Ka-Pau!

What is Pau Gasol doing? Someone please tell him he's not playing for a new contract.

I understand the 36 points... somewhat. But he dishes (8 assists) and goes to the boards (16 rebounds), and makes his teammates like Lamar Odom, who's been unbelievable since Pau's arrival, better.

Pau's just not that good.

The guy we gave up for him, on the other hand, was the first pick in the NBA draft and had tremendous potential. He was even drafted by His Airness, Michael Jordan.

And so now we have this Pau guy who flirts with triple doubles in the playoffs and causes Kobe to say he "absolutely" wants to be a Laker for life.

"I love the weather. I love my '63 drop-top Impala. I love the 405 [freeway]. I love my guys," Kobe said.

And he also said Mitch Kupchak went from an "F" to an "A-plus."

"He believed in the draft picks he made, he had the patience," Kobe said.

Quite the change in Kobe's demeanor, thanks in large part to this Pau guy.

Doesn't look like Andrew Bynum or Trevor Ariza will be joining the Lakers in the playoffs:

Phil Jackson called the possibility of Bynum playing in the playoffs a "remote thing."

TOL: Thinking out loud:

Not sure if I want to see the Suns lose in the first round, or get to the conference finals so they can potentially face the Lakers. Seeing them lose to the Spurs in game 1 just gave me so much joy, but a Lakers/Suns matchup, though risky, would be quite exciting.

I hate to give props to anyone on the D'Backs but this is worth mentioning:


Eric Byrnes promised to grow out a 'stache after every game in which he gets a hit, and won't cut it until he goes hitless.


So after every four or five game hitting streak, Byrnes will be rocking a stache. Here's to hoping he puts a nice 20 game string together.



What's the story with Kevin O'Neill?



Arizona fans rejoined recently when Lute Olson announced that O'Neill would not come back as an assistant coach. O'Neill, however, insists that he will be back, according to Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star.



Basketball recruits Arizona is looking at:



Several Southern California guys are on Arizona's 2009 "wish list" including Van Nuys forward Victor Rudd, La Canada center Anthony Stover, and Compton Dominguez forward Jordan Hamilton.

Andruw Watch:

Despite still bordering on obese, Jones hit his first home run of the season Friday in Atlanta. Braves didn't know whether to cheer him or boo. I'm not sure why you would boo him. He gave your club his best years, helped you win a World Series, and then got fat and saved you money by signing with another team. It was a win win situation for Braves fans.

Monday 0-4, 1K
Season: .159, 22ks