I was think about who was better just now the Sixers or the Lakers(who are the former Western Conference Champs) and I think that the Sixers are now better. PG AI vs Chucky Atkins? Lets see a former MVP and a mediocre point guard. Hmmmm? Nuff said Advantage: Sixers SG Kobe Bryant vs Willie Green A proven champion vs a Second year second rounder. No offense Willie. Advantage: Lakers SF Robinson vs ODom? Big Dog will probably play harder than you think as it is his contract year. But still lets face it. Odom had a great year and Glenn had an awful year especially his ugly defense. Advantage: Lakers PF Kenny Thomas or Brian Grant Kenny Thomas a very aggresive rebounder and very much capable of averaging a double double. I dont see Grant averaging a double double or even 10 points. Advantage: Sixers C Sammy Dalembert vs Vlade "Flopper" Divac I hate Vlade ever so much. "Even His annoying Flopper"ness will not be nearly enough to stop Sammy. Sammy will have a break out year which I expect from hhim. Bench lol it is truly in favor of the Sixers. 2 Sixth Mans, a promising young rookie, and a great back up big man in Brian Skinner, not to mention a lot of young names like John Salmons, and Kyle Korver which are great. While all the Lakers have are Caron and Sasha, KAreem Rush. Clearly the Sixers have the advantage. I feel that the Sixers have one of the strongest benches in the leuague. Adavantage: Sixers Final Sixers 4 Lakers 2 O how the mighty have fallen Post your opinions people!
I think the Lakers will end up with a better record than the Sixers...Rudy T will allow Kobe to dominate and has surrounded him with capable role players in Grant, Odom, Mihm, and Butler...the two teams are built very similarly but I see the Lakers having the slighter edge due to experience and all-around overall talent...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ace2k2:</div><div class="quote_post">C Sammy Dalembert vs Vlade "Flopper" Divac I hate Vlade ever so much. "Even His annoying Flopper"ness will not be nearly enough to stop Sammy. Sammy will have a break out year which I expect from hhim.</div> an established veteran against sammy who? i would tend to disagree with you here. it seems your hatred of vlade may be fuzzing up your logic
Comparing matchups like this does nothing really. Sixers will have a good year, but i think the Lakers will have a better record. Also this made me die of laughter <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">not to mention a lot of young names like John Salmons, and Kyle Korver which are great. While all the Lakers have are Caron and Sasha.</div> Are you forgetting just how good Caron is? And what exactly as Korver or Salmons done in the league to be thought as a better player than Caron?
The Lakers bench is better than you made it out to be. Marcus Banks, Caron Butler, Sasha, Kareem Rush, Devean George, Luke Walton,Chris Mihm, and Brian Cook, doesn't look likea bad bench to me, you forgot a lot of players on their bench in that comparison. They have a lot of young players than can be pretty good on that bench, basically every bench player but George has some upside with them, not bad indeed.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting cula:</div><div class="quote_post">an established veteran against sammy who? i would tend to disagree with you here. it seems your hatred of vlade may be fuzzing up your logic</div> You took the words out of my mouth. Im not a huge fan of Divac, but he is much better than most centers in the NBA, Dalmbert included. Divac has been to the playoffs countless times and has alot of experience. Dalmbert is good, but not near Divac's level yet.
Gosh, the Lakers are so different now. I was looking at AI VS Chucky and it took me a little while to remember that he's on the Lakers now. I was like, "Where did he get Atkins from?"
I don't like comparing teams like that... Plus I don't even think that is going to be their lineup?!? I think they will move Odom to the 4 and put Butler at the 3...At PG they may give Marcus Banks a shoot to run it...I think this may be the Lakers lineup PG: Banks SG: Kobe SF: Butler PF: Odom C: Divac I think the Lakers will be better then some people think...They improved at PF and SF...
