Welcome, Lakers Fans

with the Lake Show’s inability to handle the ‘Cats, just consider it a karmic holdover from that friggin’ Divac/Bryant trade back in the day. Oh, and tell Morrison we’re not mad at him, more at the idea of drafting him ahead of Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay.

And easy on saying we win. As ’Cats logic goes, as our team is better than teams of the past that have beaten the Lakers…this very fact could equal a loss.

I am, however, jacked up on Diet Mountain Dew, so I could be delusional at this point

Can’t wait!

1. Kobe Bryant Muppet commerical jokes
2. Adam Morrison jokes
3. Someone will invariably bring up the Clippers, that conversation will spiral out of control.
4. Many attempts to figure out who Jordan Farmar looks like.
5. Many angry comments about Stephen Graham.

Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. They’re better offensively, but they don’t have his defensive chops.

They aren’t even better offensively! Unless you count both Paul & Lamar together, playing 2-on-1 verse Wallace by himself! That reminds of me of a story my grandmother used to tell me before bed when i was just wee lil’ boy:

— Once upon a time, in a non NBA sanctioned pick up game, Gerald Wallace was challenged by Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol to a game of 2-on-1. Gerald accepted the challenge, but graciously let them have the ball first – and let them handcuff his wrists behind his back and throw away the key – just to be fair.

 Lamar passed into Pau and he threw up an ugly brick. Well, ol’ G-Dub, he broke those cuffs, got the rebound, crossed up Lamar, dunked on Pau, used “the G-Force” to tie their arms together into a giant pretzel, salted ’em, and poured yellow mustard on ’em. (Hooray!)

 & The moral of this story: Don’t F*** with Gerald Wallace. The end.

NBA and Sprite made a little game for the dunk competition. But I’m not here to play that. I’m here to tell yall about how incredibly bad Gerald’s character looks.

Seriously, this looks nothing like him. I can’t remember the last time he didn’t have his mustache. What is wrong with these people? First they unveiled his entrance like this and now this awful representation.

But I can’t. I spent nineteen years in Boston where any mention of the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Lakers was guaranteed to make all the sports fans in the room spit in disgust and invent several creative new curse words on the spot.

Thirty years living in God’s own paradise (I’m talking about the Carolinas, for those unfortunate souls that have not yet visited the Promised Land) haven’t softened my feelings for the Lakers. I admire Kobe and his amazing skills every bit as much as I admired Magic Johnson. Back in the day, every meeting between the Celtics and Lakers would pit Johnson and Bird against one another and the matchup made for some of the most exciting basketball in history.

The Bobcats don’t have an answer for the likes of Kobe. There is no Larry Bird on the Charlotte Roster. BUT!!!

Oh my! Wait until you get a good look at Gerald Wallace. You may think you’ve seen him in the past, but that was just the opening act. You may also think you know Stephen Jackson’s game as well. You’re in for a surprise. Together, these two men are greater than the sum of their parts and are deadly. Once you get past that one-two punch there are other surprises in store for you. We have this little guy we like to call RayRay. He’s one of those odd ballers. He might come out and have one hell of a game from the opening tip. Then again, he might seem totally overwhelmed for much of the game. He’ll look frustrated and overmatched. Truth is, he very well might be both. But Raymond Felton never stops thinking and never gives up. At some point, maybe the third quarter, maybe later than that, he’ll figure out the seams in your game. Just when your D thinks it has his number he’ll suddenly explode with clutch steals, unexpected moves into the paint, and the next thing you know you’re coach is calling a time out to try to figure out where the hell it all went bad. Felton is our Joe Frazier. You can pound on him for most of the fight and he takes hit after hit. But just when you think you have him on the ropes, he’ll find that one opening and knock you right on your backside.

Am I predicting a Bobcats victory? Well, the Lakers are a mighty tough team. Respect where respect is due, and all that. The Cats are pretty tired and all you have to do is mention the word “ankles” and real Bobcats fans break into a cold sweat. But I will predict this… even if the Bobcats lose the game, the Los Angeles Lakers will know what it feels like to get pushed to the limit. I also predict that Charlotte will finish the road trip with a 4-2 record. You do the math.

how about we let the Lakers know that WE GOT THE BEST THREAD IN THE LEAGUE.

And the top team to defend Kobe in terms of FG% in 2008 was the Golden State Warriors, and I think Stephen Jackson did the majority of that defending (as much as can be done on Golden State).

of the Bobcats. I tried looking for the link of the video in NBA Fanhouse and it was titled, “meet the best defensive team in the NBA” or something like that. Either way, considering the past, I know the Lakers don’t take this team lightly. Personally, I enjoy the challenge they will face in facing the Bobcats’ defense. But, if the Lakers pound it inside the paint, i’m not sure if they can be beaten. Yet the Lakers have to prove that they can beat the Bobcats..