With the boss gone for the day, I come on here expecting to see a few blogs about what a d-bag Shaq acted like, and rightfully so. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Big Shaq because he gave me my first taste at a Laker championship squad, but insulting Laker legend Kareem and god of the universe "KOBE!!!"* is shady business. I figured Hoff would address the topic because he's a Shaq-hating-Kobe-lover, but I still felt he'd give the issue fair pub. And he did.

Then I continue to read, and it's like the only basketball thing anyone is blogging about. I get that it's the offseason, but does Kobe really need all of you defending his honor like this? I mean this is borderline someone stepping to your girlfriend type defensiveness I see from the bloggers. Shaq was stupid, no excuses for trying to pick a fight like three years after the fact, but is it really that big of a deal?

And is it really necessary for everyone to write their own raps to respond to Shaq? I mean are your bad rhymes supposed to make Shaq's seem better? If they are, then ya'll are succeeding. Shaq's flow which is god awful aside from two funny lines, is now a Jay-Z type rhyme compared to the nonesense I've seen written back. Here's a helpful hint kids, when you have to preceed your rhyme with "This is really bad, but..." then you shouldn't be posting it.

And for all your moralists out there outraged by Shaq's language, where were you during the infamous Kobe parking lot video? Kobe wasn't exactly using G-rated langauge when describing the Cap's prodigy. It's okay to berate your teammates but it's wrong to berate a rival?

For me, I think both are wrong, but for you guys it's only wrong becuase it happened to "KOBE!!!"*. If only Kareem and Ewing had been mentioned, ya'll would've said nothing (aside from Hoffman and Dizzle) because almighty king "KOBE!!!"* hadn't been offended.

I wonder how all of you will feel about Dwight Howard in 10 years. Everyone has already stated on record that he's a complete goofbag non-leader in the lockeroom just like Shaq has always been, and he's not exactly lighting it up from the charity stripe either. Isn't that a lack of a work ethic with him just like with Shaq? Isn't that a lack of leadership with him just like Shaq?

Let's call a spade a spade. You fools were sitting here waiting for a reason to pile on Shaq, and now you got it. Same way the Kobe haters were waiting for the parking lot video to come out just so they could re-iterate what an awful teammate he is. At least be honest and admit that you don't like Shaq, and that this isn't a big deal, it's just something for you to hate on him with.

If you don't like Shaq, then fine, so be it. But please, stop spamming up the blogsphere with your ridiculous rap comebackbacks defending Kobe's honor, and enough with the nicknames for Shaq. We get it, he's a dumba$$ for trying to act like Kobe ratting him out 4 years ago is the reason for his divorce. He's a dumba$$ for trying to call out Kareem, a center far more talented than him. He's a dumba$$ for trying to attack "KOBE!!!"*

If nothing else, Shaq should be taken out back and beaten for inspiring a generation of losers who always wanted to rap, to write a comeback that he'll never read.

Please, leave all negative responses in rap form in the comments section.

Sizzel, gimmi a beat...

*Copywrited by seemingly the only funny person left on this site.

I think the same should be done with runners up in the NBA Finals.

Just saying.

Round 1 Results: 5-3

Raptors, Rockets, and Suns all suck.

Round 2:

Lakers over Jazz

Spurs over Hornets

Cavs over Celtics (they'll win tommorow)

Pistons over Magic

It's certainly no Takeover but the simple fact that LeBron has arguably the biggest name in the rap game handling his dirty work is pretty cool.

I said something about the Sixers having no chance to taking the Pistons to 7. Clearly I was right.

I bow down to Curly's bball knowledge.

I'll be damned if the Magic are gonna make it to the Conference Finals though.

(Screw Kobe, Kwame Brown for league MVP. He made the Lakers MUCH better this season.)

I thought the Lakers played a very solid game yesterday despite the at times awful defense. I know some will question how the Lakers will survive in later rounds against more elite competition with that inconsistent D, but the one thing this team has proven to me is their ability to win games that matter. They did it at the end of the season, they did it yesterday, and I think they'll continue to do it as the rounds progress. Much like the Sheeds play down to their level of competition, I think the Lakers play up to their level of competition (as those nifty games against the Bobcats and Hawks indicated).

I don't put much stock into Kobe's bad game because every star has them at some point, but please don't tell me that he had a good game. Let's acknowledge that K-Mart gave him fits and move on from there, instead focusing on the way he was supporting the teammates despite his own personal  bad game issues. At first I was a bit angry when I saw him just head into the locker room at the end of the half without giving anybody a high five or anything, and later when I didn't see any emotion out of him when Pau hit a monster dunk, but that all melted away when I saw him giving Jordan pointers near the bench and then cheering the squad on from the bench. EVERYONE has a bad game, but it's important to not pull a LT and sulk on the bench when this happens - and Mamba didn't. Good for him, that's what I expect from a leader.

I know Pau was the statistical hero of the game and I give him all the credit in the world, but we can first please give some love to Lamar Odom? This is a guy who's been my favorite Laker for a long time now, and I'm glad he's finally proving himself to all Laker fans as a consistent and solid player. This is my opinion of course, but I think he has more heart and more passion for the game than anyone on the Laker roster, and I always thought it was sad that neither him nor Kobe could make the other better - which makes Pau's arrival all the sweeter because he does have the ability to make both LO and Kobe better.

Speaking of Gasol, let me just get this quick negative thing out of the way, yes he's still soft. Nothing that happened yesterday proved otherwise, so I'm not sure why folks are harping on that. Now that that's out of the way, Gasol truly earned his Laker stripes yesterday by converting on all the gifts that the fellas were giving him. Pau hit all the shots he was supposed to hit because they were fairly easy shots, but it is worth noting that Andrew Bynum would not have been the force in the middle offensively that Gasol was. Pau's offensive arsenal puts Drew's to shame, and It does make me a little apprehensive about moving Gasol to the four despite the fact that he's somewhat of a defensive liability at the center position. Gasol knows how to hit the shots he's supposed to hit, Bynum doesn't yet.

Oh yeah, and great, great, geat, job by Luke Walton. I've been ragging on the guy all season for lacking a pulse, but he truly came through yesterday when the Lakers needed a lift so good for him. Hopefully he won't dissapear for the rest of the series, because he packs a much needed boost when he's there to play the way he played early on last season.

The passing done by the team was absolutely beautiful, and I'm glad that folks are noticing the smoothness of the Laker offense. The team is filled with a bunch of really good passers, and when everyone hits their shots the team doesn't seem to have a problem moving the ball.

I don't expect Kobe to have a similarly bad game in game 2, but I do expect another bad game at some point in the series from him because there are some match up issues with the Nuggets. As long as Lamar and Pau step up though, it should be no problem. I also don't expect Pau to return to playing like a mortal because the Nuggets awful defense is god sent for an amazingly offensively talented player like him.  I think as long as Gasol continues to hit the easy shots that are given to him, he'll do big things in this series.

I said from the get go that this series shouldn't go more than six, and I believe that. If the Lakers don't come out in the next game fully prepared to break down the zone when it's thrown at them, I will absolutely torch Phil Jackson in my next blog.

Off topic, but let me pose this question anyway: Does anyone else think the Lakers match up better with the Spurs than Suns? I look at that Amare-Shaq tandem over there, and I just can't see the Lakers stopping them. I know it's bad to look ahead, but hypothetically speaking, which of those two teams would you rather see?