The Lakers have better overall talent. However, the question still remains will they be able to work as a unit? With Kobe Bryant supposedly leading the way, he may get selfish. With him wanting to continue his legacy as being the next Jordan, he may put himself over the team, which is a big mistake. And which I believe will bring the Lakers to the Draft Lottery. And on the other hand, Iverson experienced countless times that he can't have success by himself. He?s is now more aware than ever that he needs his teammates help. That is why his PPG average dropped significantly over the last couple of years. Now, that he matured into more of a team orientated player and looks more to pass the ball, he will lead the Sixers to a better a record and deep into the Playoff's. BTW, not to mention Kobe had Shaq alongside him for his entire career. Therefore, that took some of the leadership load off of him. Now that Shaq is no longer a Laker, Kobe Bryant is going to be fully responsible for the team success. Kobe is still young and has never been in this position, so things are not going to be easy for him. This is going to a whole new atmosphere for him; he is now going to be fully aware of how valuable Shaq was to this team. And just may get frustrated down the road. And then, you have Allen Iverson whose been labeled as that leader for as long as I can remember, and knows the pressure that comes along with being a leader, and now what it takes to lead a team. Even though he's been in missing in action as a leader for this team last season, (granted to a poor coaching staff and injuries) he still is the Sixers number 1 guy, and like I've mentioned before he knows what it takes to lead a team. As reference take a look back at the 00-01 season. Lastly, the Lakers are in the Western Conference. Teams like the Jazz, Blazers, Nuggets and Grizzlies have emerged to great teams and will be the future of the Western Conference. <u>Western Conference Playoff Seeding</u> 1. San Antonio 2. Sacramento 3. Minnesota 4. Denver 5. Houston 6. Memphis 7. Utah 8. Toss up between Phoenix and Portland
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ObieCent:</div><div class="quote_post">Comparing matchups like this does nothing really. Sixers will have a good year, but i think the Lakers will have a better record. Also this made me die of laughter Are you forgetting just how good Caron is? And what exactly as Korver or Salmons done in the league to be thought as a better player than Caron?</div> lol Did you even read what I wrote? The Sixers also have 2 6th men and Briana Skinner who you didn't mention. I know Caron is good. But the Sixer still have more depth. They also have Iggy who you didnt mention either <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Avery:</div><div class="quote_post"> The Lakers have better overall talent. However, the question still remains will they be able to work as a unit? With Kobe Bryant supposedly leading the way, he may get selfish. With him wanting to continue his legacy as being the next Jordan, he may put himself over the team, which is a big mistake. And which I believe will bring the Lakers to the Draft Lottery. And on the other hand, Iverson experienced countless times that he can't have success by himself. He?s is now more aware than ever that he needs his teammates help. That is why his PPG average dropped significantly over the last couple of years. Now, that he matured into more of a team orientated player and looks more to pass the ball, he will lead the Sixers to a better a record and deep into the Playoff's. BTW, not to mention Kobe had Shaq alongside him for his entire career. Therefore, that took some of the leadership load off of him. Now that Shaq is no longer a Laker, Kobe Bryant is going to be fully responsible for the team success. Kobe is still young and has never been in this position, so things are not going to be easy for him. This is going to a whole new atmosphere for him; he is now going to be fully aware of how valuable Shaq was to this team. And just may get frustrated down the road. And then, you have Allen Iverson whose been labeled as that leader for as long as I can remember, and knows the pressure that comes along with being a leader, and now what it takes to lead a team. Even though he's been in missing in action as a leader for this team last season, (granted to a poor coaching staff and injuries) he still is the Sixers number 1 guy, and like I've mentioned before he knows what it takes to lead a team. As reference take a look back at the 00-01 season. Lastly, the Lakers are in the Western Conference. Teams like the Jazz, Blazers, Nuggets and Grizzlies have emerged to great teams and will be the future of the Western Conference. Western Conference Playoff Seeding 1. San Antonio 2. Sacramento 3. Minnesota 4. Denver 5. Houston 6. Memphis 7. Utah 8. Toss up between Phoenix and Portland </div> Ya Kobe will definetly become a lot more selfish knowing that its his team he will try to do it all a lone. I believe though the Lkaers could squeeze in as a 8th seed though I must admit. Ya hes going to try