Would why a Laker fan be concerned about another team knocking off the Sonics? The Lakers are no longer in the Shaq era and are no longer part of the elite. Why would an average team who is battling just to get the 7th or 8th seed but bothered about who beats the Sonics?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Would why a Laker fan be concerned about another team knocking off the Sonics? The Lakers are no longer in the Shaq era and are no longer part of the elite. Why would an average team who is battling just to get the 7th or 8th seed but bothered about who beats the Sonics?</div> I'd love to see the Sonics end up with a 3rd or 4th seed in the playoffs, so the Lakers would meet them with a 5th or 6th seed in the first round. By the way, the little cheap shots mean nothing...the Shaq era is dead. I'd love to see Shaq run his own team. Maybe the Pistons could use him?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Those "good facts" were funny...since Ray threw up more shots. And give Atkins and Odom to Ray Allen...give us Ridnour and Lewis...and Ray wouldn't be running his mouth. Instead, he'd be running the point.</div> What he said was basically true, If Kobe doesn't realise he can't win titles without two very good players he will be asking Buss to make a move or trade him. Allen said Kobe needed to use his team-mates and let them control the ball for the Lakers to be effective. Can't see any wrong statements there. Oh and If the Lakers were given Ridnour and Lewis, the real question would be would Rashard Lewis ever get the ball and would Luke Ridnour even get the chance to run the point? I'm guessing Kobe's ego wouldn't allow It. If Kobe doesn't get his stats then all is lost in the world. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I'd love to see the Sonics end up with a 3rd or 4th seed in the playoffs, so the Lakers would meet them with a 5th or 6th seed in the first round. By the way, the little cheap shots mean nothing...the Shaq era is dead. I'd love to see Shaq run his own team. Maybe the Pistons could use him?</div> The Lakers inabilty to defend the three would prove their downfall against Seattle, they would be lucky to win more than 1 game in that series. As for Shaq, he has helped improve his team to 26-8 or whatever they are at now while the Lakers have become an average team. Yes Wade has improved and is a huge factor in their record but Shaq changes everything for those Heat players, makes the game far more easier.
It's only ironic how Shaq continues to find another young SG so he can remain "responsible" for making them better players. Wade has been making Shaq's life a breeze so far, and it shows when Shaq is on the bench...and especially when he admits it, saying that "he failed his teammates" and that "Flash saved the day"...which were the exact things he said about Kobe as well. It can work both ways. Avoiding another Shaq debate...Kobe has been passing the ball and doing his best in LA. What's so hard about seeing that? Some people are blind to it...but nobody criticized Michael for scoring consecutive 40's. Nobody saw his assists numbers at around 4 and 5 a game (he broke 6 APG only once after his first championship). Kobe is doing what he can with the players he has, including a bench-worthy starting PG and a center who can't catch a pass if his life depended on it...not to mention Odom playing out of position, and Caron's defense being pathetic this season, as opposed to all the hype of it being so great when he first put on a Laker jersey. Brian Grant can't even walk...Vlade has a herniated disk, Bobbitt is nowhere to be found, Vujacic is a stick, Slava has no defense, Cook has no defense, there's no backup SG... And people still point fingers at Kobe...who's got career numbers in assists and rebounds, and has brought his FG% back up from where it was. If Kobe had a better supporting cast (as in a better PG and a backup SG, to be specific), his turnovers would be down and he would be shooting much better...and above all that, the Lakers would be winning even more. What's so difficult to understand about that?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting RiverspoonJones:</div><div class="quote_post">So we're stealing other users' catchphrases now are we, fam? </div> Just like how the Sonics go about their day to day, it's business never personal.
The next post in this thread about anything other than the Supes or the Heat will be deleted, and the person responsible thrown into the paddy wagon. And yes, I started it all off. Now I'm finishing it.
My 3 favorite plays in the game were Ray Allen's driving lefty layup in the 1st half where he road the bicycle, his standstill 3 with a hand in his face with 3 minutes to go and Fortson's 3 offensive rebs in a row in in the 1st half. Vlade taking it to the hole against Shaq was sweet as well. Sunday will be a tough game since you know they'll come out hard but I'm hoping we shoot better and we find a way to contain Wade on the pick and roll. I think we have to jump him instead of letting him turn the corner.
