Borat
Headphoneus Supremus
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LeBron James is a bigger body, but he is not as good in the post as Kobe Bryant. His footwork is not as good. Dwyane Wade is better than Kobe at defense? That is not my impression. When you need a lockdown perimeter defender, you go to Ron Artest, Bruce Bowen, and Kobe Bryant (in that order). And they're both younger, but is Kobe playing like an old man? And his physical conditioning is second to none. I'm not saying Wade and James don't train, but Bryant's work ethic is widely praised by everyone. Jordan didn't win his first title until he was 28. There's lots of time.
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Because otherwise they would both have 62 points in 3 quarters and 81 point games? Tons of games in the 50's and 40's? Kobe Bryant is having a historic year in terms of offensive output. I thought Kobe had peaked in the 2001 playoffs, but I was wrong. And he keeps doing stuff like he did today. Wade and James have better supporting casts, yet Bryant is in the much more competitive Western Conference and he has his team in the same position in the playoffs. And he can't setup players? What's been happening in this very series? He is controlling the game! And his FG percentage suffers because of bail out shots at the end of shot clocks, which happens very frequently with players who have never played in the triangle offense and fail to execute it properly (most of the Lakers this year).
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"Accomodate" the best young player in the game? Why would an NBA team owner want to do that? Dr. Buss saw that the Shaq and Kobe pairing had gone as far as it could go at the end of the pounding they took in the Finals against Detroit. It was time to rebuild around Kobe. Initially, the plan was to keep them both and gradually shift to build the team around Kobe's strengths. This is what you have to do, build around the young superstar as he is entering his prime. But Shaq was not willing to accomodate the Lakers so he acted up like a child not getting what he wanted (a max money contract extension) and forced a trade. Do you think that anyone in Shaq's life had ever told him "no" prior to Buss doing so? I don't.
Dr. Buss also thought that the new look Lakers would be better off with a run and gun type offense (a la Showtime 80's) as opposed to the triangle, so he booted Phil Jackson. Of course, after Tomjanovich quit on the Lakers last season followed by their post all-star break debacle, he quickly changed his mind.
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Uh...what? How is it nepotism to draft Walton, we're not the Celtics or the Blazers? And he was the 32nd pick in the second round, what else can you get there? We're lucky he is even able to play at all. And what he lacks in athleticism and natural ability, he makes up for with his IQ and passing. Trading for Brown was definitely a gamble, but it is starting to pay dividends. We had Caron Butler and Lamar Odom, one of them had to go as they were the only real tradeable assets aside from Bryant. If you have an opportunity to trade a small for a BIG athletic frontcourt player with untapped potential, you have to risk it. Butler would have been redundant on this team. I was against it at first due to Kwame's history, but he is actually turning into a player on the Lakers as a center. That is his real position. The Wizards and Lakers early on were trying to play him as a 4.
The depth thing is a problem because the Lakers were good for so long that they were choosing so late in the draft. And the scouting was clearly not as good as a team like San Antonio. But look, they are already in the playoffs again after losing the most dominant player of the last era, in the West no less. Teams like the Knicks, Hawks, Jazz, etc. get to pick early on every year and they're still not in the playoffs and they haven't been for some time. This is what can happen when you currently have the best player in the game.
| Originally Posted by crazyfrenchman27 I fail to see how Kobe Bryant is indisputably the best player in the game, given Lebron James' (stronger inside, younger) and Dwayne Wade's (better defensively, younger) performances. |
LeBron James is a bigger body, but he is not as good in the post as Kobe Bryant. His footwork is not as good. Dwyane Wade is better than Kobe at defense? That is not my impression. When you need a lockdown perimeter defender, you go to Ron Artest, Bruce Bowen, and Kobe Bryant (in that order). And they're both younger, but is Kobe playing like an old man? And his physical conditioning is second to none. I'm not saying Wade and James don't train, but Bryant's work ethic is widely praised by everyone. Jordan didn't win his first title until he was 28. There's lots of time.
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| Both of these players have higher FG percentages and are only going to get better, whereas Kobe has reached his peak and still can't out-rebound or setup players the way those two players have. The only reason why those two players don't rack up points the way Kobe has is because both of them have a better supporting cast of players. |
Because otherwise they would both have 62 points in 3 quarters and 81 point games? Tons of games in the 50's and 40's? Kobe Bryant is having a historic year in terms of offensive output. I thought Kobe had peaked in the 2001 playoffs, but I was wrong. And he keeps doing stuff like he did today. Wade and James have better supporting casts, yet Bryant is in the much more competitive Western Conference and he has his team in the same position in the playoffs. And he can't setup players? What's been happening in this very series? He is controlling the game! And his FG percentage suffers because of bail out shots at the end of shot clocks, which happens very frequently with players who have never played in the triangle offense and fail to execute it properly (most of the Lakers this year).
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| I'd agree with you that retaining Shaq was not the best move for the Lakers; what I do disagree with is one of the underlying motives for making that move, which was to accommodate Kobe. |
"Accomodate" the best young player in the game? Why would an NBA team owner want to do that? Dr. Buss saw that the Shaq and Kobe pairing had gone as far as it could go at the end of the pounding they took in the Finals against Detroit. It was time to rebuild around Kobe. Initially, the plan was to keep them both and gradually shift to build the team around Kobe's strengths. This is what you have to do, build around the young superstar as he is entering his prime. But Shaq was not willing to accomodate the Lakers so he acted up like a child not getting what he wanted (a max money contract extension) and forced a trade. Do you think that anyone in Shaq's life had ever told him "no" prior to Buss doing so? I don't.
Dr. Buss also thought that the new look Lakers would be better off with a run and gun type offense (a la Showtime 80's) as opposed to the triangle, so he booted Phil Jackson. Of course, after Tomjanovich quit on the Lakers last season followed by their post all-star break debacle, he quickly changed his mind.
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| The Lakers' draft and trade strategy in recent years has not helped their cause; whether it's nepotism (Luke Walton) or myopic talent evaluation (Kwame Brown), this team is going to fall flat on its face for want of depth. |
Uh...what? How is it nepotism to draft Walton, we're not the Celtics or the Blazers? And he was the 32nd pick in the second round, what else can you get there? We're lucky he is even able to play at all. And what he lacks in athleticism and natural ability, he makes up for with his IQ and passing. Trading for Brown was definitely a gamble, but it is starting to pay dividends. We had Caron Butler and Lamar Odom, one of them had to go as they were the only real tradeable assets aside from Bryant. If you have an opportunity to trade a small for a BIG athletic frontcourt player with untapped potential, you have to risk it. Butler would have been redundant on this team. I was against it at first due to Kwame's history, but he is actually turning into a player on the Lakers as a center. That is his real position. The Wizards and Lakers early on were trying to play him as a 4.
The depth thing is a problem because the Lakers were good for so long that they were choosing so late in the draft. And the scouting was clearly not as good as a team like San Antonio. But look, they are already in the playoffs again after losing the most dominant player of the last era, in the West no less. Teams like the Knicks, Hawks, Jazz, etc. get to pick early on every year and they're still not in the playoffs and they haven't been for some time. This is what can happen when you currently have the best player in the game.
