Nothin' But Net

I am sure that someone will tell me that, after three years of living here in Italy, I should be a soccer fan. However, I guess I left my sports-loving little heart in the great state of Indiana, because I'm not a soccer fan. Hardly. I'm a basketball girl, plain and simple.

I have loved some aspect of the game of basketball for quite some time now: from cheering for the Big Ten teams during March Madness to watching my dad's junior high girls basketball squad progress year after year, but I especially like the NBA. Being back in Indy over these past few weeks, I spent some real quality time with my family yelling at the television, as the NBA playoffs began and our hometown Indiana Pacers faced off against the statstically better New Jersey Nets. Somehow I ended up back in the states at just the right time for an NBA fan, as the playoffs meant televised games nightly, and my mother and I stayed up late late hours watching all of the line ups: Cleveland against the Washington Wizards, the Phoenix Suns against the L.A. Lakers, Miami versus Chicago. Being home for two and a half weeks, watching NBA games almost nightly, seeing the Pacers win against the Nets: I guess you could say I got my basketball fix for a little while.

But while you win some, you lose some too: on Thursday the Pacers closed off their best-of-seven series against New Jersey with a loss in game six, sending the Nets off to match up with Miami, and sending the Pacers into vacation mode. As I looked online Friday morning to read the news, I sighed. Losing in the playoffs can be heartbreaking, and I felt like another year of basketball had just been washed away.

Looking again, though, I discovered that the Phoenix Suns, my second favorite team, had just won their sixth game and were about to head into a seventh game against the Lakers--a win meaning they would head on to the next series, continuing down the path toward the finals. This morning I checked to see if they had won game 7. Happily, they had! A big sweeping win against Los Angeles. I read about it and looked at pictures until my head ached.

So I'm back to cheering--for the Suns this time--and basketball is fun again. I've even been able to follow it on SI: SportItalia, the Italian attempt at ESPN, and tonight I got to watch part of the series-winning game (one day late, but still...). No matter what--in wins and losses, upsets and victories--you gotta love this game!

Go Suns!

-Jackie

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NBA Draft 2006

2006 NBA Draft Order

First Round
1. Toronto
2. Chicago (from New York)
3. Charlotte
4. Portland
5. Atlanta
6. Minnesota
7. Boston
8. Houston
9. Golden State
10. Seattle
11. Orlando
12. New Orleans
13. Philadelphia
14. Utah
15. New Orleans (from Milwaukee)
16. Chicago
17. Indiana
18. Washington
19. Sacramento
20. New York (from Denver through Toronto and New Jersey)
21. Phoenix (from L.A. Lakers through Atlanta and Boston)
22. New Jersey (from L.A. Clippers through Denver and Orlando)
23. New Jersey
24. Memphis
25. Cleveland
26. L.A. Lakers (from Miami)
27. Phoenix
28. Dallas
29. New York (from San Antonio)
30. Portland (from Detroit through Utah)

Well, as a Bulls fan this years draft interests me. It's not every year a playoff team ends up with the 2nd and 16th pick of the first round. They'll really have a chance to make a huge impact on their future. Not only can they potentially draft a quality player, but with two first round picks they could possibly pull off a trade that will pay dividends right away.

I'd also like to point out that Isiah Thomas is an idiot. The Eddy Curry trade might be one of the worst deals I've ever seen. Not only did they make the trade and still finish with the 2nd worst record in the league. They lost any chance of improving their team by giving up this years first round pick in that deal.

Click the link above to read a little more on the first round. Looking at the top players available this year, maybe I shouldn't be so excited about having the 2nd pick. It's a very unstar studded draft list, but you can see for yourself.

Let's go, Lakers!

Lakers take a 2-1 lead against the Suns. Really got into their heads right in the first minute with a flagrant by Walton, but that set the tone for the rest of the game. It was a close, enthralling contest that the Lakers ultimately dominated physically and mentally. It was especially entertaining to see Phoenix coach Billy Bob D'Antoni losing his cool and getting T'ed up late in the game.

PJ has done a great job preparing the Lakers for this series, not to mention nurturing the team slowly through the pre-season. Kwame has been awesome in the last couple of months, and is a complete monster that the Suns can't handle.

In fact, the entire Laker starting frontcourt of Kwame-Lamar-Luke had double-doubles. If that isn't game-winning basketball...

