The Rockets game was tough to watch last night. Granted, the Lakers in L.A. are always a tough test for the good guys, but here are five reasons, excuses and/or random observations that I think contributed to the loss:
1. Kobe Bryant is (still) good. At basketball that is.
Granted, he may not be a good person, but "good people" are rarely successful in hyper competitive environments. No one has ever accused Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Roger Clemens, Ray Lewis, Floyd Mayweather or a whole host of other champion athletes of being good "people" generally. It's actually a detriment to their job.
2. Luis Scola is not a center.
This is now the second time Scola has been pressed into center duty against a true 7'+ center in crunch time. It did not work out very well against the Magic. And it went horribly awry last night against Andrew Bynum (who is desperately trying to get Kobe's love and attention by playing better).
3. Kevin Martin is not happy it's 2012.
A year ago, the mere sight of Kevin Martin set the referees' whistles all atwitter. Then the NBA emphasized certain parts of the game and dictated that the referees not blow the whistle in certain situations. All of the situations where Speed Racer had previously thrived. Now he's going to the basket, trying to draw contact, and is hearing nothing but the sound of the ball being thrown back in his face. This is problematic. Especially since he's having trouble consistently hitting open shots on the road.
4. Cindy Crawford: still attractive.
Cindy Crawford may be 45 years old. She's still otherworldly attractive. As demonstrated last night when she sat next to the Rockets' bench and proceeded to distract the entire roster during the game.
(Also, when looking up Ms. Crawford's age, I realized she shares the same birthday as Kurt Cobain. Odd.)
5. Kevin McHale's Purple Tie (not pictured only because I can't find the picture)
The Lakers were the home team last night. Their colors are Forum Blue and Gold. For those that are not color blind, "Forum Blue" = purple. So....... for some completely unexplainable reason, Kevin McHale decided to accentuate his sideline attire with a purple goddamn tie.
That only served to piss off the basketball gods. Next thing you know, the box score reads 108-99.
*** also, bonus reason: yesterday was January 3rd. Houston sports teams do not fare well on the road on January 3rd. It usually ends badly.