My top 10 sports moments of the decade

Yes, the much anticipated has finally arrived on my blog. Here are my personal top 10 moments in L.A. and Badger sports over the past 10 years. Please keep in mind that I've only been a true Badger fan since 2007, so I won't have a lot of the great moments such as the 2000 Rose Bowl and Final Four or UW's first Big Ten Championship since 1947, etc. Either way, enjoy:

10: Manny comes to the Dodgers

In the dog days of summer, I was working for KNBC Sports in Los Angeles when I got the inside information that Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers. What did he do? Well, aside from creating excitement in the Dodger organization for the first time since I could remember, Manny nearly batted .400 and almost led the team in home runs by season's end. He alone propelled the Dodgers to a playoff berth and was perhaps the best hitter in the second half of the 2008 season.

9: Michael Flowers beats Texas

In my first year as a student at Wisconsin, the men's basketball team had just lost Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor a year earlier to graduation, leaving them with Brian Butch and Michael Flowers as the only true veteran leaders on the team. Flowers' miracle three-point bucket to beat Texas on the road was among the first huge wins (others included Marquette, Michigan State) of the 2007-08 season that saw the Badgers win the Big Ten title and make the Sweet 16 before falling to Davidson.

8: Butch beats Indiana

About a week after I got blasted online for alleging that Kelvin Sampson was a cold-blooded cheater, the Badgers stuck it to the Hoosiers in Indiana, thanks to Brian Butch's bank three pointer with only seconds remaining in the game. That game was the beginning of the downfall of the Indiana basketball program, and it solidified the Badgers' status as the Big Ten's top team.

7: Badgers clinch outright Big Ten Championship

In my first year at UW, I never thought the men's basketball team would come away with an outright Big Ten title. Led by Michael Flowers, Brian Butch, Marcus Landry and others, the team completely bought in to Bo Ryan's swing offense, and used all of its tools to defeat every Big Ten opponent except Purdue.

6: Kobe drops 81

How could I leave this one out? It's difficult to describe exactly how Kobe was able to do it, but his 81 points over the Toronto Raptors is pretty unfathomable. Check out this Youtube video of every bucket Kobe scored in the game. It's worth it.

5: Alley-oop to Shaq seals comeback over Trail Blazers

In Phil Jackson's first year as head coach of the Lakers, he, Kobe and Shaq were able to perfect the triangle offense, with a few hiccups against a great Blazers team. With Arvydas Sabonis, Scottie Pippen, Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire and others, the Blazers jumped out to a 15 point lead with the clock ticking, but the Lakers — who hadn't lost three straight all season — didn't let up. Kobe crossed Pippen over and threw up a perfect pass to Shaq who threw it down, virtually sealing the win for L.A.

4: Fish in 0.4

"It's over." After Tim Duncan hit a ridiculous 21-footer with 0.4 remaining to put the Spurs up by one, that's probably what most Laker fans were thinking. Then Derek Fisher got the ball, threw up a prayer, and I, like every other Laker fan around the world, was screaming and running around my house in disbelief. Looking at the replay, it is simply a remarkable shot, one that I will always remember.

3: Steve Finley walk-off grand slam to clinch playoffs

At the end of a season that saw then-general manager Paul DePodesta trade away Paul LoDuca and Guillermo Mota for Hee Seop Choi and Brad Penny, there was pretty much nothing that could make me worse about the Dodgers. Down by two runs in the ninth inning against the arch-rival Giants, L.A. made a huge comeback, loading the bases for Steve Finley with the bases loaded. When he belted one to deep right, it didn't matter if it didn't go out, but it did, and I and the rest of Dodger nation knew we would breathe for at least a week in October.

2: Horry's buzzer beater

On the night of my Bar Mitzvah, the Lakers were wrapped up in perhaps the best playoff series of the decade. The Kings boasted Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Doug Christie and Vlade (Floppy) Divac against the Lakers' Kobe and Shaq parade. After Kobe missed a layup, Shaq missed one from two feet out, but it wasn't over. Divac batted the loose ball out to Robert "Big Shot Bob" Horry, who swished home the biggest shot of the decade in Lakers basketball. The shot tied the series at two games apiece, and still remains as one of the biggest shots in NBA history.


