Lakers Overrated? Overhyped?

In my opinion, I believe that the Los Angeles Lakers are both overrated and overhyped. Although they are coming off back to back NBA Championships they just aren’t the same team, which is why I don’t see them in the finals. Ron Artest hasn’t played well this year and is affecting the way they run their triangle offense, Andrew Bynum is due for an injury, and Derrick Fisher has been inconsistent. This is the sign of an aging Laker team that is just not as good as before. However, every time that there is a conversation about the NBA Finals, many sports analysts say that in the Eastern Conference it is going to be a battle between the Heat, Celtics, Bulls, Magic and now maybe the Knicks. But when it comes to who they are going to play in the finals they often assume that they will play the Lakers.  They rarely mention the Spurs who have the best record in the NBA and the Mavericks who have a better record than Lakers as well. Many people think that the Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference but there are two teams with better records and a couple of teams that are getting players back from injury. So I don’t see how they are the best team in the Western Conference or even in the NBA. As far as being overhyped, I think they are at the top of the list of overhyped teams. No matter who they play, the game is made to seem like a huge game. Maybe the reason for this is that I live in Los Angeles. But regardless of that, If they win three straight against bad teams they make it seem like a big deal, even though it was a given. On the contrary, they make big deal about them losing to a bad team but shortly after they say it was just a game that got away from them and doesn’t show who they really are.  So, as far as the playoffs go I think they will get to the semi-finals but no further. And for the record, even though I hate the Lakers, I am not being biased when I say they are not the same team because the facts are there and even though I hate saying it the Lakers are a good team, just not good enough for another Championship this year. 

NBA Trades

Finally, Carmelo Anthony has been traded to the New York Knicks in a deal that also included the Minnesota Timberwolves. Many players were involved but the key players that changed teams were: Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups (going to New York), Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, and Raymond Felton (going to Denver) and Eddy Curry (going to Minnesota). Although this was a major deal, it may not have been a good trade for the near future. The New York Knicks may have got the player they wanted but they gave a lot up for him and know have a depleted roster. The Denver Nuggets received some good players but their contracts are running out and none of them are star quality like Carmelo Anthony. The third team Minnesota didn’t really get anything nor lose anything so they don’t improve their team much. The trade may benefit the Knicks in the future with two star players but they need to add some more people around Carmelo and Amare (Knicks Power Forward) to be competitive with the other top teams.

On another note, the Utah Jazz and New Jersey Nets negotiated a surprising trade. The Nets were in talks with Carmelo but when he went to New York they quickly shifted their efforts to Deron Williams. The Jazz traded Deron Williams to the Nets for Derrick Favors and Devin Harris. This trade made sense to me because the Nets are trying to rebuild their team and by adding the all-star Williams they certainly took a step in the right direction. Also the Jazz receive a rookie in Favors that has plenty of upside and Harris who is a good young player as well. So, to me this trade seems to be more favorable because of the direction that these two teams are going in. Whereas the Knicks wanted to be competitive now but may have to wait a year or two and rebuild like Utah and New Jersey. 

NBA Dunk Contest Vs "Street" Dunk Contests

Although this year’s NBA All-Star Dunk contest in Los Angeles was one of the more exciting contests in recent years, in my mind it does not stack up to “Street” dunk contests. This year’s dunk contest had some unique dunks but certain dunks may have been under appreciated compared to others. The contestants were Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers), Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City Thunder), DeMar Derozan (Toronto Raptors), and Javale McGee (Washington Wizards). First of all, many of the players that the fans want to see in this contest, primarily LeBron, do not participate so players not well known participate. In my opinion this year’s dunk contest was focused more on the presentation of the dunk rather than the dunk itself. Don’t get me wrong, the dunks were good but some of the gimmicks were unnecessary. A few of the dunks may have been scored a little low and some may have been scored higher than they should have. Serge Ibaka jumped from behind the free throw line and received 45 out of 50 when many thought it was a 50. This stopped him from moving into the final round.  The finals included McGee and Griffin and after two dunks each, Griffin prevailed as the winner. With that said, when you see the dunks that “Street Ballers” do, you seem to get amazed of what they do. If you watch the dunks in the video above you see dunks that have not been done in the NBA (now 17 dunks after today) and wonder why they don’t try them. These dunks are difficult and are sure to get a perfect score yet the NBA players don’t attempt them. On that note, DeMar DeRozan did 2 of these dunks and should have been in the final but was scored low and Griffin got into the final by one point. Griffin may have received the extra point because of the hometown crowd and because he was a fan favorite in the competition. This would lead to another flaw in the contest. The final vote came down to the fans vote and though Blake Griffin may have won the contest anyway, Griffin is one of the most popular players so many of his fans were likely going to vote for him anyways and made it unfair for McGee. Overall, this was a good contest but I believe that the real dunk contests are the ones that are taking place outside of the NBA.

