The State of the Nation

Growing up in Los Angeles I've seen and lived through some of the greatest Laker moments. As an 80's baby I born during the Showtime era. This shaped my life at an early age. In fact my very birth year of 1987 was the first of a back to back for the Lakers. This is what I came to know. The Lakers were synonymous with champions.

By the time I graduated high school in 2005 the Lakers has already won 5 times in my lifetime. Shortly after my high school years the Lakers added 2 more to that list. In my first 23 years of life they had won 7 times. That roughly one championship every 3 years.

I, like many other Laker fans had grown accustomed to this trend. The Lakers were more than just the hometown team they were the most dominant franchise in sports.

From 2000-2010 the Lakers had 5 of the 11 championships. It was to a point where if you had told me in 2010 that, that would be their last championship for the next 7 years and quite possibly 10 or 15 or longer. I would have laughed you off as a hater and confidently went on my way to handle my day-to-day business.

It's now June of 2017 the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers played in their 3rd straight NBA finals this season. The Lakers not only have not won a championship since 2010 but have not made the playoffs the last four seasons. This of course is a franchise record never before missing the playoffs for 4 consecutive years.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. And as a Laker fan I'm not going to lie it stings, it really does hurt. The worst part is during the time the Lakers have fallen into this deep depression, the Clippers have risen to regular-season juggernauts.

The battle for the city that has long been designated as Laker town is now resurfacing as Lob City. The clipper fans are now coming out of the woodwork swarming the city. As a Laker fan there's not much to be excited about these days.

The sliver of hope we have is in our young talent that has come to form through lottery picks that we have fortunately kept. This upcoming draft is yet another promising lottery pick that many fans look to as another step in the right direction.

With the new addition of Magic Johnson in the front office and Luke Walton as the head coach many Laker fans are becoming more optimistic again and are looking to the future.

Lonzo Ball from UCLA is a unique talent and comes from a unique family environment. These days it's hard to say LaVar Ball, Lonzo Ball's father, without someone having an opinion. LaVar much like the Kardashian's have become a household name.

The game plan that many believe the Lakers will follow involves drafting Lonzo Ball with the second pick in this upcoming draft. Lonzo's closest comparisons have been Magic and Jason Kidd. A true pass first point. The kind of guy that makes everyone around him better.

It's hard to tell if this is the direction the Lakers will take. There have been plenty of conversations about the Lakers drafting Josh Jackson out of Kansas or even trading the pick. Only time will tell the direction they will take as Magic looks to rebuild such an iconic brand. For the time being however, it's safe to say that Laker fan have something to look forward to.

NBA Draft will be on ESPN June 22, 2017 at 4:00pm PDT.

Check back in for updates on the draft and all future Laker news.


- Eddie Schlierman

How do the Warriors matchup?

Much has been said about the Golden State Warriors and how they impacting the game of basketball. The question that is thrown around the most is how would the Warriors match up with a classic center. We are talking Shaq, Ewing, The Dream, Wilt, Kareem, Bellamy etc. let's compare the Warriors to these classics bigs. I'll use Wilt as my example. 

   

The Warriors default lineup is to run with Draymond Green as their main big only keeping Bogut and Ezeli just in case. This would in the case of Wilt Chamberlain create a matchup of 6'7" vs a guy who was at least 7'1". To add to this Wilt who have nearly 80 pounds on him too. The argument used is that Draymond is mobile and athletic. This plays to the stereotype that big guys aren't capable to matchup. Where this is mostly true Draymond has no chance defending a drop step from a real big man. He would feel fatigued by halftime and any advantage he would have had would now be gone. If he were to for any reason move past this he would have to handle Wilt's athletism... Wilt could move. This creates a no shot for any reason for the Warriors to succeed with the middle completely exposed.  

To conclude the Warriors are a great team for the current game being played but they couldn't stand alone during the eras with dominant bigs. It's the same with bigs they can't stand out by themselves anymore. The Warriors are the best current team and it would be fun to see them play best teams of their time's at some point. One can only wish right?

-Schlierman 

Should we change NFL divisions? Yes

Divisions in sports were invented to lighten travel and support local rivalries. Much like the MLB & NBA the NFL's Divisional set up is archaic to say the least. The current set up puts the division winner in the playoffs automatically even if they are in a subpar division. For example the AFC South and NFC East will be lucky to produce a .500 champion this year. 

So what do I propose? It's simple... Let's erase formal divisions and go all in on 2 conferences. We keep on official divisions as far as scheduled games go so local rivals stay in tact, but the standings won't reflect it. The world has changed. Media is at our finger tips and travel has become a breeze compared to when divisions were set up.

By doing this we will improve the validity of the playoffs and our ultimate champion. 

Lakers, Clippers and the beginning of a new NBA season

Let's get you caught up in the world of the NBA. The new season tips off Tuesday night but first there's a few things you need to know.

