Jordan Ikeda's NFL Football fan blog

So, apparently the Clippers have gone out and signed Ricky Davis to a multi-year contract. That's Ricky Buckets to those in the know, and it's buckets because that's what Ricky likes to do. Shoot and score.

Now, there's some good to this and some bad to this. The good is that the Clippers are amassing talent. Ricky Davis, for all of his shortcomings, is only 28 years old and has a deadly 3 point shot, is super athletic, and can legitimately play three positions (pg, sg, sf). The position flexibility will help ease ball handling when Eric Gordon plays. Ricky's averaged as many as 20 points a few years back with the Cavs, and two years ago, he averaged around 19.

Sure, last year, he played for the woeful Heat and had a down year like everyone else on that squad. Shaq even threw him and then teammate Chris Quinn (you know, the dude who looks like he's 13) under the bus in order to make himself feel better with his "real" NBA basketball teammates in Phoenix...those "real" teammates who helped Shaq get eliminated in the first round. But that's neither here nor there. Point is Shaq threw him under the bus, which shows some red flags about his character, but then, Shaq throws all of his ex teammates under the bus. So, take it for what it is...

Continue reading "Bucks for Buckets"

Okay, first things first, been going through a few things these past two weeks so sorry this hasn’t been updated for a while. Thank you to all of those people out there who are still checking the site out. I promise that the updates will start coming more frequently (I’m shooting for at least 3 times a week) despite the fact that the NBA is in its offseason.

On to some news. First with the Clips. The Clips lost out on Kelenna Azubuike when the Warriors matched their 3 year $3 million offer. That stings a bit, but there are other options out there (Maurice Evans). Okay, so none of the other options are super tantalizing, but the positive note is that the Clippers were willing to spend their cap space and that they had actually zeroed in on a kid with talent and upside.

Continue reading "When Europe Calls"

Bringing Marcus Camby into the fold, and to a lesser extent letting Corey Maggette walk, catapults the Clippers into the upper echelon of the best defensive squads in the league. A frontline of Camby and Kaman is not only large, but also block happy. Remember, Camby is only two years removed from his Defensive Player of the year award, and, statistically, actually had a better season last year.

Sure, he’s 34, but he will no longer have to always bang against the other teams’ centers, nor will he be the only starting presence out on the floor who can play defense.

I’ve gone over Eric Gordon’s physical nature and his penchant for playing defense and Baron Davis, when he wants to, can be a lockdown, physical, elite defender as well. Thornton has some issues, but if the team chooses to re-sign Quentin Ross (which is now a possibility due to the Camby signing), this team has got itself some JB and Kyle…Tenacious D.

Continue reading "Camby and Kaman"

Let’s not be too harsh to judge Chris Wallace. The more and more I study the Gasol trade, the better and better I think the Grizz actually made out.

Numbers tell a story.

Marc Gasol’s PER in Europe was 27.5. He averaged 16.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.3 spg, and 1.8 bpg in only 33 minutes while shooting a blistering 65 percent. Those per 40-minute numbers: 19 and 10 with over 2 blocks. The rebounding is still not where he should have it. He should be grabbing closer to 11 or 12 just based on his height alone. But, apparently he’s heard the criticism about his brother, and spent a great deal of time in the weight room. This kid’s a beast. 7-1 and probably closer to 275 than his listed 265 weight. He’s 23-years-old, so he’s got a couple of years on some of the other rookies, but those years have been spent perfecting technique and game smarts against polished professionals (not college teenagers). He shoots a scalding 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Continue reading "Chris Wallace is Smart!"

I’m scrapping the grades for now. It’s a used up idea and too many other blogs do the same thing. Plus, it’s really too subjective for my tastes. So, moving forward, there is talk of perhaps trading Odom for Ron Artest and the deadweight contract of Kenny Thomas. While one cannot rule out a bounce-back effort from Thomas, at 6-7 he’s undersized at the 4 and would seal the fate of Turiaf going elsewhere.

And, I like Turiaf. On my team that is.

Kurt from the blog, “Forum Blue and Gold” had this insightful information on why he believed Artest is not a great fit. http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2008/07/05/lamar-odom-ron-artest/

While I agree with a lot of what he is saying, I can’t agree that Artest wouldn’t be a major upgrade to the defense. What Kurt fails to recognize in his blog (it’s a great blog don't get me wrong) is that Artest is usually matched up against the opposing players best player. That means he’s guarding Kobe. He’s guarding Paul Pierce. He’s guarding Lebron. Sure, Lamar takes some of those small forward duties occasionally, but as the starting power forward this year, he was usually banging with bigger guys.

