no one keyed on kobe like they did w/ tmac b/c tmac is this team's best player. shaq was by far and away the lakers' go to guy. all the team feared him 5x more than they did kobe. again, THAT kobe u pionted could avg 21, 5, 4 and can still win a ring? does that attribute more to shaq's dominance or kobe's? think about that. kobe obviously got a bigger role as they played more, but shaq could win w/ ANY guard during his prime years. DID U REMEMBER HOW HE TOOK PENNY TO THE FINALS IN HIS SECOND YR? if shaq was smarter then and wasn't schooled by dream, he could win too. AND ONLY HIS SECOND YR. think about that
i agree. no way tmac is near kobe's level not even close.....of course tmac's fans would defend him to the death though and bash yao while at it
how so? i provided u w/ the facts too. in their first championship run, kobe put up 21, 5, 4??? so how is tmac not "near" kobe's level?? and how are we bashing yao? i brought up shaq's stats too during those yrs and look at the discrepancy, in rebounds, blocks moreso than points
ok, you're talking about the COMBO. that was never a question. shaq + kobe is the best duo together outside of jordan and pippen. but it was moreso shaq than kobe. look at the stats i posted. dude put up 31 and 15 on the regular in the playoffs. shaq was 65% to kobe's 35%.
ok stat boy, look up kobe's 4th quarter production vs shaq's when they played together. you'll see that the 4th quarter was kobe time. so maybe shaq did carry the load overall, but shaq's never been a great closer. the only thing your stats show is that kobe played on better teams and didn't have to do as much as tmac. and i will agree with you on that. but in the end kobe is better than tmac. quit being a homer. tmac has such a high release point on his j and that makes it virtually unstoppable, but thats the only thing he's got on kobe. it doesn't mean tmac sucks. it means that kobe is more "mean/clutch/hungry." that goes a very long way. those things make a huge difference. kobe drives more, runs the floor more, plays better defense, is less injury prone. he might be an a$$, but kobe is the best perimeter player in the game. this year's current lakers squad with tmac on it instead of kobe? IMO ...same result. no difference. possibly worse.
The team lacks players that can create their own shot especially with alston, howard, head who can't even make their wide open shots created by tmac in the playoffs. Once def collapse on yao and tmac, unfornuately, these guys can't step up and score their pts which means more def collapsing on 2 stars
so kobe only needs to dominate ONE quarter. tmac has to create for others AND yao for EVERY quarter. and then score EVERY quarter. so yea, i didn't know the game is only played one quarter. and it helps that shaq literally dominates not only 3 quarters, but for early parts of the 4th. so yea. again, 21, 5, 4 AND STILL WIN???? so is penny > tmac too since tmac went to the finals too w/ shaq? i'm not defending tmac but the stats back me up COMPLETELY. and please, don't make it seem like shaq never closed out any game. the only game where kobe had to take over w/o shaq much is that game 4 versus indiana where shaq fouled out. and oh yea, it didn't hurt that shaq basically average 35 POINTS AND 15 REBOUNDS for all those series. JUST A THOUGHT
but hey, kobe has 3 rings to tmac's 0 so i can't say crap. at the end of the day, its all about the rings. i just thought to bring up the stats to argue all those fools who say tmac is NOWHERE NEAR THE LEVEL of kobe. obviously y'all don't know basketball.
You guys focus too much on labeling what Yao and McGrady are. Next year they'll still be here, healthier and more equipped for a playoff run. Perhaps they'll even secure a higher playoff seeding so they don't have to deal with the toughest opponent in the 1st round a HCA team will face. They barely lost to the Jazz and were in position to get in the 2nd round and perhaps be in a favorable series position like the Jazz currently are now. For all the matchup problems the Rockets have to deal with defensively they still create a lot of matchup problems on the offensive end. Also Yao and McGrady weren't exclusively single covered by the Jazz all series long like SamFisher is pointing out. Okur did an admirable job vs Yao but he still got worked more often than. I saw plenty of b****ing by Okur to the refs and arms flailing as though he was asking "What the hell do I do to stop Yao?" I'm fairly confident were Yao 100% he'd have had a lot more opportunities to shoot from 8 feet on in which is where he was at his best all series long. I saw plenty of double and triple teams thrown Yao's way forcing him to kick it out around the perimeter and didn't see our 3 point shooters nail their shots often enough. I saw McGrady thrown 3 or 4 different defensive assignments vs him from the long and lanky AK, to the stronger but shorter Fisher, to a decent blend of both in Giricek. FYI Giricek and McGrady were teammates in Orlando for awhile and no doubt Giricek knows some of the offensive tendencies McGrady has. Even then no one did enough to stop him aside from McGrady playing passive and settling for jumpshots. The bench isn't deep but if the Rockets management can at least get one more piece to improve upon that deficiency in the offseason then it's progress.
Shaq was arguably the best center in the league and Kobe one of the best scorers. Yao will never be as dominant as Shaq or Hakeem because he doesn't have the size nor speed. Tmac and Kobe have a different kind of game. Plus with Tmac's health issue it would hard for him to be the same dominant force as he was in orlando. Certainly a consistent perimeter force and a jump shooter like Juwan (first half of the season) is needed. This will certainly stop Yao's turnovers.
Agree about Adelman and Francis, disagree about Battier and Bonzi. Keep Battier, do not bring back Bonzi.
Nothing like an unexpected little meltdown to liven up a monday morning. I did not even know we had a grudge match going. Thanks langal! I'm beaming this post to you psychically to get past your ignore list.
No need to do that. And Langal, everyone knows that Sam Fisher is an annoying twit.....that is not news..... Now about V-Span..... DD
Hakeem was a superstar. Yao cannot hold his jock-strap at this point. with all due respect. Lets save the superstar tag for those who deserve it. Yao is a very good offensive player only when he gets low enough position AND the ball is delivered to him. Yao is not a good defender or rebounder. He cannot even take his man one on one at times. Hakeem requred triple teams at times and would destroy ppl one on one 90 percent of the time.
T-mac, has a lot more to work on than just his jump shot. Here is to name a few. 1) The ability to finish at the rim with a variety of moves - the amount of layups that he misses is astounding for a superstar. 2) Better post game - punish the smaller guys on him 3) Know when to take over - Not defer, nor settle for jump shots Most importantly though... 4) Develop his mental game (This is where he fails) Kobe is a lot mentally stronger than T-mac, that is a fact. I am almost led to believe that if we had Kobe in the playoffs, we would of made it out of the first round. This team needs t-mac to be a scorer first, playmaker second, not the other way around.
