The Lakers seem to be suffering in relative silence

I remember sitting in the Lakers practice facility near the end of training camp as part of my visit with Steve Nash.

The tape recorder was off, we were just shooting the breeze about family and friends and just telling tales and he looked quite content as he said:

“I think this is going to be fun.”

Oh, what a difference less than three months makes.

Given the expectations and the roster, there is not a team more disappointing than the Lakers anywhere in the league, nor one in more disarray.

They are 15-18 and have to considered longshots to even make the playoffs, they are on their second coach of the season and are on a road trip today without Dwight Howard (shoulder), Pau Gasol (concussion) or Jordan Hill (hip).

They are a mess on and off court, I think everyone would agree.

But the funny thing?

I don’t get the sense that there are nearly as many people filled with glee at their misfortune than I would have thought.

No one’s laughing at the plight of the Lakers, at least not to the degree I would have expected given what’s occurred.

Odd, isn’t it?

Here was a team that simply spent and traded its way to presumed dominance, Howard whined his way out of Orlando after months to join one of the marquee franchises in the league and Nash and the Lakers management seemingly bamboozled Phoenix into what looked like a one-sided sign-and-trade to create the newest version of an NBA Big Three.

But no one hated them for it, it didn’t seem. There certainly wasn’t the same seething among fans as there was Miami built its roster; fans seemed kind of excited to see Nash run high screen-and-roll with Howard, pick-and-pop with Gasol while Kobe Bryant was Kobe Bryant with more talent around him than ever before.

Wonder why?

Personalites? Maybe.

But I’m guessing it’s because of the manner in which the group was formed. There was no The Decision; Nash had a very public dalliance with two other teams before landing in Los Angeles for reasons of family and while Howard weasled his way out Orlando, he didn’t immediately sign a long-term contract extension in Los Angeles.

Funny how things are can be pretty much the same and so very different.

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What’s this I hear about new Bowie music out yesterday and a new album coming in March?

If there’s a tour, that would absolutely be a show I’d pay money to see.

Won’t be like these good old days, though.

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Right, this is Tuesday, I’m home finally, the kids are back at school so that’s why I had to shuttle Super Son to school for his 7 a.m. start.

And whoever thought about starting classes at 7 a.m. needs to have a talking to.

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Hang on a sec!

The TFCs whacked another coach yesterday and hired someone else?

That’s, what, eight coaches in six seasons?

Yikes.

And here I thought the HOTH, who have had eight in the 18 years they’ve been around, were a model of instability.

Hell, looking around the offices over there, Dwane has to feel like Gregg Popovich or something given his tenure of almost two seasons.

What an organizations.

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You know how sometimes I lament the absence of truly brilliant sportswriting these days?

And I think it’s disappeared mostly not because of the talents of those in the craft – we have true giants of all-time among us – but because in this day and age of immediacy and 24-hour news cycles and tweets and blogs and the interwebs it is virtually impossible for writers to have the time to truly delve into their subjects to get the kind of personal look needed.

Toss in the fact subjects are now so leery of writers – we are almost everywhere they turn, we are often too confrontational, too seeking of dirt rather than drama – and it makes for a perfect storm.

We don’t have the time or the space, they don’t have the willingness to open up; readers are the ones who lose out.

All this is a way of saying sportswriter – hell, writing as a craft of itself – lost one of the greatest of all-time yesterday with the passing of Richard Ben Cramer.

He was as gifted a political writer as ever walked the planet but that was not his limit.

This Esquire magazine story on Ted Williams is widely considered by many to be the best long-form sports story ever published.

You should read it; and lament the passing of its author.

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Now I know why some people consider the American college football championship that sport’s version of the Super Bowl.

It was a dog of a game that didn’t come close to the hype.

And that, thankfully, gave me cause to switch over to watch Celtics at Knicks and that was as intense a regular season game as you’ll see for a long time.

And how’d it end?

Well, the dispatches say it ended with Carmelo Anthony trying to confront Kevin Garnett in the bowels of Madison Square Garden at the Boston team bus.

Of course, nothing came of it because nothing ever does – NBA players are the fauxest faux fighters of all time – but Anthony’s actions are sure to attract the attention of the league’s poobahs and a wee suspension wouldn’t surprise me at all.

And speaking of teams going off the rails … I have the Knicks as the next “good” team to have some serious issues.

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Scott Skiles out in Milwaukee?

