Defending Kobe’s MVP

Earlier today the NBA announced Kobe Bryant as the winner of the NBA's 2007-08 MVP award and I think I speak for most Lakers fans when I say it’s about freaking time.

Kobe gathered 1,105 points from the 126 sportswriters and broadcasters who sit on the MVP voting panel to best runner up Chris Paul who finished with 889 points.

The 216 point difference between KB24 and CP3 seems a little large for an MVP race that felt almost as controversial as a Democratic nomination election, but the contest looks more like a Huckebee beat down when you compare Kobe’s eighty-two first place votes to Chris Paul’s twenty-eight.

Despite this resounding win for Kobe, television and radio analysts harp repeatedly that Chris Paul was robbed. Now I agree that Chris Paul deserved serious consideration for the Maurice Podoloff Trophy but the main argument analysts fall back on – that Chris Paul did more with less help – is pure baloney.

First of all, Chris Paul has a fellow All-Star in his frontcourt in David West and a former three-time All-Star in the sharp-shooting Peja Stojakovic. Kobe Bryant? Nope, he doesn’t have a single other All-Star in the Forum Blue and Gold and the only former All-Star on the Lakers squad, Pau Gasol, played beside Kobe for barely a third of the season.

Furthermore, Kobe was the main constant on a squad that had few after losing Most Improved Player candidate Andrew Bynum to a season-ending knee injury midway through the year and adjusted his game to integrate Pau Gasol in the midst of the most competitive playoff race in NBA history. A race that the Lakers won, by the way. And lest we forget, a team can hardly do “more” than post the best record in its conference.

During that same period the Hornets also played well and finished second in the Western Conference, buoyed by the addition of Bonzi Wells, whose inclusion as a role player did not necessitate a dramatic change in Chris Paul’s style of play. No doubt CP3 and the Hornets also owe some of their success to the hardiness of their starting lineup, which avoided serious injury.

Obviously you can’t penalize Chris Paul for his good fortune in playing with another All-Star and a healthy supporting cast. But Kobe did more by leading his team to the better record and he also had less – fewer All-Stars and fewer healthy teammates. The MVP voting panel understood that the Chris Paul-does-more-with-less argument is phonier than a Hillary Clinton smile and that’s why Kobe received more first place votes – by a landslide.

The Madden Curse Lives

The fine people at ESPN profiled the many victims of the Madden Cover Curse which, according to reports, is about 248% more dangerous than the SI Cover Curse.

Check out the video game franchise's brief history of football despair.

Personally, I absolutely do believe the Curse exists and I have only the 49ers' ineptitude to thank that Madden's Evil Eye hasn't targeted any player wearing the red and gold. (I think I just jinxed Patrick Willis).

Kobe Jumps over an Aston Martin

... well, not really. But it's in the realm of possibility after the Black Mamba has proved himself capable of carrying the Lakers to the Pacific Division title despite a rash of injuries to Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton, Vladimir Radmanovic, Derek Fisher, and of course Kobe himself.



The tightest Western Conference race in history isn't over yet and Sunday's Lakers-Spurs game will go a long way towards settling the final seedings.

If the playoffs were to start today, the Lakers would be playing the Mavericks in the first round -- a match up the Purple and Gold should look forward to. The Lakers hold a 3-1 advantage this season and all three wins have come after Jason Kidd's addition to the Dallas squad.

After the first several games of the season I had predicted a wash of a season for the Lakers but Kobe and friends have gone out and not only secured a playoff spot but also locked up the division title. That might not be as incredible as jumping over a car but it's pretty darn close.

Kobe Bryant Blog Day

Technically it's still Tuesday, March 11th on the west coast so I didn't completely miss out on the Kobe Bryant Blog Day. Somehow this movement escaped my attention until I stumbled upon the source of the Kobe Love-fest: Hardwood Paroxysm. I like their name and I love their Blog Day idea.

I don't have a direct point for this post (which is, most likely, par for the course) but on this day above others I'd like to explain why I follow the Lakers.

The short answer is Kobe. The long answer is Kobe Bean Bryant.

Ever since Kobe entered the NBA, he has been the physical incarnation of Lakerdom. That position was shared with a few other people you may have heard of but none of them played their entire careers in the Blue and Gold like the Mamba.

I remember reading those early Sports Illustrated stories about Kobe when he first joined the Lakers and I tuned in to watch him play. And I kept tuning in.

That first year we didn't get to see a ton of Kobe, but that didn't stop him from earning a berth in the All-Star game. Few people probably remember this, but during that game Kobe faced off against his Airness, Michael Jordan, in the closest thing to a one-on-one match anywhere in professional basketball.

If my memory is correct, Kobe had the ball and raced down the court on the far side with nobody but MJ between him and the basket. Kobe loped down the court and darted to his right before flashing a spin move that was equal parts brilliance and foolishness. Kobe missed the dunk attempt (or was it a layup -- my mind is too mushy to recall) but he did draw the foul. I remember Kobe smiled afterwards in appreciation of the moment and by then I was already hooked on his unique talent.

Obviously Kobe has seen his share of turmoil both on and off the court and that has understandably put off many people from accepting him. But the Ocho-uno he dropped on Toronto and the consistent brilliance he has displayed throughout his career have made even the most startling headlines regarding his personal life take a back seat to his incredible accomplishments in his professional one.

So here's to you Kobe Bryant.

Can I Make Celebration Now?

I think we're all just as surprised as you Eli. Congratulations.

