Hmm...Denver in the 6 spot is VERY intresting just because it lets the Lakers match up with the Suns.
I would much rather see Denver play the Suns. Denver plays a similar style to what the Suns play and with two bona fide scorers in AI and Melo and the rest of their talented squad they could actually make things somewhat interesting. Lakers? No chance in hell.
You can't play to outscore the Suns...that's just playing to thier strengths. They know how to score and giving them more oppurtunities to do so by running an up-tempo offense is not the way to go. Denver is a proven loser in the playoffs and has a formula for postseason disaster; no defense. I don't want to see the Suns walk over the Thuggets, on thier way to facing us in the 2nd round. Mmm...2-7 matchups between the Lakers and the Suns have proven intresting before. The rosters haven't changed too much either. Besides, when I look up bona fide scorer in my NBA dictionary, there's a ****** picture of Kobe, whether I like it or not.
No, you're absolutely right. Phil Jackson does deserve some blame for not getting the team to work, but I was just responding to all the media love Kobe got earlier this season. I find that unbelievable a guy so hyped by the media as the best in the game can let his team fall so far. It wasn't a Kobe vs. T-Mac post either, because although T-Mac kept his team together and thrived without a key piece this season, when he had no talent around him (Orlando) he also did his fair share of losing. But If I remember correctly, no one talked about T-Mac back then like they did about Kobe this season. They critiqued T-Mac's heart and leadership, but now NO ONE significant in the media is bringing up Kobe's problem. That's bullsh*t. But yeah, Phil is making JVG look like Red Auerbach this season.
Name another current coach in the league with 9 rings. name another coach that had MJ and Pippen in their primes, or shaq and kobe... coaches coach. players play. Look, PJ is a good coach but the rings argument is just played out and i dont care how you slice it, its a flawed argument to prove the 'greatness' of a coach. There are better coaches who have never won ,or at least, not as much.
They have the worst starting point guard in the NBA. And Luke Walton has been injured. He's a major glue guy for them.
It is a mirage of that easy ass schedule given to them to begin the season. It was perfect for them to play like 20 of their first 25 games at home, build huge momentum, and take out at least 50% of the tougher teams, therefore creating the illusion that they're a title contender. But they could not have escaped the injury bug that has affected every team in the league that doesn't have a better record than us. I still feel though that with Kobe they can give one of those top 3 teams a very tough 7 games.
They need Vspan Vspan for Odom - most members here already feel he's worth Kobe AND Odom, so this would be grand larceny for the Lakers
Oh, I remember when Laker fans came on Clutchfans to talk smack. I remember when we seriously considered them a rival, a power. Damn, that was only a few weeks ago. How time flies.
I agree with you, but none of those guys won without Phil to be fair. That said, Phil allowed others to do the things he couldn't. The offense was Te Winter's and the all world famous doberman defense was all Johnny Bach, whom he back stabbed and now you can see how his teams are nowhere near the defensive powerhouses that the Bulls were. Don't get me wrong, Im not defending him I do think he's a good coach, and for certain intents I like guys like Pop much better. Even with that Phil is a better coach than Assistant coach Gundy is, even with tons of injuries. The problem with the lakers is they allowed one guy, and the wrong guy to become their organizations sole focus which was a huge mistake, and now they can't decide whether they want to build for him or their future center. Phil I just feel came to LA for the 30 million dollar contract and Jeanie Buss' persuasion.
Let's not go too far. PJ was a great coach in his Bulls years and there is no doubt about that. One time, someone on this forum claimed "he just rolled the balls out and let Michael Jordan take over". That is a crazy statement. It was also PJ that put the Lakers 3 years championship run together after Kobe & Shaq had failed before. But this year's PJ ain't the same guy. Smush is the Lakers fans version of Rafer. I made the same comment about Walton soon after he got injured. I think he could be their 2nd most important player instead of Odom. I disputed this idea before the Lakers started their road stretch but you can't argue with results. Still, injuries were also a big part of their downfall.
Name another one that got to coach MJ, Pip and Shaq in their primes? The last three NBA seasons should have shown you that these "great" coaches need help to win (Phil, L.Brown).
