The Lakers are toast. After a miserable weekend in Minnesota, they are down 3-1 against the Wolves, heading back to LA for Game 5. Game 3 and 4 were there for the taking, but the Lakers kept shooting themselves in the foot. Turnovers, stupid fouls, and ultimately, getting dominated in the paint and on the boards. The lack of a big man in this series is really hurting them against the likes of Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert. This is where the decision to keep Trey Jemision of the playoff roster is a killer. If the Lakers didn’t want to give up Dalton Knecht, then you would hope they would make him a useful playoff contributor. The Lakers played all 5 players the entire 2nd half, and it caught up with Lebron, who didn’t score in the 4th quarter. I think this team can win Game 5, but let’s be honest, winning two more games after that, even if one is at home will be too tall of a task for this group.

Then there’s the Clippers, who suffered a devastating loss to the Nuggets in Game 4. The Clips looked like they were on the verge of taking a commanding 3-1 lead. I still like their chances to win the series in 7 games, for two reasons. First, Kawhi has reminded everyone that he can still ball out, and be one of the best players in basketball. Then there’s James Harden, who has also reminded us that he still has some very good basketball left in him. The Nuggets might have the best player in The Joker, but Jamaal Murray and Michael Porter have shown me that they have their inconsistent moments. For that reason, I would ever so slightly favor the Clips in this one.

What a disastrous weekend for the Kings in Edmonton. Their best of seven series with the Oilers is now tied at 2-2. However, never has a 2-2 series felt like it was more 3-2. The Kings should be up 3-0, or at least 3-1 going back home, but they made some very foolish coaching decision all weekend. On Friday, it was very foolish to challenge that tying goal in the 3rd period, which resulted in them giving up the game-winning goal on a power-play, when they lost the challenge, about 20 seconds later. They also foolishly went into a 1-3-1 prevent defense to protect the lead instead of continuing to attack. They did the same thing last night in the 3rd period, and that cost them the lead. You can’t do that against a team as skilled as Edmonton. You have to keep the pressure on, and if they did, they would have kept scoring. Sure you can argue if Kevin Fiala doesn’t hit the goal post the Kings probably win that game, or if Quinton Byfield clears the puck in the last minute. However, this is about poor strategy. When you shorten your bench to 3 lines and 4 defenseman, you are going to be fatigued playing that way, and the Kings essentially neutralized their depth advantage against the Oilers. I don’t know if the Kings or their fans have more PTSD after that game. Let’s hope it’s just the fans, because I don’t know how the Kings can mentally overcome those two games and still win this series.

I am both surprised, but pleased at the Rams big move on the draft day a few nights ago. The Rams traded their 1st round pick in this years draft, and will have an extra 1st rounder next year. That will give them a great chance to draft a successor to Matthew Stafford in a year where there are a lot of great quarterback draft prospects. They really did approach this draft with house money though, because there weren’t any major needs. Josiah Stewart is a nice addition to an already loaded defensive line. Sean McVay clearly has a vision for a player like Terrance Ferguson in his offense, and Jarquez Hunter is like the second coming up Kyren Williams, so the Rams have even more offensive depth now too. It took the NFL’s help to finally get Chris Paul to a good LA team, but it finally happened. They didn’t draft a cornerback though, which is surprising, but that could mean Jalen Ramsey could be headed back to LA in a trade. That would be a great thing.

As for the Chargers, they did a nice job of getting Justin Herbert some weapons around him. Omarion Hampton gives them a nice running back, and Tre Harrison might finally give them someone who can catch the football. They also did a nice job adding to the defense on the line, and in their secondary. I could easily see the first 5 picks being starters. The Bolts obviously didn’t do a lot in free agency which wasn’t great, but the draft might have actually made up for that if these guys end up being as good as we think they will be. Going from Tom Telesco to Joe Hortiz is like going from a Honda Accord to a Maserati.

Obviously, the talk of the draft was Shadeur Sanders. However, I think the moral of the story here is when he didn’t work out for teams, he was viewed as not good enough to compensate for the headache and drama that he could bring to the table. Plus the worst part about all this for him is that he is now going to an absolutely horrible situation. A very crowded QB room in Cleveland, in a city with terrible weather, and in a division where he has to compete against 2 of the best quarterbacks in the league. He’s also now going to make less money next year than he would have by staying in college. At one point I thought a new Pope was going to get selected before Shadeur was drafted.

The Dodgers took 2 out of 3 from the Pirates over the weekend, which was much needed to keep pace with the Giants in the NL West. Except the bad news is that they lost Tyler Glasnow to a shoulder injury, which at this point is basically a scheduled injury. The odds of this guy getting injured are about as good as the sun rising tomorrow. That means the Boys in Blue are down to three healthy and effective starting pitchers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, and Dustin May. Dustin May and Clayton Kershaw can’t get back soon enough. Separately, the Dodgers need to keep an eye on Max Muncy’s production, or lack therof, and Andy Pages’ defense. Pages is hitting, but he needs a GPS just to track down routine fly balls. Suddenly a Nolan Arenado trade might not be that unrealistic if Muncy doesn’t start hitting soon. In the meantime, the Dodgers should really consider bringing up Hyeseong Kim and Dalton Rushing if the bottom of the order can’t be more consistent.

Finally, the Angels have really regressed to being “The Angels” over the last two weeks. They have one guy in their lineup that is hitting over .250 and Tyler Anderson is the only reliable starting pitcher. I have no idea why Reid Detmers is in the bullpen. He’s been one of their best pitchers, and for a team that is desperate for starters, they really need him in their rotation. Mike “Mendoza” Trout still has some pop, but can’t seem to stop striking out. Did you know the Halos have a quality assurance coach? I’ve never felt less assured of quality I’m watching in my life. The Halos are already at the bottom of the AL West.