1: Wisconsin nukes Duke

Trevon Hughes had the game of his life, the Kohl Center crowd was as loud as it will ever be, and the underrated Wisconsin men's basketball team shocked the No. 5 Blue Devils, sparking one of the biggest celebrations in my time at UW. Our Herald photographer Jeff Schorfheide got an incredible shot of Jon Leuer celebrating (seen above), and that pretty much summed up the night. For the next two weeks — and even til today — Badger fans have been talking about that game, and for me and my friends who were in attendance, it was perhaps the best sports moment of my lifetime. It sealed a win for the Big Ten in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and that one win probably would be enough on UW's résumé to put them in the NCAA Tournament once again, making that every single year in the decade.

Wow, it's been a while

After my most challenging semester (both academically and at the Herald), I'm happy to say that I made it through in one piece, and I somehow only have eight days before I leave for Paris.

So that's it. After being a part of the Herald for two and a half long semesters, I will now cede my post to Jordan Schelling, who has been on the sports staff longer than I have been. If you want to check out my last column, you can see it here. While I think I made it pretty clear in that article, I really do cherish all my time at the Herald, and it wouldn't have been the same without my peers and coworkers who made work a great atmosphere and one that I'll really miss. I served as the Statistics Editor, Associate Sports Editor, Sports Editor, and covered the women's basketball team, men's basketball team and volleyball team.

If you're interested, here are some of my favorite articles I've written over the past few years. Hope you enjoy!

- Marcus Landry: Father, Husband, Sibling, Badger
- O'Brien Schofield nears end of long UW journey
- Retirement not an option for Iverson
- Burress' treatment comparatively unfair

I also was able to achieve my goal of writing articles for all four sections of the Herald: Sports, News, Opinion and Arts Etc. Just to prove I'm not strictly a sports writer, here they are:

Arts: Warren G to bring signature gangsta sound to Madison
Opinion: Where in the world is Rene Gonzalez?
News: Bo Ryan to coach USA basketball team in Serbia this summer

I'll probably have a few more posts before I leave, so check back before I start my Paris blog.

First column of the semester

Earlier this week, The Badger Herald sent out its mail-home issue to all the new freshman enrolling in UW for the fall. Take a look at the article here.

Farmers Market

This isn't related to sports at all, but thanks to a great suggestion from my mother, I decided to post some thoughts and photos from my morning at the farmers market here in Madison. Every Saturday, people from all over the Madison area come together on Capitol Square to check out the great produce, cheese, bread, and pretty much everything organic you can think of. The food is incredible, and it's really a great experience, so I thought I'd share it.

This is a pretty typical scene on Capitol Square on Saturday mornings (when weather permits). Hundreds (maybe thousands, I really don't know) of people come to take in the beauty of the city and everything the market has to offer. My personal favorite is the spicy cheese bread, which is pictured here to the right. It's not really spicy at all, but it's so delicious and it's served fresh out of the oven. Generally, a group of friends will buy a loaf of it and just eat it on the grass in front of the capitol building while it's still hot. My friend Curren and I couldn't finish it, but we'll probably just stick it in the oven when we want to eat it next.

Since I eat out so much in Madison, I get the opportunity to try out a lot of great local restaurants, but I will say that the produce and most of the food offered at the market is some of the best I've ever had in the city. I took some pictures of the vegetables just to give you an idea of how fresh everything is here. And what's even better about this farmers market compared to other ones I've been to, there's so much variety among the different vendors. Just to give you an example, there are — to my knowledge — three different vendors that sell piping hot spicy cheese bread. Mmm...

I can't even tell you how many vendors sell sugar snap peas. I haven't tried them personally, but I hear they're great. They also have fresh carrots, herbs and spices, jams, etc. But probably my favorite part of the farmers market — aside from the cheese bread — is the incredible assortment of cheeses from all over Wisconsin. One stand in particular has the best cheese I've ever tasted. It's pretty pricey, but there aren't too many places where you can get raw milk (like I know what that means...) cave aged bandage wrapped cheddar cheese. Here's a shot of the cheese stand right below.
I have quite a bit more, but I think you've probably gotten the idea by now. Essentially, the farmers market is one of those reasons students wake up early on Saturday mornings after a night of intense Wisconsin style fun. If you ever go to Madison, make sure you stop by the farmers market, you won't regret it.

Lakers turn game 1 into joke

The Lakers were magical. That Magic didn't really live up to their name.

You can talk about how poorly Orlando shot the ball (29 percent) or how bad Dwight Howard played, but when it's all said and done, Kobe outscored the Magic's top three players, and the Lakers absolutely destroyed Orlando in game 1.

