kobebryantblitz,

I used to be really for bringing LO off the bench and using him to backup Pau and Bynum, but you've argued your point really well the past few weeks. I actually think LO may be successful there. He did enter the league as a SF, but I've felt like his shooting has regressed a bit and he's bulked up a bit since his Clipper and Miami days.

BUTLER,

>>>They'll have to content themselves with the medals,
>>>seeing as how the SUNS and Cetlics keep busting them
>>>in the NBA playoffs.

LOL. You're living in the past, BUTLER.

Phoenix didn't do squat last season and they won't do squat
next season.

Steve Nash is so old and decrepit he couldn't even manage
to play for his country, which wasn't good enough to make
the Olympics anyway.

Amare backed out of the Olympics because of his body breaking
down too.

And even if Team U.S. had wanted Shaq, he would have
told them no, because he had to go stalk a ho this summer.

Your team is broken down and/or classless. In fact, the
team sucked so bad last year that D'Antoni left to go coach
the Knicks.

If you want to turn into a Celtics fan, then yeah, you can
some here and talk some turncoat fairweather fan smack.
But as a Po-henix phan, you've got nothing to talk smack
about. The sun has set. You're going to have to wait for
the next sunrise to talk smack here.

Can't really blame them. Even in China they do as the american does...NBA!

It just comes with the territory of being a power both in and out of politics lol.

Go USA!

Let's all take off our hat to the true redeemer of USA basketball, MIKE D'ANTONI!

D'ANTONI knew just what was needed to succeed in the international game, having earned titles in Italy as both playa and coach before the eyes of impressionable young kobee. D'ANTONI has of course schooled kobee in the NBA playoffs "every time", but in Beijing used this opportunity to teach kobee how to win at the next level beyond what PJ could teach.

We offer MIKE D'ANTONI thanks and praise - and Jerry Colangelo - for bringing home the gold!

Posted by: BUTLER | August 24, 2008 at 03:54 PM

======================
Hey Laker Nation. Why does this troll love PHX uh NY Knicks coach so much. So much props for a loser in Phx and lets see what he does in NY. Also this butler aka LGCs thinks the Celts are all that. What a moronie in the words of the great Bugs Bunny.

Jon K.

Sorry bud but Shaun Liviningston is in no shape to play still:

http://tinyurl.com/6zy24f

"Livingston suffered such extensive damage to his knee that despite the miracles of modern medicine and an intensive rehabilitation program, he still is unable to play five-on-five basketball or even one-on-one, against a NBA-quality foe."

Xodus,

Lamar had to bulk up during his Miami Heat days because he had to play power forward then and consequently took less mid-range shots that he couldn't have get a constant rhythm to. Same story during his first year in Los Angeles since Caron Butler was Small Forward. 2005-2006 had him finally play Small Forward for most of the season and after struggling in the offense, finally paid off and was the other consistent person aside from Kobe. 2006-2007 was almost a break out year for Lamar but unfortunately a knee injury and a shoulder injury limited his production (he went through the pain and still was the only scorer to be consistent). 2007-2008 was mostly positive for him offensively since he flourished offensively when we finally had a good inside presence to increase his scoring opportunities (Bynum then Pau). When we had Kwa-may Brown as the center, not only did Lamar's production went down so did our wins. Lamar's production may not be good fantasy wise (I'm thinking if I should get him as fantasy again this year, he was great pickup in the mid rounds), Lamar will be solid defensively starting.

