LGC,

"Deserves my buttox.
hahahhahha
ahhahahhhhh"

Umm I got something for your buttox as well and sorry it aint kobe. I'll give you a hint though, the nypd have been known to use it for crowd control.

lil weanie,
Talk to me though ... talk to Taliq ... I reasoned with your predecessors ... can't we work something out ... we get it you won ... we get it you hate kobe ... can't ya find a celtic blog ... mean on da real if u didn't say u was a celtic fan i would think maybe kobe stole ya money in hschool ... cuz u always talking about kobe ... u say very little about pierce except when u mention kobe ... u hardly mention kg ... and i doubt if u know who ray allen is ... seriously when will you bleed some green pride ... u c how we do it on hurr ... u see how sasha gets love ... how farmar gets love ... who's on da celtic bench, do u even know? .... seriously dude are u a fan of any team even ... da sheriff is calling u out yo ... i wanna know, how can we help u find yourself ... u seem lost ... and i mean boston garden was so loud during the playoffs ... made me so jealous cuz our crowd was so silent ... so y aint u loud on ya blogs ... i mean u aint even celtic loud on hurr, u're kobe loud but u not celtic loud ... where's ya pride weanie??

JR and Charles - you keep things real, thank you.

Let's Go C's - You are correct, Pig Miller was way out of line to suggest kobee belongs in the same company as Finals MVPs such as Dwade and P Pierce and SHACK. kobee's a good player, but seems to lack that indescribable "something" that the best players reserve for the game's biggest stages.

Sherrif,

This blog is sooo fun, I can't stay away.

What is there to say about Pierce, KG and Allen.

Pierce is a Celtic man from the start (like Starlet) who acted with class and dignity (unlike Starlet). His reward? Winning a championship as the #1 guy and acknowledged as the best player on the best team in 2008. nuff said sherrif.

KG is another class act. KG could have gone to LA to be with Starlet but there was way too much uncertainty. Plus Kobe is not know leaguewide to be a good teammate.

Allen is Allen. Dude is not HOF, but is an all-star. Always a class act. He got what he deserved also.

In the same token, your boy got what he deserved too. Selfish to the bone and trying to one-up the "best of all time" Mr. Air Jordan. Kobe's the one who wanted to compare himself to Jordan and now the dude's got to live with it. Word of advice to you and Kobe: HUMILITY.

hahahahaaha

Go BoSox!

Faith,

"Smush was better than a staitonary rock at defense. Or was he? haha."

No no no ... stop ... I remember that night we went up 3-1 ... you was all over smush when he came up with that steal on nash ... now you wanna call him a rock?? ... be nice ... I miss smush's smile

Taliq,

Hey no doubt Rodman was a great athlete..But Phil said his reasoning was "His 48th minute was stronger than the 1st". Well, maybe so...But he also didn't have to score and chase great offensive players all over the court..How can you expect Kobe or Jordan to do that and still have more energy then the first quarter?

Rodman is actually the greatast rebounder in NBA history so obviously he had skills..But it's really hard to use Phil's logic for determining the best athlete.

Jon K ,

exactly, Odom will be playing Small Forward for the 1st quarter, then play Power Forward for 1/3 the second, rest during 2/3 of the 2nd quarter, and be back at small forward for the last 3/3. Same for the 3rd and 4th quarters respectively. It will be different though per situation for blowout wins and tightly contested games plus foul trouble. I also think though Radman will be playing power forward as well because of the many Small Forwards plus having him and Sasha on the floor opens up 2 guys who can be 3 point shooters and that really opens up the floor for the bench. Sasha and Radman near the 3 point line (Radman can drive in too), Trevor and Jordan for driving into the lane (they are both slashers), and either Mihm (he better be good) or Pau or even Bynum will be able to pound the ball in the middle. That's of course when the entire bench plays and it's not always the case. Some starters like LO will be playing backup PF and Kobe will be at SF while Sasha Jordan are still on the court. It will be up to Phil how he does the rotations per game.