Now begins the discussion (at least in my head) of whether or not this highly anticipated matchup — though not as hyped as Kobe vs. LeBron was — could turn into a huge bust.

Can the Lakers sweep the Magic? Probably not, but I think it will be pretty close. Unless Michael Pietrus figures out a way to stop Kobe (haha), I really don't think the Magic will slow down the Lakers. It all starts with Kobe, and he can then distribute the ball and get his other teammates involved. Don't forget that last night, Bryant had eight assists in addition to his 40 points, so he's not just scoring.

It might be a bit of unwarranted speculation after a game where the Magic were clearly unprepared to defend Kobe and Lamar Odom. Perhaps game 2 will give me something to cheer about instead of changing the channel in the fourth quarter to the Dodger game, which was far more entertaining. Either way, I smell a championship for LA.

Happy June & Thoughts on the Dodgers

Well, it was fun working for the Mallards for a few weeks, but I won't be part of that staff anymore for a number of reasons, but I just want to let everyone know that I'll still be blogging — it just won't be about the Mallards. In fact, I'll probably be writing a lot more than I did before, so keep on the lookout for some previews, thoughts, and updates about the Dodgers, Lakers, and Wisconsin athletics.

--Jonah

Badger updates

This past week has been a pretty quiet one for Badger athletics, but there have been a couple of bright notes for UW over the past few days.

Men's track sophomore Robert Dehn made the second best javelin throw in UW history, and in the process qualified for the NCAA Mideast regional in Louisville, KY. The Wisconsin State Journal has a pretty interesting feature story on the Owatonna, Min. native, following his athletic career. Check out Andy Baggot's story here.

The women's rowing team also gave us some good news, as they qualified for the NCAA finals. The Badger women notched the best time of the remaining boats. In fact, they were leading throughout the entire race. The Badgers finished with a time of seven minutes and 15.35 seconds. They will face Stanford, UC-Berkeley, Clemson, Yale and Virginia in the final.

Mallards first win, preview for Brainerd

The Mallards barely held on last night to beat Alexandria, 7-6 at Knute Nelson Park. Tonight, the Mallards play Brainerd in the first game of a two game set before returning to Madison. Here are the stories:

• Channing's three-run double pushes Mallards past Alexandria, 7-6
• Mallards head to Brainerd for two game set

Season opener recap & Alexandria preview

Sorry I didn't post these earlier. Mallards play again tonight, then head to Rochester tomorrow for a two game set before the home opener on Monday.

• Season opener recap
• Alexandria Preview

Swedish game recap and Alexandria preview

Click here for the recap of the Mallards vs. Sweden game.

Here is the preview for the season opener against Alexandria.

Not exactly sports, but really funny

Anyone see highlights from the Cubs game the other day? If you did, you probably saw that Freddy Sanchez went 6-for-6. Not bad for the shortstop. Regardless, that performance wasn't the one you missed out on.

Mr. T, who threw out the opening pitch, also sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Wow, what a performance. I implore you to watch this video.

The Mallards have their first game tonight against the Swedish national team. Should be pretty fun. I'll post the game recap when it's all over.

Mallards to take on Swedish national team

The Mallards open their preseason with an exhibition game against the Swedish national team. Pretty funny, I know.

Read my story on the Mallards Web site here

Quick thoughts about the weekend and what's coming up

I'd like to focus on what the Lakers should do tonight to get prepared to take on the Nuggets, but I'm also not a big fan of overkill, so I'll steer away from that for now. However, I will say that I'm really excited for the game tonight. I don't know if Kobe is stoppable right now, even if Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups are at the top of their game, so it should be a fun game to watch.

Now on to some other stuff:

• Did you watch the Indianapolis 500? I didn't, but I kind of wish I did. After seeing the highlights, I came to a brief realization that Indy car racing is pretty cool. Those cars go super fast and there were some pretty cool crashes mixed in. My disappointment from missing the race soon vanished when I saw that it took Helio Castroneves over three hours to finish his 200 laps. Oh well, it was worth a try.
  
  
• The Angels took two of three from the Dodgers, leaving the blue crew at 4-2 last week after they swept the Mets at Dodger Stadium. Now, the Dodgers play a three game series in Colorado to start off a long stretch of 17 straight games without a day off. This is the second such streak for the Dodgers - Their first one was 20 games and they went 12-8 during that stretch.
  
