January 8, 2024

The Rams finished up the regular season yesterday with a win against the 49ers, and are headed for a 1st round playoff matchup against the Lions. Congrats to Carson Wentz on getting a win when given the opportunity, since the Rams rested most of their starters. The major significance of the game though was that Puca Nacua broke the rookie record for receiving yards and receptions, which is phenomenal for the 5th round pick. The Rams will face the Lions, which I know is the storyline everybody wanted to see. However, I feel like they may have been better off facing the Cowboys, who let’s just just say, may be allergic to winning big games. You know Jared Goff is going to throw for 500 yards and 5 touchdowns for a big revenge game, just because the Football Gods would probably want that. This has been a solid season for the Rams, and a great accomplishment getting this far, but I think next weekend is unfortunately where it ends. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong.

As for the Chargers, they finished up their disastrous season yesterday with a last minute loss to the Chiefs. For now though, there’s actually a lot to be excited about. The Bolts will get the #5 pick in the draft, but they suddenly have the opportunity to completely change their level of credibility in the NFL and in Los Angeles with a new head coach. That head coach should be Jim Harbaugh, who is rumored to have met with the Chargers multiple times already, and is also rumored to be highly interested. What’s not to like? He would be in LA and would have an excellent quarterback to work with, as well as other talent. The Bolts will need to solve some salary cap issues, as they probably need to shed about $67 million in total. You can always find a way to manipulate the cap in the NFL, and I expect they will find a GM who can do that, but there should still be enough talent on this team, as long as they get the right coach. If they don’t get Harbaugh, they should find a way to get Bill Belichik, who would be fantastic as well. Either is a transcendent coach that completely changes the course of the franchise. It’s a pivotal moment for the Chargers to determine if they will ever be relevant in the LA sports market. Not to be dramatic or anything.

To the NBA, where the Lakers managed to get back in the win column last night with a narrow victory against the red hot Clippers. I haven’t mentioned Darvin Ham and his coaching performance for a while on Jock Talk LA, but I think it’s high time I do. Before last night, it appeared this team had completely quit on him, and that he had lost the locker room. You cannot blame them though, because he refuses to play the lineups that got them to the conference finals last season for some bizarre reason. That’s exactly why they re-signed everyone, so he’s completely defeating the purpose. I’m also offended that Ham has criticized Laker fans recently by saying we all “live and die” with every game. Sorry Darvin, but where do you think you’re coaching bro? This isn’t Sacramento or Orlando. Even if you believe the Lakers are not a championship contender, they should be much better than this. They have two of the top 10 players in the league, who by the way, have played in most of the games and been outstanding. This team doesn’t need a trade. They need to have their key players utilized the right way, and they need to do it while there is time. I’m skeptical they can sustain this level of effort, engagement, and attention to detail on a consistent basis. In any case, the Lakers better do something fast, because we’re already in January. Also, speaking of the Lakers stars, Lebron says that Bronny could easily play for the team right now. Lebron is now a top 5 liar of all-time.

Meanwhile, the perception of the Clippers has completely changed. Everyone went from thinking they are a good punchline with James Harden on their team, to looking at them as the biggest threats to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference. The truth is usually somewhere in between. They’ve always been a threat if they are healthy, but now Kawhi and Paul George are healthy. In the last 16 games, they are 14-2, and the two they lost were without Kawhi. More importantly, the Clips have something going for them that a lot of other teams do not: continuity (are you listening Darvin Ham?). Their starting lineup of Terrance Mann, James Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Ivica Zubac has played 295 minutes together. That’s the most of any Clipper lineup since 2019. It’s no coincidence they are winning like they are because that is something they’ve desperately needed for years.

To baseball, where the Dodgers are reportedly out of the running for Japanese Pitcher Shota Imanaga. After taking a closer look though, signing him to a deal of $100 million might not be such a great idea though. He gave up 18 home runs last year in NPB, which is a league that values contact over power. That makes him the equivalent of a Japanese Lance Lynn. However, the Dodgers pivoted and signed outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, a right-handed hitter who can crush left-handed pitching. He’s a great fit, although I do wish they would find some guys that aren’t so focused on power, and more on contact. Hard to complain though. So what’s next? If they can’t get another starter (in addition to hopefully Clayton Kershaw) then they should pursue another high leverage bullpen option. Josh Hader is nice, but 5 years and $100 million for a reliever doesn’t sound like a wise investment long term. I’d much prefer a reunion with Kenley Jansen, who has one year left on his deal, and is still a very effective closer. He probably wouldn’t cost much to acquire either from the Sox, who seem to be having some payroll issues.

Speaking of payroll, Perry Minasian needs to stop blowing smoke at the Angel fans. They are too smart for these ridiculous statements that there’s a lot of good players still out there and the Halos are pursuing them. You’re $70 million below the luxury tax, and showing no signs of spending any of that money. If the Halos aren’t going to spend, they need to be smart and trade away these expensive veterans. That includes Mike Trout, Tyler Anderson, and Brandon Drury. If you’re not going to be competitive, just stop pretending like you are, and rebuild. They need a lot more in terms of scouting and development, but at least getting younger players to develop would be a start. This is way too sensible though for this organization so this suggestion is probably ridiculous.

UCLA Basketball has hit rock bottom, and is now in last place in the PAC-12. They lost to Cal over the weekend, falling to 1-3 in conference play, and just about ending all remaining hope this season. That’s right folks, they lost to the band geeks. Mick Cronin didn’t even want to address the media after the game. At this point, it’s looking like Cronin has basically given up on the squad. He’s probably sitting in the huddle in timeouts drawing up a list of schools where each of these guys should consider in the transfer portal, as opposed to drawing up plays. Adem Bona is probably the only guy he’d like to keep, and he knows he’s going to the NBA Draft after this year. The experiment with the Euros sounded great in theory, but none of them are ready for prime time. Cronin should just embrace the development process for these players the rest of the season, and then re-tool in the off-season with what he can from the transfer portal.

Finally, the LA Kings are suddenly struggling. They can’t win at home, they’ve lost 5 straight, and they are playing more like a wild card team rather than a top 3 Pacific Division team. They’ve surprisingly received great goaltending and have had some excellent defense but there are some disturbing trends. They have some great players who’ve offense has cooled off like Anze Kopitar, Quintin Byfield, Philip Danault, and Trevor Moore, and that has suddenly exposed Pierre Luc-Dubois, the $8.5 million man that hasn’t been scoring, and doesn’t look very interested in playing hockey. The Kings aren’t a surprise anymore, and teams have adjusted to them. It’s up to the Kings and their coaching staff to counter adjust, especially on the power play, which is very mediocre right now. It’s also a problem that the Kings seem to beat up only on bad teams, but struggle against good teams. 4 of their 5 straight losses, have come by one goal, so it’s these little things they need to clean up. There’s still plenty of time to do so, but the trends are disturbing nonetheless.