April 21, 2025

How concerned should we be as Laker fans after losing Game 1 against the T-Wolves at home? Maybe not ready to jump off the Santa Monica pier concerned, but concerned. The Timberwolves were shooting from 3 like they had a bunch of Reggie Millers and Ray Allen’s on their team. That might not be repeatable, but the Lakers still have to defend it better and not give up the corner 3 pointer, or else those opportunities are repeatable. What is going to be a problem though is the Wolves defense. They are an excellent defensive team, and a very physical one too. That proved to be a problem for Lebron and Austin, who were ineffective for long stretches in the first game. The Lakers had the intensity of a team that was just getting some cardio at LA Fitness on a Saturday morning pick up game. One thing I will say though if it makes us feel any better: Lebron and Luka have a history of losing game 1 of a series, and making adjustments later on to win that series. We can only hope that is the case here, but we’ll find out soon enough.

On a different Laker note, I can’t believe that Austin Reaves nor JJ Redick were finalists for Most Improved Player, and Coach of the Year, respectively. At minimum, there should be in the top 3 for those awards, and Redick should really be a strong contender to win it. There’s still enough people that vote on these things that just don’t like the Lakers. You may also not have noticed that Rob Pelinka received an extension and promotion from the Lakers last week. Say what you will him accepting a trade for Luka Doncic, which was presented to him, he still did a great job keeping the negotiations quiet. It’s pretty tough to be the Lakers President and GM in this day and age when most people hate your organization, are jealous of you because of your job, and are looking to screw you in every transaction just because of who you are and represent. Somehow, Rob Pelinka manages to work through all that on a daily basis, and acquire franchise changing players, while building championship contending teams. In case you forgot, he also won a championship as well. The extension is well deserved.

As for the Clippers, they really played very well in long stretches against the Nuggets in game 1, but some careless mistakes did them in and gave them a loss. They had 20 turnovers, including 4 critical ones in the 4th quarter. 11 of them were totally unforced. James Harden might actually be the Clips most consistent player this year, yet he got very careless at times with the ball, including critical moments of game 1. That seems extremely correctable for the Clippers, but they definitely don’t want to come back to LA down 0-2 in the series. Even Kawhi was sloppy with 7 turnovers, despite making a lot of clutch shots with his 22 points. I still like them in this series, but we’ll see if they can clean things up tonight.

Listen guys, of course I want the Kings to beat the Oilers in this best of seven series that starts tonight, but I can’t tell you I’m convinced they can finally do it this year. I know you’re all trying to convince yourself this is the year, but why? The Kings are still of the pack offensive team with a terrible power play. It’s actually even worse than last year statistically. Sure they are great defensively, and so is their goaltending, but the Oilers have always seemed to dismantle that part of their game annually. The Kings are going to need to get some out of this world performances from Quinton Byfield or Andre Kuzmenko to beat Edmonton. To me, the Kings personal is more or less the same, and so is the Oilers. In the last three years, the Oilers have simply met the moment at the critical points in the series, like when the Kings should have taken a 3-1 lead in the series two years ago when they blew a big lead in game 4. If the Kings are going to win the series, they have to come up big when it matters. The Oilers still have the two best players in the world, so it’s hard to see anything changing in that regard. Plus this is probably the year Canada finally wins the Cup because they are going to stick it to us because of the tariffs.

The Dodgers took 2 out of 3 against the Rangers, and really should be feeling pretty good about themselves all things considered. They are tied for the most wins in baseball, are just a 1/2 game back of the Padres for the best record in baseball. That’s pretty good considering that their offensive has had some ups and downs, and we haven’t seen the best from their starting pitching yet. In other words, this team has a much higher ceiling than they’ve shown, yet they are right there where we expect them to be. Speaking of pitching, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is looking like a sure fire Cy Young candidate right now. Every time he gets the ball, he’s lights out. He’s emerging as one of the best pitchers in baseball. Roki Sasaki is also improving every start he makes, which is a great sign. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are some injury question marks right now, but reinforcements are likely on the way with Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw soon after that. This team needs 6 healthy and effective starters at one time. Right now they only have 3. Still, lots to feel good about.

The Dodgers will likely be sending the Angels an Easter Basket, after they took 2 of 3 from the Giants over the weekend. The Halos are tough to figure out right now. They got trounced by the Astros and Rangers, before bouncing back against a Giants team that was playing very well. They are hovering around .500. It would really help them if Mike Trout could figure things out. His power numbers are there with 8 home runs, but he’s hitting just .184 right now and striking out more than Steve Urkel on Prom Night. The Halos are going to play the next 6 games against the struggling Pirates and Twins, which they have to take advantage of before life gets more difficult for them again.

Lots of news around UCLA Football and Basketball this past week! The Football team landed a big fish at quarterback in the transfer portal –
Nico Iamaleava. Iamaleava led the Vols to the College Football Playoff last season, but will not be trying to improve a Bruins team that was just 5-7 in its first year in the Big Ten. How much better does he make them? You would hope that they would at least be a bowl eligible team with him being a signal caller for them. This is great for UCLA, but incredibly fortunate for them. Iamaleava wanted $4 million, but there was no market for him in the portal. He claimed to have wanted a better O-Line and better Wide Receivers, but you can’t possibly look at me with a straight face and tell me that UCLA is better in those areas than the Vols. Nevertheless, the Bruins are the beneficiaries of a situation that landed in their lap, but they will take it and have to be excited!

On the other hand though, they probably aren’t as excited with the basketball news that Aday Mara is leaving the program for Michigan. This is extremely disappointing. There’s a lot of vagueness around his departure though. Mara was showing some real promise as a big man for the Bruins, despite his single digit stats. Much of that had to do with limited playing time, which may be due to conditioning, but also could be due to the fact that him and Mick Cronin just didn’t see eye-to-eye, and didn’t think he was ready. At the end of the day he wanted to play more, but at the same time he admitted his conditioning wasn’t completely there. Cronin didn’t see him as ready to play more. It wasn’t a money issue. Is he really going to play more at Michigan? They play at a faster tempo, so if it’s really conditioning that’s not going to help him. I just don’t see this as a great fit for Mara, and UCLA was probably a better place for his development. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the real lack of fit was between him and Cronin. Stylistically, they just don’t mesh with each other, and that is the only real conclusion we can draw from his departure.

