Support NeoGAF

[Future PhaZe]

Kobe was fantastic early in the season. He was arguably better than his previous 2 seasons due to the insane efficiency...something like 26 , 5 and 5 in 32 minutes a game.

Out of nowhere that shit went south, Kobe missed every clutch shot and started playing worse defense.

I think that something happened mentally more than physically. He didn't show as much passion this year. I think he wasn't as invested in the challenge as the season went on. Hard to blame him given how much work he's put in over the last 4 years...along with the physical dominance and bulking from the previous seasons prior to the Gasol arrival.

Lockout shortened season would help the Lakers a lot.

 

[Bread]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZmDGkayoYo

Only a dick like LeBron could be that cruel

That was so terrible, collegehumor is trash.

 

[GaimeGuy]

This Lakers collapse is reminiscent of the last one we had back in 2004 when Shaq and most of the team were on their last legs. The difference is that we don't have another Kobe to take over the team and rebuild around. I was hoping that Pau would be the guy, but it is starting to look like Kobe carried his skinny ass for the better part of 4 years.

It is probably the end of an era (though busted Shaq did get one more after he left with D-Wade so anything is possible), but people are as usual overreacting to the Lakers loss when it would have been something that has never been done before in the modern era if the Lakers had made it back to the Finals 4 years in a row. 3 in a row has been done quite a few times in the last 30 years, but no one has been able to do it 4 times in a row. In fact some superstars would rather quit then even attempt such an absurdly difficult task.

For me these are the changes I want to see. First and foremost I hope we get a lockout shortened season, that would be the best thing that could happen to Kobe next year. I am finally going to get on the Konex hatewagon and agree that Fish has to go. We need to replace him with a defensive stopped who can give Kobe a break on the defensive end and if he can make some spot up 3s that will be a bonus. Artest should probably be shipped out as well in favor of some cheaper version of RZA (which shouldn't be too hard to find). I think the Artest era has run its course. Pau should get one more chance to redeem himself and so should Lamar. I would not be opposed to trading Bynum to get some of the pieces I mentioned because his value is never going to get higher and if we do it right we could get a defensive big who can finish around the rim and an athletic point guard as well. I would like to dump Blake, Brown and Walton but no one is dumb enough to take them so Mitch has his work cut out on that one.

No idea on who our coach should be, but ideally not a washed up alcoholic. I am not really in favor of B Shaw, because I want them to shake it up. But I don't see us getting Popovich and none of the other coaches really jump out at me. Maybe Rick Adelman? Drawing a blank on this one, but I don't want B Scott, Mr. Pringles or Magic Johnson.

Nah, 2004 Lakers shouldn't have made it past the spurs. Spurs choked, Wolves had KG and Derrick Martin sharing point guard duties with Fred Hoiberg.

 

[bionic77]

Kobe was fantastic early in the season. He was arguably better than his previous 2 seasons due to the insane efficiency...something like 26 , 5 and 5 in 32 minutes a game.

Out of nowhere that shit went south, Kobe missed every clutch shot and started playing worse defense.

I think that something happened mentally more than physically. He didn't show as much passion this year. I think he wasn't as invested in the challenge as the season went on. Hard to blame him given how much work he's put in over the last 4 years...along with the physical dominance and bulking from the previous seasons prior to the Gasol arrival.

Lockout shortened season would help the Lakers a lot.

It was definitely physical. After that many games in a row and playing late into the season your body definitely breaks down. The only question is whether he can get healthy and find a way to be effective again next season.

Kobe is one of the smartest and hardest working players ever so I won't be surprised if he reinvents himself again and finds a way to be dominant without his athleticism or also if he just continues a slow downward slide into mediocrity with some random flashes of brilliance.

Not easy to judge a player after they are going for their 4th finals in a row the 2nd time in their career. This is uncharted territory.

I still think Kobe could be a really damn good player with some help, but long gone are the days when not even triple teaming could stop him. Hell he can't even really get by double teams consistently anymore and when you have no help the team is going to suck.

 

[bionic77]

Nah, 2004 Lakers shouldn't have made it past the spurs. Spurs choked, Wolves had KG and Derrick Martin sharing point guard duties with Fred Hoiberg.

Er, I meant 2003 Lakers. 2004 Lakers was the old man version of the Miami LeDouches.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Kobe was fantastic early in the season. He was arguably better than his previous 2 seasons due to the insane efficiency...something like 26 , 5 and 5 in 32 minutes a game.

Out of nowhere that shit went south, Kobe missed every clutch shot and started playing worse defense.

I think that something happened mentally more than physically. He didn't show as much passion this year. I think he wasn't as invested in the challenge as the season went on. Hard to blame him given how much work he's put in over the last 4 years...along with the physical dominance and bulking from the previous seasons prior to the Gasol arrival.

