The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

[BraedenG33]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

What's happened to it? Does anyone know?

I need my fix of Ronnie Gold.

I've got an update. I reached out to Trekfan via the OS private messaging to get the scoop. This isn't over. The holiday season has been hard on him and he's now just getting to take a rest from that. He's got big things planned and has goals to get back by the end of the month. Now I'm not ones to set deadlines, so if takes a little longer its no big deal. But to know it isn't over is great news.

Screen Shot 2014-01-18 at 9.18.48 AM.png

Photographic evidence guys. It's not over! Wooooo!

[dodar]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story


YESSSSSS

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Jumping back into this, fellas, will have something for you in the next four days, tops. Stay tuned, thanks for keeping the faith.

[dodar]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Jumping back into this, fellas, will have something for you in the next four days, tops. Stay tuned, thanks for keeping the faith.

YES YES YES YES YES YES

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Rapid Reaction: Lakers 106, Thunder 95
By Rachel Hansen|ESPNLosAngeles.com
January 30, 2016

The Lakers (35-11) took on the Thunder (24-17) in OKC in a battle of two teams that simply do not like one another. The developing rivalry has been a storyline all season as the two Western powerhouses vied for early season dominance, but the Thunder have faced stiff competition from their division rivals while the Lakers have mostly enjoyed an easy go of it.

In this game, the Thunder wanted to make a statement early and game out behind a blazing Russell Westbrook. Westbrook would continually get by and get around the slower Tony Parker, diving into the teeth of the device and coming away with multiple scored. Jabari Parker and Kobe Bryant both struggled from the field early, but the Lakers managed to keep pace behind the play of Anthony Randolph and the bench. After one, they were down 27-20.

In the second, Alvin Gentry made a key substitution change, subbing Andrew Bogut for the reliable David West. West came in and immediately began working his game, the classic pick and pop, with Tony Parker who found his passing rhythm after a turnover prone first quarter. With West and Parker drawing the attention of the Thunder players, Parker was able to begin to dish the ball to some of the Lakers sharpshooters, who in the last game against OKC disappeared. JJ Redick, Doron Lamb and second-year man Reggie Bullock each hit key bombs from deep, electrifying the Lakers bench.

AR15 continued to dominate on the inside with West and the Lakers took a 51-44 lead into halftime.

After the half, the Lakers started the third quarter slowly, something that has plagued the team since last season, and turned the ball over on three possessions straight to the Thunder, who gave it to Kevin Durant and let him get into a rhythm. Durant scored on all three of those possessions, trimming the Lakers lead to only a point before Coach Gentry called a timeout. He made another key substitution, going small, moving West to the five, Parker to the four, Kobe to the three, Bullock to the two and Redick at point. The lineup change completely threw the Thunder off and the Lakers fought the remainder of the quarter to maintain their slim lead.

Entering the fourth, the Thunder were down by three points and the arena was rocking.

“It was a playoff atmosphere,” said OKC Coach Scott Brooks after the game. “That kind of intensity, that kind of effort … it happens only a few times in the regular season.”

In the fourth, the Lakers and the Thunder traded blow for blow, before the Thunder finally managed to regain the lead behind a Westbrook layup and one. With a slim one point lead, the Lakers turned to their veteran closer in Kobe Bryant and he didn’t disappoint. Taking over the offense, Kobe became facilitator and scorer in the fourth, feeding AR15 and Parker, while getting his shots.

In the end, Kobe’s clutch play and AR15’s dominance of the Thunder’s big men assured the Lakers victory. AR15 finished with 32 points, eight boards, and two blocks. Kobe finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and seven assists while Jabari Parker finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.

Russell Westbrook finished with 33 points, nine assists and three blocks while Kevin Durant finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. Jeremy Lamb finished with 15 points.

Here are two takeaways from the game:

Jabari Problems?

Jabari Parker was flustered all game against Kevin Durant, scoring only 17 points on a paltry 7-of-26 from the field. Parker couldn’t hit a bucket to save his life in the second half despite trying multiple times, but he professes confidence in himself.

“It was a rough night and I sucked out there,” he stated. “But we won and my teammates, they kept giving me the ball and kept trusting me with it … they’re always positive towards me and I’m the same to them. We got to have each others back ‘cause if we don’t, no one else will.”

