The Suns are scared

[icephinfan]

It should. I wonder what the suns are going to do to stop Brand and Kayman.:evil:

yep, when Caveman and Brand get going it's hard to contain them.

 

[icephinfan]

I gotta take the Suns in 6. I mean, you can't pick the Clippers to make a conference finals. You just can't. Never, ever, EVER be afraid to pick against the "just happy to be here" team.

Yeah, I know what your saying but I cheer for the Clips over the Lakers anyday, I still pull for the Clips, they should make it interesting though.

 

[Section126]

It should. I wonder what the suns are going to do to stop Brand and Kayman.:evil:

Your avatar is stunning.

i would have gone with the Raja/Kobe one myself..

Hey amars..what is the skinny on what the Lakers are gonna do in the offseason? Unload for KG? Bonzi?

I think you need a TRUE PG....a Brevin Knight type...

 

[Amars]

The Lakers are going to :blowup:.

Well I think they are going to TRY to make a push for KG but I dont think our front office has any clue what they are doing. I dont have confidence In Jim Buss and Mitch Cupcake. But we need PF and PG and some defensive players. There are going to have new starters aside from Kobe,Lamar and Kwame.

 

[Samphin]

Your avatar is stunning.

i would have gone with the Raja/Kobe one myself..

Hey amars..what is the skinny on what the Lakers are gonna do in the offseason? Unload for KG? Bonzi?

I think you need a TRUE PG....a Brevin Knight type...

Good question. Phil talked about having a nucleus to build around but that big changes are needed. Personally, KG would be ideal, but L.A. doesn't have enough ammo to trade for him, unless they want to break the bank for Garnett, which, wouldn't get them any closer to the promised land.

Personally, I think Kobe is the only untouchable. Bynum, Odom, and Turiaf are probably on a group of people you don't trade unless someone wows you. Luke Walton is a personal favorite and knows this offense, so he should stay.

Aaron McKie will be shipped out, and Devean George is a free agent that will go elsewhere. Von Wafer, Devin Green and players that make you say who? will be gone as well. All in all, You probably have five or six players that will be retained. So, a pretty big turnover.

I agree, a veteran PG who can dish and shoot is needed. Sasha Vujacic showed some of that in the playoffs, but that was his only time ever oding so. Smush got smushed and McKie is garbage at this point.

Kwame Brown did fine as the center which means, Chris Mihm is as good as gone. He will be an UFA after next year and will demand more money than we have. Expect him to be packaged with someone like McKie and draft picks to net us our PG. Plus, that opens the door for Bynum to really get some minutes as the primary backup next year. He will be 18 when the season starts and hopefully more understanding of the offense. I really want to see him develop.

My prediction is as follows for people who will still be on the team next year:

PG: Sasha Vujacic
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Lamar Odom, Luke Walton
PF: Ronny Turiaf
C: Kwame Brown, Andrew Bynum

That leaves 8 open spots, 5 of which will be active. It is possible that Mihm starts the season with us and goes elsewhere at the deadline, same for McKie and S.Parker too. However, I don't anticipate any of them finishing the season with L.A.

Sam Cassell may be a nice veteran to add as the PG. He is a free agent and is already beloved in L.A. He just happens to play for the wrong franchise.

 

[Fresh]

Who cares; go Clips!

 

[DPlus47]

As for Phil Jackson- The man does have 9 rings, and that will be hard for any coach to duplicate, but how did he do when Jordan left for his baseball stint? And how did he do after Shaq left? He does have 9 rings, I just feel that other coaches have done more with less... Maybe not for as long a span, but that's my opinion.

i think people either love or hate phil. i really believe he's a master at making actual basketball adjustments from game-to-game. that's why he has been so tough in the playoffs. the talent helps, but that man really knows what to do with it. i remember watching del harris get little-to-no results from shaq/kobe in LA, and doug collins didn't get too far with MJ, either. granted, the teams improved, but i think that has a lot to do with jackson. i was a little disappointed to see him come back to LA, honestly, because i think he could have done a lot to answer his critics somewhere else, regardless of the talent. however, he has the jeanie buss thing to consider...