Sasha or Trevor starting instead off the bench will decrease the bench's effectiveness at defense especially, those two are the better perimeter defenders aside from Kobe and Lamar. Plus Sasha's is a good shooter off the bench and having less talented guys on him (i.e. having Barbosa instead off Raja Bell as the Suns for example) Sasha would probably shoot better off against a guy who is more offense (Leandro) than a guy who is more defense (Raja). Plus while I know Sasha is good shooter he is a bit streaky which is good and bad. He has nights where he shoots lights out and has 70.0% FG and has nights where he shoots really bad like 11.1%. Plus his defense, while improving, isn't the best of ones against quality shooting guards like Ray Allen and Michael Redd. While showing great intensity, he doesn't have a long wingspan (6'7 ft) which limits him to a degree against jump and shoot types of guards. In my opinion, our starting 5 is very good defensively (Kobe, Bynum Pau, Lamar, and yes even Fish; Derek has very good lateral speed and does a good job staying in front of his man and gets steals much more safer than Smush did, just not a lock down defender). The bench is the one if any needs defense since they gave up tons of points during the Finals especially. Jordan is a ball thief but can be posted up easily, Luke has a decent body size to size up but lacks good lateral speed, all Radman could do is try to keep up (which was 50/50) and use his long arms to help defend but in the end his defense was poor and got beat up a ton by Paul Pierce, and Ronny blocked shots but wasn't the inside guy I really expected him to be. Powell I think may be the one who could be our backup power forward defender we didn't have since Horace Grant's 2nd time in LA (if we had Grant in the 2004 Finals, Rasheed must bleed would have had tougher opportunities to score). And Mihm well, I'm hoping he figures out his defensive problem and by not starting and going against less talented big men off the bench he can do decent. The bench is an important factor of any basketball team and while Lamar could improve the rebounding of the bench, having him on it even as a 6th man will weaken the starters (since neither Sasha or Trevor is ready yet to defend full time against the starting NBA players like Ray Allen and Paul Pierce) and will weaken the offensive weapons on the bench that we missed in the finals. Plus Radman will be the only 3 point shooter off the bench and when our backups are in, the opposition can easily clog the lane with only 1 quality 3 point shooter (and neither Powell nor Mihm are as talented as Andrew and Pau). That's why I wouldn't want Lamar off the bench.

"Hey Laker Nation. Why does this troll love PHX uh NY Knicks coach so much. So much props for a loser in Phx and lets see what he does in NY. Also this butler aka LGCs thinks the Celts are all that. What a moronie in the words of the great Bugs Bunny."
---------------

First I'm not Hugo Boss. I actually live in LA and am I proud Southern Californian and Laker fan to clear it out. Second, this troll is just what he said he is: Troll. He will always give other players not named Kobe Bryant or any other Lakers credit for their victories and instead give praise to the Suns even though the Big Mistake already doomed the Suns last season "I think their window is only one year" as former Sun Sir Charles Barkley says. That window has passed. JustALakerFan, Butler lives in a delusional world where Dragic is good as Steven Nash and Shaq is the Shaquille O'Neal for the 90's and early 2000's. Don't mind him, he just wants to keep false hope to a good time in Suns history that will now fade back into a mirage just like that "It was destiny that the Suns will beat the Bulls for the championship"

"Well now that I know who I am talking to let me add this about PJ and the double standard.

Losey players Smush Kwame etc ...blame the players not the coach.

9rings MJ,Pip,Kobe Shaq .....................great players credit the coach 9 rings.

Should be credit the great players not the coach. "

---------------------------------------------------------

Let me educate you on a little history then.

MJ and Pip and Horace Grant with Doug Collins: Zero Rings (Couldn't get past Bad Boy Pistons twice and that was with Michael Jordan averaging 32ppg 8 rebounds, 8 assists)
MJ and Pip and Horace Grant with Phil Jackson: 3 Rings
(Finally dethrones Bad Boy Pistons by following Phil Jackson's offense)

Kobe and Shaq with Del Harris: Zero Rings ( Underachieves, with Eddie Jones, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant)
Kobe and Shaq with Kurt Rambis: Zero Rings (Underachieves even with Glen Rice, gets swept by San Antonio Spurs and the Twin Towers of Robinson and Duncan)
Kobe and Shaq with Phil Jackson: 3 Rings (First Season 67-15 record, Second Season Playoffs, 15-1 record, finally embarrasses Robinson and Duncan Duo)

Kobe with Rudy T./Frank Hamblen: 32-50 record. Kobe shoots 43.3% FG, lowest of career since 42.8% in 1997-1998 season (Kobe's 2nd season) also gets 4.1 turnovers per game, highest of career). Kobe is demoted to 3rd Team All-NBA and isn't on either 1st or 2nd Defensive All Team.
The next year with Kobe and Phil Jackson: 45-37 record (13 game improvement). Kobe's FG% improves back to 45.0%, turnovers down to 3.1 per game. Kobe back to 1st Team All NBA and 1st Team All Defensive Team. First time wins scoring title.

