2-6-10
1) During the ‘09 offseason the Los Angeles Lakers decided not to re-sign Trevor Ariza and instead they signed Ron Artest to a moderately lucrative contract. As of this writing, 4 months into the ‘09-’10 season, that move looks wrong. The Lakers are still the best team in the NBA and should at least make it to the NBA Finals as long as Kobe Bryant stays healthy (which is a long shot at this point) but they could really use the younger, quicker, more versatile Ariza on their team. Artest is not as advertised, he’s lost a step in his defensive quickness and he’s very unorthodox offensively which means he doesn’t fit well into the ‘triangle’ offense L.A. runs. It was thought when they signed him he could adapt to the offensive scheme because of his b-ball I.Q. but that has yet to happen not to mention he came into the season out of shape(rumor is he’s been partying waaay to much) Ariza could have been a corner stone of a player for the Lakers, a nice 1-2 punch with Kobe Bryant and even take over the role of being the #1 option once KB retires in about 5 years. Trevor can play 4 of the 5 positions on the offensive side of the court and as the season moves along for L.A. its becoming apparent that a #2 consistent scoring wing man is needed because Kobe is physically being run down and who knows if he will make it through the playoff season

2) If you didn’t believe it before you have to believe it now…the Los Angeles Clippers are officially cursed for a lifetime and they’ll never win a NBA championship unless they change ownership-move out of L.A.-and set up shop in a completely different arena. The season ending injury to their star rookie pick Blake Griffin cemented this fact for me; Griffin played a total of 6 preseason games before he sidelined with knee surgery. The only team with worse injury luck is the Portland Trail Blazers…over the last 4 decades the Trail Blazers have drafted 3 franchise type centers (Bill Walton, Sam Bowie, Greg Oden-3 yrs. ago) out of college and each time the much hyped center has eventually succomb to the pressure of consistent knee ailments and subpar play on the court (Bill Walton is the only center who had a semi-decent Portland career, he at least delivered a championship). Memo the Portland front office, stay away from big men in the foreseeable future and concentrate on power forwards and point guards–you’ll have better luck with that. Btw, as of this writing rumor has it that the Clipper brass r n serious negotiations to bring in Isiah Thomas (yes that Isiah, he of Piston fame and Knick disaster) and give him the title of Coach, GM and President–lets hope that rumor is an early april fool’s joke and the Clippers don’t really bring in Isisah. If they do they can forget about keeping their ever declining fanbase…all 52 fans will jump ’ship’ and promptly walk across the arena to the Laker shop and buy themselves a #24 jersey

3) I wrote about this a full 2 and a half seasons ago but during the playoff Celtic championship run a few years ago they had a early-’thrilling’ roundmatch up with the Atlanta Hawks that went the full 7 games. The Celtics ended up winning the series by blowing out the Hawks in game 7 but I said it then and is really apparent today, that series breathed life back into that Atlanta Hawk organization and since then they have been a powerhouse competitor in the eastern conference…look for them to make some real noise in the playoffs this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals–look out Lebron James….!

4) I think its time for Kobe Bryant to check his ego at the Staples Center door and sit out a few games so he can heal his battered body. He’s fighting through injuries to continue to play and eventually he’s going to get to a point where his body will force him to sit out and it could be for a significant time

DJ JokerPace
JokerPace Radio Hour (Sat.’s Noon-2pm)