Now I’ve seen it all. The guys over at this other Lakers fan site have created these great videos of Sasha Vujacic.

I’m not even going to bother discussing them, for those of you that know enough about the Lakers and have followed the now infamous Sasha Vujacic, ENJOY!!

Tim Duncan had 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. Tony Parker had 23 points on 11-of-22 shooting. Michael Finley’s corpse resurrected and scored 13 points. Kurt Thomas, Brent Barry, and Bruce Bowen combined for 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting. The San Antonio Spurs led by as much as 17 points at one point in the second quarter. Yet, the Los Angeles Lakers won 100-92, beating the defending Champs in 5 games. How can this be? The answer is simple and clear : They are the living image of a perfect NBA team.

Through the years, we’ve searched for an answer on what exactly is the perfect NBA team? Was it Magic Johnson’s Showtime Lakers? Michael Jordan’s 6-ringed Bulls? Tim Duncan’s Millennial Dynasty? Or this year’s Kobe Bryant’s Ultra-Lakers?

The truth is, every decade, a perfect NBA team occurs, one that dominates a vast group of young talents and time-tested veteran players.

Every decade, the perfect NBA team showcases a different face of unparalleled skill set. One that boasts its versatility and balance. And in this case, it’s not Tim Duncan’s Spurs, it’s Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, and it was depicted majestically in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers did what no other NBA team can do : beat San Antonio Spurs. In 5 games. LA made a statement by beating the Spurs the Spurs’ way : De-Fense.

So why exactly are the Lakers the perfect NBA team of the decade, and how do you determine who’s who?

Ladies and gentlemen, the ingredients of the perfect NBA team:

• The Best Player in the World - This is not your typical “face-of-the-franchise” player. He’s the heart of your team, a fierce warrior who lives and breathes basketball, a guy who trusts his teammates and makes them better. A cold-blooded assassin who pulls the plug on the opposing team’s life-support. He’s not your ordinary superstar, he’s your dream player. A player above all, whom no one can outdo, and who’s skill is far more superior than anyone playing in the world. He’s your “Captain Clutch”, the best the world has to offer. He’s in a different league of greatness, and for this era, he’s Kobe Bryant.
• The Best Coach in the World - He’s the coach that everybody looks up to. He’s the one who never fails to give the team a dozen of lengthy sermons, normally ending it in a good tone. He’s your coach who doesn’t falter under pressure, never folding in such mind-boggling circumstances. He’s the one who makes stars out of bottom 1st-rounders. He is the Zen Master, and he has 9 rings. He is Phil Jackson.
• The Best Bench in the World - They’re not just the normal “energy guys” off the bench. They’re the guys who can outdo, outplay, out hustle, and outscore your starting five. They’re the firepower of the team. They aren’t afraid to make mistakes, and most of all, they don’t fear you. They’re young but experienced, seasoned by time, and they’re the future of the NBA. They’re Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza, and Ronny Turiaf, otherwise known as the “bench mob of the Los Angeles Lakers.”
• The Best Starting Five in the World - They’re tough, and you probably don’t want to mess with them. They’re the guys who play night-in and night-out. They’ll give you great numbers on a consistent basis. They play well together, insomuch that you can’t rest your guard while playing with them. They’re the pride of Los Angeles Lakers : Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Vladimir Radmanovic, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol.
• The Best Supporting Cast in the World - They’re the ones who work behind-the-scenes. They are not resting on you until you are done. They are the ones who makes the superstar’s work easier. They are the ones you can expect to play all their hearts out. They are Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, Vladimir Radmanovic, Lamar Odom, and the bench mob.
• The Most Versatile team in the World - They show different faces, different attitudes, and different styles. One minute they play you fast, the other minute they play you tough. They boast their offense, defense, and physicality on the floor. They beat you in your own style. They beat the Denver Nuggets through their fast-paced offense. They beat the Utah Jazz through their physicality. And they recently delivered a hard blow to the San Antonio Spurs in their own way : Defense. They are your Los Angeles Lakers.

These criterias were met and exceeded by only one team in the league. The same team that went on a turbulent “a la Hollywood” drama last offseason. The same team that the best player in the league didn’t want to play with. Yes, they are the Los Angeles Lakers, and they’re “The Perfect NBA Team”.

The Los Angeles Lakers have done what 15 teams hoped for in the western conference heading into the season. The Lakers have beat the San Antonio Spurs in 5 games to advance to the NBA Finals.

The Lakers last trip to the Finals was in 2004 when they lost in 5 games to the Detroit Pistons. With the Eastern Conference currently being fought out by the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons, Lakers fans are forced to sit and wait for a week until the NBA Finals begins.

The Celtics currently lead the Eastern Conference Finals 3-2 over the Pistons and are headed to the Palace for game 6. No matter which team comes out of the East, the Lakers will be playing on the road next Thursday on ABC, the home of the NBA Finals.

The Lakers started the game shooting 7-27 from the field while the Spurs came out firing at over 60%. Eventually, Kobe did his part, helped shut down the Spurs on the defensive end and brought the Lakers back. After trailing by 17 points in the first half, the Lakers closed it to 6 points at halftime.

Phil Jackson must have made some amazing half time comments and adjustments because the Lakers came out on a mission. The 3rd quarter went to the Lakers 22-15 and the 4th was the Lakers as well with a 36-29 advantage.

Kobe Bryant was the player of the game, by far, as he finished with 39 points on 16-30 shooting. Kobe also had 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in the 43 minutes as he played the entire 4th quarter.

With the way this Lakers season started, surely everyone remembers Kobe’s trade demands in the offseason, no one could have expected the Lakers to be in this position. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak pulled off the necessary moves in bringing in veteran point guard Derek Fisher and eventually pulling off a blockbuster trade in giving away Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittenton for all star Pau Gasol.

