If Only the Lakers have the Killer Instinct of the U.S. Navy SEALS

I was so dismayed with the game last night and thought not to write how the Los Angeles Lakers lost to Dallas Mavericks with the score of 96 to 94.

You see, there are more headlines grabbing news to write of out there, like the killing of Osama Bin Laden from the hands of US Navy SEALS Team 6.

Revisiting the dysfunctional game the Lakers are prone to make time and time again seems a waste of time.

I thought I’d rather write an article on how the vow of former U.S. President George W. Bush came into fruition when he said: Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done. . . It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.

On a second thought, I couldn’t resist the temptation of comparing how the Navy SEALS and the Lakers fight when the die is cast.

For a moment, I ignored the head-scratching foul made by Paul Gasol (15 points, 11 rebounds) on Dirk Nowitzki (28 points, 14 rebounds) with 20.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter with the Lakers leading over Mavericks 94 to 93.

I tried to ignore Gasol’s silly foul, and instead think of something good, something to elate my sagging spirit from the inane mistake committed by the Lakers’ All-Star power forward.

Yeah, I diverted my thinking to the report that the number one terrorist in the world- the one that masterminded the killings of thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001- has finally met his end.

Lakerslandia and the free world should rejoice because Bin Laden was TWEPed – terminated with extreme prejudice! Thanks to stealthy operation of the Navy SEALS.

The Navy SEALS didn’t make a costly foul, unlike Gasol theirs was a legitimate call to block the Al Qaeda leader from orchestrating another plot against the Americans and United States interests here and abroad.

The special operators from the Navy SEALS perfectly executed their plan and worked out their offense with precision, unlike the Lakers who veered away from the triangle offense, and instead let Kobe Bryant (five rebounds, one block) do the shootings.

Bryant attempted 29 shots, making fourteen and ending the game with 36 points totals. The big three of Gasol, Andrew Bynum (eight points, five rebounds), and Lamar Odom (15 points, 12 rebounds) made 28 shots total.

Lakers must operate cohesively as a unit to ensure a higher percentage of wins, after all basketball is a team game.

Statistics for 2010-2011 regular season show that when Bryant attempted 19 shots or less than his teammates, the Lakers won 33 in 41 games and 14-0 on his 15 shots or less.

I wondered if the Lakers collected real-time intelligence on the Mavericks and used the information from their Scouting Reports to their utmost advantage.

SWOT analysis would be a great tool, like identifying the Strength and Weaknesses of the opponents, finding Opportunities on how to involve Gasol and Bynum in the offense, and containing the Threats posed by Nowitzki and Jason Kidd (seven points, five rebounds).

Moreover, if only the Lakers could borrow a page or two from the SEAL’s playbook, they could learn on how to play calm during crunch time. The Lakers unraveled in the fourth quarter by giving up a 16-point lead.

The wingmen of the Lakers failed to support the primary unit. The support group of Steve Blake, Shannon Brown, and Matt Barnes - known as the Killer B’s – were no match to Mavericks’ second team. The Mavericks’ second unit outscored the Lakers 40 to 25.

Contrasting the Lakers bench, the Navy SEALS have dependable wingmen from the discreet 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). The 160th SOAR, otherwise known as the 'Night Stalkers' are an elite U.S. Army special operations unit who fly helicopters in support of classified missions of U.S. Special Operations Command.

At the end, accomplishing a mission does not only take physical abilities and intellectual capabilities; the Navy SEALS are known for their mental toughness, focusing on their targets like a laser even in the midst of tough and precarious environments.

The Lakers are loaded with skills and talents, but lacks the mental grit to fight it out with the opponents until the end game. The absence of will and determination oftentimes is their worst enemy, and making it impossible to accomplish their mission of three-peating.

Lastly, the mission was successful because of the coaching from the Project Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who designed the OPLAN. Knowing how the CIA works, they paid attention to the minute details of the plan – rehashing the operational details and translating it into perfection in the field.

Unlike the CIA Project Officer, Phil Jackson committed a blunder of letting the second unit play until the sixth-minute of the game, letting the Mavericks caught up with the scores and eventually gaining the lead in the waning minutes of the game. Same mistakes over and over, unable to make changes with his substitution plan.

It was too late for the first unit to turn the momentum of the game in their favor, especially with the consecutive errors of Gasol when the game was on the line.

Maybe it's time to change the command next year? Possibly promoting Brian Shaw to become the court general of the Lakers?

Well, the Lakers lost in the first game of their seven-game series. They could still bounce back and take it to the Mavericks like four winning games in a row.

But for Bin Laden, his game had already ended in a blowout. It’s only one-game, a do-or-die game for him. He lost eternally.

And naturally, the back-to-back champions win again – the Navy SEALS. Hoorah!

Remembering September 11th on the Killing of Osama Bin Laden

People in the United States were horrified on what they saw on their television screens that Monday morning of September 11, 2001.

They watched in horror as two U.S. commercial airplanes crashed successively against the World Trade Centers in New York City, while another commercial airline slammed into the Pentagon building a few minutes later.

The fourth airplane, United Airlines Flight 9, crashed in the rural area of Pennsylvania when passengers reportedly wrestled control of the plane from the hijackers.

People were stunned to see the magnitude of destructions when the smoke finally settled on the streets of Manhattan, in the rubbles of Washington D.C., and at the outskirts of Shankville, Pennsylvania.

The attacks were the modified version of the Al Qaeda (AQ) network’s Project Bojinka conceptualized in Manila in 1995. AQ leader Ramzi Yousef and his two operatives, Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah, originally planned the hijacking and crashing of U.S bound commercial airlines on key infrastructures in the United States.

