Letters: Kings are in, Lakers are out

Now that the Kings are back in the Stanley Cup playoffs, a little advice:

“The curvature of the blade of the stick shall be restricted in such a way that the distance of a perpendicular line measured from a straight line drawn from any point at the heel to the end of the blade to the point of maximum curvature shall not exceed three-quarter of an inch (¾”).” NHL Rulebook, Rule 10.1.

George Pisano

Rancho Palos Verdes

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Well, at least AEG won’t have to worry about any more same-day hustle-and-bustle scheduling conflicts at Staples Center between the Kings’ upcoming Stanley Cup series and any remaining Lakers/Clippers playoff games this season.

Mark J. Featherstone

Windsor Hills

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See what happens when you cover the Kings’ road games?

Dalia Freedman

Los Angeles

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Where have all the people gone who were screaming for Dean Lombardi’s scalp a couple of years ago and about the Dustin Penner trade last year?

Scott Daloisio

Chino

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There once was a team from Phoenix

Whose goalie slashed players with sticks,

Their players got tossed

And cried when they lost,

Now Kings fans are getting their kicks.

Tony Cortes

Rancho Santa Margarita

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I find it hilarious that the three Coyotes players (Martin Hanzal, Shane Doan and Mike Smith) that showed the most outward anger following Dustin Brown’s hit on Michal Rozsival and Dustin Penner’s subsequent series-clinching goal are the same three players who conveniently seemed to forget their own suspension-worthy actions in Game 2 of the series. Glass houses must be in short supply around the Phoenix area.

Mer Valdez

Long Beach

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If the Kings go on to win the Stanley Cup, the only disappointment for us long-suffering Kings fans will be that we will be prevented from hearing Bob Miller say, “The Kings are the 2011-2012 Stanley Cup champions!”

Jeff Davine

West Hills

They’re done

According to Kobe Bryant, team must be a two-letter word, spelled M E.

Cecil Worthington

Los Angeles

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The Lakers don’t have a mature and reliable center; maybe they can trade for one.

The Lakers don’t have a heads-up point guard; maybe they can trade for one.

The Lakers have about diddly for players off the bench; maybe they can trade for some.

The Lakers have no heart, no soul, no team unity and no class; good luck trading for that!

Stephen Mattson

Los Osos

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Because the Lakers have no first-round draft pick and are capped out of free agents, and the coaching staff doesn’t seem to be able to get the teammates to play nice together, the fans might as well look to themselves to improve the current players. I invite Times readers to offer free advice. I’ll start.

Memo to Steve Blake: In order to hit a jump shot, the basketball must be shot higher than the rim so that the ball descends down into the basket instead of scooting across the rim.

Richard Raffalow

Valley Glen

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Sometimes you have to just man up, tip your hat and give credit where credit is due. The Lakers’ owner, front office, and players were simply no match for David Stern and his swarming NBA trade veto power. Congratulations, Mr. Commissioner, you won.

Larry Yells

Hermosa Beach

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I know that that Bynum and Gasol on many nights disprove the theory that bigger is better, that M.W. Peace leads the league in drawing the “what a dumb thing to do” comment and that the Blake/Sessions combo takes the two-wrongs-don’t-make-a-right theory to new levels. Having said all that, I still am amazed that Kobe Bryant ( the great facilitator ) can play 40 minutes, handle the ball the majority of the time, fire up 33 shots and get zero assists. The great ones make the players around them better. Or not.

Bert Bergen

La Canada

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Once upon a time, the Lakers epitomized Class. Now the “C” stands for Cancer, by way of Andrew Bynum. Maybe Kobe was right when he said “ship his [butt] out” all those years ago.

Eddie Khanbeigi

Yorba Linda

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In crunch time Kobe hogs the ball, dribbles out the clock and then throws up a brick and a prayer. The next day he blames Pau Gasol for a lack of hustle. I’m not an expert, but I don’t think this formula is working.

Craig Poletti

San Dimas

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If (the former) Ron Artest can have “World Peace” on the back of his uniform, should Andrew Bynum have “Maturity,” “Effort” or “Relentlessness” on his?

