Letters: Here’s how you know Lakers-Clippers is a real rivalry

If nothing else, with the recent emergence and, perhaps, dominance of the Clippers, it gives Lakers fans a real reason to chant “Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!”

Ron Tom

Pasadena

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Because most of the Clippers are new to the area I thought I would help them out with a little history lesson. The Lakers own the city of Los Angeles. The Clippers just rent.

John Roach

Delhi, N.Y.

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The Clippers are in real trouble now that they have Bill Plaschke in their corner. Listening to his advice on their conduct while playing the Lakers is absurd.

The Clips are doing fine, thank you, but the Lakers are still the best team in L.A.

Ken Bezich

San Pedro

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Bill Plaschke, what are you talking about? Blake Griffin is supposed to lie there while Ron Artest has his legs wrapped around his neck? Chris Paul is supposed to enjoy a pat on his head? Come on, the Clips are showing some fight and that is good! And while you are at it, Bill, give some props to Donald Sterling and Clippers management for putting together an exciting, competitive team. They are not all the way there yet, but they are sure fun and a lot more watchable than that other team at Staples.

Vance Lerner

Riverside

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When one is dealing with a thug, anger, belligerence and hostility are necessary, and that is exactly what Metta World Peace gave the Clippers thugs on Wednesday night, along with some good play. It is a shame that the NBA and the referees have resorted to and allowed such brutish contests. The game was out of control, and it was obvious the Clippers were the early aggressors and brutes: pushing, shoving, hanging on people, and the refs let it go. The Lakers responded with roughness of their own, and finally the refs start calling the game correctly. Someone is going to get hurt seriously before it will stop.

Chet Chebegia

Long Beach

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The Lakers will continue to struggle until they establish one offensive system. Right now they are confused by trying to play the triangle, Mike Brown’s system and Kobe’s all at once.

Sol Bialeck

Van Nuys

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You published a letter from a reader who blamed Mike Brown for the Lakers malaise. Nonsense. The Lakers have at least three major problems: 1) they have no point guard, 2) they have only one forward and 3) they still have the worst bench in the league.

Anybody with even a casual understanding of basketball knows that this is indeed the fault of one person — Jim Buss.

Dick Terrill

Torrance

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To talk of the “Lakers offense” is to discuss a contradiction in terms. It’s Kobe and all but Bynum chucking it up from the cheap seats. It seems the only time the talented big men touch the ball around the hoop is after an offensive rebound.

Mike Brown reminds one of the local parks and rec guy who tosses the ball onto the court to his charges and tells them to “have fun.”

Bud Chapman

Northridge

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The only thing worse than the Lakers’ pathetic showing against the Heat and Magic was Mike Brown’s rose-colored assessment of the offense.

Ray McKown

Los Angeles

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Pau Gasol appears to hold Mike Brown’s offense responsible for his ineffective play. I hold Pau responsible. Gasol’s decline began in last year’s playoffs, against New Orleans and Dallas, where he was muscled and pushed around and lost his rhythm and confidence. Mike Brown wasn’t the coach then. What it looks like to me is that the many years of playing both NBA and international basketball have taken a toll on Pau’s legs.

Pau has won two championships; other players in the league are hungry for their first. The difference shows.

Frank Shapiro

Chatsworth

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There is no big mystery when it comes to the Lakers’ inconsistent play. They don’t have a modern NBA playmaking point guard. They have become a perimeter shooting team with occasional passes inside. Their perimeter shooting has been atrocious against the good teams in the league, but there is no one to create shooting opportunities in some other manner. They are a .500 team with no hope of reaching the Finals. End of story.

Rex Altman

Los Angeles

With his decision-making legacy thus far, Jim Buss is looking like a petulant Nero fiddling without a clue. Run Phil Jackson and Brian Shaw out of town, hire Mike Brown, demand Bynum over Howard because he played a part in drafting him. Proof that silver-spooned nepotism is never a good thing. Even still, Jeanie would have been a much better choice. At least she is smart enough to listen to Phil.

Carey Miller

Fullerton

Take heart, Lakers fans. The 0-2 Florida trip may turn out to be a recruiting coup. By missing all those shots, Kobe and the Lakers showed Dwight Howard they can offer him something far greater than greenbacks ... put-backs!

Anthony Moretti

Lomita

Daly trouble

Bob Daly told Frank McCourt when McCourt bought the Dodgers, “People were under contract, but they’ve been like a family and so if you want to make changes, do so with respect.”

