Dave Smith

We all know the Lakers are not going to win a championship without Kobe Bryant, because he’s the best player in the NBA and one of the great closers of all time….

But the last two games, against Portland and San Antonio, have shown just how great this team can be when they play defense and move the ball on offense….

Despite playing without Kobe and Andrew Bynum, the Lakers won at Portland and last night easily handled the Spurs….

As great as Kobe is, I’ve always thought he shoots too much; resulting in his teammates standing around and watching….

The last two games have shown that when everyone is getting touches and playing unselfishly very good things happen….

Hopefully Kobe has been watching closely and makes sure this unselfish team play continues….

How happy did Pau Gasol look last night? Playing without Bryant, Pau looked like a kid on the playground….

He ran the floor, had a smile on his face, was involved on almost every possession and put up 21 points and 19 rebounds….

Gasol was also a force defensively, blocking six shots and changing several others….

Stu Lantz always talks about the importance of “keeping the bigs happy” and last night was a perfect example….

Searching the internet this morning, I found the best line yet regarding the Saints Super Bowl win over the Colts; courtesy of ESPN the magazine’s Jorge Arangure: “I’m sure when Peyton Manning was growing up he always wanted to throw the TD pass that gave the Saints a Super Bowl win. Now he has.”….

That’s very funny and I wish I’d thought of it….

By the way, I actually heard someone on ESPN mention the key play of the game was the Pierre Garson drop of Manning’s pass with a little over eight minutes remaining in the second quarter….

He must have read my column yesterday….

He’s right, because that play won the game for New Orleans….

Instead of a possible TD and a 17-3 lead, the momentum changed and the Saints went on to win….

From the eight minute mark of the second quarter to seven minute mark of the third quarter, Manning did not run a play….

The dropped pass combined with the onside kick and ensuing drive by the Saints kept Peyton on the bench for 15 game minutes and 45 total….

If I were New Orleans owner Tom Benson, I’d award Garson a ring and full playoff share….

Interesting story from ESPN.com:
“Steve Phillips, the former ESPN baseball analyst and New York Mets general manager, said Monday that he knew he had a sex addiction problem in August — two months before he was fired from his role with the network.

“What I want to do is take ownership,” he said in an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today Show. “I made some mistakes … I’m fully responsible for what I did.”

Phillips spoke publicly for the first time since he left the Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services clinic in Hattiesburg, Miss., the same clinic golfer Tiger Woods reportedly attended.

Phillips didn’t talk extensively about his time at Pine Grove, but did say that it is a place for people who are “broken” and “struggling to find answers.”

Phillips said he realized he had a sexual addiction problem in August, while he was having an affair with ESPN production assistant Brooke Hundley. That affair eventually included Hundley contacting Phillips’ wife at their home. It made its way to the New York tabloids, where Phillips was front-page fodder, in October.

“I recognized in August, I needed help,” Phillips said. “I started calling facilities.”

Reaction: Bulls***. He’s a guy with access to women and enjoyed having sex with them. There’s no such thing as sexual addiction for a man and claiming some kind of disease which necessitates going to rehab is absurd. He banged an ugly chick who turned out to be a psycho who contacted his wife. Knowing his career and job with ESPN was in jeopardy, he claimed he had an addiction and needed help.

Again, bulls***…

When the Colts decided to tank a game in Week 14 against the Jets, I thought they were going to pay dearly for that decision….

After all, they were 13-0 and had a chance to make history by becoming the first team to go 19-0….

Instead, with a 15-10 third quarter lead, first year head coach Jim Caldwell pulled the starters and awakened the karma police….

And Sunday night at the Super Bowl, the Saints won their first Super Bowl in franchise history, 31-17….

That really sounds strange, doesn’t it? The New Orleans Saints are the World Champions….

If I were the Commissioner of the NFL, I’d deal harshly with teams tanking games to get ready for the playoffs. The fans pay top dollar for tickets and deserve the participants best effort. They already get ripped off with the pre-season games, so turning regular season games into a farce cannot be tolerated….

If I saw teams tanking, I’d fine the organization $1M and take away a first round draft choice….

That would put a stop to it real quick….

The Colts paid dearly for losing intentionally and ripping off their fans….

Near the end of the first half, however, a series of idiotic moves by New Orleans head coach Sean Payton seemed to be defying the Karma Patrol….

Down 10-3 with a third-and-goal at the Colts one-yard-line, he decided to run wide, lost a yard and set up a fourth-and-goal. Instead of settling for a field goal, he called time out to design a great play to tie the game….

At least I thought he was designing something he’d been saving all year….

Instead, he ran straight up the middle, got stuffed and came away with nothing….

So why call time out if you’re going to run a stupid play like that?….

With 1:30 left and the Colts inside their own 15, they ran a play up the middle for no gain, obviously hoping to run out the clock. Coach Payton should have called one of his three time outs immediately, but instead stood there with his thumb up his ass. After the Colts ran the ball on third down and came up short of a first down,. somebody finally woke up the Coach and he called a time out; but only after he’d wasted at least 45 seconds….

After the punt, New Orleans got the ball near midfield, but with only 30 seconds remaining in the half. Had there been 1:15 left, they might have scored the tying TD; but instead ran out of time and had to settle for a FG….

Clock management, clock management, clock management….

To his credit, Payton made a great decision with the onside kick to begin the second half and the Saints converted with a TD to take a 13-10 lead. That took some balls and nearly made up for his asinine coaching in the first half….