April 14, 2025

I told you this way back in October when the season started. The Lakers have a chance to be a top 3 seed in the West this year. Yes, I realize none of us ever thought Luka Doncic would be on the 2nd by February, but still, they finish as a top 3 seed. They could have still been a top 3 seed with AD, but the ceiling on this team is now much higher with Luka. As for the playoff seeding, nothing is an easy matchup, but playing the Timberwolves with home court is probably one of the best outcomes they could have had. They avoid the Warriors in round 1, while the Clippers and OKC aren’t in their bracket. ANT man is great, but Luka, Lebron, and Austin are going to be too tough for the Wolves to match up with, and usually this is where Rudy Gobert gets exposed when teams have great perimeter defenders. As Shannon Sharp would say, “Ant Man, Pac Man, Spider Man, it don’t matter! Lakers in 6!”

I couldn’t help watching that Clippers v Warriors game yesterday and think, “I can’t believe one of these teams will be in the play-in game!”. Both teams are very dangerous right now, but the Clips won a very impressive game. Both Kawhi and James Harden are looking very good right now, and this team looks almost as dangerous as they did in 2020. I dismissed the Clippers a couple of months ago, thinking Kawhi wasn’t going to return to form, but he has, and the support from Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell. The Denver Nuggets have the best player in the world, but they are also in complete turmoil after firing Mike Malone. The Clips are peaking right now, and should be able to win this series in six games, assuming that Kawhi doesn’t suddenly get injured, which feels like an annual tradition.

The Dodgers are suddenly scuffling, losing 2 out of 3 to the Cubs over the weekend, which was their 3rd straight series loss. I’m not so bothered by the losses to the Phillies and Cubs because they are good teams, but the losses to the Nationals feel sloppy. It also just feels extra bad for Dodger fans because the Padres and Giants are playing so well right now, and everybody likes to rub it in when the Boys in Blue take a loss. The bullpen looks a bit overused right now, but reinforcements are on the way. The offense is a little reliant on Tommy Edman, but I expect that to change in short order. This is all very fixable, just with the talent and law of averages.

As for the Angeles, just when you think they are ready to take early control of the division, the Astros come along and take 2 of 3 from them. I think where the Angels can feel good about themselves is that the power numbers are there from the lineup. Mike Trout, Jorge Soler, Kyle Paris, and Logan O’Hoppe are all hitting the long ball. It always come back to pitching with this team, and if they can hold it together. The Halos continue their Texas tour on Tuesday when they take on the Rangers. The Halos have never been great in the division the last few years, so if they want to take control of it, now is the time to do with these early season divisional matchups.

Congratulations to Rory McIlroy on winning the Masters yesterday! He certainly earned that Green Jacket, and completed a career grand slam after an 11-year wait for his fifth major. It really blows my mind that he went that long without winning a major, let alone 14 years without winning at Augusta. When he took the PGA by storm over a decade ago, at one point they thought this guy might be the next Tiger Woods. He wasn’t that, but he’s still a pretty damn good golfer.

Tonight is a huge game for the LA Kings. They take on the Oilers on the road at Edmonton. They only need 2 points to secure home ice advantage against the Oilers in the 1st round of the playoffs. This is going to be the 4th straight year the teams have played in the 1st round. The Oilers have won the previous 3, and have had home ice in each of those series. I explained recently how this is put up or shut up time for the Kings to get past the Oilers finally, but it’s also worth pointing out the Oilers lost top defenseman Mattie’s Ekholm to an injury that will knock him out for the playoffs, which is all the more reason the Kings have to win this series.

April 7, 2025

The Lakers have had their ups and downs the last couple of weeks, but they completely dismantled OKC yesterday on the road. It may have been their most impressive win of the season, and was a reminder that they can in fact play with anybody in the Association after trading for Luka Doncic. Getting to the #2 seed is probably out of reach right now, but if they can find a way to win 3 of the next 4 games, I think they can secure the #3 seed. Matchups are everything at this point, and that would put them in line to avoid OKC and Golden State until the conference finals, who are the two most dangerous teams right now. The Lakers would probably love to see the Grizzlies in the 1st round as well, and have Denver and the Clippers on the other side of the bracket. The irony is after the trade deadline, the Lakers might matchup way better with OKC and Denver, but worse with a team like Golden State, which was the complete opposite before the flurry of deals at the deadline. Austin Reaves has got to be the best #3 option in the NBA. He’s also in the running for Most Improved Player, but it’s unlikely he will actually win it.

As for the Clippers, they have been on quite a run in the last month, along with the Timberwolves. Ironically though, they might still end up in the Play-In Tournament. 3 of their last 4 games will be against teams doing everything they can to win: San Antonio, Houston, Sacramento, and Golden State. The Clippers rise has obviously coincided with Kawhi Leonard’s ability to suddenly play more minutes and even starting to play back-to-back games. The problem for the Clips is that they don’t own the tie breaker with Minnesota, but they do own it over Memphis. It’s truly a rubix cube to figure out where they might finish, but with another back-to-back coming this week, they will need Kawhi if the plan to stay out of the Play In Tournament.

That was a tough weekend series for the Dodgers against the Phillies. They lost 2 of 3, but lost both games by a combined 2 runs. Friday the Dodgers just couldn’t really get the bats going, and yesterday, Tyler Glasnow and the bullpen had their struggles in wet conditions. The Phillies are a great team, but just made a few more plays. Nevertheless, what you can feel good about is the fact Yoshinobu Yamamoto continues to look elite, Roki Sasaki is slowly gaining more confidence as a pitcher, and this team does not quit. The bad news is that Blake Snell is going on the IL with shoulder inflammation, and like I told you, there was no way all these guys were going to stay healthy. Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw are still a few weeks away from coming back, so the Boys in Blue will have to patch it together with Matt Sauer, Landon Knack, and Justin Wrebleski. In any case, 9-2 to start the season is nothing to complain about.

As for the Angels, they are off to a surprising start at 6-3 after taking 2 of 3 from the Guardians. I don’t want to make too much out of it so far, but the most promising pieces of this are that Mike Trout is hitting with power, and Logan O’Hoppe looks legit too. I can’t say I’m terribly impressed with the pitching, which is in the bottom 3rd of the league, which is pretty much where I expected them to be in terms of ERA. The Angels get the Rays next on the road, so we’ll find out soon enough just how real this team is.

