I think that in 2-3 years we can contend for a title. Among the teams we will have to defeat will be the Las Angelas Lakers. Who arguably may be better than they are now. We cannot beat Shaq. He will dominate the game in the middle. But when a team has a quick talented pg they hit the lakers at a weak spot (Philly) Now you will say, Iverson is a 2. But i mean he is a pg in the sense that most of the time he was guarded by the Lakers pg. So when we begin to contend, We will need Stevie to penetrate and hit the lakers in there weak spot. Now as good as Stevie is, I do not think that he can do it alone (Iverson didn't) But I was thinking about this, and I have come to a decision that we are STILL chasing Webber. The Lakers other weak spot, Pf, can be exploited and used to combat Shaq a little. If we get beat in the front court in points, rebounds, Fg percentage, etc. WE CANNOT WIN. I just dont see a frontline of Griffin, Mo T and Cato winning a championship. Griffin will probably be great, but it just doesnt look good. The spurs (Duncan, Robinson), Rockets(Olajuwon),Lakers(Oneal), Pistons(Lambeer,Rodman) Celtics (Mchale)Sixers(Malone) have won all the championships in like the last 15 years. Everyone one of these teams had a impact player at Pf or C. Now some people will argue about players like Lambeer and Rodman. But those 2 key parts to the runs and played very good defense and rebounded. Again I just dont see Cato, and Mo T getting it done. ------------------ I do not believe in god. And it is nice to know that I am going to hell with Hitler, and McVeigh. Although I do not know why.
The Bulls won with a front court of Dennis Rodman or Horace Grant against of host of centers like Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue, Stacy King, Joe Kleine, a broken down Robert Parrish among others. ------------------ "Win if you can, lose if you must but always cheat!" - Jesse Ventura
If we don't get Webber then this draft will be the key. Hopefully Francis will be as good or better than AI. Mobley is already better than Eric Snow. Who did the 76ers even start at SF in the finals...he must not have been much so I think its safe to assume that Griffin or T-Rock will be better. If Griffin grows and becomes a dominating four like KG then we will have someone much better than T-Hill. If Griff remains at the 3 then Mo is still better than Hill. And last but not least the one thing that Cato has shown an ability to do is to slow Shaq and that is something Motumbo could not do. ------------------
At LSU in 1990 Shaq was team up with Chris Jackson, Staley Robert (before the weight problem) and Geert Hammink (all 4 were NBA first rounder) to form one of the most impressive college basketball team in years. The team photo at the start of the season looked like a NBA team. Eventually this team did not get passed the second round in the tournament. In the three years that Shaq was at LSU he never went to the sweet sixteen, the key was the zone. [This message has been edited by Cat5 (edited July 05, 2001).]
I posted this without remembering the zone, but if I had to guess, Shaq will stay effective. ------------------ I do not believe in god. And it is nice to know that I am going to hell with Hitler, and McVeigh. Although I do not know why.
The zone is the worst thing to happen to shaq. They can double him before he even gets the ball. ------------------
I’m sure Shaq will continue to dominate but with the zone teams will do more hack-a-shaq where it was made famous at LSU by 6’-7” centers on the other team. NBA games will become more college style where guards will dictate the game. [This message has been edited by Cat5 (edited July 06, 2001).]
Rockbox- I think Shaq will love the zone, just because he is such a great passer. I think doubling before the pass to Shaq will get the opponent killed. Every player in the NBA should be able to hit an open jumper and doubling pre-pass will get alot of these. Again I don't know for sure, I am anxious to see how the zone actually effects the games.
