agreed...

kobe always take care of the offense on end games anyway...so a defensive minded group should be on the floor to get stops.

Team Player,

"Was Von Wafer considered in the article?"

Unfortunately, the writer was only evaluating closers in terms of "securing victory," not "entertainment value, unintentional comedy, and rapid-fire treys, winning or losing be damned." I never said it was a perfect article with the guts to think outside the box.

AK

I don't agree with Mo Evans. His defense is overrated, he makes horrible passes, takes quick shots, and can't handle the ball.

If we're talking defensive stop, I want Farmar, Kobe, Odom, Walton, and Kwame. Farmar is by far a better defender at the point than Smush, and Walton at least tries on D, unlike Cookie Monster and Radman.

If we need a shot to win, I'd take Smush, Kobe, Odom, Cook, and Turiaf. All of those guys can hit a shot, and Turiaf has a nice consistent 15 foot jumper, something Kwame and Bynum don't.

Gabriel,

Fair enough, I suppose (although I didn't say Kwame was the team's best defender, just better overall than Bynum). But if you don't think LO is the team's best defender, which he clearly is by the stats, who would you nominate instead.

AK

Here is my closing lineup, if we have a lead:

Kobe
Mo
Lamar
Kwame
Bynum

If we're down:

Kobe
Farmar
Vlad
Lamar
Bynum

I think the only way that we can do this is game tied with a minute left in the game. Thus, we are putting a lineup on the floor for both offence and defence. Here is my lineup.

PG. Smush. I dont care how much you all hate Smush for what he did last year against Phoenix - you all need to remember if not for Smush in Game 4 - lakers lose in regulation. He hit the big 3 to bring them within 2 with less than a minute left, then comes back on the following defensive play to get the steal from the 2-time MVP, Nash, one of the league's best point guards in terms of not turning over the ball. Smush has come up big on defensive plays down the stretch this year, Orlando and Miami come to mind right off the top of my head.

SG- Im not going to waste your time with this. We all know we have the best closer in the game, both on the offensive and defensive end. NEXT!

SF - Depending on what u qualify as SF, I would say Evans. He is an underrated offensive SF. He can score on the post or outside. As far as defence - hes the reason we were in the game down the stretch against NY. His D on stephon was amazing. Other than Kobe, I would say hes definitely our best perimeter defender. A poor man's Ron Artest without the craziness.

PF - Lamar. I posted a few days ago, we need Lamar on the floor at the end of games to provide an adequate second option to Kobe so that teams can't quintuple team him. Lamar is so versatile on defence as well - he can guard all 5 positions well.

C- Kwame. Here is the biggest debate in my mind. Kwame is a good to above average post defender. If you need a post defender, I would go with him. He has the tools to stop a Shaq or Howard right now. However, with most Western teams, they dont have that dominant TRUE center. If we were going for a driving team like Phoenix, I would put Drew in the game. He has shown time and time again that hes a great help shot-blocker. He still has a lot to learn. But defensively, I think hes better equiped to deal with driving teams like Phoenix down the stretch, and is a better offensive option than Kwame late in games as well (at least until Kwame develops better hands). Having said that though, I dont think there is much of a difference between Drew and Kwame for center, and so either would do, depending on who is more into the game at that point, and the team we are playing.

Any disagreements?????

Final 5

Kobe, Fisher, Horry, George, Shaq

Meanwhile back in the real world, everyone but Kobe needs to get a lot more consistent from the line, open mid range jumper, and crunch time D. It's comin' up on winnin' time.

oh i'm sorry...to explain further

these five on the floor because:

Bynum - a shot blocker, barring he isn't in foul trouble...soft hands to actually catch lobs and he can hit free throws. which is a plus late in the game

LO - team's best rebounder, good length to bother jump shooters when they run the pick and roll (hopefully we can make the team run it to his side)... the faciliator on the court when he need kobe to work his magic

Mo Evans - i too believe his defense isn't as great as advertised at times, but he did shut down vince carter that one game. remember? he can shoot the open 3, and get to the hole...as long as he ain't hoisting up mid-range jumpers everytime down the court, he's a solid addition.

Now he broke it. He has 12.

I know this is a little off topic but i am watching the Miami-Cleveland game and to say that Wade is a better player than Kobe is wrong to even have that opinion. Its comparable to me saying its my opinion that quarters are square! Kobe is simply a better player than everyone else in the league and by quite a substantial difference.

Isaiah Thomas was just saying the other day that Kobe can legitimately be mentioned in the with Jordan which some thought was sooo wrong. He goes on to say that neither Wade nor Lebron or anyone else for that matter can be mentioned with Jordan. Thomas says that he cant even believe that someone even came along that can be compared to Jordan but that is where Kobe is right now.
Just really wanted to share that with everyone...especially anyone who thinks Kobe isn't the absolute best and in Jordans category right now!

