WOW... U guys really shut me up. I just what to know how many championships KB8 has won without SHAQ? I know shaq hasnt won one without KB8, but who was in the conference finals? Dont tell that KB8 didnt have a team to play with either, the lakers got what they though was fair market value for SHAQ. I personally thought that the lakers would be a contender last year. KB8, Odom, Butler thats a pretty good 3/5's of a lineup to have. No, I'm not a KB8 hater, I just cant understand why he would want to breakup something that was working so well?
Wow, 1 whole example in one season is all you guys can find of a major pass that Kobe made... that's pretty sad actually. Kobe obviously doesn't make his teammates better, it became blatantly obvious when Odom's number decreased when he went to L.A, same with Butler's. And I don't see why you guys are arguing the fact that Shaq himself has the power to recruit FAs, it's so apparent, it comes and slaps you in the face. Honestly.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mr.Wade:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow, 1 whole example in one season is all you guys can find of a major pass that Kobe made... that's pretty sad actually. Kobe obviously doesn't make his teammates better, it became blatantly obvious when Odom's number decreased when he went to L.A, same with Butler's. And I don't see why you guys are arguing the fact that Shaq himself has the power to recruit FAs, it's so apparent, it comes and slaps you in the face. Honestly.</div> Actually Butler had career highs in points, rebounds and FG% after coming off a season full of injuries the year before that.... Odom just wasn't aggressive enough IMO, even when Kobe was out for all those games he wasn't doing much more than what he averaged. I'm done with the stupid argument you guys are having about Kobe being selfish, just wanted to state a few facts here. Something I haven't seen any of you guys do. P.S. just FYI last year our team rarely saw close games, many were blowout losses. Maybe that's why we didn't see many of Kobe's last second passes.. or shots as you guys would rather say.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ArizonaSportsFan22:</div><div class="quote_post">He's also comparing himself to Shaq and Kareem. If you read this article and saw his little profile, and you're not a Lakers fan you can see what a retard he is.</div> duh what do you expect, he's 17. He's supposed to be like that.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Something I haven't seen any of you guys do.</div> I havn'et stated any FACTS? I don't see how I can give any more facts. You havne't been giving facts, just assumptions that Odom wasn't being aggressive enough. But seemingly he got more boards and blocks in L.A than in Miami HMMMMM.... His turnovers also decreased, because he doedns't handle the ball. Odom's stats in Miami, 17.1 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 4.1 apg 43% FG Stats in L.A 15.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 3.7 apg, 47% FG It's funny how he has more FG% in L.A by 4% but still has less PPG, why? Becasue he doesn't get any touches. Now if you see Odom's FG Attempts from both season it's 1127 to 774. And I know Odom played only 64 games in L.A so I'll divide each by the games played. In Miami, 14.1 FG attempts per game. In L.A 12 FG attempts per game. 2 attempts may not seem like alot but the percentage that he's shooting at, he'd likely get them in and so he'd be averaging around 19 a game. He's been shooting better than Kobe by 5% why not give him the rock?
Ok to whoever said there was one example of Kobe passing once in three years- I think you might wanna check the assist numbers the last couple years (they've steadily been going up) other than the season he was on trial but everything was down that year, including a 6 point drop in points. And further more- Chutky Atkins, Mihm, and Caron Butler ad career highs this season in multiple categories including points and fg %. Who do you think was creating those shots for Mihm under the block? Or did you think he was scoring on Tim Duncan, KG, Amare, and Yao all by himself? Thirdly- Lamar Odom did stand around a lot, they ran no offense, played no defense...had no power forward...had a token white guy as a center....and they were in THE WEST!Anyone that thought the lakers were going to be a contender last season should not be allowed to post in here. Im a bigtime laker fan but everyone knew last year wasn't gong to be pretty. Moving on.... 50-whatever wins in the east would have probably dropped by around ten wins had they ( The heat) been in the west. The Heat were unbeaten except for one game I beleive ( Charlotte) in their division- thats where they stockpiled the win column...that is by the way they worst devision in the L by the number of games won and lost last season. Followed by the atlantic devision which the heast did pretty well against as well...so the Heat got to practice against bad teams for about 50% of the season..Great accomplishment
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Chutky Atkins, Mihm, and Caron Butler ad career highs this season in multiple categories including points and fg %.</div> Since the Lakers were so bad those players never recieved as many minutes anywhere else as they did in L.A. With th exception of Butler. That is a moot point. I'm still laughing about what you said about the Heat. AHAHA, sure they're in the easiest division but is that their fault? Your basically saying the Lakers are a better team, yet failed to best the Clipper's record while the Heat went 7 games in the Conference Finals..
You're right Mr.Wade. Miami did very well. Kudos to them. As you said, our starters last season are bench guys everywhere else in the league, so how could you say that somebody's claiming our Lakers were a better team than anybody else last year? Our Lakers couldn't have gone very far into the playoffs even if Kobe, Lamar and Caron were clicking on all cylinders, not in the West. And I think the main reason Lamar's production suffered was because of the coaching, because he was playing out of position last year. He played power forward, and he did well in rebounds and blocks (give Lamar that) but his scoring went down. He needed to be an SF on offense, needed the ball in his hands to make plays, but always planted himself out on the perimeter when he was most needed inside. Usually in any game. the Lakers would already have Kobe, Caron, and Chucky out on the perimeter at the same time. Lamar would have seen his scoring climb if he were a post player, but he didn't become one last year. Rudy T. wasn't able to utilize him to the fullest, and that's why Lamar was mostly out of rhythm. Hopefully, Phil Jackson can set up the scheme to make the most of our top talents Kobe, Lamar and Caron.
Unless we have a big offseason, I don't see 50 wins...45, possible...but not 50. As for Kobe as MVP, I think it's a possibility. He is the hardest working player in the league, so knowing that, you know last year's failure is going to kill him and eat at him all off-season. You can expect him to come into this year with a goal to win an X amount of games and perform at a point that he has never performed at. I expect the old Kobe to be back, he is just entering his prime, I think he will start it off with a bang.
50 games is not going to happen, but I can see them winning up to 40 games. Kobe still has a chance to win the MVP, but I think that Wade also has a chance, because of his teams success. For Kobe to win it will have to be the Lakers winning 50 or more games. My pick next year is Dwayne Wade because I feel, that the Heat will win the title and win over 60 games.
I don't see Wade getting MVP unless they dominate both east and west and coast the championship...the reason i say this is not cause I don't like the heat but because Kobe never got an MVP or a finals MVP in his 3 year champioship run with the lakers and shaq. Granted shaq is a step or two slower now so perhaps Wade will win it... As for the heat playing in the easter conf. I wasn't saying that was there fault or trying to take credit what was obviously an incredibly succesful season- I was just pointing out the fact that they were in the leastern conference