Even MJ and Kobe didn't start to win titles until Phil Jackson came (Neither Doug Collins nor Del Harris and Kurt Rambis did that).

Conclusion: Phil Jackson is a great coach, probably the best, and the one who made Kobe back off his trade request. (Nah uh, PJ didn't do squat) erhm...http://tinyurl.com/6yope8
------------------------------------
LOS ANGELES — Believing he had been insulted and misled, Kobe Bryant asked the Los Angles Lakers for a trade Wednesday and insisted nothing could change his mind.

Then something did. He spoke with coach Phil Jackson and backed off his request.

“I don’t want to go anywhere, this is my team,” Bryant told KLAC radio. “I love it here. I called Phil, man, he and I talked, it was an emotional conversation, but he just said, ‘You know what, Kobe? Let us try to figure this thing out.’

“Phil is a guy I lean on a lot.”
-------------------------------
If we can't blame Smush or Kwa-may why is Kwa-may known as universal bust (hint he was known as a bust even in Washington and will be the same in Detroit) and Smush didn't do squat until he joined the Lakers? (Plus he still isn't doing squat after leaving the Lakers.)

Double Standard? Oooo that's right I can't hold Coach K as not doing anything right, he hasn't won a tournament since 2000-2001 (and didn't win the Gold Medal even with Lebron, Wade, and Carmelo until Kobe and Jason Kidd came along). And the same Coach K. who didn't want to come to the Lakers preferring to stay at Duke.

But then again it is Phil Jackson who has 70% coaching win record.

And LA (except the Clipper parts) loves the Lakers

Wow...

Some people out there will find a way to dislike Kobe, even when he plays their own (USA) team!

Now that's intense dislike. I wonder what KB did to them, personally, that they would denigrate the floor leader of their own gold medal winning national team.

I realize that, for many Americans, times are a little tough right now and the good ol' US of A may seem to have lost a little bit of her luster in the eyes of the world.

But if your wife gains a few pounds in the process of carrying your baby, you don't trash her, do you? Hell no. You give her a kiss instead, and you say "pass the cheese-cake...'cause were in this together."

Kobe Bryant's life is a GREAT AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY! Up and down, triumphs and failures, power and weakness, and ultimately GOLDEN.

Thank you for representing my country.

Respectfully,
PROUD CHEESE

I think these Olympic games absolutely were a success, and very needed in what would have been an otherwise awful sports summer.

Very inspirational. I don't know about anyone else, but watching guys like Phelps and Brian Clay has lit a fire under me--I’m up to 7 miles per run now and can't wait to collect my gold!

That gold medal basketball game was far better than could have been expected (sorry, but 40 pt. blowouts are not exciting to watch), especially Kobe's late-game heroics.

That was awesome. Very cool. Did you see how Kobe demanded the ball in crunch time, and how all the players but Le Bron seemed to also want Kobe to get the ball with the game on the line?

And Dwane Wade looks great too. His style of play does resemble MJ's, I think, more than Kobe's; especially his body control when driving to the hoop.

Now lets get Kobe a repaired finger and as much rest as possible. Anyone know when training camp opens? With the Championship run and the Olympics, there can't be that much time left for Kobe to relax.

I hope Bynum's training hard. I think he is. He probably watched the Olympics and felt some of the same inspiration I did. In fact, I bet the whole team was watching Kobe and Gasol star in the Gold medal match and will be more than ready to support these two Olympians when the season starts.

Go Kobe!

Wes

i think that should just about shut the Kobe-haters up, don't you think?

if they won't, LeBron, Melo, CP3 (oh yeah, he's lovin and respectin "Little Flying Warrior" a whole LOT), Wade, Dwight, and the rest of the USA Squad including Coach K will give them a good smacking.