and put up big numbers even if it cost his team the game. Iverson is also a much better leader than Kobe. As you said Iverson has learned he needs his players help. Kobe has'nt learned that yet. Iverson took the Sixers to the Finals because he had one of the best big man of that time in Mutombo. If Sammy is able to develop They could have a shot at winning it all in 2 years. Kobe is going to relize what he yes he gave up on Christmas Day. Merry Christmans Kobe! When you have a player like Shaq on your team it makes things so much easier. Iverson has never had the pleasure of having the most dominant player the game has ever known on his team. I believe Iverson and Shaq together would've won maybe 4-5 championships as Iverson is not afraid to pass the ball when he trusts his teammates and I bet he would trust Shaq. Heres is my Western Conference Playoff Predictions as of today. 1. Spurs 2. T-Wolves 3. Kings 4. Nuggets 5. Rockets. 6. Utah Jazz 7. Dallas Mavericks 8. Lakers
So what's the purpose of this thread? If the Sixers are a better team than the Lakers this upcoming year, maybe they won't have to struggle, scratch and crawl this year in the pathetic, mediocre JV league Eastern Conference to actually make the playoffs. What were the recent Sixer pickups that's really going to have teams shaking in their boots? Sure, the Lakers may look very different on paper, it's amazing how a team can change in months, but by all counts, the Lakers will be in the playoffs. Especially knowing that they play in the tough Western Conference built with amazing talented teams. The Lakers are not the once intimading formidable franchise they once were, but the Lakers have the better overall talent than the Sixers and will be a 7th seeded team at best.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Emo:</div><div class="quote_post">So what's the purpose of this thread? If the Sixers are a better team than the Lakers this upcoming year, maybe they won't have to struggle, scratch and crawl this year in the pathetic, mediocre JV league Eastern Conference to actually make the playoffs. What were the recent Sixer pickups that's really going to have teams shaking in their boots? Sure, the Lakers may look very different on paper, it's amazing how a team can change in months, but by all counts, the Lakers will be in the playoffs. Especially knowing that they play in the tough Western Conference built with amazing talented teams. The Lakers are not the once intimading formidable franchise they once were, but the Lakers have the better overall talent than the Sixers and will be a 7th seeded team at best.</div> last time I checked the "pathetic, mediocre JV league" kicked the living crap out of the Lakers? So going by your logic the Lakers must be below "pathetic, mediocre JV league"....say pee-wee League?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Dre:</div><div class="quote_post">last time I checked the "pathetic, mediocre JV league" kicked the living crap out of the Lakers? So going by your logic the Lakers must be below "pathetic, mediocre JV league"....say pee-wee League?</div> You got me Dre. Outside of Detroit, what is the Eastern Conference made up of? I mean, the 8th seeded team that made the Eastern Conference had a losing record, and the Western Conference's 8th seeded team in the Denver Nuggets had a winning record. Big differential.
According to many experts, the east has 3 out of the top 5 teams in the NBA. So the JV league tag no longer applies.
That's because most of the better players are on teams out on the West coast. That doesn't mean that the East doesn't go out and play hard and give their best. It's just that the West has all the better players. Simple as that. I'm sick of this East vs West battle.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Emo:</div><div class="quote_post">1. Detroit 2. Miami 3. Indiana 4. ? 5. ? 6. ? 7. ? 8. ? It's a complete tossup.</div> Thats true but when you have Detroit as the best team in the NBA, Indiana at worse is the 4th best and Miami 5th best. The top of the east dominates in terms of overall ranking. The title is in the eastern conference, so the JV label is not unfairly used. The east also has teams who play defense far better, the west overall as a conference is better but the east has the best team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting That NBA Girl:</div><div class="quote_post">That's because most of the better players are on teams out on the West coast. That doesn't mean that the East doesn't go out and play hard and give their best. It's just that the West has all the better players. Simple as that. I'm sick of this East vs West battle.</div> The better players may be out on the West Coast, but if teams in the Eastern Conference take into consideration and look at what Detroit did to the Lakers in the Finals, the Eastern Conference as a whole can be equally as better than the West, and win as many championships as the West has won. It's not about better players at all....it's about better coaching, heart from the players, and more determination to play offense and defense.