I can remember when I was 12 years old, I recorded on VHS the game where Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe’s all-time goal scoring record vs the Vancouver Canucks. Gretzky was my guy as a kid, and I thought there was no way that record would ever be broken. Well sure enough, it was broken yesterday by Alex Ovechkin. It took someone playing for 20 years and averaging 50 goals a season to do it. The man is amazing to be scoring 40 goals a season at almost 40 years old. Even more impressive is the fact he is doing this in a year where the Capitals are the best team in the Eastern Conference. Look, Gretzky is the Greatest NHL Player of All-Time, and is universally recognized as that. We probably don’t have hockey in Southern California like we do today without Gretzky. However, Ovi is an incredible player in his own right and for sure one of the all-time greats.

Speaking of hockey, the LA Kings quietly clinched a playoff spot over the weekend. More importantly though, with their win over Edmonton this weekend, the Kings have likely secured home ice advantage in the 1st round. I’m still very skeptical of them winning any matchup with the Oilers. However, having home ice advantage is a very good place to start to improve their chances. It doesn’t matter though if they are going to get smoked in 5 games or 6 games like the last couple of years. If for some reason the Kings don’t play the Oilers in round 1 and lose, that would be an even bigger indictment on Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille as executives. Who are we kidding though, they are going to play the Oilers again!

Those were two great Final Four Games we got over the weekend! Walter Clayton Jr is amazing. Does anybody realize this kid averaged just 7 points per game two years ago at Iona? Now he’s projected to be a lottery pick. He is an elite shot maker as a 6’2 guard, and he is the reason Florida defeated Auburn and is in the Championship game tonight. Meanwhile, you can love America, and you can love Duke, but you can’t love both. Cooper Flag is a hell of a player, but Houston is relentless, and deserve all the credit in the world for rallying in that game. Why should we be surprised though? White Lotus predicted this!

Speaking of White Lotus, we have to talk about the Season Finale, which went down last night. Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it, so read no further if you plan on watching it later. Overall, I have to say I’m pretty disappointed with it compared to the last 2 seasons. The biggest issue is that the characters were not nearly as interesting as the first two seasons, when Tanya and Armon made the entire show. Their deaths were extremely dramatic and a big deal. In the case of this season, the deaths of Rick and Chelsea were not nearly that big of a deal, because there just wasn’t enough character development with them. Ok, I get it…..Chelsea foreshadowed that her fate was tied to Rick, which is exactly how it played out in the end. However, the way it went down was laughable. Rick finding out that Jim is his father? Come on really? Like he didn’t have time to tell him that when he had a gun pointed at him. Also stupid of Rick to just go back to the White Lotus like Jim was never going to find him. We never even saw the actual bodies floating the river that Belinda’s son saw at the beginning, but can only assume it was one of the guards. I’m sure this is not the last time Belinda and her son will see Gary, but the irony of her escape is that it’s actually worse than what Tanya did to her in season 1. All that lady friendship was ridiculous. It was still the worst girls trip ever, no matter how hard they tried to patch up their fake friendship in the end. It was also totally gutless of Mike White to not kill Lochlan. Tim should have suffered for all the stupid things he did, and accidentally killing Lochlan would have been the ultimate price to pay, but apparently it was just too much for even this show. Lochlan’s miraculous recovery? Come on!!! Hope next season is better.

March 31, 2025

I’m sure you’re all wondering if the Dodgers are ever going to lose another game. At some point they probably will because it’s baseball, but they sure do look incredible to start the year. It turns out that Mookie Betts is just fine, already smashing two homers on Friday night to win the game. The lineup is so deep, Shohei, Freddie, Teo, Will Smith, and Tommy Edman are all coming to play early on. Wait until the bottom of the lineup gets going and this team could be even tougher. The same goes for the pitching. It’s absolutely scary for opponents. Roki Sasaki has incredible potential, but they don’t need him to be great right now, so his growing paints are not a problem to deal with. Yoshinobu Yamamoto looks elite, Blake Snell looks fine, However, the bullpen has so mean weapons in it, if a starter is only able to go a couple of innings its no big deal. This team is a lot of fun to watch! Do you really care though if they win 117 games? What you really care about is if they repeat as World Series Champions. Here come the Braves for a 3-game set at the Ravine starting tomorrow.

As for the Angels, I don’t want to draw too many conclusions from their series with the White Sox to open the season. However, I will remind you of the fact that their organizational ineptitude was on full display in the last week. They released Mickey Moniak, who at one point appeared to be the future of the organization. He’s certainly had his struggles, but once he got consistent playing time, he showed he had what it takes to be a regular major leaguer. Then they relegated Reid Detmers to the bullpen to start the season, a player that at one point could be a front line starter with the team. This is all about the organizations inability to develop talent. I’ve seen nothing that makes me think this will change anytime soon.

To the NBA, where the Lakers are trying to put an absolutely brutal stretch of basketball behind them. They blew a lead and lost against the Magic early in the week, then suffered another sloppy loss to the Bulls on Friday, losing on a miracle shot at the buzzer from Josh Giddey. There were some nice wins against Indiana and Memphis in there too, but overall, this team looks like the schedule has caught up to them, and the mistakes they have been making in games look like they are a result of physical and mental fatigue. The good news for the Lakers though is that they still have the opportunity to get the #2 seed with 8 games left. They play the Rockets twice at home, including tonight. They’ll play the Thunder twice, but it’s very likely they’ll be resting players, and there are no back-to-back games. Everybody is tough, but OKC is the toughest team in a 7-game series. Get the #2 seed and avoid them until the conference finals. Don’t overthink it. Also, Lebron, Luka, and Austin are forming nice chemistry, but the story is Gabe Vincent. This dude makes me go from wanting him cut in favor of a G-Leaguer, to invoking memories of Derek Fisher in the 2001 playoff run. I have zero confidence he can make a wide open 3, but all the confidence in the world he can make a contest 3 in the middle of crisis. He’s 2024 Drake and 1996 Tupac. Make no mistake about it. He will have a big say in the outcome of the Lakers season.

Not only have the Clippers put themselves back in the mix to stay out of the play-in tournament, they are also looking like a scary team to play. They are now 8-2 in their last 10 games, and they are creeping up on the 5th seed as well. Yes, I know the belief in the Clippers is entirely based on the health of Kawhi Leonard. Nobody is sitting here telling you they are going to win a championship or come out of the West. But the idea that Kawhi could be healthy does create some problems for anybody that has to deal with them in the early going, especially if he is playing at the level he is now.

