[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
WhiteFlash wrote:
Xeneize wrote:
Slicing through the (lack of) defense:
On this particular play, if you watch the replay in slo-mo you’ll see Bryant get hit on the arms by the three defenders he went around. The lack of respect he gets in comparison to the other “superstars” is astounding.
Truth. I remember screaming at the TV “where’s the foul!” when that play happened. Even my mom agreed with me, and when mom agrees on the lack of foul called, then something is going wrong.[/quote]
Ha. T and Chill, think I mentioned it earlier in the thread that Kenny Smith said something about Kobe being the villain. I really think he’s the first “black sheep” superstar of the NBA, or at least the first I can recall. We’re not talking about Rodman, or even JR Rider or someone like that. We’re talking about the best player on the planet who happens to play on the best team in basketball, and he has to earn just about every shot at the line he gets, whereas the other big-names of the league get theirs on name and reputation.
[quote]Xeneize wrote:
jlutz3 wrote:
Jordan is the greatest offensive player of all time IMO…
Gotta disagree. Wilt Chamberlain. Jordan was certainly the total package and probably the fiercest competitor ever. [/quote]
Wilt was 7’2"+ playing against 6’7" centers with no 24 second clock and no 3 seconds. The lane was smaller and there was less than 15 teams in the entire league. All he did was flip shots, finger rolls and dunks. I’m sorry, but players from 40 years ago could not compete in todays NBA, and should be omitted from any “best ever” discussions. Harsh maybe, but true.
Great game last night. Correction: great 4q and OT last night. First half was just rough (except for Rashard Lewis). And I give Van Gundy credit for calling that play to Lee at the end of regulation, but Lee couldn’t convert (or the layup on the possession before that). Bad time to be making rookie mistakes. That last shot goes in and ORL escapes by splitting HCA and heads home. Now they have to dig themselves out of a hole. Let’s see if they can capitalize on three straight home games.
We talked about how the 2-3-2 formats shifts a little bit of advantage to the road team, but we didn’t really touch on how that comes with a price: Falling down 0-2 in a 2-3-2 is a bigger hole than in a 2-2-1-1-1.
Now, Orl has to win 3 in a row at a home, which is a hell of a task, or they’re going to have win Game 6 AND Game 7 on the road to win the series.
Few things I want to touch on since I haven’t been to the thread in a bit:
Kobe definitely doesn’t get Lebron/Wade calls, but he’s hardly “earning EVERY shot at the line” like some of you are blowing it out to be. Pietrus has had a number of phantom calls in these 2 games on Kobe(the one that fouled him out last night comes to mind right away).
The Jordan debate really could go on forever because of the difference in defenses played now. It’s just so hard to compare the raw numbers he put up in the face of how much more pressure the rule change to zones has made it for scorers(hasn’t highest PPG for a season since that rule only been like 31?)
That shot Lee missed last night will get roasted by most casual fans, but that is NOT an easy layup by any means. I mean sure he’s a paid man in the NBA so he’s supposed to make hard shots but that really wasn’t just a gimme.
I knew Howard would have a tougher time with LA’s bigs than Cleveland’s for obvious reasons, but good lord I would’ve called someone crazy if they told me he’s only going to put in 16+17 in games 1+2.
Hedo Turkoglu’s off-arm usage is ridiculous. He was shoving Ariza left and right and only got whistled for it once.
That game was tough to watch for the majority, but by the 4th quarter it got real good. Lee’s missed lay-up was a huge sigh of relief, though I don’t know why the game was even tied then. They never gave LA the 2 points from Dwight Howard’s ridiculous, through the bottom of the net goal tend in the 1st quarter. Kobe was looking a little gimpy near the end, he took a tough fall, hope that doesn’t affect his jumper(which was looking a little flat for most of the night).
Lamar Odom bailed LA out of this one, he made shots that he is capable of making every night but doesn’t. Pau Gasol was instrumental as well.
Magic have a very difficult road ahead of them. I think LA can do this in 5.
Kobe is just proving to me how much better LBJ is. No way it would be close if you James had the supporting cast Kobe has. Kobe basically got to chill the whole game only had to score the final points in regulation and couldn’t get past Tergalu? are you serious? Tergalu was deathly afraid of James.