AR15 Unloads

Anthony Randolph again found his stride against the Thunder, one of the better sets of big men the Lakers will face this season. Randolph constantly surprised and out maneuvered the Thunder bigs, helping draw fouls and players into his web.

“I hit my stride tonight … I did the things I was taught to do here, which is play the percentages and take the shots you know you can make. I didn’t overextend, I didn’t try to hard, I just went and played and had a blast,” said Randolph.

Coming Up Next

The Lakers visit the Knicks (13-33) February 1^st and play against Trey Burke, recently traded point guard. Burke’s play and contract demands were a distraction for the Lakers until they traded him to the Knicks in the Tony Parker deal, and now Burke has his first chance to play against his former team.

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story


1-31-16

His phone was blowing up with texts and all of them said basically the same thing: find a TV and get to ESPN. Ronnie wasn’t one to ignore texts, especially those from his friends and family. He had two phones: one for him as a GM and one for personal use. It was easier, in his mind, to keep the two areas of his life separate. It wasn’t like carrying two phones was all that hard anyway.

That’s what backpockets were for.

He walked into his office, forehead laced with sweat, and turned on his TV. It was always on ESPN and the closed captioning flashed onscreen. But at the sight of the words, Ronnie unmuted the thing.

“--shocking the NBA and executives around the league, Donald Sterling, longtime owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has agreed to sell the team to a familiar face: Jim Buss. Buss, who left his position as one of the owners of the Lakers nearly a year ago, is back on the scene and promising big things.”

The screen cut to Buss, who was sporting quite a tan and a broad smile. “I know that this team has struggled to meet expectations and that will change, beginning next season. We’re gonna build, we’re gonna grow, and we’re gonna take back L.A.”

Ronnie fell into his chair and muted the TV. Buss … back? How? Why? What could have possibly compelled Donald Sterling, of all people, to sell? Sterling had refused sale offers for years before this.

There was a knock at his door and he turned to see the distraught face of Jeannie Buss before him. A surge of guilt rose up in him but he pushed it away. He got what he deserved, he reminded himself. “Jeannie --”

She shook her head. “I’m all right.” She was lying, he clearly heard that, but he let her continue unimpeded. “We … we need to be prepared. He knows us. He knows our organization. He’s going to be coming after our players, Ronnie.”

It hadn’t even occurred to him that Jim would do that, the news still surprising him. But she was right. Buss was now in charge of a rebuilding team that had plenty of young pieces. “He’ll look to trade some of his young core.”

She nodded. “He’ll also look to pilfer our guys in free agency.”

His mind quickly listed the names of their potential free agents. “Kobe, Tony, West.” Their veteran core of leaders was all free agents and all were going to wait till after the season to re-sign according to their agents.

“He’ll want Kobe.”

“Kobe would never leave,” Ronnie said unequivocally. The man was going to retire a Laker.

Jeanie gave a half nod. “Likely … but Jim can be convincing, when he wants to be. Just keep an eye on him.” She looked back at the TV screen, still distressed. “We can’t be too careful now.”

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

League News

Trailblazer Batum Dealing with Sore Knee

Nicholas Batum is dealing with a sore knee, something that has flared up in recent weeks. Trainers for the Trailblazers say that Batum will be effected by this for the remainder of the season, until he can properly rehab it, but Batum is confident he can still play his game.

Alex Len Out for 6-8 Weeks

The Hawks starting center, Alex Len, is out for the next 6-8 weeks with a broken foot, much to the disappointment of the fans as Len is having a career year, albeit one that isn't blowing away the stat sheets. Len is a rare bright spot for a team that seems to have not only missed when signing Michael Beasley, but is struggling to find an identity in a horrid Eastern Conference.

AK47 Down

AK47 is out for 6-8 weeks for the Heat, who are tied with the Bobcats for the best record in the conference. With their mutli-tooled player out of the rotation, the Heat will be relying on Shane Battier more than they expected this season. Kirilenko's loss could cost the Heat a shot at the number one seed in a top heavy East.

