Barkley makes sense, for a change

[Mike Dynon <mdynon@ix.netcom.com>]

The Chuckster has an opinion about everything, and sometimes he's right.
Celts fans agree with this:

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Barkley back in action
(ESPN.com news services)

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Charles Barkley ripped into the Los Angeles Lakers
on Sunday before returning to action against them two weeks after
undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.

"I'm so disgusted by NBC and the L.A. press," Barkley told reporters an
hour before the Houston Rockets and Lakers played their nationally
televised game at the Forum. "You guys make me sick. I'm sick of NBC
showing the Lakers every week and saying how good they are. They're a
glamour team.

"You all picked them to win the championship. Now they're struggling.
Now they bring in Dennis Rodman and they're going to win the
championship again. They've got a lot of talent. They're 8-6, aren't
they?"

The Lakers are now 9-6 after beating Houston 106-90 Sunday. Barkley
played 19 minutes and contributed 14 points and six rebounds. He was 5
of
13 from the field.

"I played terribly today, but I expected some rust," Barkley said.
"Obviously, when you miss two weeks, you ain't going to come out there
and step up and have a good game." <snip>

He said the best teams in the Western Conference right now are defending
conference champion Utah and Portland.

"We're right there," he said. "I like our team a lot. We're going to be
good. We've got a lot of good pieces. We were playing really well before
I got hurt. We just have to play like we were playing.

"Right now, I see (the Western Conference) as a three-team race --
Portland, Utah and us."

When asked if he ranked the Lakers fourth in the West, he smiled and
said, "I don't rank 'em. They don't get anything for coming in fourth."
<snip>

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The ESPN NBA page <http://espn.go.com/nba/> also has a poll asking if
the Lakers are on national TV too much. So far, it's "yes" by a 2-1
margin.
--
Mike Dynon
North Kingstown, RI