Mark Backstrom

Inglewood

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Kobe Bryant misses eight of 10 shots in the final 12 minutes of Game 4 against the Thunder and emerges to offer that Pau Gasol “made a bad read” on a last-minute pass? Doesn’t anyone in Los Angeles dare to confront Bryant’s phenomenal conceit?

Konrad Moore

Bakersfield

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I can still hear the cheers of “MVP, MVP” when Kobe steps to the free-throw line. The Lakers’ “closer” does remind me of MVP LeBron James — especially in the fourth quarter.

Jeffrey Stewart

Eagle Rock

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I’ve set my snooze alarm to wake me when Kobe retires.

Mike Manis

Rancho Mirage

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If Mitch Kupchak has any guts, he will resign as Lakers GM. The incompetence of Jim Buss has already run off the likes of Jerry West, Magic Johnson and Phil Jackson. Not to mention Jordan Farmar, Lamar Odom, Shannon Brown and Derek Fisher. Kupchak’s excuses and rationalizations for all of the Lakers’ stupid personnel decisions have gotten old. You’re a good guy, Mitch. Leave this mess for Jimmy Boy and his gang of cronies.

Scott Zimbler

Lakewood

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Andrew Bynum is a baby in a man’s body. Although ostensibly intelligent, he is uneducated. Andrew has no appreciation for being a professional athlete with great skills. Andrew has no appreciation for being a Laker and having the opportunity to play alongside one of the greatest players of our generation, Kobe Bryant, from whom he could learn about a proper work ethic, effort and the value of winning.

How many rebounds did he have in possibly the most important game of this season, four? If my grandmother had been 7 feet tall she would get more than four rebounds. Not scoring much might be attributable to insufficient “touches,” but rebounding is an individual effort.

Someday, Andrew will achieve his potential, both physical and mental. But I hope it will not be as a Laker. I can’t wait that long.

Daniel Berez

Studio City

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This is probably the end of Pau Gasol as a Laker. Before anyone trashes him, let’s remember that we never would have made three trips to the NBA Finals or taken home two championships without him. He will forever be a Laker. Pau, you brought dignity and grace back to the Lakers. You will be greatly missed. Thanks for the memories.

Craig P. Fagan

San Diego

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I find it interesting that people are calling for Mike Brown’s head because the Lakers only won one game in the second round of the playoffs. Last year, when the Lakers were coached by the genius Phil Jackson, they were swept in the second round although they had arguably a far better roster that included Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown. I don’t recall anyone suggesting that he be fired.

Alvin S. Michaelson

Los Angeles

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Trivia question: Who is the only man to ever contain Russell Westbrook and not let him dominate games?

Answer: Ben Howland

Rob Osborne

Manhattan Beach

For the fans

Bill Shaikin’s May 20 column on plans being laid by new Dodgers ownership for enhancing the “fan experience” was thought-provoking. Might I suggest that before dragging the fans down the cybernetic path of participation through smartphone, this guy Peter Guber might want to think about how to enable the average guy to take his kids to a ballgame without exposing them to the profane and over-indulgent morons who seem to occupy every corner of the stadium where the price of tickets is anywhere near reasonable. Just a thought.

Bud Chapman

Northridge

Seeing red

Everything you needed to know about the Dodgers and Angels was on display Sunday.

While Mike Scioscia was micromanaging the Angels with poor substitutions and managing errors duplicating last year’s losing ways, Don Mattingly was greenlighting a rookie off the bench with maybe 10 major league at-bats with a 3-and-0 count. The rookie, Scott Van Slyke, homers and the Dodgers sweep the World Series champions.

Scioscia, while losing two of three to the lowly Padres, played his second baseman in the outfield, who promptly proceeded to kick an easy play allowing the winning run to score. Scioscia had earlier called for a sacrifice bunt that moved the slowest runner on the team to second, forcing the hottest hitter on the team (Trout) to be walked. The runner was stranded. Same ol’, same ol’.

Bob Smith

Costa Mesa

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I figured out what the Angels’ problem is. It’s the curse of Rex Hudler.

Dennis Kelly

Signal Hill

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