 

[bullseyeguy]

Yeah, we have the low post defense problem with Kaman, and Brand...But no one is going to do as good a job on Marion as Odom did, and really how much better can the clips front play than the Lakers? I think the key to this series is going to be Sam Cassell...

 

[Fresh]

Yeah, we have the low post defense problem with Kaman, and Brand...But no one is going to do as good a job on Marion as Odom did, and really how much better can the clips front play than the Lakers? I think the key to this series is going to be Sam Cassell...

There isn't any post player on the Lakers who should be mentioned in the same sentence as Elton Brand. Of course, this excluded Lamar Odom who is not a true post player.

 

[DPlus47]

Im pretty sure there alot of issues with alot of other good players also. Aside from the rape accusation. The only reason its in the press, radio, and TV because its Kobe. Everyone in media watches this guy everymove with magnify glass. He didnt pass the ball to his teammate who cant score or he didnt shoot a trillion points to win the game because his heart was not in it. He cant win either way. It's rediculous but it sells. Since its in the media it must be correct.:shakeno: :shakeno: :shakeno:

the press is against him? can you think of any other 10 year veteran in any sport who gets compliments all over the place because he has discovered how to be a good teammate for a 3-game stretch in the playoffs? the press didn't create kobe complaining about whose team it was when shaq was here. he started arguing about whose team it was pretty early on in LA. i was a fan of the lakers before kobe arrived and i have followed his career quite closely. you can't sit and wait for a tenth-year player to change his ways. i have seen a lot of his games in person, and, to me, it looks like his only mission on the court is to prove he is the best player out there. that would work great if the NBA were a 1-on-1 league. 5-on-5 is a different animal.

 

[Amars]

This whole mess started when Mitch cupcake told shaq that kobe was the future of this team. Mitch is a idiot. Jerry West is who I give the most credit to the lakers success. He built the lakers and kept all egos in check. If Phil and Jerry could of ironed out thier differences things would of been different in LA. Instead Jerry left and things eventually, over time, had a snowball effect.

 

[Amars]

t the press didn't create kobe complaining about whose team it was when shaq was here. he started arguing about whose team it was pretty early on in LA.

What are u talking about. You know who created this whole my team feud was shaq in 2003 before the season started. I have never seen a article when shaq was here where kobe says this is my team.

 

[PHINATIC13]

Good question. Phil talked about having a nucleus to build around but that big changes are needed. Personally, KG would be ideal, but L.A. doesn't have enough ammo to trade for him, unless they want to break the bank for Garnett, which, wouldn't get them any closer to the promised land.

Personally, I think Kobe is the only untouchable. Bynum, Odom, and Turiaf are probably on a group of people you don't trade unless someone wows you. Luke Walton is a personal favorite and knows this offense, so he should stay.

Aaron McKie will be shipped out, and Devean George is a free agent that will go elsewhere. Von Wafer, Devin Green and players that make you say who? will be gone as well. All in all, You probably have five or six players that will be retained. So, a pretty big turnover.

I agree, a veteran PG who can dish and shoot is needed. Sasha Vujacic showed some of that in the playoffs, but that was his only time ever oding so. Smush got smushed and McKie is garbage at this point.

Kwame Brown did fine as the center which means, Chris Mihm is as good as gone. He will be an UFA after next year and will demand more money than we have. Expect him to be packaged with someone like McKie and draft picks to net us our PG. Plus, that opens the door for Bynum to really get some minutes as the primary backup next year. He will be 18 when the season starts and hopefully more understanding of the offense. I really want to see him develop.