  
• There is literally nothing going on in the Badger world today, so I thought I'd highlight a pretty big transfer for the women's basketball team. Tiera Stephen, a point guard who started for Louisville in the National Championship game last year, will be coming over to play for Lisa Stone's squad, hopefully providing a nice set of fresh legs off the bench for Alyssa Karel and Rae Lin D'Alie, both of whom were pretty solid last season. Check out the full Capital Times story here.
  
  
• Rafael Nadal won again in the French Open, setting a new record for consecutive wins in the Major tournament. Roger Federer beat him on clay last week, so I'm pretty excited to see what's in store for the final. Can Federer beat Nadal at his own game? I doubt it.

Players for the Mallards report today, and the first exhibition game is on Wednesday, so look out for some more articles from me. I'll make sure to post them here.

What I'm doing this summer

I've written several entries so far, but as the summer really gets underway this week (for me, anyway), the full length posts might be a bit more scarce. Instead, I'll be posting my many Mallards articles that I'll be writing this summer. For those of you who don't know, aside from being the sports editor at the Badger Herald, I was hired as the public relations intern for the Madison Mallards, a summer collegiate baseball team.

Right now, my work hours are ridiculous (12-15 hours a day), but I've still had time to write about the Lakers and Dodgers. Once the Lakers are done in the playoffs, however, I'll probably stick to just Mallards stuff, with some Badgers updates and Dodger thoughts mixed in.

So, if you are for some reason interested in the Northwoods League, check in to the blog, where you'll find some pretty interesting features, game recaps, previews, and hopefully some fun stories too.

--Jonah

Thoughts on Kobe

I shouldn't be in awe because I've seen him do it so many times, but when Kobe Bryant hit that deep three pointer from the left wing over J.R. Smith last night, I couldn't help but jump for joy. A night after LeBron James hit a game-winner at the buzzer, Kobe obviously had to show him up — and he didn't fail.

Now, the Lakers clearly have an edge up in the series. Aside from being up 2-1, they stole two games from the Nuggets because Denver made bonehead plays. Say what you will about how the Nuggets have the ability to beat L.A., but when it's all said and done, the Lakers are much smarter than the Nuggets.

For example, I noticed (as I'm sure everyone has) that J.R. Smith loves to shoot, even when nothing is going in. He made a lucky three pointer over Sasha, then made one of several stupid plays for Denver — he jawed at Vujacic, prompting a technical foul and taking some momentum away from the Nuggets.

Again, with the passing. I don't understand why the Nuggets can't draft up a play to get the ball inbounded to...well anybody. That's the second time this series that they effectively blew a game because they were incapable of doing something as simple as inbounding a pass.

But more importantly, the Lakers started making smarter decisions in the fourth quarter of game three. Instead of keeping the ball around the perimeter, they stuck it in to Pau Gasol, who scored eight points in the fourth, dominating Chris Andersen and Nene, who was in foul trouble.

And, when all else fails, Kobe Bryant was there to save the day. Again. He may not have been as flashy as LeBron was the other night, but after the game, I thought that was one of the best performances Kobe has ever had. For one of the first times since Shaq's departure, I really feel that Kobe knows the capabilities of his teammates, and finally trusts the players around him.

OK, but will the Lakers win the series? I think so, but I can't really say. The way these playoffs are going, anything coul happen. I expect them to lose game four from sheer fatigue, but I hope I'm proven wrong. With Kobe, you never know, and if role players like Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza keep playing as well as they have been, it should be a good showing for the Lake Show.

Mase in the Face on MLB.com

My former sports editor at the Badger Herald, Tyler Mason, got an awesome internship this summer writing for the Minnesota Twins for MLB.com. He had his first story online very early this morning, so I'm sorry I didn't post it earlier.

His story covers the Twins' victory over the Brewers last night, including Michael Cuddyer's cycle. Really nice job by Mase, so make sure you check out the article.

His story can be found here

LeBron does it again, will Kobe respond?

Last night, I raced home to see the end of the Dodger game, which turned out to be a huge disappointment. The Dodgers blew yet another strong start from Kershaw, losing to the Angels 3-1.