Hobbit, of course I disagree with you lol. Why? Because you haven't still convinced me who could start at either SF or SG. Strictly speaking, Ariza has still yet to prove he's a quality starter and Sasha is a good shooter off the bench.

Only thing Lamar would really improve on the bench is rebounding.

What else can Lamar do for the bench? Scoring? We both agree he should not be the focal point of scoring. Defense? I already proved that his defense is not as good at Power Forward as it is at Small Forward . Energy off the bench? Sorry he's no Manu (do the voodoo) GINOBILI! and while Jordan Farmar does give energy off the bench as well, it's even better with Ariza and Sasha with him. Ariza himself brings great energy with him when he played off the bench. Depth at PF? Sorry Radman will be probably there to open up the floor and clear the logjam at SF (and Radman got his buns beat up at defending SF). Plus Powell is there too (his contract is guaranteed). And finally, Ariza gives the bench the perimeter defense they need (the major weakness of the bench).

So that's 1,2,3,4 and 5 points hehe. Five versus one. I win haha.

I really won't mind Lamar not getting the 10 rebounds and instead getting 7 or 8 rebounds. As long as he plays solid defense at SF like he did before and can score when he can, that's good enough. If Ariza does better, Ariza starts.

Taliq, I agree with Xodus, both Pip and MJ were great defenders. Yeah true Pippen was asked more from PJ (Quarterback of the defense). Had that call in Game 5 was never called (I admit was a very wrong call), Pippen would have made it to the Finals but I don't think would have won because he was going to face Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. Just look at the next year though. Pippen led Bulls didn't fare too well and when MJ came back had a 34-31 record. MJ and Pip managed to get the team to 47-35 record before the Magic beat them in the 2nd round.

Kobe haters?

hahahhahah

Funny. Your guy had no choice but to give the ball up to Shack until 2003 that is. That's when your guy really believed that he is Air Jordan.

History will show that Kobe is not in Jordan's league. Not even in the same ball park.

faith and taliq,

No Smush wasn't a rock on defense (Brian Cook was). Smush was the guy who had a low IQ, got out of position quite frequently, fouled his guy at inappropriate times, got beaten a ton by pick and rolls, and had a very weak body (guys pushed him around quite frequantly). Plus Smush had very poor lateral quickness and bad footwork. Derek Fisher on the other hand has a high IQ, doesn't get out of position too much, doesn't foul, takes charges, doesn't get beaten a ton by pick and rolls, has a stronger body than Smush (and he's 6'1 compared to 6'4 for Smush!). Plus Derek has very solid footwork and good lateral quickness.

Conclusion: Derek is way better than Smush. I wonder how the case of him and the parking attendent went. I'm glad Kobe embarrassed him (the few times Kobe guarded him when Smush was on the Clippers) for not treating LA with respect and yet coming back to LA (the not so good LA Clippers) all because his track on Miami was bad.

Haha he is a free agent and yet has to be signed! I wonder how he pays for his Smushcalade now since he doesn't have even a job.

Darn it ... da blog gonna make me late 4 my haircut ... which in turn gonna make me late 4 my date ...

blitz,

I hear ya bro ... lets call it a tossup between jordan and pippen on defense ... lets call em equals ... and umm u can put that next season on pippens offense not being on par with jordan's plus the fact that he was suffering from all the jordan hype (pip did want an opportunity to be the man, no matter how much he also loved jordan) etc etc

Im out people ... gonna get my grown and sexy on

Saying Rodman is his best athlete is automatically implying he was better then Kobe and Jordan as athletes. Wouldn't you say?

AK-
You guys should have LA times web developers look up where the IP address is coming from on lets go c's and butler. Then we'll know if it is the same dude. Do they owe you any favors?

I know- Ignore the Troll etc. Double trolling (creating multiple trolls and making them communicate) is pretty pathetic though.

