In this weeks issue of Sports illustrated a columnist made predictions for the 05-06 season; choosing the Heat to win the title and Kobe Bryant to win MVP. He said that Kobe would lead the lakers (duh who else would? Bynum?) to a 'surprising' 50-win season, while Dwayne Wade and the heat snag the title from San Antonio. The columnist also went on to say that Kobe would "re-establish himself as the beset all around player in the game". Personally I can see the lakers winning 50 games, not so sure about the MVP for # 8, and the Heats chance to win it was this year. What do you guys think? PS - sorry I don't have a link or even a page number for the mag lol, I was reading it in a supermarket.
I read that article as well, but I can't see the Lakers winning 50 games. 45? Maybe. 40? Yeah, they probably will. But not 50. The team has talent and a superstar, but it also has too many holes to become an elite squad as they are right now. I guess we'll see what Phil can do...
You guys forget that they were on their way to a 50-win season last year, but fell apart mid-season. i could see the winning 50 games this year, with PJ at the helm.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting lessthanjake:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys forget that they were on their way to a 50-win season last year, but fell apart mid-season. i could see the winning 50 games this year, with PJ at the helm.</div> key part of that sentance. until phil proves otherwise, he certainly is a coach who can take an average team and turn them into winners, but this team also hasn't made any significant changes, and it will be easily phil's toughest challenge yet. we'll see, but i can't bring myself to bet that they hit the 50 win mark.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting lessthanjake:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys forget that they were on their way to a 50-win season last year, but fell apart mid-season. i could see the winning 50 games this year, with PJ at the helm.</div> They could've made the playoffs, but they wouldn't have had 50 wins. Not by a mile.
As far as 50 wins? No, not 50. This whole phil j. experiment will explode in his face. KB8 will get pissy the moment PJ wants to spread the ball around. KB8 is scared to let others shoot the ball. He doesnt want to let Caron or odom to share the spolight. Odom is a star in my mind, he is a rare talent. If KB8 lets HIS team play, ppl are goin to say that it was PJ and Odom who helped kB8 win a champ. KB8 doesnt like that, he wants it to be KOBE was the reason the lakers won. The heat will win the champ Wade will win the MVP
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting polishtrain:</div><div class="quote_post">As far as 50 wins? No, not 50. This whole phil j. experiment will explode in his face. KB8 will get pissy the moment PJ wants to spread the ball around. KB8 is scared to let others shoot the ball. He doesnt want to let Caron or odom to share the spolight. Odom is a star in my mind, he is a rare talent. If KB8 lets HIS team play, ppl are goin to say that it was PJ and Odom who helped kB8 win a champ. KB8 doesnt like that, he wants it to be KOBE was the reason the lakers won. The heat will win the champ Wade will win the MVP</div> Yo man shut the hell up. You don't belong in this Lakers forum go back to your Heat forum and suck up to Shaq. Get out man we don't go into your forums and talk trash.
Im not a person who likes to make predictions about the season. I just watch every game as it comes and cheer on my Lakers. I think its very possible for Kobe to win MVP and for the Heat to take the title. But I think the Heats year to win it was this past season. Detroit will take them out again.
LOL....I'm not trashin KB8 im just tellin how i see it. I didnt know that this was in the I luv KB8 forum, my bad. If KB8 does become unselfish and starts to play bball like ur suppose, i will eat my words. But until then he is a selfish baller. We all compare him to MJ, MJ believed in his teammates ie. J paxson, S Kerr ect., ect. KB8's not their yet, i hope he does get their someday, he is a great talent
I think Kobe Bryant proving he is most valuable player caliber, and Shaq winning a title would be the perfect ending for this Hollywood drama that everyone would be waiting for. However, I do not see either of thee things happening. Kobe winning MVP is possible, but with 50 wins? Not within range for this Los Angeles Lakers team to achieve at this point in my opinion. They drafted Bynum however he will not come in and give you a immediate presence in the post so there is still that void left by Shaq to fill that the Lakers have not done yet. The Lakers also are going into this off-season knowing they will need to add a lot of different players to the scheme of their team. So who knows what there team will look like come September/October. When it comes that time it will be easier to predict around how many wins the team will get. I mean they could sign a Bobby Simmons or an Antonio Daniels, and have a pretty solid lineup. Who knows right now? Also I do not know if the Heat have the roster to make it out of the eastern conference right now. There are a lot of teams in the eastern conference who will probably be greatly improved come opening day next season namely the Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, and even the Bucks. It will not be as easy to advance into the playoffs and dominate the conference as it was last season for the Heat. Also they are not even the defending champs of the conference. So to say they will make it out of the east and win the title would be discrediting the Pistons organization. Which could be really deep next season if they sign Finley and Darko gets playing time on the team.