CAVS

Lebron James is entering his 12th season so we have a pretty good picture of who he is and isn't. He the perfect player to build around but not someone who can join any team. He's been in the last 5 finals and won 2 of them. Look to see if he can do it again and bring a title to Cleveland. 

Thompson & Love are the Cavs power forwards. They are the key to the teams success. Thompson compliments Lebron extremely well and is allowed to play to his potential within the offenses sets. Love however compliments Lebron well as well but doesn't get to play to his potential due to his rebounding style and lack of dunking. Watching these two play together and to see how they get utilized this year is the Lebron and coach Blatt's biggest concern this year. Thompson held out all summer for a big contract but the Cavs gave his money to Love. Thompson did get a big contract however and no one knows where the money came from but we will see how the Love and Thompson dynamic play out. 

CLIPPERS 

Over the summer Doc Rivers added Lance Stephenson, Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, Cole Aldrich, Wes Johnson and a rookie named Dawson who looks like a baby Draymond Green. They retained DJ after an emoji battle and some shady lack of communication from Jordan to Cuban. Nevertheless he's back with JJ, CP and Blake making this the best roster the Clippers have had in franchise history. This puts a boom or bust pressure on the squad. I believe Doc to be overhyped but this year he gets to prove just how good he is.

DUB NATION 

The Golden State Warriors are the defending champions but have gotten little to no respect during the summer. If you are one of these people you believe they didn't deserve the title let me leave you this...
1-They won 67 games in the western conference finishing with the first seed
2-They are led by the defending MVP, the first MVP since Dirk in '07 who gets 75% of his points from jump shots. He's doesn't live above the rim.
3-They had the second best offensive rating and best defensive rating in the entire league.
4-They were led by a rookie coach.

This sounds like they were the best team in the league last year... So... let's give them their respect. They are not locks to win again this year but they did deserve their title last year. Watch to see how they do this year.

GO SPURS GO

The example franchise for the last 20 years struck gold again after signing LaMarcus Aldridge. So, what makes them so special? It's in how they are ran and operated. They know their team recipe and the ingredients that make it work. They don't go after just any ole player. They only after players who match ingredients. They never scrapped their team. I am excited to see how this team performs this year and how Kawhi Leonard emerges into a top 3 player in the league.

LAKERS 

After 4 disappointing seasons Laker fans are not looking for a championship rather they are wanting to see if the front office knows what they are doing. They have young stars in Clarkson and Randle and still have Kobe. Some Laker fans including me were very disappointed in drafting D'Angelo Russell. He's hyped to be a top point guard and can be a missing link in Los Angeles. I disagree but we shall soon see how he performs and fits the squad.

STORY LINES TO FOLLOW
1-Harmony in Sac Town
2-Lawson to Houston
3-Jabari's return
4-The Bulls
5-PG13 at Power Forward

So, who's ready to tip off the 70th season of the NBA?


To conclude I would like to wish the Saunders family condolences. Til next time...

-Schlierman

Dodgers fire Mattingley and Cubs lose

Mattingly getting fired was simply to show they are doing something for the team. The team failed to succeed at the right time more then Don Mattingly failed to put them in the position to succeed.

Sorry the Cubs lost. The Mets are really good though. I thought their pitching would be begin to tire, but getting this much time off as they wait for the AL team to claim that division, may be enough to keep their staff of 1/2 tier pitchers fresh. The biggest question for the Mets is how their arms do with so many young arms who haven't pitched this many innings.

Baseball Wrap Up

In May I wrote a forecast for the season which can be found here: http://4cornersports.blogspot.com/2015/05/baseball-is-sound-of-summer.html

So lets take a look at some of those predictions as well as forecast for the post season.

Offensively, my predictions seemed to be spot on. Josh Donaldson is looking to be the AL MVP and Kris Bryant could be the Rookie of the year. As predicted, Kris Bryant hit 26 home runs, although, his batting average was a bit better then expected. The kid’s a beast.

On the other side, Joc Pederson and Josh Hamilton struggled in the 2nd half as expected. Actually more then I had expected. While his home run numbers were at 26 on the dot, his batting average dropped to just above the mendoza line at .210. Josh Hamilton on the other hand had a batting average very close to .260 but never had the at bats to get 14 home runs. He was on pace for about that many, however with 8 home runs in 170 at bats.

Bryce Harper broke out as I expected but I never foresaw him doing THIS http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8875/splits/. His season has become a historic one. If you want to look into the numbers, you’ll see they’re rivaled only by names like Mantle, Hornsby, Ruth, Bonds and similar household names.That’s in terms of best seasons EVER. I’m giving myself a bit of a break on this one because I would have felt crazy if I’d predicted the numbers given, and you’d probably call me crazy and decided to never read my posts again. And we don’t want that. But to get some perspective, Bryce harper was on pace for about 20 home runs last year and 150 hits. I predicted 32 home runs and around 20 or 30 more hits. Instead, he doubled last years home run pace, and had roughly 20 more hits then that this year while he also doubled his walk rate with about 60 more bbs! It’s hard to guess about his future but keep in mind, he didn’t really break out until May. April (and technically a shortened October) was his only month he hit below .300, but since then he never stopped swinging a hot bat. 