Why is everyone surprised Dwight Howard isn’t scoring that much? He has never been the go to guy on that team for a reason… He’s a great player yes, but offensive threat??? since when?(he’s not even the second option on his team, actually tied for third) Of course if he goes up against somebody who’s taller and foot isn’t stuck in mud he is going to have trouble.
Kobe gets a ton of calls, not as much as Lebron and Wade but he doesn’t go driving into the lane nearly as much either, when he used to he got every call in the world. He also cries alot to the refs, and I’m sure they get sick of it. The two calls he didn’t get last night he shouldn’t have, they showed it in slow motion and still couldn’t find a foul. If the ball leaves your hand and you get a little incidental arm contact there’s no foul.
You can’t compare old players to knew. If you play bball against decent older players that are slower and less athletic you’ll know they still find ways to score, a good player is just that a good player. Jordan was a killer, and as assholish as Kobe can be Jordan is still much more mentally a killer on the court than Kobe.
LBJ is currently my best ever, at 24 he’s doen more than any other person ever has by that age for a team. If he doesn’t get hurt or lose his desire he can be nearly as dominant as Shaq
Wait, Kobe scored 40,8,8 in Game 1 in a blowout win, and then when he scored far less than that(efficiency and points) in a very close win, that somehow shows that he has really good help? Your logic is flawless.
[quote]Malevolence wrote:
Wait, Kobe scored 40,8,8 in Game 1 in a blowout win, and then when he scored far less than that(efficiency and points) in a very close win, that somehow shows that he has really good help? Your logic is flawless.[/quote]
Actually their offensive total barely suffered despite his game being down. Lebron had a “bad” game(25 points) and they got blown out, he had fantastic games and they either barely won or barely lost.
I really don’t want that debate to start up so I’ll just end it there at reaffirming that he did indeed use some decent logic, that doesn’t alone make the point right/wrong.
For his age, I’ve never seen another player more powerful and more confident than him. Definitely a better player than Kobe, but not sure the Cavs are a better team than the Lakers.
The Magic just lose steam in the final minutes of a game and it is NOT just a lack of 'ship experience; it’s like they just lose their hustle/desire to win. No clue why.
I will say this…Lakers have the MOST bandwagon fans of ANY sports team of ANY sport in history. I swear to god, you have people from out of state repping the Lakers and it’s just ridiculous.
Say what you want about James, but he will never have such a pretty turn-around jumper as Kobe does.
The Lakers have a lot of bandwagon fans because they are from LA which is in socal. People in southern california aren’t as hardcore about sports as other cities and states are.
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
Say what you want about James, but he will never have such a pretty turn-around jumper as Kobe does. [/quote]
Not that Jame’s anything-jumper is about to win any contests, but being behind Kobe’s turn-around is just par for the course considering his is probably the best of all time.
Bron, at the moment has basically two modes. Strong/fast and Stronger/faster. Compared to Kobe, he lacks the ability to create and shoot off the dribble in any other fashion than ‘head down, going to the rim’. His offensive repertoire is limited and a large portion of his game is a direct result of his being bigger, stronger, faster than the opposition.
His 3 point shot has improved vastly in the last season, but for whatever reason he’s more effective at deep threes than shallow ones, and anything right in front of the line is a toss-up. His free throw shooting has also improved, but, as these playoffs have shown he is miserable in the clutch with free throws.
James is a legitimate 6’8 while Kobe is closer to 6’5 than the 6’6 he’s listed at. Bron creates mismatches against almost everyone in the league, he’s a 3, who is the size of a 4, who plays like a 2. Paul Pierce once commented that, it’s not so much that he can’t guard Lebron directly, it’s just, having to do it the whole game, when he has the ball 90% of the time that is the real challenge.
Lastly, he was eliminated from the Eastern Conference Finals and has yet to win a single Finals game.
Magic won a game that most people expected them to win. But, despite shooting an NBA record 63% from the field, LA was at their heels the entire time, even tying it in the final minutes. Couple of blown plays down the end(by Kobe no less) and the Lakers come up short, but if I’m the Lakers I have nothing to be ashamed of. I just hope Kobe doesn’t beat himself up over this too much.