"The 2nd best way to combat the Lakers." What about hijacking their plane? ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet
Wouldn't 1st be blowing up their plane? ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet
Building a team to matchup with the Lakers is pointless. As verse once said, you don't fight fire with fire, you fight fire with water. We need to make them matchup with us, and getting a solid defender to matchup with Kobe and a big man defender to matchup with Shaq is not the way to go. Those two are going to get their points whoever you put on them, which you did elude to in your post. However, as long as we're talking about matching up with LA, the best way to beat the Lakers is the way the Bucks beat them twice this year-- attacking from the perimeter and having good playmaking ability. The Lakers interior defense is too strong to use the go at the PF routine. Whoever is at power forward has Shaq backing them up, and Horry is a pretty solid defender in his own right. And, if the power forward starts torching Horry, Shaq can always slide over and take them defensively. Going inside to someone like Duncan, Webber, Wallace, etc. is not the way to beat LA. You beat them by taking them from the perimeter. Fisher, Kobe, and Fox are not great perimeter defenders. When you penetrate, pass the ball around, and find the open man, you can exploit the Lakers defensively. Yes, you do need to make your shots, and you do need to have the option of going inside, which we do in Griffin, but that is the best way to go. There is a reason the Bucks were 2-0 against the Lakers this year, and it's not that they were regular season games. They had playmakers who created from the outside in and good shooters who made the open shots. The game the Sixers beat the Lakers was the game that Iverson roamed free, shooting the ball well, penetrating, and finding open teammates. You do need someone inside who can play good defense, block some shots, and hit the open jumpers, much like Ervin Johnson does for the Bucks. That's why Nazr Mohammed would be a good fit. You don't attack the Lakers from the inside. I thought the Spurs and Kings would've shown most of you guys that. Shaq can hold down the middle, and the rest of the team can collapse down low. The Spurs were up 1 with 6 minutes left in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. They lost that game, in part because Duncan hardly ever touched the ball in that final 6 minutes, and the Spurs had no one who could create for themselves. (with Anderson hurt) If you want to beat the Lakers, you beat them with playmakers from the 1-3 spots, not rough and rugged 4s and 5s that can defend, rebound, and play physical inside. ------------------ Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! The Mo Taylor Fan Site
Is someone still worrying about how to beat the Lakers? Dang newbies. By the time houston's a contender, the Lakers will be fading unless Kobe's better than I think. ------------------ Clutchcity.net... source for all your Rockets, Astros, political, music, humor, and Gordita news.
I think we should get Shaq to kick back and eat a lot Nestle's crunch and drink a lot of Pepsi. Maybe put on 50lbs. Then he would still be at the other end when we were on Offense.... Or we could convince him how cool he looks in his "Steel" costume...He would be pretty slow then... ------------------ Reporter asks "How close were you to the victim?" Shorty says,"Real close until the roofies wore off. Then she woke up talking about pressing charges, so I took my tongue out of her ass and left." Shorty - Marlon Wayans "Scary Movie" Go Rockets!!! SS [This message has been edited by Wink3Cat5 (edited July 06, 2001).]
I don’t feel this is the reason. If the NBA wanted to give the other teams a chance to beat the Lakers they would actually call fouls on Shaq. I think the reason is to give it more of an international appeal to the NBA by drawing in more foreign players and therefore more foreign money through licensing. David Stern and the NBA made a big push to get the “Dream Team” on to the Olympic even though the players and the league did not get paid from the Olympic. In an interview with David Stern a few years ago he mentioned something about expanding to other countries. I remember watching the draft last years when ever a foreign player was drafted David Stern would say the person’s name and then the city and country where he was from loud and clear as if he was very proud. This happened of course before the Vancouver Grizzlies collapse. Just my opinion [This message has been edited by Cat5 (edited July 06, 2001).]
I feel the zone will really weaken LA. It will hurt shaq, he cant do anything with Robinson and Duncan on him at the same time. But Most importantly it will put an end to the triangle offense. Can Jackson coach anything else? Probably so but it will take a good portion of the season to adjust to a new offense, many teams will be changing offense but it should really affect LA. ------------------ "banging Shaq is a whole different expirience"-Pete Babcock Behold the power of quotation
Ummm...pardon the Rockets VS Lakers playoff series, but I think the rockets should try to beat and Clippers,Wolves, and Kings before they talk about playing the Lakers. ------------------ One of the newest members of the New Jersey Nets fan club.
LOL! ------------------ The season's over, but the 'Stros have started. Guess I'm still gonna be nursing that keg...