Bryant's entire Olympic run, on court and off court should shut them all up. his way of regarding the sport, and all the other sports other than and bigger than basketball including the key figures in them has been very commendable. he's recognized and acknowledged everywhere, American or no, the most important of which coming from his own teammates who have been very wary of him prior to this fellowship. it's something a Kobe fan, and even a Laker fan will truly be proud of. at least i am. :)

That performance by Kobe was ... well, Solid Gold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNwqIzkpkqA
&feature=r
elated

I tried Tinyurl, but it couldn't handle the link -- I think you all can see why.

Of all the Kobe/Jordan comparisons, I believe one area that Kobe is on par, right now, is mentally. You see other great players deferring to him in crunch time --

This season is going to be amazing -- I predict a championship. And before you say, well of course, you're a suck ass Laker fan -- I predicted the Celtics last season. I see the signs. Just stay healthy!! Lamar -- keep your feet away from Andrew.

And get that surgery already Kobe!!

Hey everyone...

Good Job Kobe. Good Job Team USA. Now Kobe get that surgery. The dudes been playing so long with 4 fingers and people forget that. That will have an effect on your shooting dont u think?

wes,

Wade's style of driving into the lane is very similar to Jordan's. However, I disagree still with that his style is more MJ than Kobe's. I think with the defense of back in MJ's era Wade wouldn't dare drive into the lane so much like he can today (Defense was better then, there was always a big guarding the paint due to the absence of Defensive 3 seconds, not to mention handchecking). While Wade does have the will to drive into the lane with great body control like MJ, even Jordan settled at times for tough jumpers that is similar to Kobe, only Jordan just did it better. (Plus Jordan settled for more jumpers inside the arc rather than 3 point land). Plus Kobe takes pride in his defense, something that Jordan did as well and while Wade is still a decent defender, his personal defense isn't as much good as either MJ or Kobe since he usually conserves his energy for the offensive end.

Long time, no see...

That final game is the only one I watched beginning to end. Mostly because the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of all the other Redeem Team's games were so boring. Even though the papers would talk about some "scare" some country put into the US. In reality, those moments lasted only about 30 seconds of those games.

Now, that Gold Medal games was different. There are 5 players on that Spanish team who are property of (or soon will be, in the case of that spectacular teenager) NBA teams, and that game showed why. All of them can play, think, and execute at an NBA pace. Which most Euros who come to the NBA complain about at first.

They all played BIG as well. And, whoever this Calderon dude is, if he's their best player, he must be spectacular. I'm sad I didn't get to see him play.

Fernandez has got real game. Spain is for real. Wonder why they continue to not be able to put it all together in the big games? Maybe coaching?

One BIG observation: Why in the world do European players play so soft in the NBA? The international game is WAY more physical than the NBA. Is it the schedule? Maybe it's just the fact that they are used to playing with more recovery time?

Kobe was fantastic. Brilliant, in fact. I really liked the fact that he used his two three-point makes to set up his assists and that spectacular 4-point play. Both of his 4th quarter assists came on faked three-point shots (if I remember correctly).

Dang! Wade is a monster!

Also, I'm not really sure why the game plan wasn't simply give LBJ the ball every time down the court. He is absolutely unstoppable in international play. ABSOLUTELY. UNSTOPPABLE. You guys know me, for me to say anything positive about LBJ is huge.

'Melo shot incredibly. But, almost got into a brawl trying to stick up for Howard, I think. After that hard foul. Did you guys see what Kobe and Kidd did? They both walked him all the way to the other side of the court as if they were both just waiting for him to step out of line. That is what being a team captain is all about.

I'm really proud of the team. I'm proud of LBJ dedicating his medal to Doug Collins. I'm proud of Kobe for really opening up and allowing the whole world to see who he really is.

I'm just proud.

--Fearless

Blitz and Exodus,

Thanks for your response. I understand your points about Lamar and am generally in agreement that he can work at small forward. I still feel it is more important for him to play at power forward as I don’t have faith that Mihm and Powell can contribute much.

Either way, it should be a fascinating season. We have so many weapons and such a versatile team that we should be able to play any style of basketball we need to. This may be one of the most exciting Lakers seasons ever. Can’t wait for it to start.

