U-G-L-Y UGLY!

Los Angeles, Ca

The Lakers were out rebounded and just plain out played Friday night at Staples. In a game that was ugly from start to finish, the Lakers just seemed to be wearing soggy shoes all night long. In the first half they had 10 offensive rebounds. Other than that, the effort was just offensive. Detroit, who have just owned Los Angeles as of late, 7-3 in the last ten, had the answer again. Allen Iverson in 41 minutes, scored 25 points, to go along with 4 steals, and 4 assists. Rasheed Wallace added 25 points of his own and Tayshaun Prince also scored 18. In a game that saw AI acting like himself early, the Lakers, who played from behind most of the night, just could not get it done. Kobe finished with 29, passing both Larry Bird and Gary Payton for sole possession of 22nd place all time. I imagine he'd trade his 29 for 0 if it came with a W. Being true to himself the only things PJ could muster after the loss were quick quips like, "I guess we're not going 82-0?", and "we looked human." Not much more to expect there. I did see good things during the game however, a little silver lining during some key timeouts. Jackson was counseling his team to 'not foul, don't forget to rebound, we're being selfish with our shots right now, remember to get that extra pass.' What we saw following those timeouts was a Lakers team looking to get back on the offensive, all while playing good defense. If the Lakers could have brought energy all evening like they did in the last 9 minutes of the fourth, the results would have been much different. 

After a couple of nights where Los Angeles has found themselves coming from behind, they were handed their first loss 106-95. This is not the end of the world for a Lakers team that still leads the league in most offensive and defensive stat categories. Now with a chance to get back to the practice facility in El Segundo, they have a chance to get back on track. The Lakers should be able to get off to a good start with their upcoming opponents. Starting Tuesday we face Chicago, Phoenix, Denver, Sacramento, New Jersey, Dallas, and closing out the month on the 30th, Toronto. Four of those teams have losing records, two of them the Lakers have already beaten, albeit Denver will have a new look this time around with Chauncey Billups in the lineup. Looks to be an exciting week in the NBA.

Dodger Stadium, Ca

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has officially withdrawn his offer from outfielder Manny Ramirez. The offer was believed to be in the area of two years $45 million, with the possibility of three years $60 million. Chance of signing the slugger still seem optimistic. Colletti was quoted as saying, "We still have an interest in him", and "We'll have conversations and sometimes your able to sign the player and sometimes your not." The other good news for Dodger fans is, according to the team website, the market for Manny might be small. With only the Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers realistically in the market. The Yanks and Halos seem to really favor free agent first baseman Mark Teixiera. Also as dark horses usually surface, this season eyes are watching out for the hated rival Giants. If somehow San Francisco was able to steal Manny away from LA, huge amounts of pressure would be squarely on the shoulders of Colletti. That could all be lifted if the Dodgers were able to come away with a Teixiera or Sabathia.