Many of us joked “remember when we thought Bryce Harper would battle with Mike Trout for best player each year? hehehe”. Well now that looks like a real possibility. And keep in mind Trout is a better fielder. He is. The only fielding tool Bryce has over Trout is his arm. But imagine if Harper had stayed behind the plate as a catcher? Bryce harper may have been the clear number 1 value. This is still assuming he could stay healthy, but a lot of his problems have been from running into things in the outfield, so who’s to say he would have gotten hurt as often behind the plate?

So be before I get too thrilled with myself, we’ll move on to pitching which I was much more off on. While DeGrom was superb, and Carrasco had a good enough last month (and I maintained to be cautious), so I’ll call those a win, there were plenty that went wrong. McHugh, Richards, Pineda and Odorizzi never quite panned out. They all have great stuff, and have shown flashes of being fantastic, but never put it together enough to really have a fantastic season. 

The sell pitchers turned out to be more on point. Wacha still had good turns but as September rolled along, he fell apart. He truly is a good pitcher, but his numbers lead me to believe he’s hurt. Either way, he’s been doing no one any good in his final month of pitching. Archer continued a solid campaign, but returned to normalcy, posting an era between 3.20 and 3.30 as predicted. Kazmir also struggled big time as that month continued, but he also had some very good turns. While he definitely didn’t continue to be the pitcher he was early in the season, he still was a fairly reliable pitcher, more so then I expected, so I’ll take that one as me being wrong, which leads to the team predictions…

The New York Mets! This one was a bit of a reach on my part, as they were competing with the team favored to win it all. The Nationals. However Syndergaard proved to be a highly valuable pitcher who won them some games as soon as he was called up. While there’s plenty of competition, he may even get the call for ROY. Kris Bryant continues to be the favorite for ROY, but don’t sleep on Syndergaard if he gets hot in the post season and Bryant doesn’t. I like Syndergaard to have a solid post season, while I think Bryant may struggle out the womb in his first playoff birth. They’re both very talented players but if Syndergaard flourishes and Bryant flutters, that may be the push to give Syndergaard enough votes for ROY.

POST SEASON PREDICTIONS

Post season is one of the toughest things to predict as it’s hardly ever the best team who wins it all. This year, I’m predicting it will be however.

The TORONTO BLUE JAYS will win it all BUT ONLY if they can gain some momentum out of the gate. They play the Rangers who have been hitting very well lately, which could give them enough moment to knock off the Blue Jays before they pass go. If that happens, I think it’ll be the Astros to win it all. As it stands however, the Blue Jays have the offense and with newly acquired pitchers, David Price and Marcus Stroman, the pitching to win it all. The National league Mets will make it to the final showdown, but with all those young arms, not used to pitching late into the season, and their one veteran pitcher (Matt Harvey) on a pitch limit, their going to really start to struggle as it gets further into the race. I think they have enough to get there, but experience and arm strength will be the determining factor that holds them back.

So make your bets, find your local spot to watch them games and enjoy the fall season as baseball comes to an end!

See you next year, and in the mean time, enjoy some football!

-Alan Clark

Maturity in sports

It all comes down to maturity. The difference between why some can jump to the pros from high school and others spend 6 long years in college. We all grow up at different rates. It doesn't matter about talent or age. 

For examples we can look into the below athletes. They come from different backgrounds and upbringings.

1- Kobe -- The son of an NBA player. Kobe grew up around the game and all that come with it. The pros was part of life rather than a new life. 

2- Manziel -- A rich spoiled rotten prep kid from Texas. He has never been forced to change & grow up once. Instead he just needed to play the game of life until he left alone. 

3- Manning Boys -- Apart of the first family in the NFL the Manning boys are from a traditional southern football family. They grew up around the game because of their father. 

Just because these examples could make you believe that if you are not the son of a Pro you are doomed. This is not true. We all have our upbringing which leads to what preparation we need before our life's career. The Manning Boys had a similar raising to Kobe but they went to college and Kobe still had a rocky first 8 seasons due to maturity. 

Now all still need college but for different uses. Some use college to gain maturity, some for security in a degree and others just to learn/develop a specific skill. Regardless of who you are you still need a college of some kind. It's a development ground that's needed for all and there shouldn't be a way to bypass it for your career. It should be required before you enter your life's career. For some the pros are the development grounds for something past playing but that's very few. 

It's time we look deeper into this subject case by case.