Houston Isn’t a Problem Now

It’s a good thing the Laker-Rocket series is over: Jeff Van Gundy was starting to pull out his hair!

Rod Hersberger

Santa Barbara

*

Regardless of how far the Lakers progress in the postseason, it’s obvious that Jerry Buss is to blame for failing to choose the right leadership for the current roster. It’s not Coach Phil they need, it’s Dr. Phil.

Allen E. Kahn

Playa del Rey

*

Poor, poor Phil. Kobe yells at him. Gary complains to him. Shaq ignores him.

Not once have I heard the media in this town criticize his coaching, God forbid. However, he gets all the credit when they win and all the sympathy when they lose. If he was such a great coach, we wouldn’t be hearing this stuff.

You know who’s a great coach? Gregg Popovich, Hubie Brown. I want to see Phil coach the Clippers to the title.

Geno Apicella

Burbank

*

Isiah Thomas must be winking, or he might be, if he could with his smashed eye socket and reconstructive surgery on his facial muscles. Karl Malone, the punisher whose elbow came down on Thomas’ face, has personally revived the Detroit Pistons’ style of aggressive play.

Who knew? When he was with the Jazz, Malone fell down and whined enough to make Vlade Divac look like one of those guards in front of Buckingham Palace. Not here. I guess he figures L.A. has enough bad actors.

Dan Eisenberg

Pacific Palisades

*

Will someone please tell Steve Francis that a regulation basketball game is 48 minutes long? Francis’ celebration with 39 seconds left in Game 4 was reminiscent of Damon Stoudamire’s dance with about four seconds left in the last regular-season game at Portland.

So long as Kobe Bryant is on the floor with one or two seconds left and a win still in reach, celebration is best left until the game is actually over.

Richard Raffalow

Valley Glen

*

Thank God for Kobe and his clutch performance. With him, the Lakers won Game 4 in overtime. Without him, they would have won in regulation.

Everett Yee

Huntington Beach