POINT GUARDS ALERT

Even with Kendall Marshall giving us some

relief for point guard, the game was waning.

Granted, coach D'Antoni has not allowed

negativity to enter often in the locker room.

The call to "Just play hard" is noted and

even with points made, the game at 48

minutes seems far too great a task for so

many of our players. Very soon, we will

be getting our point guards back to play.

Losing to Indiana with score of:104-92

was difficult to swallow, certainly. Losing

Kobe Bryant for such a lengthy time out

is nasty and then Steve Blake, Steve Nash,

Xavier Henry and Jordan Farmar as well,

has cost us games as we all realize, yet

so much credit still goes for those on the

floor. Pau Gasol has astonished us all

each and every game he has played

Even with upper respiratory problems

and other grievances, he has stuck it out.

His points made are in the 20's.... often.

And Kendall Marshall has proven to us

that he is far more than just a stop-gap

player. As the team's only point guard,

the last 12 games, Marshall has averaged

12 points and 11.5 assists per game and

has logged almost 40 minutes a game over

14 games. Not a slacker, he takes pride in

his playing and always is trying hard to win.

Nash turns 40 this coming Feb. 7th. & has

appeared in only 56 of the Lakers 128

regular season's games since they acquired

him from the Phoenix Suns during the 2012

off season. Nash states this is the hardest thing

he has ever had to deal with during his

entire career. He says that hopefully after

he is able to come back to the courts to play

that perhaps then he will arise to become a

better person. Brandishing a groin sprain,

Pau has continued to play but has had to

learn to compensate, while Jodie Meeks

was complaining about having a sore right foot.

Loss of our last two games played at Staples

gives us worry  of course but this next game

will take place in my home state of Minnesota.

Mighty cold there too. Just spoke with an old

friend in Alexandria, MN this very morning and

the temp. right then was only 10 degrees. Oh boy!

We will be indoors however, at the Target Center

for Tuesday evenings game leaving the Bobcats

behind but try our efforts against chilly Minnesota.

Another point of interest today is that we have lost

another great Basketball player. Hall of Famer, Tom

Gola. He played back in 1954 and held the NCAA

title. In fact it still holds the Division 1 record for

career rebounds and helped the Philadelphia

Warriors win the 1956 NBA Championship. He died

last Sunday at the age of 81. Tom had led to the

1952 NIT title + a runner-up finish in the 1955 NCAA

Tournament that set the career rebounds with 2,201

and scored 2,461 points. The late UCLA Coach,

John Wooden called Gola the "greatest all-round

basketball player ever". This 5-time NBA All-Star

was a player that always concentrated on defense

and that, my readers is well worth noting in my

personal opinion. We should take heed re:defense.

BABS WELLS