OKC's PJ Hairston Out with Broken Wrist, 4-6 Weeks

HOU's Royce White Out with Broken Jaw 4-6 Weeks

ORL's Emmanuel Mudiay Out with Broken Jaw 4-6 Weeks

DAL's Dirk Nowitzki Out with Broken Toe 4-6 Weeks

[dodar]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Guess who's back, back again. Trek is back, tell a friend. Guess who's back, guess who's back, guess who's back... danananana :

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story


2-2-16

“You promised you’d have news.” The words were icy and Gerard’s dark eyes gazed upon the doctor with little sympathy. “You have yet to deliver.”

The doctor’s eyes were dilated and his face was sweaty. Officially, he was suffering from a flu but had decided to be a good little solider and come to work anyway. Unofficially, he was suffering from withdrawal. It hadn’t taken much poking around for Gerard to find out the doctor was a former addict. It had taken even less prodding for the doctor to relapse. Gerard had access to many things, including high quality drugs.


“Well?” Gerard leaned back on bed and cracked a small grin. “I can wait. You, however, don’t seem to want to.”

The doctor’s pale face contracted into one of agony and he tossed an envelope into Gerard’s lap. “I went to the guy you told me too … he told me to give you this.”

The words weren’t comforting but the fact was his last, best hope for contact had come through. Admittedly, the man wasn’t exactly friendly towards Gerard at this point but the years had seen each other separate on a number of issues. Still, it was good to have family he could rely on, even if it was his uncle. He reached over, opened the envelope and began flipping through its contents.

The pictures were damning. His brother … and yet, not the brother he was used to. Jarrod was a big spender now, apparently. New car. New clothes. New everything.

He glared at the picture, his mind going to dark places. So, this was what his brother had been doing all this time. This is where he’d been.

“Ngami,” he mumbled. He thought he could let Jarrod spend all his hard earned money and leave him there to rot? He took the topmost picture and balled it up, tossing it against the far wall. This room, this place, it was a prison and it was tiresome for him. The antiseptic smell here assaulted his nose as he stood from the bed and breathed quickly.

“Well?!” The doctor demanded.

Gerard frowned and removed a bag of heroine from his pocket. He dropped it onto the bed and watched as the doctor scurried towards it like a starving animal to scraps.

“We’ll talk soon, Doctor.” He gathered the envelope and its contents and left the medical center.

Back to his cell. Back to his little corner of this hole.

But he knew now. He could adjust. He had no brother now.

Just another person to visit once he escaped.

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Rapid Reaction: Lakers 118, Wizards 107
By Rachel Hansen|ESPNLosAngeles.com
February 4, 2016

The Lakers (36-13) took on the Wizards (28-18) in a rematch from an early contest in January. The Wizards in that contest talked big but showed little life as the Lakers rolled to an easy win, 122-101. This game was decidedly closer as the Lakers were coming off obliterating the Nets in a 120-85 win the night before. The Wizards looked to use their use to run the Lakers into the ground early.

The strategy didn’t pay dividends early as the Lakers were able to jump out to a nine point lead at the end of the first, 31-22, thanks to the stellar play of Jabari Parker, who scored nine points in the first and was all over the court defensively. Parker was able to easily shut down Tony Mitchell while the Wizards largely relied on John Wall and Bradley Beal to keep the game close.

In the second, the Lakers would go to their bench while the Wizards rode their stars; Beal got hot from deep and helped close the gap. By halftime, the Lakers lead was 58-53. In the third quarter, the Lakers would attempt to put the game away as they turned the ball back over to Jabari Parker, who scored at will on the Wizards and got to the line. Parker threw down a thunderous windmill slam over DeAndre Jordan, silencing the Wizards crowd.

In the fourth, Kobe would take over and help close out the game after a barrage of deep balls from the Wizards which helped trim the Laker lead to only four points with four minutes remaining. Kobe would become the primary ball handler and, like so many times before, would help ease the Lakers into a victory. A few daggers from J.J. Redick and Reggie Bullock from beyond the arc helped seal the deal.

Jabari would finish with 32 points, five rebounds and two blocks on 10-23 shooting. Kobe finished with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists on 8-14 shooting while Anthony Randolph contributed 18 points and 11 boards.

The Wizards leadings scorers were Bradley Beal (30 points, four boards and three steals on 10-23 shooting) and John Wall (27 points and 14 assists on 10-25 shooting).

