Phil Jackson Heading To A Big City With Bright Lights And Big Stars

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia

Keith Allison under CC BY-SA 2.0 License

The Zen Master has decided to take his talents to the footlights of Broadway to oversee the Basketball Operations for the New York Knicks.  Those collective cries of anguish you hear are most definitely coming from the bright sunny shores in Southern California.

At this point, it's a pretty smart move on Phil's part to not give serious consideration for the same kind of position in La La land.  Sure it would be nice to bring someone with his kind of pedigree into the Lakers front office, but I'm fairly certain that's not going to happen and let's face it, the Purple and Gold aren't going to be a quick fix as currently constructed.  I know what I'm about to say is going to hurt, but as Laker fans we need to get out of the mindset that Jackson is a knight in shining armor riding in to save the day when things are bad in Laker land.

The only downsides I see from Jackson's perspective in New York are that the Knicks aren't much better than the Lakers and he would be spending a lot of time apart from his fiance and longtime partner Jeanie Buss.  In any case, Jackson might just be looking for a new challenge in life.  

Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved

Lakers Set to Begin Playoffs?

Depending on how they start out, the answer to that question has yet to be determined, as they get set to take on Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Kobe Bryant hasn't been the same through the second half of the regular season.  The same could be said for the whole team though. 

Since the All Star break, the Purple and Gold have seemed disinterested in playing quality basketball.  Their road record hasn't been as good as last year.  They have lost to teams they should have beaten.  The players will say that they'll be ready when the time comes.  That translates to we'll turn on the switch when it matters, but I've never been a fan of that philosophy.  This could be the year where that mantra could come back to bite them in the butt.

I wouldn't be surprised if Oklahoma City doesn't give them a run for their money.  While I think Phil Jackson and company will get past the Thunder, the rest of the West will not be so easy.  Even if the Lakers do survive in the Western Conference and play in the Finals, I don't think they will be on the winning side this time around against the Magic or Cavaliers.  One thing that is for certain, we should have the answers to these concerns come Sunday.

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA under CC-BY-SA 2.0 License

Tim's Two Cents-February 4

Phil Jackson Reaches Coaching Milestone.  What do you know?  Last night's Laker game played out almost according to my earlier prediction. 

I said that the Lakers would get Jackson his 534th win as a Laker coach within the next two games, passing Pat Riley with 533.  Check.  I said the Charlotte Bobcats would give the Lakers all they could handle.  The final score was 99 to 97.  Check.  The only thing I didn't see coming was Kobe Bryant scoring only 5 points and aggravating his injured ankle.  Lamar Odom deserves credit for stepping up his production last night as he led the Purple and Gold with 19 points off the bench.  Way to go L.O.! 

Next up is the Denver Nuggets on Friday.  It looks like right now, Carmelo Anthony will not play for Denver because of his ankle injury.  Let's see if the Lakers can use that to their advantage to get another win!

LaDainian Tomlinson's Future in Question.  The Chargers running back says he won't take a pay cut to play in the NFL next season.  That essentially means his days in San Diego are numbered.  It's possible his days in the NFL are numbered too. 

In his career, Tomlinson has been one of the most dynamic running backs in the league, but his production has been declining over the last few years.  Compared to his regular season production, Tomlinson has been almost nonexistent in the playoffs the last few seasons, due to various injuries and decreased playing time. 

Tomlinson needs to figure out if he's willing to accept a lesser role with another team.  If not, there just aren't very many opportunities where he can be a star running back.  I just don't see it.  He's the Vladimir Guerrero of the NFL, an aging star who is no longer the star player to build your franchise around.

Photos courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA, under CC-SA 2.0 License
Wikimedia Commons and SD Dirk under CC-BY 2.0 License     

Tim's Two Cents-February 2

Kobe Bryant Reaches Peak of Laker Summit.  Thanks to a 44 point performance in a 95 to 93 loss, Kobe is now all alone as the Lakers all time leading scorer surpassing Jerry West of NBA logo fame.  If the purple and gold would have come away with the win, not only would my road trip prediction have come true, but Phil Jackson would have become the Lakers all time leader in wins as a coach, surpassing Pat Riley.

Good for Kobe on acheiving another milestone in a stellar career.  I'm not surprised he is now at the top of the Lakers franchise in scoring.  It will be a longshot for him to become the leading scorer in NBA history.  I don't think it will happen even if he stays reasonably healthy, but he will get very close. 

As for the Zen Master, he should get the all time wins mark within the next few days.  The Lakers will return to Staples Center on Wednesday to face the Charlotte Bobcats.  This has the makings of a trap game as the Bobcats have given the Lakers a run for their money over the last few years.  That is followed by Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets in Los Angeles on Friday.  Let's hope they can get a win or two in these games because the Purple and Gold will head to the house of horrors that is the Rose Garden in Portland on Saturday.   

Tim's Two Cents-January 27

Lakers Longest Road Trip of the Year at the Halfway Marker.  With the Lakers beating the Washington Wizards yesterday 115 to 103, they have now played four games and are in the middle of an eight game road trip, the longest of the year. 

It was a nice time in the nation's capital for the purple and gold.  They got to exchange pleasantries with the President, who couldn't help himself to saying how much better he liked the Chicago Bulls when Phil Jackson was the coach.  Come on Barack, the Bulls haven't even been close to winning a championship since Jackson left.  What a way to disrespect the (not Chicago Bulls) guests of honor.  Good one Obama.  The Lakers did what they should have done by beating the Wizards.

The road trip continues tonight against the Indiana Pacers.  That is followed by matchups with the 76ers, Celtics and Grizzlies.  I know I predicted the Lakers would win 6 of 8 on the trip.  I'm not backing off.  That means they would have to gio undefeated for the rest of the trip.  One thing that didn't help was the loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.    

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Keith Allison under CC-SA 2.0 License