Continue reading "No Thanks Artest"

Today marks the first official day of the offseason. Free agency is wide open. Last night, Baron Davis and Etlon Brand both opted out of their contracs creating league-wide speculation (mostly westcoast interest, with a little bit of South Beach and brotherly love). 

The Lakers have two significant free agents in Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf. I will be starting with these two players and working my way through the entire Lakers roster giving them grades one their performances this year. 

The first entry is Sasha. 

There is that faction of people that will “diss” Sasha for getting “burned” by Ray Allen in game 4, the game that effectively sunk the Lakers championship hopes.

While he did get fooled by Jesus (“burned” is in quotes because Sasha played in-your-grill defense for 20 seconds, and then misjudged one juke. Let’s not forget, as I did before the Finals, Jesus Shuttlesworth, yeah, he got game.), it wasn’t that one play that cost the Lakers a championship.

Continue reading "Sasha"

The Lakers season ended on a sour note, and Lakers news doesn’t really pick up again until Kobe starts really getting into his role as a do-everything leader on the Olympic team next month. So, being an L.A. boy, and due to the fact that the draft was last night, I’m going to switch up my blog for the summer to detail any happenings of my three favorite teams: the Lakers, Clippers and Suns (although, I’m not too fond of anyone on the Suns but Nash.)

Let me tell you, I love what the Clippers did.

Amid a whirlwind of speculation and rumors about trading up, or trading players, or moving down, etc., the Clippers ended up holding onto their pick and drafting Eric Gordon out of Indiana University. I really like this pick despite the naysayers (yeah, you Kelly).

Continue reading "Looking up in Clipperdom"

Well, despite how it began and how it ended, it was a great season for the Los Angeles Lakers. It was long too, just not quite long enough. The next few weeks will be pretty hard to swallow. 39 points will haunt this squad, Kobe especially, for perhaps their entire careers. Nothing is guaranteed and despite the enormous potential and talent the Lakers possess, this very well could have been their last shot at a championship.

But that is worst-case scenario thinking.

It’s amazing how one series, or even one game can totally change the perspective of people. Suddenly Lamar Odom’s name is being floated in all sorts of trade rumors. Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf, the Lakers two main free agents (restricted) who, before the finals looked like for sure they would be resigned, suddenly left Thursday’s exit meetings unsure of their futures with the organization.

Continue reading "Don't hit the Panic Button"

I hate Boston. Never been there. Never want to. They got funny accents and they ride their own egos all the time. Sure, coming from an L.A. guy, this must sound pretty ludicrous. Sue me.

No love for the Patriots. None whatsoever. I absolutely ABHOR the Redsox, hate them even more than the Yankees…

Of course, all the hatred in the world doesn’t negate the fact that I respect both of those franchises. What they’ve been able to build, what they’ve accomplished simply demands it.

Then there are the Cs. I’m 25 so I was 3 years old the last time the Celtics won a championship. I caught the tail end of Magic and Bird’s careers. I grew up with the Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones Lakers. I remember when the Cs second best player, Rick Fox (ha!), came over to play third/fourth fiddle to Shaq and Kobe. I remember cheering for the tandem of Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker in the playoffs, because, well, the Eastern Conference was pretty horrible back then. 

Continue reading "Congrats to the Truth, da Kid and tha Alien"

Okay, here’s the deal. The Lakers have looked pretty bad in these finals. Sure, a great deal can be attributed to the “help.”  Odom was nonexistent in the first few games. The guards have had a couple great moments, but never all at the same time and for the most part they’ve been playing poorly. The SF position has been a complete disadvantage, Walton and Vlad Rad have been horrible and Paul Pierce has been brilliant. 

But the onus falls squarely on #24’s shoulders. He’s this year’s MVP. He’s the one who demanded more help, and he’s the one everyone is calling the best player in the game. In the first 3 rounds, Kobe lived up to the hype. He averaged nearly 32 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists on 51 percent shooting. Phenomenal. He led his team into a sweep of the 50-win Nugs, out of a dogfight with the Jazz and straight through the hearts of the defending champs.

Continue reading "It’s “Show” Time"