You say you want upsets. But do you really? All 4 number 1 seeds made it to The Final Four next weekend. That means the selection committee got it right. The best teams in College Basketball all season are proving to be the best. The idea of upsets sounds really cool in the early going, but once you get to the end, you would be left watching a couple of teams from schools that you just wouldn’t be interested in watching. Now you will get to see elite basketball from elite teams. The transfer portal and NIL may have killed the Cinderella Stories in College Basketball though. Now all the big time programs are going back to recruiting experienced kids and paying them more, which the smaller schools can’t compete with anymore. I’m not complaining about it by any means, but that’s the way College Hoops used to be.

Speaking of the transfer portal, immediately when the portal opened last week, UCLA did what they had to do. They acquired Donovan Dent, arguably the best player available in the transfer portal. In addition to that, Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack have both entered the transfer portal as well and are leaving UCLA. Andrews and Mack are good kids, and I wish them the best of luck for the remainder of their college careers. With that being said, Dent makes UCLA much better, and if they can retain Mara, Bilodeau, Daily, and Clark, this is going to be a very good team. Trent Perry also announced he’s staying at UCLA. With Kobe Johnson graduating, the Bruins could also use another good wing defender. There is still time to get one in the portal.

March 24, 2025

What a disappointing ending to the season for UCLA basketball. That was a very winnable game against Tennessee, but they just didn’t have enough fire power. The issue for this team was always gonna be the offense and it proved to be the thing that killed them in the end. Dylan Andrews , Eric Dailey, and Kobe Johnson were complete no shows. Mack is way too one dimensional for a guy who plays that much. The guard play was abysmal. Mick Cronin has his flaws, but reality of it is he needs better NIL players. The transfer portal opens on Monday, and the Bruins better find a way to get some elite play making guards, along with finding a way to keep Aday Mara and Trent Perry from leaving the program.

UCSD should be very proud of what they did in round 1, even though they lost to Michigan. Seeing John Calipari vs Rick Pitino in round 2 was pretty weird, but also a great game. There have been some good games, but no completely shocking upsets. An all-chalk bracket has you at 250/320 points after round 1. If you have 240-260 points. I am calling you a “no fun NPC chalk boy.” If you have 190-220 points I am calling you a man of culture who just got unlucky. You like to have fun, you’re cool, people like you. The first two days of March Madness are arguably the greatest sports day of the year! If you called in sick to work I applaud you! I still like Florida to win the whole thing.

To baseball, where the Dodgers opened their season in Tokyo last week, and they swept a 2 game series against the Cubs. They got great pitching, good enough hitting, and that was all Without Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Yamamoto looked very polished, and you know Ohtani wasn’t going to leave Japan without hitting a home run. Roki Sasaki’s stuff is electric but needs to work on his command. I guess it doesn’t matter when the bullpen is lights out though. Wait until Evan Philips gets healthy and it’s 6 guys that are just lights out in the pen that throw 95+. The talent and depth is just ridiculous. Sasaki and Yamamoto could be an elite duo for the next 5-7 years, but the Dodgers need to find a way to protect their arms and keep them healthy. Where I am worried though is Mookie’s healthy. This man has lost 23 LBs in two weeks, which probably has Ozempic users jealous. Except in Mookie’s case he’s been ill for that long, and can’t keep any food down. I’m hopeful we’re all just overreacting, but this has been going on for two weeks, and seems more than just some bad sushi.

The Angels are getting ready to open their season with a lengthy road trip. Is there anything much to be excited about? In 2024 you said this team can’t get any worse. Then Perry Minasian said “hold my beer” and added a bunch of former White Sox to the roster. It’s like they decided to assemble a super team of #4 pitchers. Yoan Moncada is currently your Anthony Rendon replacement. Of course Rendon makes this guy look like Chipper Jones, even though Moncada is hitting .190 in Tempe this spring. If nothing else, hopefully Mike Trout stays healthy and returns to being the Trout we all know he can be.

I don’t know what the hell that was on Saturday night, but the Lakers suddenly looked like the Washington Generals. They had more turnover than Betty Crocker, and they couldn’t even guard a parked car. I’ll give them a pass and chalk it up to some rust after a lot of guys not being in rhythm after coming back from injury. I still think this team has a great shot at getting the #2 seed after a stretch from hell. We will also get a pretty good idea of just how much of a contender they are. In the last 12 games they’ll play the Thunder twice, the Rockets twice, the Grizzlies, and the Warriors. The schedule sounds tough, but they also own the tie breakers with most of the teams they are battling with. Separately, this LeBron vs Stephen A Smith battle is unnecessary, but I’m with Lebron. All of this started because Stephen A, among many others, tried to tell you Bronny James shouldn’t be in the NBA, and the only reason he is on the Lakers bc of his dad. However , you people are way too naive if you think people getting opportunities to succeed everyday from family or friends is nepotism. At the end of the day that person who had the opportunity has to prove themselves, and that’s exactly what Bronny is doing. He’s shown how much he’s improving everyday, and if you think he doesn’t have the skills to be on an nba roster right now, you don’t watch ball. For that reason, I have no problem with LeBron calling out Stephen A.

Don’t look now, but the Clippers have turned things around and might even get to the #6 seed. They got healthier, and Kawhi is starting to play like the elite player we remember him to be. I know we are always waiting for the other shoe to drop and for him to show up the next day saying he’s out of the season, but the Clips will take advantage of his presence while they can. I’m sure every Laker fan is wondering what life would be like if they had Ivica Zubac on their team, who has turned into an excellent center.

What do the Rams need to do in the draft? There are no really glaring needs, so they can approach this in two ways. They can build more foundational depth for the future, like drafting a quarterback to develop, or add more depth on both the offensive and defensive lines. Alternatively, they can try to swing for the fences at 2-3 positions that are game changers. These are inside line backer, cornerback, and wide receiver/running back. I’m more in favor of the latter approach because the objective is to win a Super Bowl, so maximize your chances with the elite pieces you already have.

