Monday Morning Coffee

nervous-man

May 27th, 2013

Many Kings fans are pretty unfamiliar with this concept of game 7, especially after last season’s cup winning playoff run.  The last time the Kings played in a game 7, I was taking my frustration out on a poor waitress at the UC Irvine campus pub because the Kings just couldn’t get their act together.  That was back in 2002 when the Kings lost to the Avalanche in the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and when Jock Talk was born.

The good news for the Kings is that game 7 is at Staples Center, where they’ve won 13 in a row, and the home team is 6-0 in this series  The bad news is the Sharks have the momentum again, and somebody is bound to win a road game sometime soon.  This series has been close throughout, and figures to be that way for one more game.  Kings fans should be more nervous than a new prison inmate that just dropped the soap in the shower.

Don Mattingly really sacked up last week by benching Andre Ethier, and then Matt Kemp.  Mattingly definitely bought himself some more time with the Guggenheim Group with his tough guy act, but at this point, everyone realizes the team is going nowhere until Kemp and Ethier get it together.  Adrian Gonzales and Carl Crawford may not be the players they used to be, but they have been serviceable.  If Kemp hasn’t been healthy, he should be placed on the DL and Yasiel Puig should be brought up.  The Dodgers need offense badly.

Kemp may be hurt, but what’s Ethier’s excuse for sucking?  He couldn’t hit lefties before, and now he couldn’t hit water if he fell out of of a boat.  Worse, Ethier’s salty attitude is killing the clubhouse, and making the fans and media alike want him shipped out of town.  Maybe he and Mike D’Antoni can make their travel plans together.

Meanwhile, the Angels have won 8 in a row, and the fans are drinking the kool-aid again.  Sorry Halos fans,  but this hole is deeper than the Grand Canyon. They team is still 9 games back in the AL West, and 4 games under .500.   Jered Weaver is poised to return to the mound on Wednesday, and that could keep them alive in the wild card race, but I’ve seen this movie last year, and even Hollywood wouldn’t be this crappy script.

Finally, I do admire Bill Simmons’ breakdown of the Dwight Howard situation, but Mr. Simmons has been bamboozled by Mike D’Antoni’s ridiculous system.  Dwight may not be the best post player in the NBA, but he is still the best center in the NBA, and should get the “mega-max contract” simply because there is a lack of quality big men in the NBA today.  Simmons and others have conveniently forgotten that Dwight is a three-time defensive player of the year, and this past season played for a coach that doesn’t even like to post up players.  If Eric Gordon and Roy Hibbert can command “mini-max deals”, then Dwight Howard can surely command a “mega-max deal”.

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