Welcome to the first edition of The Base Line Cut, otherwise known as the BLC. It's a bit like a BLT, but without the tomato. Here we'll be taking a look at what is popping around the NBA, with a particular focus on the quality sites across the Bloguin Network.

• It doesn't take a great deal for the denizons of Los Angeles Lakers fandom to start crying into their beer. The recent three-game skid the Lakers have experienced, including tight losses to the Magic and Heat, as well as a surprising dismantling at the hands of the Bobcats, has many asking questions.
  
  Don at With Malice, is taking stock of the situation, rather than jumping to panic stations. Despite the slump, he does not believe that the sky is falling. "Sure: a three-game losing streak isn't something the defending champion should be carrying around, but it's not like it's been forever since LA played well.  Only last week LA beat Denver, and then completely dismantled Indiana."
  
  Of course, Don is right. Currently the Lakers' longtime rivals, the Boston Celtics have a lot more to worry about. Sneaking by the Washington Wizards and being beaten by the New Jersey Nets for the first time in three years was not a good look. Despite this, the Lakers surely do need to prove that they can their main threats in the West. Losing twice to the Mavericks (from four) and twice to the Nuggets (from three) can't be doing good things for the team's psyche as the playoffs approach.
  
  Is the perfect confidence-building antidote a game against the Toronto Raptors in Los Angeles? Don believes so. Romy of Hoop Heads North had a Q&A over a nice seafood dinner with Don last night, talking about the Raps' chances against the Lakers and Hedo Turkoglu's low carb pizza diet that has the likes of Oprah Winfrey* raving. If all else goes wrong for the Lakers though,  they can rest assured in the fact that Kobe won an Oscar for Best Athlete in a Leading Role (Detroit 4 Lyfe).
• The Portland Trail Blazers have had the type of season that, if portrayed in a movie, would see patrons walking out ten minutes in with the unbelievability of the plot. The run of injuries has been ridiculously long and the team copped another blow this week with news that Joel Przybilla had re-ruptured his patella tendon, slipping over in the shower. I'll leave the jokes for you to make, as I can't stand to at this stage.
  
  Bust a Bucket, your source for all things Blazers (have you checked out their t-shirts?) tells us that the team is celebrating '90s Decade Night tonight, as Portland hosts the Sacramento Kings. With the current enslaught of injuries, it will be pleasant to focus on the likes of Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Cliff Robinson and Arvydas Sabonis that made the '90s fun.
  
  In an exciting piece of Blazers-related news, you can catch Bloguin's own "Brother" Wendell Maxey on Courtside Video, live at 6PM Portland time, featured along with assistant coach Joe Prunty, Jason Quick of the Oregonian and hosts Mike Rice and Mike Barrett. Maxey writes at his blog, Beyond the Beat, among many other places and has a great piece today Behind The Morrison And Roy Story.
• Last night the Cleveland Cavaliers had a tight victory over the San Antonio Spurs, 97-95. Two great Bloguin blogs devoted to those teams, Stepien Rules and Project Spurs had a Post-Game Q&A Recap on the match. The Spurs have been unfortunate enough to lose Tony Parker (again) to injuries, with a broken hand that will see him out for the remainder of the regular season. With that in mind, Project Spurs have an Analysis of the Spurs without Parker.
  
  
• If you don't follow Zach Harper's work, you really should. He is all over the blogosphere, including at his blog Talk Hoops. Today he has Episode 82 of his Weekly Fix Podcast, fresh and toasty and ready for your listening pleasure. The guys talk about the Channing Frye vs Earl Watson incident, Matt Barnes playing games with Kobe, Rafer Alston and much more.
• If you've still got time in your day to read hoops (let's face it, who doesn't?), you should also check out:  the Knicks Fanatics recapping as the Knicks Stun the Hawks In a Thriller; new kid on the Bloguin block, Da Bulls' Eye with a look at where the Bulls are headed this season; the Pacers' side of the Frye v Watson scenario from Pacers Pulse; and this awesome collection of retro videos from A Stern Warning showing the old-school Reebok "Pump Up and Air Out" series, stabbing at Nike featuring Dennis Rodman, Dominique Wilkins, Bill Walton and others. That blog is pretty good (no bias).

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