Sorry Kobe: The Lakers Are Going From The Triangle To The Box

Kobe Bryant might be old, and getting up there in mileage, but don’t you think he’s still the best offensive option the Lakers have? Mike Brown may not agree with you. Of course, no one is going to keep the Mamba from feeding, but Brown sounds contrite when he mentions going inside to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Again. And again. And again. In Cleveland, Brown was criticized for turning the Cavs into “LeBron brings it up, LeBron holds it, LeBron calls for a screen-roll, LeBron holds it, LeBron drives to the rim, LeBron shoots or passes.” That never worked in the playoffs for obvious reasons (it’s never worked for ANYONE). So now it seems like he wants to make sure L.A. knows where their strength lies. The thing with L.A. is Kobe is their best player. Period. But their biggest strength is inside, where they have three guys capable of dominating. Put them together and that’s a bigger advantage over an opponent than Kobe bailing them out from the perimeter. But will they actually stick to the plan? … In the finals of the EuroBasket, it’ll be Spain and France. Tony Parker (22 points) pushed his country passed Russia 79-71 and into the Olympics for the first time in a dozen years. In the other semifinal, Macedonia’s Cinderella run is finally over, losing to Juan Carlos Navarro (35 points) and Spain by 12. Really it was games like these where you would hope a European team could become more isolation-happy because Bo McCalebb dropped 25 and really was the ONLY answer Macedonia had for Spain. Pau Gasol (22 points, 17 rebounds) put up big numbers, but still looks to be struggling with something … Should this guy go number one in the draft next year? … Ron Artest won’t be doing Dancing With The Stars. Major letdown right? In his place instead will be someone who looks exactly like him. His name is Metta World Peace. Finally, after much ado about virtually nothing outside of some small tickets, Artest is officially World Peace. Congrats to him, we guess. If you could choose one name, which would it be: Metta World Peace or Chad Ochocinco? … Seriously though, how amusing is it going to be to hear announcing teams refer to him in his new name? “…swings it out to World Peace…and HE HITS IT!” … In case you haven’t been following, ESPN has been counting down the 500 best NBA players this summer and an amazing thing happened yesterday. Joel Anthony and Matt Bonner were back-to-back yes, but the man directly in front of them? Tracy McGrady at #178. Five years ago, who would have ever guessed that? … Final Four time in Dime’s Ultimate Movie Baller one-on-one tournament. Who are these people who keep voting along Billy Hoyle? He’s still alive, this time taking on Butch McRae. On the other side is a monster matchup: Jesus vs. Neon. Two great names. Two great games … And the Warriors will retire No. 17 for Chris Mullin in January. We really wish they would retire all of Run-TMC together … We’re out like Steve Javie.