Game On! bloggers Tom Weir and Reid Cherner hope never to be in a rebuilding mode.
Mark D. Smith, US Presswire
Kobe Bryant and the Lakers were eliminated from the second round of the playoffs in five games by the young Thunder.
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Rebuilding Los Angeles Lakers
TW: The first step for Team Kobe is figuring out who the Lakers are. Do they continue to rely on being big in the middle, do they return to their Showtime roots or do they bring back the triangle offense?
BLOG: Bryant says Lakers aren't going anywhere
INTERACTIVE: How should the Lakers rebuild?
MORE: Durant, Thunder oust Lakers
This for a team that has been knocked out of the playoffs in the Western Conference semifinals the past two seasons. Kobe Bryant wants to get back to the days where seasons end with downtown parades.
Whatever path they choose, it's clear the Lakers' title hopes were lost when David Stern vetoed the trade forChris Paul.
Now they've kept Pau Gasol a year too long, and good luck unloading that $19 million salary after having his softness showcased against Oklahoma City.
RC: For all those writing eulogies for the Lakers, Bryant wants you to put the pen down. His remarks following their playoff exodus included:
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•"Come hell or high water, we're going to be there again."
•"It's kind of unfamiliar territory. I'm really not used to it. It's pretty odd for me. I'm not the most patient of people, and the organization's not extremely patient either. We want to win and win now. I'm sure we'll figure it out. We always have and I'm sure we will again."
•"I'm not fading into the shadows, if that's what you're asking. I'm not going anywhere. … We're not going anywhere. It's not one of those things where the Bulls beat the Pistons and the Pistons disappeared forever. I'm not going for that (stuff)."
A fastbreak for Bryant would be embracing Gasol and Andrew Bynum as the team's nucleus. I'm not sure I wouldn't be trying to get Lamar Odom back.
The Lakers could be re-energized with a good draft pick, a key free agent and a pep talk from coach Mike Brown that includes "Andrew grow up, Pau grow tougher and Kobe share the basketball."
Dwight Howard/Stan Van Gundy
RC: Orlando is OK with Howard firing a coach but not hiring a new one. Even the most naive of us know that Howard's thumbprints are all over Van Gundy's back.
So it seems silly not to let him in the room when they decide on his successor. Keeping Howard in Florida is more important than any coaching hire they make. As for the inmates running things, that asylum door was swung wide-open decades ago in pro sports.
TW: I'm with you on making Superman part of the hiring process. The Magic will pay him $19.5 million next season to be the face of the franchise, and we all saw what happened when that face spent this season frowning.
And, if they had it to do again, don't you think the Lakers would have included Kobe in the conversation about whether to hire Mike Brown?
Roger Clemens
TW: I thought the Clemens trial bottomed when we were treated to a description of the cyst on Rocket's posterior. But then came the debate about the validity of medical waste "evidence" that Brian McNamee collected in a crumpled beer can.
What, a musty sneaker or spittoon weren't available? When this is all done the government needs to let us know how many tax dollars were spent on this circus, and how many crack dealers that sum could have put away.
RC: The world is with you on the cost and length of the trial, which picks up again Wednesday. But it will all be worth it if Clemens testifies.
I realize that Rusty Hardin is too good of a lawyer to let his client near the stand. Still, the sight of prosecutors throwing at Clemens' head would have made interesting theater. And after what Hardin did to McNamee it would satisfy the baseball code of knocking down one of theirs after they threw at one of yours.
Belmont Stakes
TW: How long has it be since horse racing gave us a Triple Crown winner? Well, consider that it hasn't happened during the lifetimes of Drew Brees,Michael Vick or Eli Manning.
So I'm rooting hard for the horse that sold for $11,000 as a yearling. After all, this might be the one time we can say "I'll have another" and not regret it later.
RC: When I started covering horse racing in 1987 I thought we had a shoe-in as a Triple Crown winner in Alysheba. He never threatened in the Belmont and I've never made that mistaken assumption again. I've seen Belmont and Triple Crown hopefuls nailed at the wire (Real Quiet), one who couldn't get out of the gate (War Emblem) and one break his leg (Charismatic). And of course plenty who were just not good enough on that Belmont Saturday.
But every 25 years I give myself permission to break out in unbridled enthusiasm. Come June 9, we might say I'll Have Another is no Secretariat or Seattle Slew but we'll be saying he's on the roll call sheet in the same class.
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