Page 6 February 4, 2016 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Deadline May Up and Adam Ensure Top Pick By Adam Serrao The NBA trade deadline is looming! Normally, for fans of the Los Angeles Lakers, that wouldn’t mean much in a season where their team is the worst in the Western Conference and almost in the entire NBA. This year, however, the February 18th deadline has very specific implications. Rather than looking to acquire talent, the Lakers should be looking to ship it out. With veterans like Lou Williams, Brandon Bass and Roy Hibbert having been made available on the market, their departure from the team could ensure the preservation of the Lakers top-three-protected pick in this year’s NBA draft. More than halfway through the regular season, the Lakers persist to be one of the most mediocre teams in the entire league. As they continue to trudge along in last place in the Western conference, the team’s priorities have clearly rounded out into form. Primarily, this year is a celebration of the great and extensive career of none other than number 24, the “Black Mamba”, or “Vino” - whose grapes are finally souring to the point where retirement looks like the best option to one of the league’s all-time greatest competitors. Secondarily, this year is about developing the skill-sets of young players on the team like D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and others who hope to one day get the Purple and Gold out of the black and blue cellar that they have been stuck in for what seems like ages now. Naturally, players like Russell, Clarkson and Randle should be safe from the trade deadline unless Jeannie Buss turns into The Godfather and someone makes her a deal that she simply can’t refuse. Other players, however, have become prime candidates to get shipped out of Laker Land to never return in a year where, despite what head coach Byron Scott will tell you, losing is actually a good thing. So, if the Lakers want to lose, the first thing that they’ll have to do is get rid of Lou Williams. I mean, really, where does this guy get off? Coming into Los Angeles after experiencing the impressive year that he had last year in which he won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award and almost duplicating his numbers and efficiency. Williams is currently averaging 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 33.2 percent from three-point range. Put him on a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers or even the Chicago Bulls, for instance, and imagine how much better those teams would instantly get. Clearly, his absence from the Lakers lineup would be beneficial to their cause while his presence on a contender could actually help an eager team’s playoff push. In addition to Williams, there is also Brandon Bass and Roy Hibbert. Bass, who was brought in at a cheap price, mainly to assist in the learning process of Randle, is only averaging 18 minutes per game but is still putting up quite an impactful 6.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest. The 30-year-old veteran forward could serve as a nice piece off of the bench for a deep team looking for toughness at a cheap price. Hibbert, like Nick Young who is also presumably on the block, will be one of the Lakers harder chips to move at the deadline simply because he won’t offer anything positive to any other team, to put it bluntly. The Lakers took a chance on the big man from the Indiana Pacers, hoping that he would regain some of the skill set that has kept him in the league this long, but clearly what the 7-foot-2 center is best at is taking up space. He does have an expiring contract after this year, which may make him somewhat attractive to certain teams around the league, but expect more calls to come in about Williams and Bass than for Hibbert and Young. The departure of these veterans from the Lakers would serve a two-fold purpose for the team. Firstly, the team’s overall production should go down thus making the chances for the top pick in the draft and the acquiring of the services of LSU standout Ben Simmons that much more possible. Secondly, getting rid of veterans on a team that is going nowhere is only a good thing for the prospects of the young players already on the team. Without Williams, Bass, Hibbert and Young, coach Scott - who for some reason is resisting the opportunity to get the youngsters all the playing time in the world - will be forced to work with and mold his infantile team into the superstars that they will hopefully one day become. More minutes for young players is always better, especially when the only hope that a team has left is of acquiring a draft pick. It’s a sad time in Laker Land when fans should be rooting for their team to lose in order to keep a draft pick that they traded away to the Phoenix Suns in 2012 for Steve Nash. Alas, it is what it is, as they say, and the team’s best strategy at the time being is to lose games and get rid of cagey veterans that make that tactic harder to accomplish. Yes, tanking is fully engaged, though Scott and anyone else in the Lakers front office will deny that fact vehemently. That being said, hopefully, the days of cellar-dwelling are few and far between for the Lakers in their future. It’s never a fun season when you have to root for your favorite team to lose. The acquisition of a player like Simmons to add to an already young and exciting core, however, should ensure that the Lakers arrow redirects itself and the prospects of a once storied franchise begin to look upward for what will be the first time in what has been a very long time for both the team and the Laker faithful. • Boys Basketball Playoff Race Heating Up By Adam Serrao While the South High Spartans boys basketball team is roughing it through a year that they would rather forget altogether, the Torrance Tartars are having a season for the ages. The re-opening of their newly renovated basketball gym isn’t the only good thing that has been happening to the Tartars lately. No matter where Torrance plays or who they go up against, it seems as if head coach Paul Nitake and his team simply find a way to come away with a win. Last Friday night in the Tartars new gym was no different. The game began on time, at its planned 7:30pm start, but was seemingly over far sooner than scheduled. The Tartars were back at it again with a 72-56 defeat of the Spartans, giving Torrance their sixth win in a row. Six wins in a row for the Tartars means that the