My prediction is as follows for people who will still be on the team next year:

PG: Sasha Vujacic
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Lamar Odom, Luke Walton
PF: Ronny Turiaf
C: Kwame Brown, Andrew Bynum

That leaves 8 open spots, 5 of which will be active. It is possible that Mihm starts the season with us and goes elsewhere at the deadline, same for McKie and S.Parker too. However, I don't anticipate any of them finishing the season with L.A.

Sam Cassell may be a nice veteran to add as the PG. He is a free agent and is already beloved in L.A. He just happens to play for the wrong franchise.

Nice take Samphin,I think Mihm will stick around unless he thinks he can get "paid" somewhere else.I'd love to see the Lakers get a good vet PG (yes Sam C. would be great).We definitely need a PF,I'm very pleased with what I saw from Brown(at C) towards the end of the year and especially during the playoffs.Odom and Bryant have finally learned how to play together when both are on the court.I thought Smush started the season well,but was very inconsistent down the stretch and was a no-show for the playoffs imo.Overall I liked our season and can see us contending for WC Finals at least ext season....................still can't talk about game 6 with Phoenix:nono:.
Btw let's forget the Lakers were the second youngest(by a day)team in the playoffs.I like these Lakers,but like you Mitch scares the s*** out of me(I really miss Jerry West).

 

[Samphin]

For some reason, Shaq gets no blame for his part in the whole Kobe/Shaq fued. Kobe was the one who tried to shake Shaq's hand and told the media to let it go, yet Shaq ends up looking like the hero because once he was ready, he approached Kobe. They fail to birng up that in between that time, Shaq was sniping and crying and bemoaning Kobe and the Lakers every chance he got. He acte dlike a spoiled brat.

Furthermore, Shaq blatantly took time off from the season to rehab his toe. "I got injure don company time, so why not rehab on company time?" Yeah, and Kobe is a selfish player. :rollseyes: The bottom line is that Shaq is just as guilty, if not moreso, in this whole debalce as Kobe.

And Kobe can't win regardless of what he does. He scores 50 points, he is roasted for taking too many shots (Although, 20-35 is pretty darn good by anyone's standards), if he passes the ball out of a trap and double team? He gets raked across the coals for NOT taking a shot. WTF? That is just hating because of who he is.

22 writers kept him off the ballot for MVP. 22. That means at least 22 people who vote for the MVP shouldn't be. If you want to have him third or fourth, fine. You can make a case for Nash, LeBron and Dirk. However to leave him off completely shows a lack of profesionalism and personal bias against him. No one can look at Kobe's year objectively and not have him on the ballot. NO ONE.

I am not saying Kobe is perfect. He does take too many shots sometimes. He doestry to dribble through double and triple teams instead of kicking it out. That causes turnovers. He has cheated on his wife at least once.

However, I can't condemn the man for shooting too much when they are going in. While I fele he should have taken more shots in game 7, I am not going to rip him for passing the ball either. I sat and watched Gilbert Arenas REFUSE to take a shot for a game while he still played with the Warriors. Someone before the game had said Jason Richardson was the franchise and it pissed Gil off. So, he refused to take a shot until the fourth quarter. I am talking about wide open fast break layups and he would pull up and let the defense get back and get set.

No one said a word about that.

 

[The Confessor]

What are u talking about. You know who created this whole my team feud was shaq in 2003 before the season started. I have never seen a article when shaq was here where kobe says this is my team.

You are kidding, right? Just because it isnt an article doesnt mean it didnt happen. It wasnt just Shaq either. Kobe was given free reign, and he has taken advantage of it-his advantage. Now he (Kobe) is the star, and he still can't get past the first round. Not even Michael could have done that by himself, and that is the approach that Kobe has taken. I say it is his bed and let him lie in it.
He isnt winning, the fans hate him, the other players hate him and he has nobody but himself to blame...
In my opinion of course...

Now, I will be glad when he is no longer with the Lakers, so we dont get subjected to him and his attitude and I can look forward to watching the Lakers again.