the NFL and Mallett heading elsewhere, Hot Rod better figure himself out quick, or the Wolverines are going to have a down year next year with either a backup/freshman starting QB and not too many/young playmakers.)
- So Illinois and Hawaii lose big, and most people are going crazy saying that USC and Georgia deserve some of the national championship. Really? So you beat a crappy Hawaii team that everyone in the world knew you were going to beat, and a 3 loss Illinois team that Michigan handed it to and Iowa(?!) held to 6 points can't keep up with you, and you both think you deserve the title? That's what the regular season is for my friends. Don't lose to the likes of Stanford or South Carolina, and maybe you'll be in that championship game. It's called the championship game for a reason, because the winner of the game wins the title.
- Fox sucks.
Now on to what's really been killing me lately:
Lamar Odom.
The Lakers have an unbelievable 16-5 record over their last 21 games, and are playing out of their minds. Their are shooting well, and only played 1 bad game over that stretch, against Boston. The second unit has beaten every other second unit in the league, with Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza, and Ronny Turiaf anchoring that line. Farmar has become a legitimate 3 point threat, and Ariza's defense has been stifling. Fisher has been a scoring machine (and finally stopped turning the ball over) and Kobe has been his usual self, while at the same time allowing the role players to fill their roles. Bynum has emerged as a star, with a plethora of low post moves, great defense and shot blocking, and a veritable rebound machine. The lob pass is back in full force as Bynum throws down at least two oops a game. Even Vlad Rad and Sasha have played well.
The only one holding them back in my opinion has been Lamar. I know I know, he fills up the stats. But about the only thing I ever notice him doing well is rebounding. He falls off in games, especially defensively, shoots random shots, commits weird fouls, and I am genuinely scared when he has the ball on offense. Remember over the past few years how you felt when Sasha had the ball on offense and was driving to the hoop? You were frustrated/scared/unsure of what was going to happen next, and the usual outcome was Sasha committing an offensive foul or throwing the ball out of bounds. Lamar makes me feel that way now, and almost every shot he takes makes me scream "Nooooooo". Even worse, every time the Lakers are in a grove, shooting well, making a run, Lamar kills it with a bad shot.
Just a few thoughts on the 2007/08 NCAA Bowl Season:
- What a way for Michigan's Lloyd Carr to go out. The seniors played great, and finally got that bowl victory they've been needing. It just seemed like one of those games where Mi
chigan would lead the entire way, outplay a team, should have a huge lead, and then lose at the end. But the defense held tough and brought out Tim Tebow's true colors. (Speaking of Michigan, with Arrington and Manningham going to the NFL and Mallett heading elsewhere, Hot Rod better figure himself out quick, or the Wolverines are going to have a down year next year with either a backup/freshman starting QB and not too many/young playmakers.)- So Illinois and Hawaii lose big, and most people are going crazy saying that USC and Georgia deserve some of the national championship. Really? So you beat a crappy Hawaii team that everyone in the world knew you were going to beat, and a 3 loss Illinois team that Michigan handed it to and Iowa(?!) held to 6 points can't keep up with you, and you both think you deserve the title? That's what the regular season is for my friends. Don't lose to the likes of Stanford or South Carolina, and maybe you'll be in that championship game. It's called the championship game for a reason, because the winner of the game wins the title.
- Fox sucks.
Now on to what's really been killing me lately:
Lamar Odom.
The Lakers have an unbelievable 16-5 record over their last 21 games, and are playing out of their minds. Their are shooting well, and only played 1 bad game over that stretch, against Boston. The second unit has beaten every other second unit in the league, with Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza, and Ronny Turiaf anchoring that line. Farmar has become a legitimate 3 point threat, and Ariza's defense has been stifling. Fisher has been a scoring machine (and finally stopped turning the ball over) and Kobe has been his usual self, while at the same time allowing the role players to fill their roles. Bynum has emerged as a star, with a plethora of low post moves, great defense and shot blocking, and a veritable rebound machine. The lob pass is back in full force as Bynum throws down at least two oops a game. Even Vlad Rad and Sasha have played well.
The only one holding them back in my opinion has been Lamar. I know I know, he fills up the stats. But about the only thing I ever notice him doing well is rebounding. He falls off in games, especially defensively, shoots random shots, commits weird fouls, and I am genuinely scared when he has the ball on offense. Remember over the past few years how you felt when Sasha had the ball on offense and was driving to the hoop? You were frustrated/scared/unsure of what was going to happen next, and the usual outcome was Sasha committing an offensive foul or throwing the ball out of bounds. Lamar makes me feel that way now, and almost every shot he takes makes me scream "Nooooooo". Even worse, every time the Lakers are in a grove, shooting well, making a run, Lamar kills it with a bad shot.
It's difficult, because his stats are not bad. But it's the little things that kill me with Lamar. So he tackles Ray Allen, draws a one game suspension, and how do the Lakers do without him? Only beat Philly by 31 points, shooting 66.2% from the field. I know the only option is a trade, but I wouldn't want to package anyone on the Lakers (minus Kwame, Mihm, Karl, Sasha, or Vlad) with him that people would actually take. Plus who would we get for him? I don't know. All I know is I'm tired of watching Lamar Odom continuously kill runs or take late-in-the-shotclock/game shots that should only be taken by Kobe.
2 comments:
I guess this will need to be updated as the loss of Bynum for 8 weeks suddenly makes everything Lamar and K-Lame Brown do that much more important. I agree though, I have the same reaction when he drives to the hoop. He has used his right hand on the right side of the hoop twice this year. That's two more times than the rest of his career combined.
I guess this will need to be updated as the loss of Bynum for 8 weeks suddenly makes everything Lamar and K-Lame Brown do that much more important. I agree though, I have the same reaction when he drives to the hoop. He has used his right hand on the right side of the hoop twice this year. That's two more times than the rest of his career combined.
Post a Comment