Athleticism is definitely a key factor in the beginning of a player's career, but the skill set has to be there in order to maintain any kind of legacy. The inevitble conclusion of a player's carreer will be the decline of his athleticism, but succeeding inspite of that is what separates good from great. MJ is a prime example, as is Kareem. Both players were extremely skilled and could carry their teams even late in their career.

Lebron is definitely the most athletic player in the game today: Size, strength, speed, hops, he can do it all. Can he find ways to succeed as his athleticism diminishes is what will make/break his legacy. The skills will be the jumpers, the footwork, positioning on the floor, and just all around fundamentals. Kobe has that edge on the active players, since he can also bring up the ball. Another example would be like how Kobe's dad, Jellybean, scored 40+ in a NBADL game only a couple years ago. You can't tell me that 75% of the players on the floor that night weren't more athletic than him, they just weren't as skilled!!!

lol Taliq. Just reminiscing.

Actually with his athleticism I still can't understand why he wasn't a better defensive player than he was. But then again...he's deficient in the head.

Interesting that we have our very own, "survival of the fittest" in purple and gold. Play well, or play yourself out. (With some exceptions, cough cough Lukemanovich cough...but that is more of a handcuff salary wise lol). With his contract almost up, next to "bat" is LO. I have high hopes for LO. Seriously. WIth the new role he has it should be a piece of cake.

Go LO! Go Lakers!

BUTLER,

>>>Oh yeah, Kobe's great defense produced 9 steals in
>>>8 games....

Yep, that's true. But steals don't tell the story of defense.

Sun Yue - 3 for 8 shooting
Vasileious Spanoulis - 4 for 13 shooting
Juan Carlos Navarro - 2 for 10 shooting
Steffen Hamann - 0 for 4 shooting
Brad Newley - 2 for 9 shooting
Carlos Delfino - 6 for 18 shooting
and Juan Carlos Navarro (again) - 6 for 14 shooting.

Nobody shot 50% against Kobe. Kobe mostly guarded
Navarro against Spain in the final, and he did go off and
shoot 42%. But compare that to the 50% that Gasol shot
(guarded by Howard/Bosh), the 54% that Rudy Fernandez
shot (guarded mostly by Melo), the 63% shot by Felipe Reyes
(guarded by LeBronze), and it's clear who was really playing
defense.

Kobe's man consistently shot a low percentage in the Olympics.

zen,

"Saying Rodman is his best athlete is automatically implying he was better then Kobe and Jordan as athletes. Wouldn't you say?"

Pj said, “He could probably play a 48-minute game and play the 48th minute stronger than the first minute of the game,” Jackson told the crowd at UND. “He was that terrific an athlete.”

extrachris,

"You guys should have LA times web developers look up where the IP address is coming from on lets go c's and butler. Then we'll know if it is the same dude. Do they owe you any favors?"

I've tried to push for that and nothing has happened. Other bloggers thought that it was too much; (DPK said it was Big Brotherish) eventhough it made the blog lose property value so to speak. Seems like it would be a lot of trouble for them and I try to understand the work they have to do. But they (KBros) have called out people using the same email address. (KLBeast/Gunner/Dinghow From Pratville). I guess you just have to use a different email address and you are troll exempt...

Honestly, I await for the time when Fire32 will pull the "psyche" scream and tell us that he is still a Shaq-Suns loyalist.

JSNV,

What's up compare!

Laker Truth,

Pippen guarded Magic when Magic man put 3 fouls on Jordan in game 2. The rest of the series Jordan still had Magic though Pippen was also put on Magic man at times during the 3 games in LA as well.

Pippen guarded the best player defensively mostly during the 2nd three peat. This was mostly due to Jordan playing baseball (he was never the same even after returning). PJ wanted to conserve Jordan's energy on the offensive end. So he had Pippen and Ron Harper guard the best player. During the 80's and 1st 3 peat though, Jordan still guarded the best perimeter player on the other team.