Also as a side-note about the whole conspiracy thing. I think if David Stern came out and said "We have a conspiracy against Kobe", AK and BK would say something like, "That doesn't warrant the whole leage is out to conspire against Kobe"
It's the looong sequence of events that consistently go against Kobe that becomes the 'conspiracy' that exists. You cant just look at each event seperately!

Refs are giving the game to the Heat! (Plus LBJs FT shooting sucks!)

If Lebron doesn't get suspended for that....oh man.

LEBRON JUST PUT A MINI CLOTHESLINE ON DWYANE WADE!

BALL'S IN YOUR COURT, STU JACKSON!!

IF LEBRON DOESN'T HAVE TO SIT ONE OUT, NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO DENY THE YOUNG-STAR BIAS.

- Miguelinho

There you go again D wade great Performance 40 points 20 free throws! The NBA SUCKS!

I like LeBron, but he BETTER get suspended!

24 fts for Wade is more than just "going to the basket more"

Jon F.

his last three wasn't nearly as clutch as the first.

The Refs are telling us that D Wade cant be guarded,except by KB24.

Nice one mel....LOL!

What will be the excuse this time if Lebron doesn't get suspended?! I think the league will just suspend Lebron to make it look like all is fair, and there's no 'hating' on Kobe going on. If they don't suspend him, they're just showing that they no longer care about being blatantly anti-Kobe even though that's already the case in my book.

Wade took 24 free throws! That's what i call getting every single call. It's not just a matter of attacking more. Anyone with 2 eyes can see that. Yes, he attacks a lot but the guy cannot be guarded closely at all without there being a foul called. I dont know what's so exciting about watchin a player go to the foul line all game long - since people say how exciting watching Wade is.
But honestly, how many times has anyone seen Wade drive to the rim and say, "Wow, that should have been a foul called" or "Wade def. got fouled there without getting a call". This is just part of it. If you put together the fact that no foul is missed when it is committed against Wade with the addition of all the fantom fouls tha Wade gets, you get 24 free throws attempts in a game like this.
I'm sure even AK/BK can admit that about 3-5 times a game, Kobe gets fouled pretty obviously and doesn't get the call. It doesn't sound that bad but that's 6-10 ft's right there!
I have never seen Wade get legitimately fouled without a foul call and I'm sure everyone can agree on that!
This is what we mean when we say if Kobe got the foul calls that he should get (not even in the Wade realm) he would completely and utterly own the NBA!

San Antones puttin the heat on PHX by limiting the fast break points. I think every coach in the league knows how to beat them buit getting the players to do it is something else, SPURS do it well.

J. Mike

Didn't watch the 3s. Went to get some dinner, but yeah, those were pretty clutch. I was talking about the 3 straight misses at the charity stripe though. No excuse for that.

EJ,

"I think if David Stern came out and said "We have a conspiracy against Kobe", AK and BK would say something like, "That doesn't warrant the whole leage is out to conspire against Kobe"
It's the looong sequence of events that consistently go against Kobe that becomes the 'conspiracy' that exists. You cant just look at each event seperately!"

I say to you the same thing I say to everyone else. Give me this apparently "looong sequence of events." Everyone keeps claiming "conspiracy," but providing nada that even remotely resembles tangible proof or a reasonable motive. Until you can give me examples of both, I'll stick with my assertion that David Stern looking to tear down one of the NBA's most popular and cash generating players in the prime of his career, a player whom he actively uses to help market the league, a player who's come a long way rehabbing his image, follows absolutely zero logic.

AK

AK,

I like Lebron and I know he didn't mean to hurt D-Wade but he did clothesline him (facial contact) and it looked pretty bad. By Jackson's definition he did what Kobe did. What I meant was that Lebron was more obvious in that it was a play on a defender as opposed to Kobe who was in the air trying to make a shot and get a subsequent rebound. Like you said, Stu Jackson created this gray area and he has to be fair.

The question of it being a "natural act", I'm not so sure they can go there. To wrap him up with both arms is one thing, to swing an arm at the neck/head of a player is another.

Again, I'm a Lebron fan but in all fairness they have to suspend him, based on their dumb rules.

Lets watch the Phoenix game. With San Antonio's set offense it's going to be interesting to see if it has an effect on the Suns. I'm interested in Tim Duncan's game against Amare.

mike

AK,

You're really into this conspiracy thing, and for us to prove to you the 'conspiracy'

If we prove it to you does it become valid?

I mean you're always saying prove it to me, prove it to me, if you don't prove it to me it doesn't exist.....OK so if we prove it to you it does exist?

It's not about a conspiracy per se, but it seems you are the one obsess with it.

Can you prove that a conspiracy does not exist? And don't give me the Kobe makes money for them, they promote him. They do the same with any star that gives them money, not mattering who he is.

So prove that there is no conspiracy, since you are so into us proving there isn't one.

AK

I'm mostly talking about the way Kobe is officiated every game coupled with this bogus suspension.
And a lot of times, there is no logic to someone just not liking you...which I think is more the case here instead of some well thought out grand conspiracy. Forget about the why, but there is something strange going on with Kobe and the league.