Don't Ever Doubt Kobe

All eyes seem to be on the Los Angeles Lakers future. That’s all people are saying. LA needs to take a hit this year and focus on 2014 when the franchise can essentially start fresh. People think LA isn’t a playoff team. I mean a lot didn’t go there way this offseason. They lost a great center in Dwight Howard, their best player is recovering from one of the worst injuries, and the other two players that formulate the ever so popular “big three” are pretty old and washed up.

Whatever happened to stars staying put. When did “dynamic duos” become big threes”? Shaq and Kobe could contend in today’s NBA right? Lema…stop your getting off topic (sorry I tend to do that).

Ok but seriously why can’t LA contend now? Why can’t the Lakers be the Lakers? I know for a fact it won’t be because of Kobe’s injury. That man takes the most ridiculous challenges and makes them seem so miniscule. He loves going head on with “the impossible” and showing people if the mind is there anything is possible.

So taking all of that into consideration I’m not surprised at all when Jim Buss comes out and tells NBA TV that Kobe will be ready for the preseason. Ok I’m kidding my jaw dropped at the sight of the report on my scorecenter app. But I knew if anyone would comeback from this injury ahead of schedule it would be Mamba.

 Let me put the paint on the canvas for ya. Without Dwight Pau is Pau again, and the Lakers finally have the big that can thrive in D’antoni’s system. I’m thinking Nash’s terrible season had more to do with the injury than the age. I guarantee your ears will hear this more than once this year, “Nash for three! BANG!” God I love Mike Breen. And despite losing Dwight (who I think is a great player but through media is overrated), I think LA had a solid offseason. Kaman is a solid replacement and having Nick Young and Jodie Meeks as reserves, two guys that can absolutely light it up off the bench, gives the Lakers second unit some firepower. They brought back Jordan Farmar, and Jordan Hill gets no love whatsoever, until this year.

Call me crazy but I’m going to just come out and say it. The Lakers can and will contend for another championship. In fact I think LA will flirt with home court advantage in the playoffs, and will advance at least one series. The playoffs is virtually a totally different sport compared to the regular season, and guess who thrives in that sport, Kobe Bryant. The team they now have in my eyes couldn’t be more perfect for D’antoni. Additionally the hiring of Kurt Rambis, Phil Jackson’s lead assistant for all of Kobe’s championships, is why I went through in publishing this article. 

Refuse to Lose

It feels as if it is was yesterday I was watching Game 4 of the 1995 ALDS against the Yankees. Oh thats right, root sports was playing the Mariners classic last night, and i was drooling at the sight of Griffey and Edgar. What ran through my mind for most the game though was me trying to remember when Seattle had last been that excited at an M's game. Literally every pitch felt like it was a full-count in a one-run game. And when something exciting did happen the crowd would applause for twenty minutes, no joke. My oh My! Those were the days.

Which brings me to 2013, should we have faith in Jack Z and Wedge? That's a tough question. These last few weeks have been everything i've expected from the two. I didn't expect us to make the playoffs or really be in contention for the AL West division. But I did expect progression, and you know what, they've shown us a small window of it. For most of last year and the early parts of this year, Dustin Ackley and Michael Saunders were the organizations best hitters; now they're our worst. The addition of Brad Miller and Nick Franklin at the top of our lineup has added needed spunk and aggression. I know these guys haven't really had slumps and haven't even been up long enough to go into slumps, but on nights where the box score seems to indicate they sucked they're still productive. Seager has always been good and he's nothing to worry about. As for Justin Smoak, he's gone from, "oh he's up again..." to "MOM SMOAKS UP AGAIN!!!". And what can you say about Rauuuul Ibanez the man has truly found the fountain of youth and I recommend the club hang on to him one more year. Morales and Morse are still young pieces that shouldn't be traded either and provide much needed pop in the middle of the order. Our lineup as of now has got some longevity to it.

Now to our rotation. Well Felix is still "King Felix", and Iwakuma has been a bit shaky but you can't let the recent past affect the overall product. Now what I've seen and what I've heard from young Taijuan Walker he should be a dominant number three. Danny Hultzen was well on his way before he got hurt and should be a solid lefty in the middle of the rotation, and I know James Paxson finishes "The Big 3" we like to talk about here in Seattle, but I'm gonna leave that fifth spot open for now.

I will leave this post by saying yes I do have faith in Jack Z, even though he gave away Doug Fister for virtually Casper Wells who's no where to be found and could have made one of the worst trades ever. But hey, there's still a tomorrow here in Seattle, there's still hope. Our dream of reliving that 1995 ALDS can still become a reality, it's just a matter of time.