Here are two takeaways from the game:



Spider-Man Swings Again



Jabari Parker has started off the month of February well, posting two back-to-back games with 25 points or more and showing that the struggles of the last week of January seem to be behind him.

“Yeah, I had a stretch there that was tough, but my teammates rallied around me and kept my head up … now we’re winning games like we should be.”




Vintage Kobe



Kobe Bryant put up another vintage performance, one that showed he still has game despite averaging only 18.1 PPG.

“Look, I know my stats and I know what kind of player I am, you don’t have to tell me,” said an amused Bryant after the game. “Are we winning? Yeah. Am I playing a part in that? Yeah. Are we gonna repeat? We have a really good shot.”

Asked if he would retire if the Lakers won again, Bryant would not speculate. One would have to imagine riding off into the sunset like that would be an ideal way for this era of Lakers basketball to come to an end.

Coming Up Next …

The Lakers take on Hawks (18-30) in ATL before heading to Orlando for a matchup against the Magic (14-30) on the 8^th. After that, the Lakers head to Boston to face the Celtics (20-25) on the 10^th before concluding their roadtrip the next day in Toronto against the Raptors (20-27).

[AdamJones113]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Just read through this on a sick day off from school.
All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.

What's up with Desmond?

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Just read through this on a sick day off from school.
All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.All hail trekfan.

What's up with Desmond?

Much thanks for the compliment. As for Desmond, he will be playing a future role, be sure of that. ;-) stay tuned.

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Rapid Reaction: Lakers 104, Celtics 88
By Rachel Hansen|ESPNLosAngeles.com
February 10, 2016

The Lakers (38-14) took on the Celtics (22-26) in Boston in round one of the NBA’s best rivalry. This was the first meeting of the teams this season and both clubs had been looking forward to this.

“Yeah, we know they’re coming,” said longtime Celtic Kendrik Perkins. “And we know what we need to do to win. They’re not that hard to beat.”

In the first few minutes of the game, Perkins words looked prophetic. The Celtics leapt out to an 8-0 lead behind the frantic play of Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green, both veterans who had participated in their share of games like this. The home crowd was wild with excitement and Lakers coach Alvin Gentry called a timeout to settle his team down.

Settle they did as they began to play their game, dictating the pace with their size and versatility behind the play of Jabari Parker, who put on a spectacular dunking display in that first quarter. The end of the quarter saw the Celtics down 30-18 and they would never see the lead again.

Led by an impressive showing from Jabari Parker, again taking the opportunity to prove the Celtics made a mistake in drafting Andrew Wiggins first overall, and the veteran play of Kobe Bryant, the Lakers dominated the game and allowed the Celtics no quarter.

Parker finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 11-18 shooting. Kobe finished with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting while AR15 finished with 16 points and nine boards.

For the Celtics, Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points but 14 of those came in garbage time. Wiggins shot 11-21 from the field, with five rebounds and six assists, while Rondo finished with 15 points, six boards, and nine assists.

Here are two takeaways from the game:

Celtics Collapse Early
Boston again found its way to a loss despite an early lead, something that has been happening frequently of late with the squad. With the trade deadline only days away, the rumors persist that Boston may be looking to move one of its veteran pieces such as Rondo, Lamarcus Aldridge or Jeff Green. With the Cs hanging on to the last playoff spot in the East, the last few games before the All-Star Break could determine what happens to this team.

Parker and Parker
Jabari Parker was impressive but so was Tony Parker, who played well in this game and assisted on four of Jabari’s scores, three of those dunks. Tony Parker scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and was spectacular down the stretch with his controlled play and veteran leadership.

Coming Up Next …
The Lakers take on the Raptors (20-29) before flying back to LA for a matchup with the struggling Rockets (24-28). Their last game before the All-Star Break is against the Suns (20-32) in Phoenix.

[Son of Sam99]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

I just started reading this all the way back on page 6! Love the story so far, can't wait to catch up!

[trekfan]

Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story

Thanks everyone for the compliments and faith. Today was pretty hellish (car key broke in door lock, took 8 hours to find a locksmith who would come out to save me) but tomorrow/Monday I'll be updating the thread. We're approaching the All Star Break and things are getting VERY interesting in the league. Stay tuned.