Choking on it but rooting for LA!!

[Rummpd]

After checking on what Santa Claus brought him , a neat electronic basement basketball game, a great bike, and a fine guitar (2 of 3) supposedly for my 7 year son.

I am now choking on the upcoming game/rumble and after great angst have come to a Spock like analysis. As such, now I am going to have to
gather up the strength to root for LA for just one game. I must be going further mad but:

Have to think strategically and long term for final standings and future momentum.

Plus, since I just cannot stand the thought of seeing Shaq's goofy smile and arrogance if they win and most importantly feel that it is important that an "East" power not get thoughts of another upset this year or a home record in the finals.

Plus over the years Shaq no one NBA player has so dissed the Spurs more than this great but over-hyped giant.

Ok Kobe have a kryponitic game x 1 - carry your team to a close win and run over superman's cape etc.

MadDoc :smokin :smokin

[spursfaninla]

LA has no chance at hca in the playoffs, they are not relevant in that sense.

Miami might play for best record in the east, but I doubt they stay healthy; how many years has shaq missed 20 or so games a season? Older but slightly lighter is supposed to make a huge difference there? He is still too big for his own good....

Don't give them any mind. It is between minny and the spurs this year, the run n gun phoenix are the dark horse IMO...

[Goddess Spur]

Too bad they can't both lose, I don't like either one of them.

[boutons]

Kobe Downplays First Game Against Shaq
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:42 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kobe Bryant took a moment to ponder the persistent questioning, and the words came tumbling out.

``I sat back, I reminisced, I stood at the window, I saw two birds chirping. ...''

And then, he laughed.

Bryant just can't take Shaq vs. Kobe too seriously.

``You all really want me to say, you know what, it's going to be very emotional for me, I'm going to have to fight back tears, it's going to be tough,'' Bryant said with a hint of sarcasm. ``I honestly don't have any sentiment either way. I mean, it's just basketball.''

It was much more between Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal the past eight years, when they fussed, feuded and won three championship rings during their chaotic time as Los Angeles Lakers teammates.

O'Neal is gone, having been shipped to Miami last summer at his request -- not long after coach Phil Jackson was told his services were no longer desired.

Since then, O'Neal has made it clear he's not fond of Bryant, who is still around, having signed a seven-year, $136.4 million contract to stay with the Lakers.

The two will play against each other Saturday for the first time since the trade in a regular-season game that's been hyped like few others.

Two things are clear -- the Bryant-led Lakers (14-11) aren't what they used to be, and the O'Neal-led Heat (21-7) are one of the NBA's elite teams.

Bryant and O'Neal won't exactly be going against each other, as Bryant pointed out before practice Friday at the Lakers' training facility in El Segundo.

``He's a center, I'm a guard,'' Bryant said.

But it is an important game.

``We've got that seventh spot (in the Western Conference). We're trying to pick up some ground,'' Bryant said. ``There's a lot of hype around the game. You do what you do.''

Lakers center Chris Mihm, who will guard O'Neal, knows what he's up against, but added: ``It's not like I'm going against him for the first time.''

``This game has been hyped for so long, you can't help but be ready to go and be excited,'' said Mihm, who had a career-high 21 rebounds and five blocked shots in a 101-89 victory over New Orleans on Wednesday.

When asked earlier this week what would happen when Bryant drives to the basket, O'Neal replied: ``When you've got a Corvette that runs into a brick wall, you know what's going to happen.''

Bryant laughed over that one, saying at one point he was a combination of a Corvette and a Hummer since he's gained some weight since last season.

Later, he described himself as a Lamborghini.

``It's no different from what we did in practice,'' Bryant said Friday regarding O'Neal's remark. ``I spent eight years trying to dunk on him. He fouled me every time.''

Speaking after Thursday night's 109-107 win at Sacramento -- the Heat's 10th straight victory -- O'Neal elaborated on the Corvette-brick wall scenario.

``I've been a classy individual for 12 years,'' he said, referring to the length of his NBA career. ``It would be very unclassy of me to try to say what I'm going to do (to Bryant). I'm just going to play good defense. I'm not out to hurt anybody.

``I just want people to understand that I'm not going to try to flagrantly hurt him, but when a Corvette hits a brick wall, you know what happens.''

As he did for so many years while with the Lakers, O'Neal handed out Christmas gifts to youngsters Friday morning, spending some two hours at the Boys and Girls Club in South Central Los Angeles playing Santa Claus. He was accompanied by teammate Damon Jones.

O'Neal reportedly spent several thousand dollars at a Toys-R-Us store in Santa Monica around 1:30 a.m. Friday -- after the Heat arrived from Sacramento.

O'Neal was traded for Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, who start for the Lakers, and Brian Grant, who comes off the bench. Butler won't play Saturday, having been suspended for punching New Orleans guard Dan Dickau on Wednesday.

``I'm not happy with the decision,'' Butler said. ``It's a big-time game, a game I wanted to play in against my former team. We'll be a man short. (But) I'm not Carson Daly -- I don't get the last word.''

While the Lakers aren't what they used to be, they seem united. That obviously hasn't always been the case, as evidenced by the turmoil surrounding them in recent years.

