Kevin Love To Lakers?

There is a rumor going around today that the Lakers have offered Pau Gasol (Poopface) to the Timberwolvers for the no. 2 overall pick and Kevin Love. I can't see any reason why the Timberwolves would do this, but some rumors think it's just a starting point, and it could be Pau straight up for Love. That really still doesn't make a lot of sense to me from the perspective of the Timberwolves. Kevin Love is just 22 years old and averaged 20 points and 15 boards a game, and you are going to trade that for the 30 year old Poopface?

I still think someway, somehow Dwight Howard will end up in a Lakers uniform. It just feel right to me. Then again, the Lakers pulled off a silly trade to get Poopface in the first place, so maybe the can make the Timberwolves make a Kevin Garnett-like trade again.

More Laker Drama

A day after a rumor had come out that Ron Artest wants out of LA, the Lakers are now having to deal with Kobe Bryant calling out PoopFace (Pau Gasol)...

"When I'm out there being aggressive and doing my thing, he needs to follow suit and just be just as aggressive which is hard for him because it's kind of against his nature. But I think tonight was a good step," Bryant said.

"Even when he was in Memphis and he was the go-to guy, he was always very nice. Very white swan. I need him to be black swan (ESPN)."

As true as this statement might be the Lakers are really getting into a bad habit of calling their players out through the media. So far Phil Jackson has called out Kobe, Artest, and Bynum. Kobe has called out Gasol, and even the owner has got into the mix saying that the Lakers defense has been hurting because they are "too old".

Wow, and we still got a lot of the season left. The Lakers can certainly get back on track, but it is looking more and more like they could implode. If we were picking today I'd still say the Lakers are the most likely to make it to the Finals, even with how well the Spurs have been playing. I just trust Kobe more then any other player, but there are certainly cracks in the foundation of this franchise and this could get ugly quick if they keep using the media to air out their dirty laundry.

Pau Gasol Injury Update

"Injured Lakers PF Pau Gasol could return to practice as early as Thursday after sitting out the first five games with a strained right hamstring. "We'll have a limited practice as it is, with back-to-back games," coach Phil Jackson said. "There won't be a whole lot of activity, but he should be out there (Sportsline)."

I think the Lakers are in trouble here. There are reports that he has some small tears in his hamstring, and that is the kind of thing that could linger for a long time. The Lakers are saying he could be back as early as tomorrow, but I think that is kind of stupid. Why not wait till he is 100%? It is such a long season...

Pau Gasol Breaks Finger

Lakers spokesman John Black told the Los Angeles Times that forward Pau Gasol had surgery Monday after breaking the middle finger of his left hand during a practice with the Spanish national team.

Black said he wasn't given a timetable for Gasol's recovery, but Gasol's agent, Arn Tellem, told him there were no problems involving the surgery.

The real story is it got caught in one of his Sanish players butts, much like the Tony Romo injury of last year. That is all.

Lakers Advance to Finals

It took just five games for the Lakers to defeat the Spurs, to advance to the NBA finals. Early on, the Spurs relied on stellar outside shooting from their guards (Ginobili, Parker, Barry). However, the well ran dry in the second half, which was right about the time Kobe decided to “go off”. L.A. trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter, but as we have seen throughout this series, youth bests age time and time again. In the fourth quarter San Antonio looked helpless trying to cover Kobe. In addition to lackluster defense, their offense looked anemic. Duncan missed open lay-ups and cried for a foul call after every weak shot attempt. Manu Ginobili might as well have stayed in the locker room at halftime, he could not buy a bucket in the second half. In the end, Kobe proved to be too much scoring a game high 39 points. The supporting cast also stepped up their game when it mattered most. Pau Gasol added 12 points and a game high 19 rebounds. Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar hit big shots down the stretch to boost the Lakers to their first finals appearance since 2004.

The first half of the finals picture is complete. One has to wonder, if the Celtics-Pistons series goes seven games, will the lay off help or hurt the Lakers? After watching this series it is obvious that Kobe Bryant is hands down the best player in the league. People can say Garnett or LeBron, but they would be foolish and wrong. Garnett has yet to rise to the occasion like Kobe. When Kobe has single coverage, he scores. Double coverage, he scores. His repertoire is fierce. Long range, pull up, driving the lane… It’s all deadly.