Tom

Hi Bijou;

When you refer to "haters," do you think that anybody hates Kobe's game? He is the best player in the association. As a hater myself, I'd like to see him win every game by 50 and I'd like him to score 50 every time out. I still don't like him - does this help to clarify?

LakerTom, Taliq, Mamba24, Xodus - all is well. It was rather fun taking those hits. Edwin, thanks for the support.

The Spaniards proved one thing, just as the lakers did:

Pau is incapable of winning it all for his team, or, perhaps more succinctly, a team with Pau cannot win it all. The only way he wins a title is if he is not on the court, as happened when Spain took the title in Europe last year.

We saw Pau play at his preferred PF position, and yet still things did not change. When push came to shove, he again wilted.

So regardless of what byenumb's status is, things look bleak for the lakers this season with gasol being counted on.

Not so for the SUNS, who will be taking it upon themselves to restore pride to the Western Conference this season, and make up for the embarrassment the Phil Jaquesons created in June.

>>>If they were that good with Kobe, think how good they
>>>would have been if Pierce was on the team instead of
>>>Bryant!!

Wellllllll...

Fortunately we have an answer for that. Pierce was on the
team in 2002 and even led the team in scoring!!! They came
in 6th place.

Hey Paul Lee, Fatty, Korey,

Welcome back to the three of you. Got tired of blogging too huh, touching the same topic over and over again. Well, you are not alone, Olympics is over, summer is about to wind up and preseason is about to begin. Finally, Kobe gets his much needed rest and surgery on that over used torned pinky. Hope you join us more often and want to read fresh insights b/c getting tired of analysis-paralysis by playing ball thru blogging and premature forecasting. If people knew the future results in the next season, why not go to Las Vegas and invest all your assets? Hell No, they prefer to convert every half-believers, but they themselves are not sure of their wishy-washy optimism. Lakers Blog is supposed to be the forum of Laker fans to freely express their passion, positively or negatively so there is no need of tearing down that fabric of unity among Laker fans.

"Luv Kobe but the black mamba thing has got to go. If your fans are barely using the phrase you probably shouldn't be using it yourself."

When a playa refers to himself in the third person with a stupid nickname, like kobee did in the postgame interview, it makes me cringe as an american. It highlights the pretentiousness of kobee, and why his ego will never allow him to use his talents to lead the lakers to a title.

D-Wade on the other hand is a model of superstardom (Finals MVP!) and humility. A class act.

Kobee needs to learn more from D'ANTONI, a true champion guard, about the game and perhaps more importantly, about how to be a man.

"LakerTom, Taliq, Mamba24, Xodus - all is well. It was rather fun taking those hits.
Edwin, thanks for the support. Posted by: Otis Campbell | August 25, 2008 at 09:31 AM "

Well I'll be d@MNNNNED!! Otis if that is you, you are a d@mn good sport and a better man
than I. Kudos to you Sir Paulie.

Larry(Mamab24)

kobebryantblitz / wes,

Interesting debate on who resembles jordan more, kobe or dwade. My 2 cents:

On the defensive end both kobe and dwade can be as tenacious as jordan was on defense when they set their mind to it. I think kobe differs from both (mj and wade) in that he tends to play more help defense. To some this can be interpreted as gambling on defense, to me it's a necessary evil in order to cover for the likes of luke n co (similar to debates about the tough shots he takes on offense). The heat historically have been a defensive minded team, hence the reason wade helps less. Jordan had pippen, hence the reason he played less help defense. Also its worth noting that help defense takes more energy out of you, so kudos really to kobe for that, without good team defense (i.e. necessary rotations etc from other teammates), it can make you look like a jack a$$ (as in why is kobe leaving bowen all alone in the corner). Having said all that I'm inclined to say Kobe is more pippen than Jordan, however because of dwades size bigger guards can exploit this advantage and for this reason he's still less jordan than kobe is on the defensive end. By the way pippen was a better defender than jordan was, or at least he was asked to do more on the defensive end. So I'm giving kobe the edge over both Jordan and Wade, and I'm curious to find out whether he'll be more pippen or jordan once the rest of the lakers catch up to kobe defensively. My guess is he'll be more pippen unless we get a quality perimeter defender such as artest ( and umm no ariza can't even begin to dream of thinking of dreaming to play pippen like defense )