Carmelo To The Nets?or Knicks?

This weekend in sports features the NBA All-Star Weekend which includes the Rookies vs. Sophomores game, the skills competitions and the NBA All-Star Game. This may be the main event this weekend for many sports fans, primarily NBA fans, but another topic that is sure to be talked about is the upcoming trade deadline. One of the top players in the NBA, Carmelo Anthony, has been rumored to be involved in several trades the last month. The two teams that have been the most active in trading for him are the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets. However, last week the Nets supposedly were done trying to acquire Carmelo and then the Los Angeles Lakers were rumored to be interested in trading for Carmelo. Now fast forward to this week and the Lakers are likely out of the discussion and the Nets are back in the discussion. The latest news is that the Nets and Nuggets (Carmelo’s current team) have a structured deal in place but a few things need to happen first. The reason the Nuggets are trying to trade Carmelo is because his contract runs out after the year and there is no real reason to believe he will return. Therefore, they are trying to trade him so that they get some young talent out of it. The problem with this is that the Nets and Knicks want him to sign a 3 year, $65 million contract when they receive him. Carmelo has said that he would sign a deal with Knicks but they can agree on a deal. The reason the deal with the Nets has not happened is that the Nets are not a good team and after the trade they will be less competitive and he likely not want to sign a 3 year contract. So, in about 6 days when the trade deadline occurs Carmelo will likely end up in either a Knicks or Nets Jersey. 

Strikeforce

For those of you who have little or no knowledge of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), there was a big event that took place today. The event was held in Rutherford, New Jersey by the MMA organization Strikeforce. MMA is a combat sport that is on the rise in the United States. MMA has been around for years but it has been primarily popular overseas until recently. In the last five years MMA has become more popular in the United States due to organizations such as the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and Strikeforce. These fights usually take place inside of an octagon cage and are three rounds that last five minutes each unless it is a championship fight. In the case of a championship fight, there are five rounds instead of three.  Today’s Strikeforce event kicked off the start of an 8-man heavyweight tournament that leads to a championship fight. The two main fights of the event featured four of the sport’s top heavyweight fighters that are looking to gain the Strikeforce Championship belt. The first major fight featured Andrei Arlovski and Sergei Kharitonov whom were both trying to regain the top status they once had. The first minute of the first round seemed to be going Arlovski’s way but in MMA that can change quickly and it did. Kharitonov backed Arlovski into the cage and unloaded several punches and eventually dropped Arlovski. Two punches later Arlovski was knocked out cold and the referee jumped in to stop the fight and awarded Sergei Kharitonov the winner by KO. The main event was between Antonio Silva and MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor was a huge favorite coming into the fight and after the first round it looked to be an even fight. Then as the second round started Silva charged Fedor and took him to the ground. Silva managed to get on top of Fedor and dropped several punches on Fedor. By the end of the round Fedor could no longer see out of his eye and the doctor stopped the fight giving Silva the win by Technical Knockout. This event provided great entertainment and the next step for two fighters. While two fighters move on in the tournament, it may mark the end for one the greatest MMA fighters in history. Fedor Emelianenko is arguably the best fighter in MMA history and after the fight he said this may be his last fight. As a big fan of Fedor it is sad to see one of the best fighters leave the sport in this fashion. Although it may be his last fight he will never be forgotten in the MMA world.  

Intro To My Sports Blogs

Hi, my name is Vincent Vargas and I am currently attending my first year at Cal State University Long Beach. Throughout my life I have enjoyed playing and watching the different sports our world has to offer. Unfortunately, my days of playing football are over because I made the decision to come to CSULB. Football was a major part of my life and was tough to give up but now I have plenty of time to focus on my studies. So, as you have probably noticed my blogs will be sports related.  In my blogs I will talk about the major headlines in the sports world as well as give my insight on topics and events that occur. My main focus will be on the MLB, NBA, NFL, and the major MMA organizations. Throughout my blogs you will figure out which teams I like and which I hate. So if I put down your team or if you disagree with one of my opinions leave a comment and we can discuss it further. I am very passionate when it comes to sports so if you share that passion or you would just like to learn something about sports this is the place to be.