team remains unbeaten in league play this season. Naturally, an unbeaten team in its own division is going to remain at the top of the Pioneer League standings. That is precisely where the Tartars (16-7, 6-0) sit, now two full games in front of the North High Saxons who lost to Centennial over the weekend last week. One of the many reasons the Tartars have been so successful this season is because of the play of their 6-foot-1 senior guard and captain, Giovonni Jackson. Jackson has been turning heads lately, most notably with his 17 point performance in the teams win over inner-city rival North High, and his dazzling 26 point, eight rebound performance over Pioneer League rival Centennial two weeks ago at home. The Tartars made the playoffs last season under head coach Nitake, but it has been quite some time since the team has experienced the success that they have come to experience this year. In the 2004-2005 season, the Tartars put together a 23-6 record while going 7-3 in league play, but finished in second place behind Centennial in the Pioneer League. They later lost in the third round of the playoffs. In the 2011-’12 season, a 16-14 record with a 5-5 league play standing seemed underwhelming, but the then third place Tartars went on to reach the semifinals of the CIF Division 3AA playoffs, where they lost to eventual champions, Calabasas. While the Tartars currently sit in first place, where they will almost certainly finish the season, and are in prime positioning for a top playoff spot, the South High Spartans are experiencing a season of futility like they have not experienced in quite some time. It was in the same 2011-’12 season that the Tartars made it to the semifinals that South also experienced success, making it to the championship game while also losing to Calabasas. To find a season where the Spartans have put up a record similar to the 2-18, 0-6 record that they currently maintain, however, you would have to go all the way back to the 2009-10 season where the team finished with a 5-21 record, going 2-8 in league play to put Leo Klemm’s South High team in last place, a position where they currently sit in the Pioneer League this year. In his time as head coach of the Spartans, Klemm has certainly seen it all. One thing about his team’s, however, is that when they get down, they don’t stay down very long. South may be struggling this season, but coach Klemm will certainly have his team turned around in the blink of an eye. This year’s regular season is almost at its end. The Tartars will be tested with tough matchups to round things out, taking on the second, third, and fourth place teams in their league (North, Leuzinger, Centennial), respectively. South closes out the year facing the exact same teams, simply in a different order. North High The North High Saxons have struggled since their first loss of league play to Torrance two weeks ago. The team was able to escape with a thrilling, but close, 68-67 victory over Leuzinger at home two Friday’s ago. They weren’t so lucky last week, though, as they took to the road to take on the fourth place Centennial Apaches. The Saxons trailed the entire first half before coming out strong in a third quarter in which they outscored Centennial 27-14. The Apaches turned the tables on North in the fourth, however, putting up 25 points to the Saxons 10 to take a 74-67 win, sending North to their second loss in three games of play. The Saxons (12-10, 4-2) will try to hold on to their second place standing in the Pioneer League with a relatively easy schedule to close out the season. Aside from their matchup with Torrance High (16-7, 6-0), who North will need somewhat of a miracle to pass in the standings, the Saxons will get West High and South High, who take up the bottom two positions in the standings this year. If North wins out, they will certainly hold on to a playoff standing. One more loss, however, could drop the Saxons into fifth place and out of contention. West High The West High Warriors remain ahead of only the South High Spartans in this year’s See Up and Adam, page 7 Film Review from page 4 Like Us Nat Turner was born a slave but early on was taught to read from the Bible, and would grow up to become a preacher. Through studying the Bible while living in the midst of slavery, Turner reaches a point where he can no longer stay silent about the cruel injustice that, in this world, is a daily routine. At a certain point, he is tired of the slave owners abusing scripture passages to make their slaves submissive and moves toward radical action as the only path to freedom. Given the subject matter and time period of history, there is an unavoidable comparison to 2013’s 12 Years A Slave that anyone who has seen both films will feel. Interestingly, between the two films combined, 60 years of history are shown, further emphasizing the enormity of America’s slave epidemic. Parker is not as focused on visual thematics as McQueen was, but certainly has a knack for numerous storytelling devices. Undoubtedly, The Birth of a Nation is in touch with numerous themes related to its religious and historical premise and utilizes them well to tell the story, a part of history that does not have a massive legacy. Compared to the general Sundance lineup, the scale of this film feels like a step above the rest; much of that is due to budget, but a significant amount has to be the intentionality of the craft. • on Facebook PUBLIC NOTICES UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SUMMONS IN A CIVIL CASE CHAPMAN v. AJMER-KULDIP BHOGAL, INC a California Corporation dba SUBWAY SANDWICHES AND SALADS #20169-0, KUN HO LEE, CASE NO. 1:15-cv-01328-JLT TO: DEFENDANT(S): Kun Ho Lee A lawsuit has been filed against you. Within 21 days after service of this summons on you (not counting the day you received it), you must serve on the plaintiff an answer to the complaint or a motion under Rule12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The answer or motion must be served on the plaintiff’s attorney, Thomas E. Frankovich, whose address is Thomas E. Frankovich, APLC, 4328 Redwood, Hwy., Suite 300, San Rafael, CA 94903. If you fail to do so, judgment by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint. You also must file your answer or motion with the court. Clerk, U.S. District Court Dated: 8/31/15 By: J. Hellings Deputy Clerk (Seal) Torrance Tribune Pub. 1/14, 1/21, 1/28, 2/4/16 HT-24966
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