Finally, the LA Kings have stabilized things for the time being and look like they are headed back to the playoffs. Going into yesterday they had won 7 of their last 10 games. More importantly, everyone decide to start scoring again, including Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield. I have my doubts the Kings are going to win the division, and they once again look destined to face the Oilers again in the 1st round of the playoffs. However, for things to be different this time two things must happen: Quinton Byfield must be elite, and they must have home ice advantage. The Kings are the best home team in the league. I have more confidence in Byfield being just that, but earning home ice advantage over Edmonton still seems doubtful.

March 17, 2025

The Bruins lasted about as long as the rap career of Vanilla Ice in the Big Ten Tournament. They got bounced by Wisconsin, who kept making 3-pointer after 3-pointer. As a result, the Bruins had to settle for the #7 seed and a 1st round matchup with Utah State. The good news for UCLA is that while the road to a deep tournament run looks tough, it’s not the toughest bracket. Utah State is a favorable matchup, and although Tennessee has one elite player, they are very dependent on him and that makes them vulnerable. UCLA also has #1 seed Houston in their bracket, who might be among the weaker of the top seeds. With all that being said, this UCLA team has been incredibly inconsistent, especially when it comes to guard play. Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack have to play well against the great teams, and the defense has to be elite, or UCLA won’t get out of the 1st weekend of play. This team could have its season end on Thursday night, or make it to the Elite 8. It’s a Mick Cronin team, so nothing would surprise me.

It’s that time of year where we all pretend like we’ve been watching College Basketball all year long, and are some kind of crazy experts. Even the real “experts” have a hard time making sense of all this, and there’s only even a couple of those people. Joe Lunardi has been scamming people for years into paying him to make fake brackets every week, and by the time it’s tournament time, everybody has forgotten about all the stuff he made up for the last few months. One thing is apparent: the NCAA Selection Committee did not care at all about what happened in the Conference Tournaments. It’s like they made their decisions in the middle of last week, then said “oh well!” after that. Florida is pretty damn good though, and is probably the best team in this whole tournament. Watch out for my UCSD Tritons though! They are in the tournament for the first time they are eligible, and might even win a round or two. UC Irvine should probably be in the tournament too, but even in 2025, they still aren’t going to take two teams from their conference.

To baseball, where we are just 24 hours away from the Dodgers starting their season in Tokyo! I can’t wait to see Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki get the ball in the first two games against the Cubs! These two guys can probably anchor this teams rotation for the next 5-10 years, but the trick will be keeping them healthy, which isn’t easy for pitchers. Unfortunately, Mookie Betts is suffering from an illness and will miss the entire series. Sounds like dude just had some bad sushi.

In the NBA, the Lakers ended a 4-game losing streak yesterday with a win against the Suns. Somehow, nobody really feels that bad about their losing streak though. They have been severely undermanned for those games, although they nearly beat the Nuggets on the road. If the Lakers can just tread water for a couple of more games, I still think they have a shot at the #2 seed by the time Lebron and Rui come back. This is also the toughest part of their schedule too, which will be past them by the time those two get back in the lineup. They will need to make sure they find the win column tonight against the Spurs though, who are now tanking after losing Wemby for the season.

There’s good news and bad news for the Clippers. The good news is Kawhi is ballin again. The bad news is they are very much stuck in the play-in tournament, and fighting for positioning there. Norman Powell will need some time to ramp up too, after returning from injury. If there’s one team in that play-in they want to avoid, it’s Minnesota. They have been on fire of late, and Ant Man has been tearing it up.

The Rams officially waived goodbye to Cooper Kupp last week. I was mildly intrigued at the idea of having him on the roster at a cheaper rate, but it wasn’t to be. He still got a pretty decent chunk of change from the Seahawks. I love Kupp, but the reality of it is, injuries have taken their toll on him. He can no longer get separation from defensive backs like he used to, and it became more and more obvious as last season went on. Unfortunately for the Rams, after Tee Higgins massive contract from the Bengals, they will ultimately need to pay a lot more for Puka Nacua, once he’s due for his extension.

Does Aaron Rodgers like drama or what? This dude has had offers on the table from the Giants and Steelers for weeks. Yet he’s probably out somewhere smoking weed in the forest, trying to find himself. Even Adam Schfter is like “dude do you want to play football or not?”. This is why having him on your football team at this point isn’t worth it, unless you badly need a quarterback. The Steelers are the only ones that really do, but at some point, they will need to move on.

March 10, 2025

The Lakers really shouldn’t feel so bad about themselves. They rallied from a big deficit against the Celtics on the road, and although they fell short, they had a lot working against them. Luka Doncic had a bad back, Lebron left with an injury, and they played without Rui Hachimura and Jaxton Hayes. That’s way too much to overcome against a contender like the Celtics. I also think Lebron being out 1-2 weeks is really bad timing, but I think the Lakers will fare better thank you think. Austin is going to have a much bigger role, and as long as Luka stays healthy, he’s getting way more comfortable and looking like himself. Lebron is basically Wolverine too, so I expect him to heal quickly. Don’t dismiss these guys from taking the #2 seed just yet!

The Clippers are definitely in a make or break portion of their season right now. They are fighting for their playoff play-in tournament lives, but the good news for them is that they’ve won their last two games to stop their skid. They are back up to 8th place in the West, and as long as Kawhi Leonard can stay available, which I know is sometimes like asking to win the lottery, then they should be able to stay in the play-in tournament. Kawhi was not only available, but hit a buzzer beater last night to beat the Kings. The Mavericks are falling apart with injuries, and Spurs have given up on the season, and the Suns hate each, so I like the Clips chances of at least treading water.

To the NFL, where the Rams shocked everyone yesterday by signing Davante Adams to a 2-year deal worth $26 million. I can’t say I understand this move, even though Adams is a big name. The Rams didn’t want to pay Cooper Kupp $30 million, but instead they want to pay Adams, who is a year older, $26 million? Is he that much better at this point in his career? I’m not so sure. I am slightly intrigued at the idea of keeping Kupp on a discounted deal if he’s willing to stay, but it doesn’t sound like Les Snead and Sean McVay want him to. In any case Snead and McVay deserve the benefit of the doubt that Adams is the right guy.

