NBA Lockout

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641

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
WHO DO YOU WANT SHOOTING WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE?

Kobe Bryant, Lakers G 74%

Kevin Durant, Thunder F 8%

Dwyane Wade, Heat G 3%

Ray Allen, Celtics G 2%

Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks F 2%

Based on 166 NBA players who responded to SI’s survey

No surprise here.[/quote]

This is the more telling of the two “polls” you posted. In the first, lots of things can come into play, like whether you like the guy professionally and whether you think you’ll get the damn ball (especially true in Kobe’s case).

Like I’ve been harping on…one game, one and done, who do you pick - that’s a poll I’d like to see.
[/quote]

Under the way you’ve defined best player I don’t disagree.

But I consider your definition of best player extremely narrow. It should be more encompassing.

642

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Relevant: Interesting blog on ESPN about LBJ vs. Kobe. As expected, the only of the 5 participants to pick Kobe is a Lakers fan (JA Adande). It fits what I’ve been saying that the ONLY people in the country still arguing that Kobe is the best player in the NBA are Lakers fans. I have yet to find someone who doesn’t care about the Lakers to make this argument.[/quote]

who cares what a fan says? barkley claims lbj is the best. i’m inclined to hear his arguments b/c he played. who cares about the opinion of “JA Adande” or any other fan for that matter?

I don’t care about the Lakers and I’ll say Kobe is the better player, right now. LBJ is obviously on the rise, Kobe on the decline.

but my definition of “better player” may differ from yours. I’m not talking about building my team around him. I’m not talking about over the course of a ridiculous and often meaningless 80-something game season. I’m not interested in comparing different positions.

One game. One and done. Who would I pick? Assuming they play the same position, Kobe is my pick. To me, that’s the better “player” among the two.

listen, it’s easy to pick lbj. younger, on the rise, etc.[/quote]

Fair enough. To me, part of best player is the ability to do maintain your highest level (or close to it) for several months at a time throughout a season. Unfortunately there is no “right” way to define best player, each person has their own idea of it.

643

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

I’ll do it tomorrow while I’m at work.
[/quote]

funniest (unintentional) post of the thread.

“I’ll goof off tomorrow while I’m at work damnit!”

LOL[/quote]

Haha, I was thinking basically that as I typed.

644

[quote]therajraj wrote:
WHO DO YOU WANT SHOOTING WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE?

Kobe Bryant, Lakers G 74%

Kevin Durant, Thunder F 8%

Dwyane Wade, Heat G 3%

Ray Allen, Celtics G 2%

Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks F 2%

Based on 166 NBA players who responded to SI’s survey

No surprise here.[/quote]

I mentioned it earlier but no one addressed it so I’ll say it again: read an article last week where Chris Bosh said that Wade needs to be their closer, no questions asked. That’s a pretty telling statement as far as I’m concerned.

645

[quote]scj119 wrote:

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Relevant: Interesting blog on ESPN about LBJ vs. Kobe. As expected, the only of the 5 participants to pick Kobe is a Lakers fan (JA Adande). It fits what I’ve been saying that the ONLY people in the country still arguing that Kobe is the best player in the NBA are Lakers fans. I have yet to find someone who doesn’t care about the Lakers to make this argument.[/quote]

who cares what a fan says? barkley claims lbj is the best. i’m inclined to hear his arguments b/c he played. who cares about the opinion of “JA Adande” or any other fan for that matter?

I don’t care about the Lakers and I’ll say Kobe is the better player, right now. LBJ is obviously on the rise, Kobe on the decline.

but my definition of “better player” may differ from yours. I’m not talking about building my team around him. I’m not talking about over the course of a ridiculous and often meaningless 80-something game season. I’m not interested in comparing different positions.

One game. One and done. Who would I pick? Assuming they play the same position, Kobe is my pick. To me, that’s the better “player” among the two.

listen, it’s easy to pick lbj. younger, on the rise, etc.[/quote]

Fair enough. To me, part of best player is the ability to do maintain your highest level (or close to it) for several months at a time throughout a season. Unfortunately there is no “right” way to define best player, each person has their own idea of it.[/quote]

Does Bryant not do that? The last couple of years he’s still at 25+ 5&5 despite playing less than 35 minutes a game and playing through injuries that would cause literally every other player to miss significant time. This year he’s been killing it, but has had 3 bad games and is only shooting about 25% from 3 but is doing it with a fucking torn ligament in his shooting wrist. There’s been reports that he has trouble tying his fucking shoes but he still leads the league in scoring. That seems like some pretty solid maintenance to me.

646

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
WHO DO YOU WANT SHOOTING WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE?

Kobe Bryant, Lakers G 74%

Kevin Durant, Thunder F 8%

Dwyane Wade, Heat G 3%

Ray Allen, Celtics G 2%

Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks F 2%

Based on 166 NBA players who responded to SI’s survey

No surprise here.[/quote]

This is the more telling of the two “polls” you posted. In the first, lots of things can come into play, like whether you like the guy professionally and whether you think you’ll get the damn ball (especially true in Kobe’s case).

Like I’ve been harping on…one game, one and done, who do you pick - that’s a poll I’d like to see.
[/quote]

Under the way you’ve defined best player I don’t disagree.

But I consider your definition of best player extremely narrow. It should be more encompassing.
[/quote]

Of course its narrow but I played, you’re a fan.