The biggest play of the game? No, it wasn’t any great plays by Peyton Manning or Drew Brees. And it wasn’t the interception return for a TD by Tracy Porter which sealed the game for the Saints….

In my opinion, the biggest play of the game happened around the 9:00 mark of the second quarter, with the Colts leading 10-3….

On a third-and-four from their own 28, Manning hit WR Pierre Garcon in stride near midfield. Garcon had two steps on the defender and it was going to be off to the races. Instead, Garcon dropped the ball and the Colts had to punt….

Had he made the easy catch, he might have scored or at least gone deep into Saints territory. The Colts had all the momentum at that point and another touchdown might have been the backbreaker….

That drop was huge and in the opinion of Dave Smith cost Indianapolis the game….

So why is it that nobody else is talking about it?….

As for the rest of Super Bowl Sunday, here’s my opinion:

-THE COMMERCIALS:

Since I was out during the day and DVR’d the game, I didn’t see any of them. I fast forwarded every time CBS went to commercials, so thankfully wasn’t subjected to the stupid-ass attempts at humor.

-HALFTIME SHOW:

It hurts me to say this, because I’m a huge fan of The Who. I’ve seen them in concert several times and never been disappointed, because their music is great and they always put on a good show. I have all their CD’s and they are one of my five favorite bands.

All that being said, their halftime performance sucked. It’s really not their fault, because every musical act at the Super Bowl has been terrible. The setting just isn’t right for a concert, the sound is always terrible and football fans don’t give a damn and just want to get on with the game….

You just can’t mix a great sporting event with non-sports entertainment and I wish the NFL and network executives would undetstand.

The game itself was very good and it is was great to see Who Dat Nation have something to celebrate after Hurricane Katrina….

I know it won’t help people who are still suffering and won’t put displaced people back in their homes, but for a few hours, at least, the people of New Orleans finally had something to celebrate….

After the Clippers made a nice run a few years ago, winning a playoff series and taking the Suns to seven games in the second round, I went on the radio and called for the organization to fire Mike Dunleavy….

People thought I was crazy, but having watched him coach I knew he’d taken the Clips as far as he could….

Even though the Clippers made the second round, his coaching blunders cost them two games and the series….

On the road in Phoenix, with a chance to steal one, the Clips led by three with a few seconds left and looked as if they were going to take control of the series. The situation called for a foul, but instead Dunleavy inexplicably inserted rookie Daniel Ewing into the game to guard dangerous Raja Bell. Ewing hadn’t played all night and hardly at all during the season, so the move was idiotic….

Predictably, Ewing lost Bell, who got open in the corner and swished a three as the game ended. Then, of course, the Suns won in overtime….

When the series returned to Los Angeles, Dunleavy was at it again, sitting Sam Cassell on the bench for nearly the entire fourth quarter of a heartbreaking loss which cost them the series….

Sam I Am was the Clips best player and team leader, so his riding the pine down the stretch was shocking….

I’d seen this act before from Dunleavy in Portland and knew it was time for him to go….

It reminded me of the Chicago Bulls of the late ’80’s, who made the Eastern Conference Finals against the Bad Boy Pistons, only to lose in seven games….

After the loss, Doug Collins was suprisingly fired….

It seemed like a stupid move, but General Manager Jerry Krause showed what a shrewd basketball man he was….

He knew Collins had taken the team as far as he could and to get past the Pistons they were going to have to change course. His choice to replace Doug? A relatively unknown assistant named Phil Jackson….

Ten championship later, I think Krause has been justified….

With the young talent the Clippers have, the offense Dunleavy runs is never going to work. With Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby and hopefully Blake Griffin, they need a coach like Mike D’Antoni….

Run, run, run, play exciting basketball and give the fans a reason to go to the games. With the Lakers sharing the arena, the only way to draw interest is to have the most exciting, high scoring style in the NBA….

Unfortunately Dunleavy is going to retain his role as GM and will probably not want to hire someone who coaches a breakneck style; because it’s totally the opposite of his philosophy….

Donald T. Sterling needs to make a clean break, relieve Dunleavy of all responsibilities and say goodbye….

Hire a young GM along the lines of Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti, a coach with the D’Antoni philosophy and turn those young players loose….

We all know how tough and competitive Kobe Bryant is and how much he wants to suit up for every game. It’s also very important for the Lakers to keep winning and gain home court advantage throughout the playoffs….

But it’s time for the organization to insist Kobe sits out a week and get his body right for the stretch drive and post-season….

Even though he still puts up big numbers, it’s obvious he’s hurting. He still has the torn ligaments in his finger and now his knee and ankle are hurting….

A week off to get his body right would do wonders….

Knowing him, however, he will refuse to sit out and probably put up his usual numbers over the next few games….

With the 24/7 Super Bowl coverage on ESPN, my head is about to explode. One “expert” after another joins the ESPN team onstage, breaks down both teams and gives his opinion on who’s going to win….

This was boring a week ago and nothing has changed….

Nobody has any idea who is going to win and all these dopes are guessing just like the rest of us….

Both teams are really good and who knows how the ball is going to bounce, who is going to make mistakes or if a blown call will decide the game….

I like the Colts, because of Peyton Manning, but who knows?….

I think I’ll boycott the four letter network until the Super Bowl is over….

I can make a few guarantees, though:

-The pre-game entertainment show will be awful

-All the commercials will suck

-A great band like The Who will be awful

-The post-game music show will be an embarrassment

-All the “experts” will continue to bore the hell out of us after the game