The Daily Nickel

jOSE jUAN bAREA

THE GOOD
1. JJ Barea is Quick- A 6-point 3rd quarter lead expanded to 14 on the diminutive shoulders of JJB.  He got deep into the lane and either finished, set up a teammate for a dunk, or kicked for an open 3.  In many series JJ's size limits him on defense, but the Lakers always have an easy matchup for him with either Fisher or Brown or Blake.  On a team that shoots a lot of jump shots a guy that can get to the rim and wreak havoc is at a premium, and in this series, especially last night, JJ is delivering.

2. Rangers Remember How to Win- Let's be honest... nobody watched this game.  I was wondering when my Ranger's enthusiasm would wane to the point that I didn't find a way to watch ever pitch of every game.  Turns out that aspect of my viewership was probably more related to late regular season disinterest in the Mavs and Laker dominating attention grabbing now, than to the Rangers.  But, they haven't really been working very hard to earn my butt-on-the-couch time either.  Anyway, what I gather is that CJ Wilson decided to take the bullpen out of the equation and do the whole thing himself.  Ac ouple funny notes: 1. His complete game ties him with the most in franchise history for a left-hander along with Cliff Lee (who was only here a half-season). 2. He now only trails the franchises right-handed complete game leader, Nolan Ryan, by 31... man, that guy was a stud.


THE BAD

3. The Lakers Are Struggling- The only real run the Lakers made was with a hot Kobe in the 2nd quarter.  But, in the 3rd and 4th his same approach dug them into a hole when he got cold.  The analyst have given up on Pau, who is proving the distance between he and Dirk is Grand Canyon wide, and called for more from Lamar Kardashian.  That man obviously has his hands full away from the court and can't focus his effort for an entire game.  The only real consistent threat that the Lakers have been able to produce is Andrew Bynum, who had 14 at the half and they completely ignored in the 2nd half, where he only got 4.  And now he has trust issues...

4. Franklin and Bash-  Zach Morris is ruining the NBA Playoffs.  Growing Up I watched 10 episodes of Saved By The Bell a day and I couldn't get enough of the coolest guy in the school.  15 years later I can't build up enough buffer on my DVR to avoid the annoying commercials for what looks like a crappy TV show.  Somebody please tell TNT that running a commercial 20 times a game doesn't subliminally make us want to watch it.  with that said, if they add Kelly Kapowski to the cast, I'm in. 

THE UGLY

5. Artest Being Artest- David Stern needs to take a different approach in responding to this incident and really punish the Lakers.  Instead of letting them play without him and his airballs and bricks, they should have to play him the entire game... he's not even allowed to foul out.