Dizzle

Stats to value man defense? Sorry, but in a team game there are too many variables for me to take that seriously. Maybe if basketball was one on one you'd have a point. Kobe spends the majority of the game guarding the corner three point specialist so I'm not sure where your seeing his defensive impact. Kobe has played 84.4% of his minutes this year with Dwight on the floor. No shit the backups are going to have a weaker defense. Thats why they don't play the big minutes. As a Miami Heat fan I can say Wade is far superior defensively. Wade makes plays, he gets in the passing lanes, he can run the floor, he is explosive, he can switch faster. Just a superior defender overall. All I have to do is watch them to see who is better. Yeah Stackhouse was an example I used in retaliation for Kobe leading the league in scoring as to why hes amazing. Stackhouse led the league in points. Like Stackhouse Kobe doesn't do anything at an above average NBA level anymore. You are just giving me more scoring statistics when it is obvious his percentages will go down rather than remain the same. Weren't you telling me earlier that whoever has the best player doesn't matter? And now your telling me they were always the favorites because they had the best player? Supporting Casts matter. But Star players matter more. Unless your able to assemble a team with a borderline allstar at every position(like Detroit did) your going to require an ELITE player to compete for the NBA Championship. Not necessarily the best, but one of the 5 true superstars in the league. The NBA is a player league and your going to go as far as your star takes you. Thats the difference between the Heat in 2011 and 2012. LeBron failed in 2011 and in 2012 he put forth a playoff run that hasn't been seen since the days of Prime Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe is not part of that top 5 Elite superstar status anymore. Dwight was last year, and if LA wants to win it'll be on his shoulders. 15 PPG? Good luck http://i.imgur.com/YZHWJ.jpg

So what does Kobe give you on the court other than scoring? Specifics please. Nothing else he does is above an average NBA level. Just because I don't have the same opinion as you doesn't mean I'm trolling. If you have a problem with a specific feel free to point it out. Everything I say is true. Whether you want to believe it or not is your prerogative.

Lol oppenent PER? What the [expletive] is this shit? Kobe guards the other teams worst offensive threat every night, he makes little to no impact on that end of the floor. Next. What else does Kobe do? Give you average rebounding and playmaking in major minutes? The Lakers were the favorites against every opponent they faced in either playoff run, with or without Bynum. Those guys like Sasha,Farmar,Ariza,whatever may not sound like appealing names, but in those years those were some high energy contributors that were nice to have off your bench. Those guys brought energy and spark off the bench. Who does LA have now? Jamison? Steve Blake? LOL Ill take young legs over useless veteran anyday. Yes games are decided by who has the best player. Look at the teams throughout history that won THE game, the championship. You will see top ELITE hall of famers on nearly every team(except the Pistons). So if Nash gets single digit points/assists the Lakers will get what they thought they were with Nash? Nope. Good luck having Nash replicate his Dallas numbers with Kome in the starting lineup. I look forward to that idea actually coming to fruition. LOL

Noone wants Stoudemire until he is an expiring contract. Gasol still has value, he just has tendonitis in his knees right now and can't play with Howard since Howard needs the entire paint in order to use a move. LA could certainly do better.

[*]L.A. Lakers: Shaq [*]Chicago Bulls: Rodman [*]Philadelphia 76ers: Bobby Jones [*]Toronto Raptors: irrelevant franchise [*]New York Knicks: irrelevant franchise [*]Orlando Magic: Shaq [*] Brooklyn Nets: irrelevant franchise [*]Minnesota T’Wolves: irrelevant franchise [*] Boston Celtics: Larry Bird [*] Golden State Warriors: Wilt [*]Houston Rockets: Yao Ming [*] L.A. Clippers: Elton Brand [*]Miami Heat: Shaq [*]Phoenix Suns: irrelevant franchise [*]Atlanta Hawks: Irrelevant franchise [*] Charlotte Bobcats: irrelevant franchise [*]Cleveland Cavs: LeBron [*]Denver Nuggets: irrelevant franchise [*]San Antonio Spurs: Tim Duncan [*]Oklahoma City Thunder: irrelevant franchise [*]Dallas Mavs: Dirk Nowitzki [*]Indiana Pacers: Irrelevant franchise [*]Portland Trail Blazers: irrelevant franchise [*]Washington Wizards: irrelevant franchise [*]Sacramento Kings: irrelevant frranchise [*] Utah Jazz: AK-47 [*]Memphis Grizzlies: Irrelevant franchise [*]Milwaukee Bucks: Irrelevant franchise [*]Detroit Pistons: Rodman [*]New Orleans Hornets: Irrelevant franchise Most of these teams should just get kicked out of the league for being irrelevant. Talent level will go way up.

