Contenders continuing making good moves to keep up or surpass us. Even more incentive for Jerry to resign Trev/LO/Shannon. No excuses unless he doesn't want to win.
Kobe has a perimeter game that LeBron doesn't...yet. LeBron uses the post a lot more than Kobe did from what I remember, right?
We as Lakers fans should know you can make it work.... Kobe did plenty of posting up and driving to the basket when the Kobe/Shaq was in its prime...he was great at those quick close quarters passes to Shaq for monster jams. I just want to know what they are gonna do with Illgauskas...If they keep him they are gonna be able to keep Shaq super fresh
It'll be interesting. I don't know. It definitely improves them and makes them the favorites to come out of the East. How does Boston react to this? Detroit? A healthy, fresh Shaq will definitely help Lebron out...just enough to put him over the hump?
Barring injury they are making the Finals next year. ORL overachieved, CELTS are gonna tweak their team for the worst edit: and why did u mention DET? They are irrelevant
I think people are underrating our ability to get Bynum going at least somewhat. The only issues that trouble me outside of resigning our people, is some of the depth on the perimeter.
yeah thats a really good point actually, and you see this alot, people mking assumptions of shaq based on his laker years, his performance level isnt even half of what it was back then in the early 2000's. shaq is old, overweight, slow, has lost some of his skill under the hoop, has lost his explosiveness, the aspect of his game that, combined with his size, made him such a force. shaq will surely disrupt the cavs movement, same as he did with the suns.
Honestly this doesn't worry me. I still think the Celtics with a healthy Garnett are the team to beat in the East. The Cavs to me last year were more pretender than contender. They never showed up for big games they only dominated weaker teams. Thats why I'm not totally convinced that Shaq is going to make much of a difference. I'm also interested to see how they are gonna cram Shaq and Lebrons egos into the same locker room. Hopefully the Lakers meet them in the finals and Kobe gets to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
Shaq LeBron vs. Kobe? Oh yeah... The stronger they are the harder they fall BTW, just a comment... At least the cavs did something to improve their lineup for next season... unlike the Hornets, who did so well last year but lost to San Antonio, who expected that their current lineup back then would get the job done the next year.
I agree with you on Boston still being the team to beat in the East. They pushed Orlando to 7 games without KG and they match up well against the Cavs. The Big Witness was a smart trade for Cleveland because they didn't give up much for him and if he doesn't work out they can trade him or let him walk next summer. The only risk is Shaq ruining the team chemistry which he's more than capable of. The other downside of Shaq is his pick and roll defense. He's terrible at defending it and Orlando's pick & roll was the reason Cleveland got bounced in the ECF. They had no answer for it and will actually be worse at defending it when Shaq is on the court. Orlando will need to re-sign Hedo though to make it work. I doubt Cleveland can win 66 games again with Shaq, but they should be a little better in the playoffs. I still think they need to acquire a big man who can defend the perimeter to slow down Orlando's pick & roll or Boston's two man game with KG & Pierce.
Broussard was saying on ESPN that this will be great for the Cavs because Shaq will demand a double team. I agree it will help them in the regular season, but both Boston and Orlando have guys that will guard him one-on-one, so it most likely will not help them get to the finals out of the east.