Now that Adams and DK Metcalf are off the market, what are the Chargers going to do? The Bolts still have a bunch of Door Dash drivers as their receivers, which isn’t going to be great for Justin Herbert. Joe Horitz says that the Bolts are going to be responsible this off-season with their spending. However, keeping Quintin Johnson as your #1 receiver is not responsible.

I’m astonished that UCLA ended up finishing in 4th place in the Big Ten! That got them a bye until Friday evening, and they just have to win 3 games to win the conference tournament. I certainly wouldn’t hold my breath that they are going to, but if they can win a game or two, they might be able to get into a lower seed in the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. That’s actually important so they don’t get stuck playing the likes of Duke or Auburn in the 2nd round.

I told you it was bound to happen. Pitchers get hurt. The first Dodger pitcher to get hurt and be out of the season? Michael Grove. He underwent season ending surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder. This is exactly why the Dodgers have a lot of depth. You need 12 starting pitchers to end up with 4 healthy and effective starters coming playoff time. With that being said, hopefully there aren’t many more of these, but sadly, it’s inevitable and more pitchers will get hurt.

I think I speak for all LA Kings fans when I saw we are just glad that Rob Blake didn’t screw up the team at the trade deadline. It’s simple. None of us really wanted a trade, but instead we want him to be fired, and I’m beginning to think he can take Luc Robitaille with him. Sure enough the Kings jerk Brandt Clarke around, and then they put him back in the lineup and he scores a beautiful goal. The Kings continue to be clueless developing their young players, and if they don’t change their foolish way of thinking, they will be ticketed for last place in the West in the next year or two.

March 3, 2025

Cooler heads have prevailed. The Rams agreed on a restructured contract with Matthew Stafford late last week, after it appeared as though he was headed to the Raiders for a moment. Sometimes the wife just needs to calm down and stop making noise on podcasts, and that’s exactly what happened here. Stafford wanted to be paid, but he was willing to take a little less to stay with the Rams. While we don’t know the terms yet, that’s exactly what happened. It’s simple. With Stafford the Rams are Super Bowl contenders. Without him they are not. Both sides are well aware of that, and as dumb as we think the Raiders and Giants are, they were never going to give up their 1st round pick in this year’s draft for him. They also locked up Left Tackle, Alaric Jackson, to an extension. The real question though is what’s going to happen to Cooper Kupp. If Deebo Samuel is worth a 5th round pick and somebody will pay his entire salary, you’ve gotta think Kupp is worth at least a 4th and someone will take his whole salary too. If that were to happen, what they do at wide receiver will be something to watch, since they really need a deep threat.

I don’t know if people realize this, but the Lakers are 16 games over .500! They won their 6th straight last night, are #2 in the West and they’ve been the best defensive team in the NBA for the last six weeks! That’s pretty good considering they acquired “Hookah Dončić“ who is one of the worst defenders in the NBA according to the media. OK, he’s not a great defender, but I have to say he’s actually played pretty good defense since he’s arrived here, and has the potential to be a much better defender than I thought. The Lakers just ran down the Nuggets for the number two seed and Luca isn’t even himself yet. Wait until he starts making shots consistently, and then this team will be really dangerous! What’s been really impressive though is the bench. People seem to forget that the Lakers are actually really good at developing young players. They found a couple of good ones in the G league with Trey Jemison and Jordan Goodwin who look like effective rotation players for the team right now. Also lost in all this is how amazing LeBron James looks in year 22 and 40 years old. LeBron is putting up numbers that are equivalent to his MVP season in Miami about 12 years ago! It’s still a little early to be calling the Lakers part of the inner circle of NBA championship contenders this season. However, every day they’re making me think they are part of that conversation more and more.

I think it’s fair to say after last night that the Clippers are going to finish somewhere between the #6 seed and the #10 seed in the West. Everyone ahead of them is basically out of reach. The Clips wanted to win that game so badly last night, they played Kawhi Leonard and James Harden nearly 40 minutes. That hasn’t happened in over a year and a half. The good news for the Clips though is that Kawhi had his best game of the season, and perhaps is improving conditioning wise. The question as always is how his knee will hold up after playing as many minutes as he did. Having Norman Powell back on a full time basis will help too, after he left last night’s game with hamstring injury.

I can’t believe some of you are already freaking out about how the Dodgers look in spring training. Who cares about their record when half the teams regulars aren’t playing much? In just a little bit of action we’ve seen from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez, they’ve looked really good! I even think someone like Dalton rushing looks promising as well. The only minor concern is how the pitching looks, but it’s spring training! There’s enough talent all over this roster to pick each other up when one guy isn’t performing well.

As for the angels, Mark Gubzica is out here trying to tell us that he’s never seen talent like this in the pitching staff in years. Mark Gubzica is also probably trying to sell ice to the Eskimos while he’s at it. You can’t fool us, Gubby! The Halo’s signed some middle of the road free agents, overpaid them, and are going to be expecting a lot out of them to keep them afloat this year. They are going to be hoping for more progress from a lot of of their young players like Christian Moore, Zack Neto, and others, but the likelihood of that happening is about as great as me winning the Powerball.

I think UCLA’s fate for NCAA March madness seeding was sealed over the weekend with their loss to Purdue. The only way they can get to a number four seed is by winning the Big Ten tournament and that seems pretty unlikely at this point. On the bright side, Mick Cronin teams have had a tendency to raise their game come tournament time and their defense is something that will travel well no matter who they play and where they play. On any given day, they could definitely beat anybody in the country, anywhere. I’m just not so confident they can win an entire tournament with all of those elite teams in it. They need to find more offense for that.

Nothing is more aggravating than seeing the LA Kings play hockey these days, and how poorly they are run. This is still a playoff team, but a completely unserious one with how they are operating. They are now benching promising young defenseman Brandt Clarke. They are trying to tell us he’s not great defensively, but the numbers say otherwise, since they’ve been outscored 10-1 in those 3 games without him. So much for him being “just an offensive defenseman”. The player development in this organization is awful and will continue to be. I’ve even heard Quinton Byfield’s name in trade rumors in the past week. You can talk all you want about the Kings trying to chase  Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand, or some other big name forward, but one player won’t make this team contenders. They need another goalie, they need more scoring, and they need another checking line winger. Gutting your team for some expensive scorer who is a pending unrestricted free agent won’t solve that. It’s about developing depth with their young players, who most around the league would say are promising. Their goaltending isn’t all that elite, their power play stinks, and their top 9 forwards are wildly inconsistent. Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille were great NHL Players, but as executives, they just don’t get it.