Lockout shortened season would help the Lakers a lot.

How will back-to-back-to-backs help the Lakers?

 

[Puddles]

Kobe needs to get a fade-away as effective as Jordan's.

Kobe is a better long-range shooter, so you'd think he could do it, but he hasn't. Jordan could drain that 10-footer like he was tying his shoelaces. Kobe bricks it half the time.

If Kobe wants to be brutally effective to age 35, he needs to stop missing those gimme shots.

 

[bionic77]

Kobe needs to get a fade-away as effective as Jordan's.

Kobe is a better long-range shooter, so you'd think he could do it, but he hasn't. Jordan could drain that 10-footer like he was tying his shoelaces. Kobe bricks it half the time.

If Kobe wants to be brutally effective to age 35, he needs to stop missing those gimme shots.

It is hard to make any shot once your legs go. See footage of Artest missing wide open layup.

Like I said, it will be real interesting to see what Kobe does this offseason to counter his fading legs.

 

[AirBrian]

Yesterday's game really reminded me of Game 7 of the Mavs-Houston series in '05...the one where the Mavs lose both home games to start 0-2, win the next three, lose Game 6, then get to Game 7 and just blow the fuck out of Houston. I think they won by like 40 or something. This team has had a different feel to them all year with the addition of Chandler, but it's really coming to fruition in the post-season after the Game 4 collapse. It's also nice to see a Terry showing in the playoffs. Oh, and Odom and Bynum are dirty little bitches.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Kobe needs to get a fade-away as effective as Jordan's.

Kobe is a better long-range shooter, so you'd think he could do it, but he hasn't. Jordan could drain that 10-footer like he was tying his shoelaces. Kobe bricks it half the time.

If Kobe wants to be brutally effective to age 35, he needs to stop missing those gimme shots.

no one compares to jordan in the fade-away.

Top 3 fadeaway shooters in no particular order are Olajuwan, KG, and Jordan. Dirk is up there too.

 

[rc213]

Wow at the last couple of pages. lol

Poor haters are left scrounging for reasons to hate after the Lakers got embarrassed and eliminated.

 

[Zwei]

Oh, and Odom and Bynum are dirty little bitches.

At least Odom took on someone more of his own size.

Bynum is the true dirty little bitch, for realz.

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

no one compares to jordan in the fade-away.

Top 3 fadeaway shooters in no particular order are Olajuwan, KG, and Jordan. Dirk is up there too.

Dirk needs to be in your top 3 since most of his shots are off-balance fadeaways that are money from any range. Only Jordan is in the same realm as Dirk when it comes to this shot. You could argue that Dirk's fadeaway is better than Jordan's.

 

[reilo]

Dirk needs to be in your top 3 since most of his shots are off-balance fadeaways that are money from any range. Only Jordan is in the same realm as Dirk when it comes to this shot. You could argue that Dirk's fadeaway is better than Jordan's.

Sheed's post-up fadeaways were money, too. datunblockablerelease

 

[Branduil]

Sheed's post-up fadeaways were money, too. datunblockablerelease

Sheed was the best Sheed defender.

TIME TO SHOOT A MILLION THREES

 

[GaimeGuy]

Dirk is probably my #4. a very, very close #4.

Tons of big guys with a great fadeaway from that gen of players.

 

[reilo]

Sheed was the best Sheed defender.

TIME TO SHOOT A MILLION THREES

TEA AND CRUMPETS

 

[SUPREME1]

So where are all the "We didn't go back to LA" pictures and nonsense? Hypocritical Laker fans.

Not sure what you mean.


PP boasted they wouldn't be coming back to L.A., meaning they'd close it out in 5. They lost in 7.


At no point were the Lakers in a position to boast against the Mavs, nor did they spout off liek PP, so why exactly are Laker fans hypocritical?

 

[Straightballin]

Rick Carlisle believes Dirk Nowtizki is a Top 10 player in NBA history.

LMAO.

Not quite in order, and not even including Kobe just for argument's sake:

Jordan
Russell
Kareem
Wilt
Magic
Bird
West
Duncan
Shaq
Robertson

Which one of those guys does Carlisle want to boot to make room for Irk?



Losing to a good team in the 2nd round >>>>>> losing to the 8th seed in the 1st.

The Dream

 

[reilo]

Not sure what you mean.


PP boasted they wouldn't be coming back to L.A., meaning they'd close it out in 5. They lost in 7.


At no point were the Lakers in a position to boast against the Mavs, nor did they spout off liek PP, so why exactly are Laker fans hypocritical?

