Skip Bayless (sports writer/commentator) and his crew were talking about Kobe and Magic on their ESPN show 1st and 10. They were cajoling about who was the best Laker of all time. Bayless said there is no doubt Magic was the best. I agree. Kobe is an awesome player, but Magic was the best player on arguably the best team ever; the 1988 Lakers. That team played an amazing style of basketball: fast paced, great shooting, great defensive pressure causing multiple turnovers each game which they usually turned into fast break lay-ups. It was Laker ball.
Not only was there Magic, but Kareem, James Worthy, A. C. Green and Byron Scott with some great players like A.C. Green and Mychal Thompson off the bench.

Kobe’s great, but he’s not Magic. Not yet anyway. His teams just aren’t as good for one, and Magic just had the better overall game than Kobe does.

You know what makes me mad as a hornet? When teams have the ball right before halftime or at the end of the game, and the player, maybe the point guard or a wing player, starts dribbling around and waits too long to make his move to the basket.
It happened Sat Night at the UAB-UTEP game. I’m pretty sure it was Jamarr Sanders. He had the ball with around 20 seconds left and he just kept dribbling and dribbling, waiting and waiting. Finally, with around five seconds left, he made his move. It was too late. He had nowhere to go and got no look at the basket. Buzzer goes off, wasted possession. UAB loses in double overtime. Could have made a difference. It seemed like he was clueless out there. Maybe there was no play called or he just wasn’t sure what to do. Regardless, it cost the Blazers.

Besides some pitiful free throw shooting, the wasted time before half or the end of the game bothers me the most about any team. The players don’t know when to go to the basket at the end of half or the game and they just lose points that way.