The rest of the season was history. The team has really bonded throughout the season as Kobe won his first ever MVP award and has finally been recognized for making his teammates better.

The Lakers appearance in the NBA Finals will be the 2nd great stop for Kobe Bryant as he looks for the ultimate year of perfection. Kobe Bryant has the potential to win the NBA MVP Award, NBA Championship, NBA Finals MVP Award, and the Gold Medal in the Summer Olympics.

Of course, let’s not get carried away by the achievements of the Black Mamba, for even he will admit that the credit for this year’s accomplishments are heavily due to the role players and basically everyone not named Kobe Bryant. For now, I’m overjoyed and so excited to see the Los Angeles Lakers back in the NBA Finals.

The NBA has really taken a turn for the worst. They fine players at the wrong times. They allow betting scandals to develop. They set themselves up for conspiracy theories. They make stupid rules.

Why doesn’t the NBA league office realize that the less they do, the better the game will be?

First off, I’d like to get something off my chest that’s been bothering me since it was first announced. The NBA league office admitted that the final play of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs should’ve been called a foul against Derek Fisher. The league office made a one sentence statement, and didn’t feel the need to open the forum for discussion or even clear up the other mistakes made during the game.

By making this statement, the league office essentially takes away credit from the Lakers players that worked hard to get to where they are, one game away from the NBA Finals. By stating that the Spurs deserved to shoot two free throws in that situation means that the league office thinks the Spurs should’ve had a chance to tie the game and take it to overtime.

Now there are a few issues that come up from the league’s statement.

1. What does it change? Will they replay the last 2 seconds of the game prior to Game 5? Will the final score change? Does it make anyone feel better? Surely the Spurs have made an attempt to move on.
2. If every player and coach that participated in the game agreed that the no call was correct, along with 98% of the analysts, why does the league office feel the need to create drama where there isn’t. Yes it was a topic of discussion around the cooler and all over the radio waves, but no one really argued that the proper call was made on the court.
3. Why doesn’t the league office apologize to the Lakers franchise for all the wrong calls that hurt them during the game? Two calls in the last minute alone, the first being the goaltending call against Lamar Odom, which, in slow motion, we can see that Lamar touched the ball before it touched the backboard and thus was not goaltending, and the second being that the Lakers should’ve had a fresh shot clock after Derek Fisher’s shot grazed the rim with 5 seconds left in the game, essentially giving them 2 free throws rather than forcing Kobe Bryant to put up a wild fade away to beat the buzzer.

I truly feel that the job of the league office is to make sure the league runs smoothly, the basketball games are organized, and the fans are entertained. What’s the point of making a controversial statement that a full day later is completely irrevelant and doesn’t help the situation in any way?

Now the league has decided to make another statement with a rule that will cause more problems than Rasheed Wallace’s seventh technical foul tomorrow night.

The National Basketball Association has decided that a new rule will be put in place beginning next season during training camp. Apparently, if a player who picks up an offensive foul during a game is later convicted of flopping, said player will be fined. SERIOUSLY??

Sure, I’m just as sick as everyone else of seeing the likes of Manu Ginobli, Anderson Verajao, and even my own, Sasha Vujacic flop all over the place. The trend of flopping has been around for a long time dating back to the infamous days of Vlade Divac. Perhaps a video of flopping will remind you of some long forgotten memories. It’s annoying, its unsportsmanlike, and it takes away from the game. However, the concept of flopping is no more ridiculous than the strategy of sending players to the free throw line, AKA Hack-a-Shaq (which apparently the league has tabled for now because they don’t know what to do about it).

Fining players for flopping creates several problems, but the main issue is that we all have Tivo. We all have the capability of rewinding one game, comparing it to another game, and even making a split screen image of two “flops” and comparing them to each other. How come one player was fined and the other wasn’t?

Here’s a great excerpt from John Karalis of Red’s Army:

“There will be a scenario where a guy will egregiously flop… but draw a foul.  What does the NBA do?  Does it fine a guy for the flop and make the refs look bad for calling a foul on that play?  Or does the NBA look bad by not fining a guy BECAUSE the ref fell for it and called a foul on the play?

And how long before someone split-screens two flops that look the same… but one drew a fine because the ref didn’t fall for it… and one didn’t draw a fine because the ref fell for it.

Either way… the NBA just set themselves up to make the refs look even worse.  This whole thing wouldn’t be an issue if NBA refs had enough balls to make a no-call on these plays.  I guess that wasn’t an option.”

We can continue to crack all the jokes about flopping that we want, but the bottom line is nothing will change. By fining players that flop, the game will not change at all. The only difference is that player’s and teams will be forced to argue the fines. Since when does $10,000 make a big difference to these players? It’s not like it cost the team a game, so who cares. I’m not the only one that feels the fines won’t solved anything, The Arena feels that flopping is just a part of the game.

The NBA has been called many things over the years. Bill Simmons famously labeled it as the “No Balls Association.” The league has made many questionable decisions (ie. letting Joey Crawford referee the Spurs game two nights ago), but now apparently league decisions are in the form of rules and fines. We can only wonder what this league of “Nothing But Assholes” will do next.

I’d like everyone to join me tonight in an always heated discussion during the Lakers game at 6:00 PM PT.

I stopped by to join the live blogs at FanHouse and Ball Don’t Lie and let me tell you, the moderation is poor as the host continues to write comments without allowing guest to have their thoughts on certain topics posted. The conversation was way behind the game and was a one sided biased review. It might as well have been a single blog post.

I will be here shortly before tip off tonight and look forward to the Lakers closing out this series early in the game.