I’m not sure how Daly can say such a thing years after the sale. I dislike Frank McCourt as much as anyone in town, however if a guy buys a team, he has the prerogative to do as he wants with it.

Matthew Kerster

Gardena

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Read T.J.’s article where Bob Daly said he made a big mistake selling the Dodgers to Frank McCourt. Sorry Bob, have to disagree with you. In your four years running the Dodgers, you had two second-place and two third-place finishes in a five-team division with zero playoff appearances. Under the eight years under McCourt, we Dodgers fans had three first-place finishes, four playoff appearances and two playoff series wins.

Bob, please stay in the entertainment business or help your wife write more Grammy-winning songs, but stay away from our Dodgers.

Bill Remy

Chino Hills

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Mr. Daly sounds like hundreds of people I’ve met at the racetrack — woulda, coulda, shoulda. He gets no quarter from me. He was a disaster with the Dodgers, sold all of us out to McCourt and now looks back on that decision and numerous other incorrect decisions while he had authority.

Just go away. We don’t want to hear it, Bob, we’ve had to live it.

Steve Owen

San Diego

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Beware all bidders. If you think fans are going to use public transit to boycott Frank McCourt, you’re nuts. He still gets $14 million each year from the new owner. We are not coming until Frank’s gone, period.

Don George

Eagle Rock

John and Joe

Regarding your columnist, Bill Dwyre, he has it backward (again). John Wooden ran perhaps the dirtiest program in college sports history, wearing blinders while UCLA booster Sam Gilbert took care of every “need” of the players. Joe Paterno ran perhaps the cleanest big-time college football program in America. That’s not wiping away the horrible mistake in judgment that Paterno made. It is simply telling the truth.

Paul Knopick

Laguna Hills

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A Google search for “John Wooden/Sam Gilbert” tells me that there are nearly a half a million reasons to say that the connection is not forgotten.

Mike Amodei

South Bend, Ind.

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In watching the farewell to Joe Paterno and the effusive words of the Nike co-founder Phil Knight, I’m dumbstruck by the need to deflect criticism away from Mr. Paterno. When confronted with an unthinkable situation that required him to take control of a crisis, Joe did the least of him required by law and in turn allowed a pedophile to use the very institution he built up and represented, to continue to abuse children.

For Knight to say Joe died with a clear conscience is presumptuous at best. Joe had to know he could have done more. He failed in a crisis. Joe Paterno was just human.

Marcelo Barreiro

Manhattan Beach

Really?

USC held a news conference to announce its nonconference basketball schedule for next year. Their home opponents will be Trade Tech, Harbor College, Santa Monica City College and East Los Angeles College. Away games include Crenshaw, Westchester, Fairfax and a long road trip to Orange County to play Mater Dei.

Athletic Director Pat Haden explained: “We wanted to reduce travel costs yet play the best competition in Southern California. We hope it will better prepare us the Pac-12 schedule and increase our RPI.” Haden declined to take any questions.

Brent Montgomery

Long Beach

Listen up

During this break before the Super Bowl, I offer my critique of television football announcers and commentators.

—”What a” is not a description, as in “What a play by Jones.”

—”If you’re” is not a useful introduction, as in, “If you’re the Giants, you need a turnover.” How about, “The Giants need a turnover”?

—”He’s gotta” is superfluous, at best, as in, “He’s gotta make that catch.” Really? Or, what? He’ll be executed?

—If every play is “great,” then every play is ordinary. The thesaurus contains hundreds of precise adjectives.

—A player “says” is lazy and useless, as in, “Johnson says, I can tackle too.” (I know, it’s basketball, but are you listening Stu Lantz?)

—Describing what happened during a replay is not commentary, as in, “He jumps up, tips the ball, and the defender catches it.” The commentator’s job is to explain why something happened. We can see what happened.

Finally, can the announcers please stop screaming? Let the play provide the excitement. If you’re not sure how to do this, listen to Vin Scully.

Will Powers

San Luis Obispo

Meeting goals

I have long been critical of Phil Anschutz and Tim Leiweke, feeling that they pay scant attention to the Kings while selling false hope and giving lip service to a most-deserving fan base. So imagine my surprise when AEG stepped up recently and signed a proven offensive threat. Obviously I was in error for questioning their dedication to the Kings, for AEG finally recognized the pressing need for scoring and took the necessary steps to address it.

I sure hope David Beckham can skate.

Kristin Franko

Rolling Hills Estates

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