I was so pumped for this game. Hopefully the Lakers can keep this up and win game 4. If we take a 3-1 lead, given how much we're already in the Suns' heads, this series can be over in five games.

GO LAKERS!

Technorati Tags: lakers

Lakers to aim higher next season

By JOHN NADEL
AP SPORTS WRITER

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Phil & Kobe reunion worked out well, with no apparent glitches. And outside of an ugly finish, so did the Los Angeles Lakers' season.

As for the future, Lakers fans probably shouldn't expect much roster shuffling or a championship contender very soon. The hope is, a title shot isn't too far away.

"We were all about getting to the playoffs and make some noise in the playoffs. We met our goal," coach Phil Jackson said Monday during a break from conducting exit interviews with his players.

The Lakers went 45-37 for an 11-game improvement over the previous season, and took a 3-1 lead over the Phoenix Suns before losing the last three games to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

"We're pleased. We maintained from day one that was achievable," general manager Mitch Kupchak said of a return to the postseason.

But Game 7 was ugly from start to finish - a 121-90 victory by the Suns.



"They're holding themselves responsible," Jackson said of his players. "I have to make them let go of that. The first four games were pretty good."

And the last three weren't.

"We think our future is very bright," Kupchak said. "The good news, really, is this team is together. You cannot predict a major change.

"This is not a stellar year where you're going to see eight to 10 stellar free agents available. We're in the exact same boat as 25 or 26 other teams are in. We have a big window two years from now."

That that might be when something big happens in free agency that makes the Lakers viable championship contenders.

"I wouldn't discount it a year or two down the road. I'm not prepared to say that, although I think that's a possibility," Kupchak said of returning to elite status.

Added Jackson: "Usually you have to go two or three rounds of the playoffs before you can compete for a championship. "We have some core ingredients that are pretty good."

The Lakers have three legitimate big men in Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum. Bryant is a superstar and Lamar Odom is an All-Star caliber player.

The biggest question mark is in the backcourt. Bryant's 35.4-point average was the NBA's best in 19 years, but the youth and inexperience of starter Smush Parker and top reserve Sasha Vujacic hurt the Lakers against the Suns.

"The question is, are we good enough at that position? Are we experienced enough? Both of them made strides this season," Jackson said. "We don't believe we have to have a superstar come in for us to advance (in the playoffs). We know we have enough physical talent, we have enough size, we have enough expertise to compete."

Kupchak said he didn't anticipate a major trade this offseason, but did acknowledge a possible need for an upgrade in the backcourt.

The Lakers, well over the salary cap, have only three unrestricted free agents on their roster - veterans Devean George and Jimmy Jackson and rookie Devin Green. George was a key reserve on this team.

"He's probably the one challenge we have during the offseason," Kupchak said. "Basically, the core of this team is intact."

George said he was going to explore free agency.

"I just let them know that I enjoyed being here and I'm open to coming back," he said.

Jackson, who coached the Lakers to three championships in five years, returned this season after a year off. He wrote a book slamming Bryant while he was gone, so there was intrigue upon his return. When training camp started, all eyes were in the record-setting coach and his star player. But no problems surfaced.

"We worked together really well this season," Jackson said. "It was remarkable, from Hawaii on. I think at first, it was like, `How's this going to work?' He really took to the offense, where he was going to play in it. It was a remarkable year for him."

Jackson said Bryant did an especially good job with leadership.

"Kobe was a lot more personable for us this year, was great as a leader," teammate Brian Cook said. "A lot of people did a lot of growing up. Everybody got along from the standpoint of off the court - just a great group of guys."

Bryant said he believes the Lakers grew up.

"When you go through a season like we went through and a playoff series like we went through, those are big steps in our development process," he said. "When we come back next season, you'll see a team that executes better, understands better, is better in pressure situations, is just mature."

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen bought the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League for $15,000 and relocated it to Minneapolis. As the Gems had by far the worst record in the NBL, the Lakers had the first pick in the 1947 dispersal draft, which they used to select George Mikan, later to become, arguably, the greatest center of his time. With Mikan, new coach John Kundla and an infusion of former University of Minnesota players, the Lakers won the NBL championship in that 1947-48 season and joined four other NBL teams in jumping to the Basketball Association of America, where they promptly won the 1948-49 BBA championship. The NBL and BBA merged to become the NBA in 1949.