Monday Morning Coffee

April 16, 2023

That was quite a statement win for the Lakers yesterday against Memphis. They look rested, focused, and disciplined, while the Grizzlies looked like a very inexperienced squad, despite their talent. Think about this: Anthony Davis and Lebron James were the Lakers 3rd and 4th best players yesterday. The Lakers are so deep, the Grizzlies could adjust, and next game it could be the likes of Malik Beasley or Dennis Schroeder that beat them, let alone Lebron and AD dominating. Having an extra day of rest is also working in the Lakers favor too. Never thought I’d see the day Austin Reaves ran down the court with Lebron as his teammate yelling “I’m him!” Call me weird, but I’d much rather see Ja Morant healthy, because I don’t want to see any excuses from people as to why the Lakers won the series. The only thing that should make you nervous if you’re a Laker fan is that Charles Barkley thinks they are going to the conference finals. If Barkley thinks the sun is going to rise tomorrow, I’d be nervous the world is going to end.

As for the Clippers, don’t act like Russell Westbrook didn’t make you nervous as hell yesterday in that game. Most of you people were probably wondering why he wasn’t sitting on the bench in the 4th, but Ty Lue gambled and it worked out. Russ’s shooting percentage was sinking faster than Joe Biden’s approval rating yesterday, but he did manage to make a great defensive play at the end, and sank two clutch free throws to win it. Of course in typical Russ fashion, he couldn’t control his emotions, and at halftime went at it with a fan, breaking NBA protocol, and potentially getting suspended for game 2. The Suns are good, but they’ve only played 8 games with their full complement of players. I’ve seen dudes in 24 Hour Fitness pick up games with more chemistry than that. Kawhi has been playing at an elite level for a while now, and if he continues to do so, the Clips might just get out of this series with a win, without Paul George.

To baseball, where the Dodgers are having their problems. They lost two of three to the Cubs over the weekend, falling to 8-8. In 5 their wins this season, they scored 8 runs ore more. In 5 of their losses, they scored 2 runs or less. The lineup is just wildly inconsistent, and even Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman have been struggling of late. Their starting pitching and bullpen also isn’t as deep and as dominant as the last couple of years, so you just never know what you’re going to get from these guys. Despite Chris Taylor’s homers this weekend, he’s only hitting .135, and has been bad for over a year now. The best news for the Dodgers is the fact that they are only one game out of 1st place, and it’s the Diamondbacks they are currently chasing.

Then there’s the Angels, who lost three in a row over the weekend in Boston, against the Red Sox. The Halos are now 7-8 with some very frustrating losses. They’ve had the lead in 7 of those 8 losses, and all of them came by one or two runs. I feel like we’re trying to convince ourselves that this team is much better than they are, but when you watch them they are flawed, in the bullpen especially. When losses get tough like this, leadership in the clubhouse is also critical, and I’m just not sure they have it. Ohtani and Trout are great players, but are they leaders? This is probably about the time we’ll find out.

UCLA Basketball got some tough news last week. Amari Bailey will be entering the NBA Draft. For a hot second I thought with Adem Bona, Bailey, and a couple of solid transfers, this team might be able to be a contender again. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like the case, especially with Tyger Campbell, also declaring for the draft as well.

The LA Kings are back in the playoffs, and they will open up a 7 game series against the Oilers tonight in Edmonton. The Kings are much better than they were last year, but unfortunately, so are the Oilers. The worst part about this for the Kings is that two of their most important offensive players, Gabe Vilardi and Kevin Fiala, will probably not be ready to play tonight due to injury. I like the fact that Coach Todd McClellan said that he would either start Joonas Korpisalo or Phoenix Copley tonight in goal. Thanks for the info Todd, otherwise I would have thought there was a chance you could start Patrick Roy.

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