And Bryant has usually been in the middle of it. He has tangled with O'Neal, Jackson and more recently former buddy Karl Malone.

But he receives nothing but kudos from current coach Rudy Tomjanovich and his teammates.

``Kobe's going to be Kobe,'' Butler said regarding Saturday's game. ``He's an assassin. When he steps on the court, he's a killer.

``He's a great teammate, a great leader on and off the court.''

Miami players have said for weeks they're tired of being asked about the Christmas game.

``It's been crazy,'' said Eddie Jones, who played for the Lakers from 1994-99. ``Every single day, maybe three, four times a day, it's all about Shaq and Kobe, and what you think is going to happen.

``Everybody in America is going to be watching, and probably everybody overseas.''

[boutons]

BC Treating a Showdown as a Showcase
By RICHARD SANDOMIR

ABC Sports showed foresight this week when it opened "Monday Night Football" with Dr. Phil analyzing the Dolphins' and the Patriots' mascots. With the television shrink on retainer, ABC should send the Big Baldie to Staples Center today to work on the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant mess when ABC starts its N.B.A. season with the Heat-Lakers game at 3 p.m. Eastern.

Call it "Dr. Phil Drives to the Frontal Lobe," sponsored by Toyota.

Kobe: I don't think Shaq Diesel thinks I was a good teammate.

Dr. Phil: You need to apologize, look Shaq Diesel in the eye, and say, "I wasn't nice to you, I haven't been a good little buddy, I drove Coach Jackson back to Montana, I forced Dr. Buss to trade you, and I'm going to make it up to you."

Kobe: O.K., Doc, but do you have Shaq's phone number?

It's difficult to discern whether ABC and its corporate brother ESPN want Kobe and Shaq to kiss at midcourt or rumble in the lane. It is in their interest to have the two loathe each other to increase viewership and create a rivalry now that the Miami market is once again worthy of national exposure, thanks to Shaq.

Last year, ABC's marquee Christmas matchup was Shaq against Yao Ming, merely a face-off of very tall centers - less explosive than what is expected of the baggy-pants Cain-and-Abel showdown promised months ago when the Lakers traded Shaq to Miami and Kobe became the king of Staples. ABC surely wants more out of the Shaq-Kobe reunion than the 4.1 rating it earned for Shaq-Yao.

"I give a lot of credit to the league," the ABC announcer Al Michaels said from Los Angeles. "It knew what it had and didn't waste this big elephant on a Wednesday night.

"This is a very different game. There are regular-season games that transcend the norm, but I can't think of any like this."

Maybe it will actually be a showcase game, not a soapy, 48-minute psychodrama, but prospectively, it is as much a game as TBS's "The Real Gilligan's Island" is a sitcom. It's Shaq versus Kobe, in a reality-series wrestling match.

The game has been preceded by a rash of ESPN- and ABC-inspired hype, including Bryant's interviews on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" and "NBA Shootaround," and O'Neal's at halftime of "Monday Night Football." ESPN's "SportsCenter" also dissected the Lakers in a five-part series.

In the "Shootaround" interview, Bryant played down his role in O'Neal's trade and in Phil Jackson's departure as coach, and eluded a question about why, when he was accused in Eagle, Colo., of sexual assault, he told the police that O'Neal had paid as much as $1 million to several women to cover up sexual trysts, which O'Neal has denied.

He told ESPN that Christmas would be an appropriate time to apologize to O'Neal, so maybe there will be one more buss in the arena than Dr. Jerry. Portraying himself as holiday-spirited, Bryant said he was now a prince of a teammate. If you to talk to the Lakers, he said, "it's like a brotherhood around here."

This week, at halftime of "Monday Night Football," Michaels interviewed O'Neal, who reflected on tape about how he did not have to like Bryant to play with him. "I know how he really is," O'Neal said, poker-faced. "I've been trying to tell people for years."

When Michaels asked him about what would happen when they clash for the first time as rivals, the Big Aristotle philosophized that he would be the wall and Bryant a Corvette.

"You know what's going to happen," O'Neal said.

Another heaping helping of Shaq will be delivered at halftime, with another taped interview, this one with Ahmad Rashad.

Hubie Brown, who resigned as coach of the Memphis Grizzlies this season, has joined ABC as Michaels's partner. Brown is not one to dwell on the gossipy aspects of the Shaq-Kobe theatrics. He said the 14-11 Lakers are suffering through having eight new players, including four who start, Bryant's shooting woes and injuries to Slava Medvedenko, Devean George, Vlade Divac and Brian Grant.

"Sure, people in L.A. want it to be better," Brown said during a conference call, "but look at the totals and the teams they played. How many plus-.500 teams have they played?"

The Lakers have beaten two teams that now have records above .500 - defeating the 2-23 Hornets three times - and have lost to six teams above .500.

As for a Shaq-Kobe conflagration, Brown said: "Wilt, Shaq and Artis Gilmore are three of the strongest guys who've ever played, but they are three of the cleanest guys ever to play. They have an inner self-discipline and they know not to hurt a peer. These people could hurt and injure people with lifetime injuries, yet they have that restraint that lets them play the game and play it correctly. No matter how hard you foul Shaq, triple-team and knock him down, he never retaliates."