And don’t forget, the whole discussion is pointless and nothing more than a beauty contest. There are enough variables to these debates to keep the beer flowing in every bar in the world (and it does).

647

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Relevant: Interesting blog on ESPN about LBJ vs. Kobe. As expected, the only of the 5 participants to pick Kobe is a Lakers fan (JA Adande). It fits what I’ve been saying that the ONLY people in the country still arguing that Kobe is the best player in the NBA are Lakers fans. I have yet to find someone who doesn’t care about the Lakers to make this argument.[/quote]

who cares what a fan says? barkley claims lbj is the best. i’m inclined to hear his arguments b/c he played. who cares about the opinion of “JA Adande” or any other fan for that matter?

I don’t care about the Lakers and I’ll say Kobe is the better player, right now. LBJ is obviously on the rise, Kobe on the decline.

but my definition of “better player” may differ from yours. I’m not talking about building my team around him. I’m not talking about over the course of a ridiculous and often meaningless 80-something game season. I’m not interested in comparing different positions.

One game. One and done. Who would I pick? Assuming they play the same position, Kobe is my pick. To me, that’s the better “player” among the two.

listen, it’s easy to pick lbj. younger, on the rise, etc.[/quote]

Fair enough. To me, part of best player is the ability to do maintain your highest level (or close to it) for several months at a time throughout a season. Unfortunately there is no “right” way to define best player, each person has their own idea of it.[/quote]

Does Bryant not do that? The last couple of years he’s still at 25+ 5&5 despite playing less than 35 minutes a game and playing through injuries that would cause literally every other player to miss significant time. This year he’s been killing it, but has had 3 bad games and is only shooting about 25% from 3 but is doing it with a fucking torn ligament in his shooting wrist. There’s been reports that he has trouble tying his fucking shoes but he still leads the league in scoring. That seems like some pretty solid maintenance to me.
[/quote]

So far - no question. If he is still performing at this level in Late February/March, I will be slurping his nuts with the best of Lakers fans. I also LOVE that Kobe actually passed to Fisher for that game winner - if he passes one in three times he has the ball at the last second, defenses will be forced to stick to their man instead of triple teaming him. It could open up the floor for him in the more important (playoff) games.

That being said, LBJ has turned up his game a lot too, and as a bball fan I love that they have both upped their game. Will be an interesting MVP race if they both keep it up. Especially if Bynum goes out again and Kobe carries the Lakers single-handedly with half a working body.

648

I pointed this out last year.

Kobe and the Lakers would benefit most from a shortened season. Kobe definitely looks refreshed this year.

649

[quote]therajraj wrote:
I pointed this out last year.

Kobe and the Lakers would benefit most from a shortened season. Kobe definitely looks refreshed this year.

[/quote]

I think the shortened season has more potential to hurt him as the games are crammed together. His “resurgence” has more to do with semi-healthy knees and ankles. The fact that he’s done what he has the last few years on legs that legitimately required surgery is nuts, and what he’s doing this year with a fucked up shooting wrist is just as crazy. Side’s a basketball machine.

650

[quote]overstand wrote:
Im raging so hard at the tv right now I have to vent

I don’t know if you guys watched the Mavs-Clippers game, but it was super close, Mavs were up by 1 with 5 seconds left and Terry tips the inbounds pass out of bounds. Everybody is focusing on the original tip and nobody sees that the ball clearly bounces once in bounds and then hits Mo Williams on the arm before hitting out of bounds. Should have been Mavs ball and a Mavs win.

Here’s a video. See how Hubie and the refs are all focusing on whether Terry tipped it and no one sees it hit Mo Williams at 13 secs.

I know dude! I caught the end of that game. I wasn’t as angry with the wrong call on the Mo play as I was with the Mavs not being able to close out the game. I know Billups is Mr. Big Shot but he was WAY open.

Not too concerned in the overall scheme of things. Mavs just need a solid enough record going into the playoffs and I think things will start clicking come then. They’ve been close in most of their games with quality opponents and they’ve had a tough schedule so far.

Dirk isn’t scoring 25-30 every game like he did last year but then again he’s playing the fewest minutes in his career.

651

OKC just gave Russell Westbrook a 5 year $80 million deal. That shit is crazy…

652

‘haha yeah I’mma just walk down the court with my back against the rim, I know Battier got that three.’

Lebron my son!

653

Gasol finally makes a jumper!

654

Oh man LA c’mon don’t disrespect Lebron by giving him single coverage…

655

You know your roster needs work when your best spot up shooter is Pau Gasol…

656

You can tell a lot about a game by watching it without sound. Whenever Miami misses a shot in the paint it looks like the ref blew the whistle because the Laker big men are just not moving.

657

I said this last week; yeah Kobe has been putting up huge numbers…against sub-par competition. Miami, Dallas, OKC and etc know what they’re doing.

658

No wonder America struggles with obesity, there’s a food commercial every 2 seconds on TV! And it looks so wholesome - mmm…

659

If there’s one good thing Mike Brown is probably going to take away from this game it’s Troy Murphy.

660

Haha did you catch Kobe’s subliminal fuck-you? 6:54 in the 4th quarter after he gets the air ball. He scratches his eye with his middle finger. I used to think people just accidentally did that but after watching an episode of Lie to Me apparently it’s a subconscious gesture.