But that disappointment soon turned into glee. Right after the game, I switched over to ESPN, where I saw LeBron's game-winning shot at the buzzer to beat the Magic. That brought back some Robert Horry memories (game-winner over the Kings in 03) - I can relate to the way Cavalier fans feel right now. If they lost that game, Orlando probably would have won the series. Now however, it's any team's series, and you could even say the Cavs have a momentum edge right now.

I'm not going to talk about LeBron being better than Kobe, because I think it's irrelevant right now. I will however, say that James is growing on me. I never really liked the way he couldn't spot up like Kobe, but last night, he showed similar drive and passion that Kobe's had over the past several seasons.

What will be interesting to see is whether or not Kobe does something similar in game 3 tonight against the Nuggets. Now I know the Lakers aren't playing the Cavs and Lebron's shot probably doesn't mean anything to Bryant, but ever since Jerry West said James surpassed Kobe, it seems like Kobe has been playing with an unmatchable drive.

The Lakers need a win tonight. If they don't get it, the Nuggets will have a huge advantage in the series, and they might even win it. Hopefully they won't need Kobe's heroics, but if he can do what LeBron did last night, nobody would be complaining.

Mike Bleach on Cap Times!

My boy Mike Bleach nabbed the Capital Times sports internship, which is a pretty sweet deal. He had (to my knowledge) his first story online today, which highlights the upcoming men's hockey season.

The men's hockey team will be playing eight of their first 10 games at home, which is very good news for the Badgers. Last season, UW went 0-6-1 before finally winning its first game against North Dakota on Nov. 1.

Check out Bleach's story here

Orlando Hudson on Rome is Burning

I love the O-Dawg. What a great signing by the Dodgers - he's been solid all season long and his defense has been outstanding. I just found this video on Youtube of him being interviewed by Jim Rome.

Hudson talks about the Manny situation and about how the Dodger players aren't mad at Ramirez. Instead, they understand that things happen in players' lives, and they just have to push it aside. He also talks about his serious hand injury that almost made him quit baseball, something I didn't really know much about.

I remember interviewing Hudson last summer when he was still on the D-Backs and when I worked for NBC - it was also the day Manny got traded to the Dodgers. He was one of the nicest players I talked to all summer. He didn't want to talk about Manny, but he loved talking about baseball and it's pretty clear how much he loves the sport and how happy he is to be playing for the Dodgers.

Dodgers hosting the Angels this weekend...

After dropping four of their first five games after losing Manny Ramirez for 50 games, it looks like the Dodgers are back in business after a three game sweep of the Mets this week. I know they didn't have to face Johan Santana and Carlos Delgado was injured, but I think it's about time people give the boys in blue some credit. They've won seven of their last eight games and still have the best record in the MLB at 29-13. Also, they're not just beating up on the lowly NL West (which is really, really bad) anymore, and this upcoming series win against the Angels should be a good way for the Dodgers to establish their presence in the National League.

In game one of the series, Clayton Kershaw faces off against Jered Weaver in a battle of the youngsters. Kershaw is coming off one of his best starts of the season when he took a no hitter into the eight inning. Weaver, on the other hand, has been great all season, posting a 2.59 ERA for the Angels.

I'm excited to see if Kershaw can withstand the powerful Angels bats. Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu should give the 22-year-old a bit of trouble, but I think Kershaw will respond nicely to his great start last time out, especially if the Dodgers give him similar run support.

It will also be interesting to see how much longer the young studs on the Dodgers can keep up their strong hitting. There has been a significant decrease in production since Manny's suspension, but luckily Juan Pierre has come into the picture to become a more-than-satisfactory left fielder. Casey Blake is still tearing it up, but I'd really like to see Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney and Russell Martin step it up. Regardless, I expect a pretty fun series. These are two very young teams competing for division crowns, so I'd imagine it will be an entertaining weekend - that is if the Lakers can pull one out too...

Finding Dodger fans in the Midwest

The thing I love about Dodger baseball is that no matter where you go, you'll almost always find someone who loves the boys in blue as much as you do. As I was sitting in the Madison Mallards press box in Wisconsin, a man maybe 50 years old asked me where I was from. I told him I grew up in L.A., and he looked at me, smiled, and told me his favorite NBA team plays in the Staples Center. I asked him if it was the Clippers — he laughed.

After shortly discussing whether or not the Lakers would beat the Nuggets (we agreed, they will), he told me about how he first became a Dodger fan back in 1971, a full 18 years before I could even see the color blue.