[boutons]

Ex-Teammates to Face Off
(Oh, a Game Is On, Too)
By HOWARD BECK

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec. 24 - It's hard to break old habits, and after eight years of bickering, sniping and cockeyed stares, and a celebrated divorce that put almost 3,000 miles between them, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are still arguing. They can't even agree on a bad analogy.

Earlier this week, O'Neal warned that it would be dangerous for Bryant to drive the lane when the Los Angeles Lakers play the Miami Heat.

"If you've got a Corvette that runs into a brick wall, you know what's going to happen," O'Neal, the Heat center, told ABC.

Bryant, the Lakers star, protested the comparison, telling Los Angeles reporters, "I'm so far from a Corvette, it's not even funny." Bryant said he was more like a Lamborghini.

To which O'Neal, speaking to Miami reporters, said, "No, he's not. He's a Corvette."

The "am-not, are-too" dialogue could probably go on like this for months, but the truth is, the combatants in this longtime rivalry are not eager to talk about each other, or to each other.

It has been five months since the Lakers chose Bryant as their franchise player and traded O'Neal, and many have grown weary of the nonstop analysis of the breakup. They face each other today at Staples Center, for the first time since they parted ways. If network and league executives are drooling over the potential ratings bonanza, the participants seem ready to get it over with.

"Every game means a lot, but this game Saturday, believe it or not, doesn't even make my top 100 battles," O'Neal told reporters Thursday night in Sacramento. "I've been in the league 12 years and I've had to go up against a lot of people and do a lot of things, but they're trying to make it me against him, and I've always been a team player."

Before Friday's practice, Bryant playfully and sarcastically deflected every question about emotions, sentiment or justifying either team's decision.

"I'm going to have to fight back tears; it's going to be tough," he said. "I honestly don't have any sentiment either way. It's just basketball. It's like going to the park and playing the game at Rucker that everybody's talking about in the summertime. There's a lot of hype around the game. You do what you do. But there's no emotion or tough to play against him or anything like that. It's a game."

Though the league placed this game in its marquee slot on Christmas, Bryant said there was no personal intrigue.

"No, none, zero," he said.

At the Lakers' training complex, Bryant's teammates appeared similarly indifferent.

"If we win that game, they're not going to give us a ring," said Lamar Odom, who went to the Lakers in the O'Neal trade, along with Caron Butler and Brian Grant. (Butler has been suspended for today's game for punching New Orleans guard Dan Dickau on Wednesday.)

As a basketball game, the stakes are not particularly compelling. Bryant's nondescript Lakers are 14-11 and struggling just to stay in the playoff hunt. O'Neal's team holds the best record in the East, at 21-7, and is riding a 10-game winning streak.

"We have a different path than they do," Bryant said. "They're obviously in contention right now, and we're trying to get there."

Last week, Bryant began a public-relations blitz that included three national television interviews and a rare public apology for the role he played in the Lakers' demise.

He also said he would like to apologize directly to O'Neal for mentioning his name to detectives investigating sexual-assault charges against Bryant.

But neither man sounded particularly enthusiastic about clearing the air this weekend. They would not even commit to shaking hands.

When Bryant's recent apology was mentioned, O'Neal said, "I don't watch TV. TV corrupts the mind." And when asked if he wanted to speak with Bryant, O'Neal said flatly, "No."

A handshake sounded possible, however.

"I've always been a classy guy, so I'm going to do things the right and classy way," O'Neal said.

His tone was much different two months ago, when O'Neal called Bryant "a clown" and "a joke." At the time, O'Neal also predicted the Dec. 25 reunion would be "the highest-rated game ever."

On that, the rivals agree.

"I can't believe they're actually spending money marketing this game," Bryant said. "I think this has had eight years of marketing."

While Bryant is working hard to mend his image, O'Neal remains a popular figure here.

He spent Friday, as he has every Christmas Eve for several years, passing out presents to underprivileged children in Los Angeles. Fans greeted him warmly, he said.

"They love me," O'Neal said. "They miss me, and I miss them."

[boutons]

"but slightly lighter is supposed to make a huge difference there"

The before/after numbers are unknowable with any accuracy, but Shaq has lost several 10's of pounds, not "slightly lighter". A very impressive, Oprah-class, off-season upgrade from obese mofo to less-obese mofo. He could still lose another 30 or 40 pounds, to look like he did 10 years ago. 280 would be about right.

We'll see if he can keep it up, lose or gain, next summer.

( Laker trolls, don't bother to respond, I have ALL of you IGNOREd. )

[angel_luv]

I'm with you Goddess.

[adidas11]

Shaq's ideal playing weight is 315.

[boutons]

Hey, Kobe, you're shooting 31% for 3's.

Drive for the 2 to tie, with a chance for AND 1 to win, rather than go for the national TV glory .... and lose. asshole

[T Park]

After reading Phil Jackson's book, I couldnt help but root for the Heat.

Kobe Bryant is a complete prick.


Glad to see the ball hog choke the last shot.