The Philippine authority accidentally caught Murad before the AQ members could launch their diabolical scheme while Shah and Yousef fled Manila but were later on apprehended outside the Philippines by another foreign government.

The U.S. Intelligence Community did not anticipate that the AQ network would push through with Project Bojinka despite the major setback the terrorist organization suffered in 1995.

Philippine National Police General Avelino Razon later on claimed that an intelligence report shared to their U.S. counterparts was treated unreliably, and had the report was given credibility, it could have averted the suicide attacks in United States.

The patience and persistence shown by the AQ network to consummate their threats even after six years of hiatus are serious manifestation of their hatred to United States and to the free world.

The younger generation who has faint idea about the campaigns of terror finally saw the horrible consequences of ideological extremism gone berserk.

The older generation who may still remember the intermittent campaigns of terror in Europe and in the Middle East in the past decades would agree that the terrorists’ attacks in World Trade Centers and Pentagon Building were unprecedented in the annals of terrorism.

Those who recall the campaigns of the Abu Nidal Organization, the Black September (extremist faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization), the Baader-Meinhoff Gang , and Venezuelan-born Illich Ramirez Sanchez (better known as “Carlos the Jackal”) in the 1970’s and 1980’s would surely concur that the AQ network suicide attacks were unparalleled and the most disastrous by far.

Although only 19 terrorists from the Al Qaida terror network carried out the tragic incidents, the consequences of their actions, however, had ringing impacts to the political, economic, and social environments of the United States.

The results of the terrorists’ suicide attacks had claimed the lives of around 2992 Americans and foreign expatriates working in the World Trade Centers.

In the political realm, there was an upsurge of verbal skirmishes between democrat and republican parties as well as the endless tirades spewed by both camps - each accusing the other as responsible for the terrorist attacks – have divided the nation.

The terrorist attacks also had serious repercussions to the U.S. economy when the Wall Street transactions slid down and lost around $1.2 trillion-worth of stock market value in a week-time.

Added to these issues was the backlash on Arab-looking people in United States, and according to federal government report, 60-hate crime incidents happened in Chicago alone in 2001.

Ten years after the major catastrophe of September 11th, the American nation now rejoices to hear that the diabolical leader of AQ - Osama Bin Laden - has finally brought to justice in the hinterland of Pakistan.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced to the world on a televised speech from the White House Sunday night that US military forces have killed Bin Laden after years of building up intelligence against the terrorist leader.

The Los Angeles Times reported that former U.S. President George W. Bush called the special military operations a momentous achievement.

Bush said, “This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.”

One Thunderous Dunk from Bryant, One Giant Leap for the Lakers

It took one bounce to turn the momentum of the game. It took one thunderous dunk to break the spirit of the opponents. It took one sprained ankle to keep the series from slipping away.

It was the night the New Orleans Hornets appear to stage another grand upset against the Los Angeles Lakers, on the verge of topping the series three-to-two in their favor, and the chance of closing the purple and gold in New Orleans Arena on Thursday.

To coach Phil Jackson everything was unfolding not according to plan. He took Kobe Bryant out early in the first quarter, as he said later on in the press conference he thought the Black Mamba was a liability in the hard court.

The Hornets were shooting 81% in the first quarter and leading nine points at the end of the first 12 minutes.

The Staples Center was silent, and the crowd was uneasy with the progress of the game.

The second quarter came, and the Hornet’s lead starts to get bigger, and Chris Paul was in command of the game again.

Suddenly, out from nowhere, Bryant made a cut to the middle lane and took the pass from Pau Gasol. He was free from Hornet’s defensive specialist Trevor Ariza, and everyone was expecting Bryant to pull a jump shot.

A jumper was not on Bryant’s mind, as it wouldn’t change the complexion of the game. He wanted a statement shot. And so he did.

Bryant saw the opening in the lane, sprung off on his injured foot, and took the ball to the rim with Hornet’s center Emeka Okafor (5 points,5 rebounds) rising along with him.

Before Okafor found out what happened, the Lakers’ players on the sideline jumped off their seats, the crowd stood up in rapturous jubilation, while the rest of the nation watched in their living room in awe.

Bryant posterized Okafor!

It was a spectacular move coming neither from No. 24 nor from the Black Mamba.

It was a move coming from No. 8 of years ago, a throw back to Bryant’s afro years in his early twenty’s.

Bryant is already in his 15 years in NBA, and still defies the law of gravity.

Collin Cowherd of ESPN’s The Herd Show said it best: It’s the Dunk of the Year.

The sports radio host even added that even Michael Jordan in his 15th year did not show such kind of power and explosiveness.

When everyone thought that was it, he showed them it was not so.

In third quarter, Bryant made a blow-by on Trevor Ariza (22 points, 3 assists) and Carl Landry (8 points, 2 assists), and then leapt in the air for another monstrous dunk.

The left-handed dunk was so sweet, sending the Lakers fans in delirium, conveying another message to doubters and critics, and reminding them that it is still his league.

When the basketball analysts were quick to point out that he’s on his waning years and hastily handed the baton to Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Derick Rose – the two ferocious dunks told them to think it over.

Not so fast, Bryant is still in the game.

The game-changing dunks electrified his teammates and in the same manner putting them in the spot. If he could play with intensity in a banged-up body and swelling ankle, how much more could they?

Memorandum received. At the end of the game, six Lakers players registered double-digit points in the score box, good enough to end the game at 106 to 90.

It was vintage Kobe Bryant all over again making eight of his 13 shots for 62% field goals.

I wish Bryant would break his hand before the game with Hornets tonight, and I couldn’t wait to see what he's going to do next.