Finally, the 97th edition of the Oscars went down last night in Hollywood. I realize that Hollywood has always been very liberal historically, but people are wondering why it’s so hard to make content these days and get anything to stick. It’s because when you get political, no matter what your position is, you’re going to alienate half the audience. People aren’t going to watch your movies so they can watch some social agenda the producers are determined to get across. People want to laugh, they want suspense, they want drama. That’s exactly what’s happened to the movie and television industry, and last night was a reminder of all that. 3 hours practically dedicated to politics. It was headlined by Karla Sofia Gascon, who tanked her film’s Oscar Trajectory, with her Islamophobic tweet in late January. Conan O’Brien tried to crack jokes about it to break the ice, but the whole evening was still awkward. Also, did we really need to hear Robert DiNiro say “fuck Trump” on live TV? I did love the fact Adam Sandler clearly didn’t care about the dress code, and basically showed up looking like a homeless guy in Santa Monica.

February 24, 2025

So this is what it feels like to have Luka Dončić on your basketball team!  Saturday night really served as proof of concept that the Lakers new roster might actually be a championship contender.  Although I’m not sure how you guys expect the Nuggets to beat the Lakers when they don’t have Darvin ham and D’Angelo Russell playing for them.  Maybe the Lakers don’t really need a center for the time being and instead they just need to swarm Jokić with a bunch of 6’7 dudes that are very athletic.  The Lakers are more interesting than they have been in the last couple years and they might actually be a championship contender.  No I’m not quite ready to say that they are a true championship contender this year, but maybe. 

As for LeBron, you may have heard that last week he went after Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb for his awful 2-24 record this season.   Gottlieb was previously a sports talk radio host and last summer criticized LeBron and Bronny James for the fact that Bronny is in the NBA simply because he’s a “make a wish kid” and just because he’s LeBron James son.  Since Gottlieb got the head coaching job at the university without any head coaching experience, of course LeBron saw this as an opportunity to go back at him and make fun of his performance.  I have no issue with LeBron going after him.  As I’ve said before here on Jock, Talk LA there are tons of people in this world who are given opportunities because of the people they know and the relationships that they have. There is nothing wrong with Bronny being in the NBA because of his dad, however he will have to prove that he does belong in the league in the long run. So far he is on his way to doing that because he has proven to be a good player that is developing nicely in the G-League.   Besides… The smack talking actually makes this a whole lot more fun!

Everyone is talking about the NHL‘s Four Nations face off tournament. It really was a fantastic tournament and congratulations to Canada on their win over the United States.   It blows me away that these NHL players look like they are ready to sacrifice their lives for their country in these exhibition games.   What people are also talking about though, is PK Subban‘s comments about how the NHL players represented themselves with a lot of pride while the NBA players do not represent themselves with any pride at all during events like the All-Star weekend.   It’s very hard for anybody to argue against PK. Even if you love the NBA like I do, the players are playing like a disgrace when it comes to showcase events to really elevate the sport.  More than anything though, it’s a big wake up call to stars like LeBron, James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant raise the level of their compete for other players to follow suit.  Those players certainly care about their legacy, and if they don’t do that before they leave the game, it might actually be a knock against all of their legacies.

Yesterday was a really great day for UCLA basketball! The Bruins took down Ohio State and they celebrated the legacy and life of basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton.   On the court the Bruins continue to look like a strong basketball team and congratulations to Mick Cronin on achieving his 500th win as a college head coach. Their defense continues to be elite and arguably the best in the Big Ten, which should travel well come March Madness. However, their offense still  is a bit of a concern.  They may have figured things ou, though by putting Aday Mara in the lineup more regularly, who has size and skill to help them on both ends of the floor.  Sure he has to put on a little weight, but Mick Cronin is finally beginning to realize that letting him play and develop is the best move for the teams success.  Making their free throws against bum teams like Minnesota would probably help their chances too.

I wouldn’t freak out just yet that the Rams are letting Matthew Stafford talk to other teams about a contract. I still think that both Stafford and the Rams want to have a reunion, however, Stafford wants to be paid fairly. The only way he can find out his true value is is by talking to other teams so the Rams can determine what it is they need to pay him in order to retain him. Make no mistake about it though, the Rams know that if they want to be Super Bowl contenders right now Matthew Stafford is their best option.  I suppose if they are unable to work it out with Stafford, Aaron Rodgers is going to be there next best option. Although if that happens, get ready for a year of complete nonsense with Rodgers talking about being unvaccinated and snorting marijuana off of tree branches during his long nature walks  in his “darkness periods”.

To baseball, where spring training is underway. The Dodgers have only won 1 of their first 4 outings. However, most of that is because they’ve been throwing rookie pitchers on the mound, along with Landon Knack and Ben Casparius. 4 months after the World Series, it’s like those two are still out there eating innings while the Dodgers are telling them “we don’t care if you suck, just protect us from having to use any of our really good pitchers”. As for those better pitchers, thus far Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, and Nick Frasso have looked good in the early going. It’s a small sample size, but we haven’t seen much of Gonsolin and May the last couple of years, so it’s positive news, nonetheless.

Finally, Arte Moreno did his annual spring training interview with the media last week. Once again, he provide his explanation of why the Angels still suck. This time he sort of took some blame by saying “it’s probably” his fault, but he surprisingly shifted some blame to Mike Trout, saying he had no control over whether or not he was healthy or staying on the field. Of course what he failed to acknowledge was his lack of investment in other areas of the organization like player development and scouting, which have really been the downfall of the team. He also disappointed most Angel fans by letting them know the team isn’t for sale right now, and that despite a new Anaheim City administration, he’s not going to put any money into renovating a stadium. Meanwhile, for those of you thinking the Angels could sign Vlad Guerrero Jr next year, ask yourself why would he want to join this mess? They certainly don’t seem likely to outbid other teams for his services either.