"I truly believe that no team can beat us four times before we beat them four times."

Ooops.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

Dirk is probably my #4. a very, very close #4.

Tons of big guys with a great fadeaway from that gen of players.

Karl Malone made a career on that shot. It was untouchable.

 

[Adam Blade]

Shame he died too soon...

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Kobe is done folks. He will do his 20-4-4 but lets be honest, his career is coming to an end. He has put almost as many minutes on his legs as MJ had when he retired. Doesn't matter he is only 32, he may as well be 37. Magic is right in that the team needs to be blown up. Every piece except Kobe needs to be on the table. Kobe will retire a Laker (hopefully) but the team needs to start over.

 

[reilo]

Shame he died too soon...

That first play where he fakes out Hakeem is so amazing.

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

Karl Malone made a career on that shot. It was untouchable.

yeah, I would put Malone above KG or even the Dream. That was his bread and butter, part of what allowed him to score a ton of points efficiently into his mid 30s.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

BTW, started reading one of Russell's books. Of the 21 years he played basketball (Highschool-NBA) his team won the championship 18 out of those 21 years. That is just sickening. That is almost 90% of the time.

 

[jman2050]

No way Dirk is Top 10 in NBA History. Still, he's closer to that list than people think. Maybe 15-20ish? Someone help me out here.

 

[Black Mamba]

Kobe was fantastic early in the season. He was arguably better than his previous 2 seasons due to the insane efficiency...something like 26 , 5 and 5 in 32 minutes a game.

Out of nowhere that shit went south, Kobe missed every clutch shot and started playing worse defense.

I think that something happened mentally more than physically. He didn't show as much passion this year. I think he wasn't as invested in the challenge as the season went on. Hard to blame him given how much work he's put in over the last 4 years...along with the physical dominance and bulking from the previous seasons prior to the Gasol arrival.

Lockout shortened season would help the Lakers a lot.

Kobe's defense the first third of the year was way worse than the last third. Honestly. He was just getting blown by and not even trying, probably because his knee was recovering.

Early season Kobe was letting Pau command the offense. He was efficient because he picked his spots more.

I don't think Kobe regressed that much during the season, until the ankle injury against Dallas a couple months back. After that he noticeably slowed down. However, I did think Kobe regressed in the off-season and it just stayed like that all year.

Kobe needs to get a fade-away as effective as Jordan's.

Kobe is a better long-range shooter, so you'd think he could do it, but he hasn't. Jordan could drain that 10-footer like he was tying his shoelaces. Kobe bricks it half the time.

If Kobe wants to be brutally effective to age 35, he needs to stop missing those gimme shots.

Kobe has a fade-away. Problem is, not a lot of space to operate in the mid-post with the towers down there. Much easier for MJ since he had no bigs to really do anything down there.

 

[exarkun]

Shame he died too soon...

there were a lot of white people on that team.

 

[Puddles]

Kobe is done folks. He will do his 20-4-4 but lets be honest, his career is coming to an end. He has put almost as many minutes on his legs as MJ had when he retired. Doesn't matter he is only 32, he may as well be 37. Magic is right in that the team needs to be blown up. Every piece except Kobe needs to be on the table. Kobe will retire a Laker (hopefully) but the team needs to start over.

I agree with this and it fucking sucks.

2-3 years ago, people were saying "Kobe has 2-3 years left."

Last year he looked so good that I thought he still had another 3 years starting from then.

But no, the skeptics were right. Kobe had 2-3 years left. Starting from 2008.

 

[Bread]

No way Dirk is Top 10 in NBA History. Still, he's closer to that list than people think. Maybe 15-20ish? Someone help me out here.

Top 15 wouldn't be a stretch, imo. It's a shame he got jobbed in 06, he deserves one ring before he retires. If the finals match up is either Mavs/Celts or Mavs/Heat, I think they'll lose, but imagine Dirk against Boozer in the finals, it would be a bloodbath.

 

[SUPREME1]

"I truly believe that no team can beat us four times before we beat them four times."

Ooops.

When did he say that?

Not that I don't believe you, because I do, I just hadn't heard him say that.



That being said, did Kobe say it in a boastful or cocky manner like PP did?

 

[Blackface]

I welcome the Lakers into rebuilding-age.

If the Lakers blow the entire team up, and end up landing Austin Rivers after sucking for one year, I am going to be fucking PISSED.

 

[Blackface]

Top 15 wouldn't be a stretch, imo. It's a shame he got jobbed in 06, he deserves one ring before he retires. If the finals match up is either Mavs/Celts or Mavs/Heat, I think they'll lose, but imagine Dirk against Boozer in the finals, it would be a bloodbath.