Kobe is not playing better than he was during his last season. Based on numbers alone? Maybe. But you have to look beyond that. Things like Defense, Hustle, Speed, Explosiveness cannot be quantified by statistics. Kobes defense is now worse than ever. He cant fill the lanes as quickly and he is more reliant on the jumpshot. Through 15 games his FG% may be high, but if you think those jumpshots will keep going in and he keeps up that pace, good luck with that. Based on pure NUMBERS Kobe is having his best season in quite some time, yet his team is still below .500 despite having Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. He had a better winning percentage with Parker,Kwame Brown, and Chris Mihm. Jerry Stackhouse had the most total points in the NBA in the 2000-01 NBA season. To say he was an elite player is laughable. As for your scenarios... -LeBron decided to defer and be the Pippen to Wade in the 2011 Finals for whatever reason when he was the best player in the league. LeBron is too unselfish, but has learned from his decision. I don't see any similar situations like this regarding the current LA team unless you mean Kobe agreeing to defer to Howard. That'll be the day. -Kobe blew the 2004 Finals by deciding he'd rather lose as the man than win as the sidekick. He decided his fallaway jumpers with Prince and Hamilton on him were more efficient scoring options than Shaq postups on Ben Wallace in which Shaq had 26 PPG and nearly 60% shooting. The Lakers dont have good enough role players for Kobes usual shit to slide. When they won in 2010 and 2009 they had infinitely more talent than the rest of the league. Kobe is the only superstar in NBA History to never win a series as the clear underdog. Nash would not be in the hall of fame if he continue his Dallas pace for the duration of his career. Phoenix is where he became a hall of famer. Maybe if the Lakers had an all-time great like LeBron James I'd be inclined to agree with you, but I've seen nothing from this team that makes me think redemption. Maybe Phil Jackson or Sloan could have done something, but with overrated star players, grandpa bench, and inept coachs like Mike Brown/Mike D'antonio I see no reason this team will turn it around. First round and out....2nd round as the ceiling.

The reality of it is that the Lakers are done. I said it while Ron Artest was boasting that they were going to win 73 games and I will stand by it. At this point Kobe Bryant is DONE. Done as in he can't lead teams to titles anymore(whether he ever did it or not is arguable in itself). Mitch Kupchak realized this and that's why he pursued Dwight so hard. If LA has any hope at all of winning it all, this has to be Dwights team because he is the only one explosive enough on the team to lead them to the promised land. Kobe will not agree to this though and will score 40 points with 10 turnovers in losses before he sees that happen!! Certainly not a formula for success. If Dwight is not comfortable LA goes home in the first round....MAYBE 2nd round, but I think thats a stretch. Either way this team has no shot at beating the elite teams like OKC, and SA unless MVP canditates Durant and Duncan get hurt. Nash is not an all-star on a halfcourt team. His shooting will be there, but without a system like Phoenix he isn't Steve Nash, just an average point guard with no defense. LeBron is the best player in the [expletive]ing league, and it's a privilege to watch this man dominate all facets of the game on a nightly basis. If the Lakers had LeBron instead of Kobe they would be 10-3 contending for first place in the West.

Yes with Wade and Bosh. Dwight,Gasol,Nash is another story not to mention better fit(position wise). The Miami trio doesn't have one guy known for posting up or being a three point shooter to space the floor. Their talents overlapped for the most part, but because of the sheer talent of LeBron James we all knew the Heat would get things together as seen by their two consecutive Finals trips and NBA Championship ring. Even in the games Nash has played he has looked pathetic for the most part. 4.5 PPG and 4 APG? S. Parker had better numbers. This is because Nash needs to play with guys that can work in an uptempo offense. In Dallas(and even Phoenix when they had Shaq) Nash wasn't Nash because he was playing on halfcourt teams. Unless LA turns into showtime (with Gasol-Howard-Kobe LOL?) Nash will continue to underachieve BIG TIME. If LeBron was on that team instead of Kobe he'd just take over the primary ball handling responsibilities and he wouldn't be getting 4+ turnovers per game LOL. LeBron would create better looks for all of his teammates and increase their looks at the basket. It's what seperates the great perimeter players such as Bird,Magic, Jordan, LeBron from Kobe. Superior playmaking and getting others involved while continue to create 50%FG+ opportunities for yourself. Gasol was getting trashed by LA fans even after he won them the championship in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals when he scored 19 points, 18 rebounds and was robbed of the Finals MVP Honors even after Kobe shot 6-24 in the deciding game. It's nothing new. LA is an awful defensive team though, especially in transition and it will not improve. They don't have one quality defender on the wing, and Howard looks worse this year seeing as how Kobe is lowering his confidence with his poor leadership abilities. With Mike D'antonio now at the helm I don't see them improving and their defense is already bad despite whatever kind of flawed advanced statistic someone wants to throw at you.

Discuss.

Good posts Shaliq. This is indeed a solid comparison that should be taken into consideration. Andrew Bynum is one of the biggest beasts in the NBA. Without Kobe stealing his touches he will be able to thrive as the best offensive center in the NBA. That isn't saying he is no slouch defensively either, just not as good as Dwight. When Bynum is healthy the difference between him and Dwight is miniscule. Bynum impacts the game more than Holiday, Paul, or Griffin. He is a 7 foot behemoth that anchors the paint for his team, a great rebounder, and unstoppable on the block. With his increased touches in Philadelphia he will take his place as one of the truly elite players in this league. Chris Paul is good, but overrated nonetheless. Holiday is better than him on defense and having a dominant PG is overrated anyway. Look at the teams run by point guards. I think the last PG run title team was Magics Lakers and they had Kareem. Point guards arn't as ideal to build around as dominant centers/wing players. I could put a [expletive]ing traffic cone on the court and it would play better than Blake "Most Overrated player in the NBA" Griffin. Give me the combo with the elite center and elite defense at two positions.

Hey guys I have a slight problem http://theorangepress.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/broken_tv.jpg Could anyone tell me if the Giants won?