Winning 50 games is a strech... and a big strech... I mean look at the Lakers team, and see that there are holes every where. Bynum isn't ready yet, so basically there have been no changes made to the brutal team last year... except for a coaching change.. PJax is a great coach by all means, but can he really turn the team around by 20 wins without adding key players??? Kobe won't win the MVP because the Lakers will not get to 50 wins.
They won't be a losing team next year, and like someone said earlier in the post- they were doing just fine earlier in the year before Lamar and Kobe went down, keep in mind Divac went from savy veteran to getting Savy with the Laker girls on the bench. I don't think 50 is a stretch, they were 16 games away from it this season. Add a few lineup changes (keep in mind free agency just started last week and you still can't actually sign anyone) and PJ back in the mix....50 win's isn't hard to see at all. The lakers are too high profile an organization to keep on losing. Plus Kobe and Phil won't let that happen...not to mention Scottie Pippen is supposedly coming back...
Not to sound like I'm a biased Laker fan, but I don't think 50 wins is THAT far out of reach. The Lakers did start to tank after the injuries, but I think Rudy T's leave in the middle of the season was what hurt us the most. Rudy and Hamblen ran totally different systems, and with that change and all of the injuries at the same time was a killer. This year we will be running the same offense all year and I think it'll help our team play a little more consistent. Plus, Jackson's a defensive minded coach which was something we lacked while Rudy was in charge. If we can keep our core (Odom, Butler and Kobe) and add one or two solid players to our lineup, I really think it'll be possible. Like I said, I'm not a biased Laker fan, I just really don't think it's that far out of reach.
To be an MVP, your team has to be Top 2-3 in the conference, really the past few years it's been Top 2, so the chances are very slim for Kobe to be MVP.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting polishtrain:</div><div class="quote_post">LOL....I'm not trashin KB8 im just tellin how i see it. I didnt know that this was in the I luv KB8 forum, my bad. If KB8 does become unselfish and starts to play bball like ur suppose, i will eat my words. But until then he is a selfish baller. We all compare him to MJ, MJ believed in his teammates ie. J paxson, S Kerr ect., ect. KB8's not their yet, i hope he does get their someday, he is a great talent</div> MJ learned to believe in his teammates, after Phil Jackson came aboard. Kobe doesn't trust his teammates and wants all the spotlight, please give us some facts on those comments. If it's your opinion fair enough, but I think the Kobe "selfish" argument is completely overexaggerated.
Kobe for MVP is not realistic yet. I think a player has to put up back to back quality seasons to win the award. The first year the voters take notice, the second year the voters actually vote for you. Case in point, Kevin Garnett when he won the MVP. This year was rare with Steve Nash winning the award, but he benefitted from Duncan being injured and Wade emerging in Miami. Steve Nash deserved the MVP hands down, a 60 win season is impressive, but I think if Duncan played an 82 game season, he would have won it. If the Lakers win 50 games Phil Jackson is going to receive the majority of the credit, not Kobe Bryant. A 50 win season is a stretch for this Lakers team. There are obvious holes, and counting on Grant and Divac to be healthy is really asking a lot from those two. If they can play a 60 game season and be healthy in the playoffs I'd be more than happy. The Western Conference, especially the Pacific Division is going to be highly competitive this year. The Suns should win the division, the Kings will be in the playoff hunt again, the Clippers and Warriors are both improving and should be even better next year, and then you have the Lakers. It's really hard to justify a 50 win season at this point for the Lakers. My expectations are far lower, I'm hoping they can get back to .500, 41 wins and become dominant at home again. I want the team to play hard every night and take pride in the fact they are Lakers.
Unofficially to win the MVP award your team has to win at least 50 games, which is why AI deserved to but didn't win it last season. Steve Nash won the award mostly because his team won 62 games amonst a few others.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">(keep in mind free agency just started last week and you still can't actually sign anyone)</div> Ha, ha, ha, HA... Do you actually think the Lakers have a shot of nailing any big FAs this year??? What with Brian Grant's 14 million dollar contract, Kobe's 15 million dollar contract, Odom's 11 million dollar contract, Divac, throw in Bynums rookie contract that's basically all your cap space... and plus this year with the new CBA temas are allowed more players, which takes away even more cap space... No way can they sign a major impact player this off-season.