I would rate Pippen as having a superb defense and one of the best perimeter defenders. I would rate though Jordan, Joe Dumars as being better defenders than Pip though.

exhelodrvr ,

We know Jordan and Kobe were better..Im just trying to figure out why phil called Rodman a better athlete. Oh well.....

He was the greatest rebounder that ever played.

zen,
Rodman's combination of strength, quickness, quickness of his jump, and endurance may have been better than Jordan's or Pippen's.

Oops, don't know if I posted it but that was a quota from Page 2 aka Bill "Mr. Celtic" Simmons said about Paul Pierce

What up Charles!! I see you're holding it down as usual. Pretty active day for me, especially considering the work that's piling up on my desk as we speak. I'll see you soon. Peace, bro.

hobbitmage,

>>>>>PG: Derek Fisher/Jordan Farmar/Sun Yue
>>>>>SG: Kobe Bryant/Sasha Vujacic/Coby Karl/Dwayne Mitchell
>>>>>SF: Lamar Odom/Trevor Ariza/Vladimir Radmanovic/Luke Walton
>>>>>PF: Pau Gasol/Josh Powell
>>>>>CE: Andrew Bynum/Chris Mihm

Dwayne Mitchell does not have a guaranteed contract and probably won’t make the team.
We really need another big man for insurance. No way Lamar does not end up playing at least half if not most of his time at power forward in my opinion. I still like this rotation as I know you do too. We dominate the paint and the boards with Lamar backing up Pau and Pau backing up Drew:

PG: Derek Fisher/Jordan Farmar/Sun Yue
SG: Kobe Bryant/Sasha Vujacic/Coby Karl
SF: Trevor Ariza/Vladimir Radmanovic/Luke Walton
PF: Pau Gasol/Lamar Odom/Josh Powell
CE: Andrew Bynum/Chris Mihm/DJ Mbenga

Tom

I just can not stand it anymore. Butler and Lets go C's, if you are going to constantly drool all over someone, please know his name. It is "Shaq" not "Shack". Shaq is short for his name...you know Shaquille. Now for Shack, look around you, it is what you live in.

Here's my lineup Laker Tom even though I posted already.

PG: Fisher/Farmar/Yue
SG: Bryant/Vujacic/Karl
SF: Odom/Ariza/Walton
PF: Gasol/Radmanovic/Powell
C: Bynum/Mihm/Open (Gasol)

I agree Dwyane Mitchell nor Joe Crawford will not make the team in my opinion though we have seen otherwise. We haven't signed DJ yet so we have an extra roster spot, plus I expect us to sign a few more guys (non guaranteed contracts) to bring to us to Hawaii to see their talents and scrimmage against the 1st,2nd and 3rd teams.

What will the lineup look like?? We can only guess and see to be sure who will start. And by the way Laker Tom, that lineup Hobbit posted was from Hoopsworld, he specifically said it wasn't his. His lineup I bet is the same as yours.

KB Blitz

Blitz,

>>>>>PG: Fisher/Farmar/Yue
>>>>>SG: Bryant/Vujacic/Karl
>>>>>SF: Odom/Ariza/Walton
>>>>>PF: Gasol/Radmanovic/Powell
>>>>>C: Bynum/Mihm/Open (Gasol)

Thanks for your comments. I did know that hobbitmage and I have the same roster and depth chart.

I understand your points about Lamar at small forward but you aren’t really thinking of Vlade backing up Pau and Mihm backing up Drew, are you? I admit not starting Lamar may not be the right way to go but I don’t see how aren’t better off having him back up Pau and Pau slide over and backup Drew, which is going to mean that Lamar plays at least half of his time at power forward. I would be on Trevor making it at small forward before I would trust Mihm and Radman (or Powell) to back up the 4 and 5. I just don’t see Lamar playing all of his time at small forward in any conceivable circumstances short of Chris Mihm returning to be the quality player he was before he got injured.

Tom