NBA '08 Playoff Thread

Very nice.

And, wouldn't you know after all my defense of Bryant as MVP, he's having arguably his worst game of the 2007-08 season today. Hahaha.
Sports: There to make you look like an ass at the drop of a hat.

 

I've only heard of like three of Philly's players, yet they might be winning Game 1 in Detroit right now.

 

Which rube picked the Lizards?

 

Amen. It's right along the same lines as what annoys me at Indians games. Big moment in a game, crowd will be somewhat into it, but mostly tepid. All the sudden, the scoreboards flash the message "MAKE NOISE!" and the place goes nuts.

There was a time when baseball fans around here didn't need a scoreboard bludgeoning them over the head with MAKE NOISE! in order to know when to cheer. Idiots.

And yes, that Spurs PA announcer makes me want to swallow my tongue. "Here come the SPURRRRRRRRS!" Shut up, jackass.

 

Gee, I hope the Pistons didn't think this series would be an easy one....

 

Yeah, it was real sad watching Kobe half-ass the last few seasons with the Lakers. Laziest player in the league, bar none.

And this year, the way he mailed it in after Bynum went down . . . disgraceful.

Combine a lack of facts with a dishonest, steadfastly negative view of Kobe Bryant . . . nafselon, did RokSki hijack your screen name?

 

Kobe Bryant's the best player in the NBA but he's selfish and not the ideal leader you'd like when building a team. Still, you put some half-decent pieces along with him, he'll produce, post huge numbers, and be a good teammate. He felt disrespected when Mitch Kupchak put scrubs like Smush Parker and Kwame Brown around him. Some of these young guys have developed nicely and the trade for Gasol lit a fire under him. Kobe had to realize that the Lakers had a legit shot of winning the West in such a closely contested conference and seemed, to me anyway, to play with more energy and passion once Pau got to LA.

 

Yes, Bean won three titles with the best center in the game at the time. Bravo. He then got into a slapfight with him forcing the Lakers to ditch one of them and bitched heavily when he didn't have quality players surrounding him as if dumping Shaq for Lamar Odom and table scraps was going to improve his chances of winning.

If Chris Wallace wasn't a such a boob (talk about the executive of the year), Mr. MVP would be part of the TNT desk crew. His talent is unquestioned but let's not act like he's been a hallmark of motivation when given less than a perfect situation.
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I'll agree he hasn't always been the most mature player if you'll agree to admit he was more than an integral part to the Lakers winning three titles.

And, by the way, it was Shaq's fat ass, bad attitude and horrific contract that helped force his exit out of L.A. Was his relationship with Kobe Bryant a good one? No. But if Shaq had been willing to bend, just a little, they could've stayed together.

By the way, do you think it's a coincidence that Shaq has also departed two other teams (Orlando and Miami) under, well, amidst a bit of acrimony? I suppose those times were Kobe's fault, too?

Also ... the Lakers were 25-11 when Bynum went out and 30-16 before Gasol joined them. That put them at/near the top of the Western Conference Standings.
All Gasol did was help them maintain what Bynum's injury may have taken away. It wasn't like the Lakers were hovering at the No. 8 spot. They were No. 1 or 2 in the conference.
Wanna make an argument, have some numbers to back them up.

(Note: I reposted this because I kept getting an error and my message was being put in a quote for some reason. This was originally posted ABOVE "bostonbred")

 

I won't argue too much with your post except to say that the Lakers were doing quite well even before the Gasol trade.
I'm hesitant to say Bryant is as much selfish as he is militant. He's an extremely hard worker who has little/no patience for players who don't want to work as hard as he does. He's also not as savvy as Michael Jordan was with the media to cover it up, although if you read "The Jordan Rules" or listen to some interviews from Jordan's teammates back in the day, you'll find he was just as big of a prick (some say bigger) than Kobe is/was.

 

I like the way the Sixers really pushed the ball midway through the third on forward. They caught the Pistons somewhere in a sleepwalk and just kept pressuring them until they brokethrough. Very professional road victory.

 

I'll agree he hasn't always been the most mature player if you'll agree to admit he was more than an integral part to the Lakers winning three titles.

And, by the way, it was Shaq's fat ass, bad attitude and horrific contract that helped force his exit out of L.A. Was his relationship with Kobe Bryant a good one? No. But if Shaq had been willing to bend, just a little, they could've stayed together.

By the way, do you think it's a coincidence that Shaq has also departed two other teams (Orlando and Miami) under, well, amidst a bit of acrimony? I suppose those times were Kobe's fault, too?

Also ... the Lakers were 25-11 when Bynum went out and 30-16 before Gasol joined them. That put them at/near the top of the Western Conference Standings.
All Gasol did was help them maintain what Bynum's injury may have taken away. It wasn't like the Lakers were hovering at the No. 8 spot. They were No. 1 or 2 in the conference.
Wanna make an argument, have some numbers to back them up.

(Note: I reposted this because I kept getting an error and my message was being put in a quote for some reason. This was originally posted ABOVE "bostonbred")
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I've never denied Kobe's talent, he's got the most ability of anyone in the league...that almost goes without saying. Do I think he's the MVP over Chris Paul, absolutely not. Do I think he could do what Paul did this year with that team? Absolutely not and that's not because he's COULDN'T do it it's because nothing in his makeup as a player makes me believe that he would want to do it with guys that would be reliant on him to make them better. Regardless of what you think or thought of the Lakers rosters post-Shaq it was all reliant on Kobe to make those guys better and he had a tough time doing it.

And Shaq didn't depart Orlando under acrimony. He just took same money elsewhere. He was a free agent and had the right to sign with whomever. The people in Orlando weren't too happy, but shit happens.