I put Dirk right around where I put Iverson.

 

[bionic77]

No way Dirk is Top 10 in NBA History. Still, he's closer to that list than people think. Maybe 15-20ish? Someone help me out here.

I don't think he cracks the top 20 because he is a horrible defender. Definitely a unique player though and definitely top 50. You can say he is one of the best offensive players of all time (not sure where he ranks, but when his shot is falling he is unguardable).

And it is laughable to put Dirk above the Dream. Dirk was probably on par with the Dream offensively (more range but not as good in the post so I will be generous and let the two cancel out), but the Dream was also one of the greatest defensive players of all time. I mean Dirk used to get abused by Pau in the post every single year until this one when Pau just started to suck, but watching a shitty player miss open jumpers is not considered a great defensive performance.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves and anoint Dirk just yet. Though I love his game and would love to see him get his revenge against the Heat. If he wins then we can start talking top 20 of all time.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

People aren't implying that Dirk is better than Malone, are they? I mean...really?

 

[SUPREME1]

I welcome the Lakers into rebuilding-age.

If the Lakers blow the entire team up, and end up landing Austin Rivers after sucking for one year, I am going to be fucking PISSED.

Let's do business. What do you have to offer?



As far as what we can offer you, just look at the Grizz. That's all Mitch Kupchak.

 

[Puddles]

Terry had more to do with the Mavs advancing than Dirk did.

 

[Black Mamba]

People aren't implying that Dirk is better than Malone, are they? I mean...really?

At being a father to children out of wedlock? Sure.

Terry had more to do with the Mavs advancing than Dirk did.

lol

 

[bionic77]

Terry had more to do with the Mavs advancing than Dirk did.

The Lakers aren't very good. Lets not forget that we barely got past a New Orleans team that had absolutely no talent on its roster outside of an on the decline Chris Paul.

But if there was ever a year to steal a title it is this one and I hope Memphis or Dallas is the team to do it.

 

[Blackface]

The Lakers aren't very good. Lets not forget that we barely got past a New Orleans team that had absolutely no talent on its roster outside of an on the decline Chris Paul.

But if there was ever a year to steal a title it is this one and I hope Memphis or Dallas is the team to do it.

steal a title?

Laker fans really disgust me sometimes.

 

[reilo]

When did he say that?

Not that I don't believe you, because I do, I just hadn't heard him say that.



That being said, did Kobe say it in a boastful or cocky manner like PP did?

Oops, sorry. Brian Shaw said it:

"No team in these playoffs can beat us four times before we beat them four times. I still believe that. "

 

[SUPREME1]

Dirk is top 20 at getting scammed by ugly broads.

 

[bionic77]

steal a title?

Laker fans really disgust me sometimes.

They aren't stealing it from the Lakers, I just meant that this is a down year for the NBA where the old teams are in the decline and the new teams are not quite there yet.

Pretty much happened in the 90s between 91-93 and then 96-98.

 

[Puddles]

The Lakers aren't very good. Lets not forget that we barely got past a New Orleans team that had absolutely no talent on its roster outside of an on the decline Chris Paul.

But if there was ever a year to steal a title it is this one and I hope Memphis or Dallas is the team to do it.

Fully agree. I'm in Anyone-But-Miami mode at this point.

They aren't stealing it from the Lakers, I just meant that this is a down year for the NBA where the old teams are in the decline and the new teams are not quite there yet.

Pretty much happened in the 90s between 91-93 and then 96-98.

LMAO.

Posts like this really show you the gap between thekad and a bona-fide top tier troll.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

If Dirk wins a title he passes Chuck and Malone in the PF rankings easily, overall he's already better than AI. He jumps high because of the roster. He will have won a title with his 2nd best player being either an over the hill Kidd or Jason fucking Terry. That's almost Hakeem status right there.

 

[SUPREME1]

Oops, sorry. Brian Shaw said it:

Ah. GCOAT2 said that did he?


Still doesn't put it anywhere near the Celtics' star player spouting off for the cameras and failing miserably.

 

[Blackface]

If Dirk wins a title he passes Chuck and Malone in the PF rankings easily, overall he's already better than AI. He jumps high because of the roster. He will have won a title with his 2nd best player being either an over the hill Kidd or Jason fucking Terry. That's almost Hakeem status right there.

Dirk is not better then Iverson at all, in any shape or form.

Iverson is another player stuck on a shit team during their prime. His playoff scoring average is fucking 30 PPG for god sake.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Still doesn't put anywhere near the Celtics' star player spouting off for the cameras and failing miserably.

Sorry.

LARefs

&

No Perk

 

[Branduil]

I put Dirk right around where I put Iverson.

Bosh is better than both, am I right?