Comments on: “Kings aren’t good enough, don’t deserve bounces” — Guess who?

By: DougS

DougS — Wed, 23 May 2012 01:48:00 +0000

Yes, Downey was good, too. I think he’s writing somewhere else now; I forget exactly where.

By: sstephen17

sstephen17 — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:50:00 +0000

I was always a fan of Mike Downey back in the day.

By: Matt George

Matt George — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:32:00 +0000

I like the Kings in 5 over either one of those 2.

Maybe 6 … maybe.

By: DougS

DougS — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:33:00 +0000

If I had to psychoanalyze what’s going on with the LAT’s own Gladys Kravitz, I would guess that she’s effusive about the Kings when they’re winning because it’s fun to ride a team’s coattails when they’re as hot as the Kings have been even if you’re an “objective” observer and not a fan, and also because it just makes you look stupid to snark. However, the moment that they show weakness, as happened on Sunday, then the stiletto comes out again because it’s just too much fun to snark. In a sense, she’s more like an entertainment reviewer than a sports reporter, and all reviewers know that it’s easier to write negative stuff than it is to be positive.

By: DougS

DougS — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:24:00 +0000

Besides Murray, let’s not forget Scot Ostler, who bolted for The National. And Tim Kawakami, who left for the San Jose Mercury after he got passed over for the columnist spot that went to JA Adande.

By: m_and_m

m_and_m — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:41:00 +0000

Oh and also you should remember that the writers don’t usually choose the title headlines for their pieces. Usually that’s done by some clueless copywriter in the boiler room.

By: m_and_m

m_and_m — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:37:00 +0000

” I have come to appreciate her elusive charms?” Whoo, frightening. Actually she has been a lot more positive lately (I mean, how could she not be?) and at times positively effusive. I suspect Kings may be buying more advertising and she has been told to tone down the snark.

My only gripe is when she, or any of the Times writers who have never paid for a ticket in their lives presume to speak for the fans, as in “Dean Lombardi has worn out his welcome in LA”. Sez who? AEG? The Kings front office? Or is she speaking for the great unwashed among the Kings ticket buyers? Actually Plaschke is the worst at this.

By: Uni

Uni — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:52:00 +0000

Yes, a blown-call, a lapse of attention, and a ricochet is their identity. The Coyotes, when on their game, are basically cockroaches. They play to survive, blocking shots, relying on Smith to be their best player, and forcing shots to the outside. This can frustrate other teams, which leads to mistakes. Mistakes lead to bounces and Coyotes cash in on these moments that they wait the whole game for, eeking out ugly, opportunistic wins in the process.

So that said, I think the Kings will need a bit more speed to set up shots just a bit quicker before the Coyotes can collapse into shot-blocking position. I feel like they tried to adjust this way yesterday but ended up just getting some harmless perimeter shots off. So hopefully they can couple increased speed with a more aggressive forecheck. I’d also say that getting a lead early is huge. Though they battled back from the PHX lead in Game 3 quite quickly, I don’t see the Coyotes being very good at playing catch-up. Cockroaches usually aren’t good at overcoming so much as they are, like I said, surviving.

By: USHA#17

USHA#17 — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:01:00 +0000

Hey, the Kings lost. They couldn’t connect passes, made bad decisions and started to revert to Terry Murray perimeter hockey. Quick snoozed, the refs called a bad game overall and the Kings lost. It happens. Big deal. Go back to Sutter hockey and we’re fine.

I imagine (I hope) at some point over the next week LA will be able to eek out at least a 1-0 win. After that, if anyone doesn’t think they won’t lose a game or three to NY or NJ then they’re in for disappointment.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:07:00 +0000

I guess having the three best play-by-play men ever means we have to deal with bad writers. Where’s Jim Murray when you need him…