Colour me shocked.

Now, I have great friends who speak very highly of Skiles after covering him; I see a guy with a four-year contract and a 2 1-2 year “best before” date and I’m not at all surprised it happened.

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Comments

[Rob.V]

So one of the Nets was taken into custody for an alleged sexual assault. We of course have no clue if there is any merit to this at this point and time however this should never deter us from playing: Guess. Dat. Net!
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Okay, folks since I'm up first let me spin the wheel here. Yup, no surprises here Johnny. It's landed on Andray Blatche. Gotta be, just because, right?!. Yeah, the wheel is telling me it's a 50-50 shot that it's Blatche... and 20-80 for the rest of the team. What you got?
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And more evidence that you cant really believe everything you read. Memphis apparently wants to move Gay to the Suns however they are "insisting" that Dudley be part of any package. But the question I have is... why???

Blogger's note: You were -- as too many too often are -- way too quick on your assumptions. Sometimes I hate the immediacy of the day.

[holden]

The Celtics vs Knicks was a great game last night.

I just don't get why Carmelo Anthony got so angry(enough to get a suspension) with KG. Kevin Garnett allegedly said this to Melo

“Your wife tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios.”

Kevin Garnett (a paper tiger) is a notorious trash talker and has said a lot worse...

1)- Kevin Garnett once told Charlie Villanueva (who has Alopecia Areata) he looked like a cancer patient

2)-The story goes that on May 9, 1999 (Mother’s Day), Tim Duncan’s Spurs played Kevin Garnett’s Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs. During that game, Garnett, who is known for his incessant need to trash talk and intense dislike for any sort of decency did what he does best. He went too far. Just as Tim Duncan was going to take two free throws, Garnett barked at him: “Happy Mother’s Day, motherf***er!” Tim Duncan’s mother famously died of breast cancer the day before his 14th birthday.

So what Kevin said to Melo was tame compared to what he has said in the past. You figure mother and wife jokes are part of the norm in the NBA trash talking handbook

Blogger's note: They're despicable and shouldn't be. Sadly they are because of faux tough guys like Kevin Garnett

[LeeZ]

@Lorie: Glad to hear Python isn't just a male thing. When I was still in the dating world a while back, a close female friend nearly went into anaphylactic shock when I listed a date's fondness for Python as a plus. "Oh puleeeeeeeze! Any woman who says she's a fan of Python is just desperate to find a guy. Do not walk, rather RUN in the opposite direction!!!"
@Sportschic: your thoughts, please? (as one of the leading female posters occupying this stretch of the blogosphere, you really should weigh in on this)

[sportschic]

@Leez: I disagree with your friend! I used to love Monty Python, and couldn't quote whole skits as Lorie did, but definitely favourite lines and also had some of the same fave skits, including the Dead Parrot and Nudge, Nudge. I loved the phrasebook one too; I suspect that now they couldn't get away with some of the stuff they did in these times!

I have noticed, though, that love of Monty Python (and ability to quote whole sections) is more common among men. Then again, Leez, Lorie and I are both basketball fans, and I had a friend say to me once that she'd only go to a sporting event on a first date in order to make a good impression.

[Lorie]

@LeeZ: So, did you? Run in the opposite direction? And one hopes if you did it was for an entirely different reason than a fondness for Monty Python which shows an enlightened sense of humour!!! Now, I'd have understood and agreed if that friend was referring to a fondness for Benny Hill. :)

[doug]

ok so in regards to the Skiles thing the only thing that surprises me is that he started the season with them, especially with Jennings being a FA I believe after this season, never a fan of his (Skiles), as he is a systems coach, play his system no matter the talent, to me thats not coaching......as to the Lakers I am not saying this will happen especially now with more injuries but remember a few years ago around this time the Celtics were playing terribly and everyone was saying there time had come to be broken up blah,blah,blah then they went on to win a title...its a long season but as you mentioned they do have to start winning just to get into the playoffs, they should look at letting Howard go via trade....and anything Monty Python is gold, classic ,classic stuff ok cheers...

[sportschic]

I forgot to comment on the Lakers! I have mixed feelings. I wouldn't mind seeing them suffer if it weren't for Nash. I find it hard to feel good about him being in a losing situation.

Miami Heat are still my number 1 on the list of unlikeable teams, although even that feeling is fading -- maybe it will come back in the playoffs when I see more of them.