Lakers Roll, Redeem My Interest in Sports

As I write this the Staples Center crowd's chant for tacos is audible on ESPN as the Lakers threaten to hold the Milwaukee Bucks under 100 points en route to a double digit victory and their fifth in a row.

It's clear the Bucks are a team in transition as their best offensive player, Michael Redd, is coming off the bench while he recovers from a thigh injury and the Bucks' defensive stopper isn't in uniform because he doesn't exist.

The bigger story, however, is the incredible run the Lakers are putting together and although Kobe Bryant has been and continues to be the Lakers' main scoring threat, the credit for this season's early success has to be shared with Andrew Bynum.

Today's game was the first Lakers contest I've seen in weeks and Bynum's improvement is incredible. Today he unleashed a bevy of spin moves and drop steps that had visions of a young Shaq floating in my head. Bynum's attitude is also more confident and aggressive and that's exactly what you want to see in your big man. Hell, I even saw him swear when Phil Jackson took him out of the game for a breather. Kobe's killer instinct must be rubbing off on him.

Even better than watching this young player develop was witnessing how well the team played together. The Lakers carried the lead throughout the first quarter behind a 16 point outburst from Kobe, but they didn't take off until the second half when the ball touched several hands before each shot attempt. Opposing teams now have to respect both Bynum and Kobe and space is opening up for role players like Farmer and Fisher to knock down open jumpers. They've been knocking them down and in turn opening up more space for Bryant and Bynum to work and this self-feeding cycle is the main reason the Lakers have won fifteen of their last eighteen games.

The Lakers maintained their lead throughout this contest despite constant pressure from Michael Redd and Mo Williams largely thanks to their excellent team defense. Nearly every player in blue and gold showed active hands and everyone from Bryant to Turiaf was jumping into passing lanes and smothering ball handlers. I haven't seen this kind of defensive intensity since L.A.'s championship years at the end of last century.

The crowd's cheers have turned to boos as the Bucks eclipsed the 100 point mark and prevented the Staples Center crowd from collecting free tacos. Call me an optimist but I still see a lot worth cheering for.

The Sugar Bowl

Tuesday’s Sugar Bowl between the University of Hawaii Warriors and the Georgia Bulldogs was far and away the most painful sporting event I’ve ever had to endure. I flew down to New Orleans to cheer for the Warriors as they played in the final game of a previously undefeated season; a season during which they had shattered all manner of UH records, a number of WAC passing records, and more than a couple NCAA scoring records. Hawaii did everything right during the regular season but everything went horribly wrong for them in the Sugar Bowl.

Before I get all depressing and actually describe the game I want to first say that the New Orleans Superdome was incredible. The acoustics were deafening, the seating area was huge, and my family had an excellent position1/3 of the way up the stadium seating around the 40-yard line. The food was way overpriced, but that’s a given at any sporting event. In the stadium’s bright lights I had a difficult time envisioning thousands of hurricane survivors seeking shelter there, but I still had the dubious opportunity to witness another type of disaster: Hawaii’s complete and utter destruction at the merciless paws of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Hawaii won the coin toss and chose to receive the ball as they’ve done at every opportunity during coach June Jones’ tenure. But instead of airing the ball out in a deceptive mixture of short and medium routes as they’ve done with success for the past several seasons, Colt Brennan and the UH offense couldn’t get the ball into air and instead kept moving the line of scrimmage in the wrong direction – backwards. To Georgia’s credit, they rarely blitzed but their four-man rush routinely overwhelmed Hawaii’s frontline and Brennan was sacked close to ten times in barely three quarters of work and that’s not even counting the numerous hits and take-downs he took after getting rid of the ball. Hawaii’s prolific offense has always depended on timing and rhythm and both were in short supply against Georgia’s linemen who frequently ran untouched into the UH backfield. The few times Brennan got the ball out ahead of the rush he under threw receivers and misplayed routes. I think part of his inaccuracy could also be attributed to the thunderous noise the Bulldog fans generated on every down. Even in the stands I could barely hear my neighbors talk.

By halftime Hawaii was losing 23-3 and it just got worse. Hawaii made a couple of comebacks this season, the most memorable perhaps being the last regular season’s game against Washington in which they rallied from an early 21 point deficit to win 35-28. But Georgia was too big, too fast, and too merciless to let Hawaii get back into this one.

Perhaps no play signified the Warrior’s complete dismantling as Brennan’s fumble in the third quarter. Still trailing 23-3 at the time, I and other UH fans still had some hope that the Warriors could put some points on the board and make a game out of the contest. After getting receiving the ball deep in Warrior territory, Brennan took the snap and immediately coughed up the ball when a UGA linemen slammed him into the ground at the 3 yard line and recovered the ball in the end zone. Georgia fans went crazy at the score, barking and hooting like wild beasts with a taste for human flesh and there was absolutely nothing to say back to them.

To make matters worse, UGA opened up their playbook in the third and fourth quarters after victory was all but guaranteed. Georgia had previously relied upon thei running game to move the ball -- which they had been doing very well -- but by the third quarter and up by more than four touchdowns Georgia inexplicably began throwing the ball – even on first downs. It was a disgusting display but my family and I stayed to the end.

On the way out, Hawaii fans were somber. We had witnessed some respectful wishes for a good competition leading up to kickoff, but most Georgia fans were overbearing, overweight, and reeking of arrogance. It smarted like a kick to the gonads to walk back to the hotel room in a barking sea of black, orange, and red-necks.

The good thing about being upset in New Orleans is that it’s really easy to find some good food and alcohol.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year.