He said it was the unity of the infield - Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, Wes Parker, Maury Wills and Bill Russell - that made him become a fan of the Dodgers. He tried to make it out to some games, but being from Madison, WI, he found it rather difficult. When he finally was able to make a trip to Los Angeles in 1990, he bought a ticket for opening day at Dodger Stadium. Unfortunately, the players had their first strike of the 90s that year, meaning that he couldn't attend the game. He did however, get to see the stadium with his own eyes - he loved it.

It's times like these that, even when the Dodgers' best player gets caught for taking steroids, remind me why I love baseball so much. For real baseball fans, it's not about the players, it's about a team and a tradition.

Hopefully this Wisconsinite will be able to see a Dodger game some time soon. Hopefully when he does, that tradition of winning and unity will be back in true Dodger blue form.

Vander Blue decommits

Just as Max predicted, Vander Blue announced in a press conference yesterday that he is decommitting from UW. Last year, he made a verbal commitment to Bo Ryan's squad, but after averaging 17 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season, along with a state championship, Blue made the decision to hear from other schools.

Like I said yesterday, I'm pretty upset about all of this. I know Blue can do what he wants, and it's very likely he will receive offers from other top programs. But I'll also reiterate what I asked yesterday: Why wouldn't Blue want to play for UW? It's been one of the most consistent basketball programs since 2000, has an incredible coach, and some of the best fans in the country.

Still, Blue said he hasn't ruled out coming to Wisconsin. In Rob Schultz's article in the Wisconsin State Journal, he says, "The 6-foot-4 junior guard from Madison Memorial said during a news conference Tuesday that he wants to take "'a step back and see what else is out there for me.'"

He might say he's still considering Wisconsin, but with programs now in the running for the high school star, I'm willing to bet he won't be donning Badger red next year.

Check out Schultz's article here.

Vander Blue to decommit?

My buddy Max Henson informed me that later today, Madison Memorial high school star junior Vander Blue will be holding a press conference. Henson, who I will henceforth deem "The Recruit Master," told me that he expects Blue to officially decommit from UW-Madison. This comes after many reports over the past week that he is currently shopping himself to other schools. I've heard Minnesota (kill me now), Marquette (bury me), and Louisville.

Now I understand Blue's reasoning. When he committed to UW, he wasn't in the state spotlight, or better yet, the national spotlight at this point. He basically led Memorial to a state championship single handedly, and surely he's gotten calls from many coaches around the state and country.

Still, I can't stand players that don't keep their word. He verbally committed to UW, and even though this whole thing is a business, I don't understand how or why a player would leave his home state, play for one of the best coaches in college basketball, and leave the chance to become the face of Wisconsin basketball.

Well, the press conference is at 5:30 central time, so check it out, and we'll see if Blue will turn our Badger eyes red.

Lakers need some heart

So the Rockets pushed their second round series with the Lakers to seven games. It wasn't like the incredible Celtics-Bulls series that featured seven overtimes or even the Celtics-Magic set, which turned out some pretty nice games.

For the Lakers, it was either win big, or lose big. In the situation where they had to win or go home, they won, but I'm still not very impressed. Most people would be pretty satisfied with a 19-point victory in a game 7, but as far as I'm concerned, there was something the Lakers were missing throughout the entire series.

Something both the Rockets and the Jazz exhibited throughout each of their series' and something almost every other team in the NBA has shown in the playoffs. I'm talking about heart.

It's actually a bit surprising to see. You would think a team that was humiliated in the NBA Finals last year would come back to prove to everybody it could compete. Well, they can compete, but that isn't good enough.

If the Rockets were at full strength, I could understand a seven games series. But, already without Tracy McGrady, and then losing Yao Ming after game 3? It just doesn't make sense.

There has to be something more to the Lakers underperformance against the Rockets. Maybe they need a wakeup call, or maybe it's as simple as it looked. As of now, I have no idea.

What I do know, however, is that if Kobe and the Lakers think they can play that poorly against the Nuggets and still make the NBA Finals, then they're in for a rude awakening.

Unlike LA, Denver has been rolling over their opponents like a monster truck runs over a Volkswagen bug. Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin have teamed up with Chauncey Billups to put together quite a formidable opponent for the Lakers.

So, will we see a repeat of 2000 or 2002? Will the Nuggets be as good as opponent as were the Blazers and the Kings? Well, right now we don’t know, but if the Lakers don’t start playing with some heart quickly, they might be on the wrong side of history.