On the offenseive end, I was watching kobe's heroics in the olympics and couldn't help but think Kobe is not Jordan and he probably never will be. I think his shot selection makes him a more entertaining player than Jordan is but at the same time it's like he lets the other team off the hook. Kobe is a good 3 point shooter, but I wouldn't necessary pick him over the likes of ray allen or michael red (not talking about pressure situation such as last 15secs of the game), however his mid range game is beyond deadly, and i think his footwork is better than jordans which means he can score in more ways than jordan could though jordan was a better postup player. Yes Kobe can make the 3s, but he'd put so much more pressure on defenses if he'd take that shot less. Dwade is not as good a 3point shooter, he's mid range game is nice but not in Kobe or Jordans league. However having said that his shot selection is way more jordanesque than kobe's is.

On a slightly related note. I kind of felt kobe's approach in the nba finals was a tad bit passive. I think sometimes he interprets better shot selection as "passing more" or letting his teammates touch the ball more. To that I say hell no, when a great defensive team like boston comes along that's when you should especially put the ball in the hands of your best offensive player and let him do whatever it takes to crack their defensive will ( afterwich he can pass more, lol). So instead of passing more, what kobe needed to do in that series is look for higher percentage shots for himself, i.e. less 3s, more posting up, more screens to get him shots, passing to teammates with understanding that the aim is to lull the defense into slacking a bit so the ball can be swung back to kobe in a better position. I guess what I'm rambling about is Jordan was just as much of a ball hog in pressure situations as Kobe is, the difference is at those times he chose his best weapon to fire at the opponent. For all the talk about how deadly the mamba's venom, it's quite frustrating to see him let them off the hook by taking ill advised 3s and then trying to makeup for it by giving up the ball next time down the line just so vlad can take an ill advised 3. The good thing is we can win with this version of Kobe, it'd just be much easier if he leveraged his mid range game more often since it's quite frankly unstoppable.

Darn it and I said I'd work more and blog less after d olympics :(

jiamxi,

"Can anybody explain why American NBA players have an exclussive agreement to compete on the Olympics but
only if they don't take a doping test?
This kind of stories is a huge demostration how in the name of patriotism everything is allowed. Nobody in the medias talk about that."

I clearly recollect reading an article that mentioned deron williams had to go take a drug test as he'd been randomly selected. I think you've got your facts wrong.

>And what kind of guitar was Jimmy Page playing? A Gibson
Les Paul. Made in Nashville, Tennessee.

Well, only 'cause it's forever been part of his signature sound which, right, is almost entirely based on an American idiom, the blues, but examined more thoroughly, actually originated in West Africa (on the other hand, Marshall amps are also part of that sound... made in, oh yeah, the UK).

But did you know that Page is 1/8th Asian? sure looked like a wizened Chinese sage in the closing ceremonies... i guess this makes it a pretty international combo then (4 continents, at least)...

BLOG CRUE
Good to see Kobe and the CRUE win a gold medal. Pau will bring his energy in our next season.

thekobebryantblitz- Thanks for representing me and Colorado during my absense.

Not relation to Hugo Spain but he has a cool name.

I've actually watched games with Tim-4-Show and Lakers4realz on separate occasions. Can't wait to do it again. As we all know...

Colorado loves the Lakers!

Charles,

I guess the safe answer to your post, NBA is held in USA where we developed high school kids not only as basktball hoopsters but as linebackers, tacklers and slammed down artists to the ground. The harder the fall the greater the player's satisfaction. Well, in the international play Euros, South Americans picked up the finesse basketball of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Pete Maravich, body english, marksmanship and excellent free throws. So when these players get to NBA playoffs, the Euros and the Yao Mings got shell-shocked what we meant by physical game in America. You get to know the Perkins', the Howard's, the Amare's, PJ Brown and Shaquile all brute force slam dunk artists and less finesse or foul shooting.