On June 18 2010 13:08 Ace wrote: WOW. Just WOW. NO FUCKING WAY. Pau Gasol for MVP. Wow. Just fucking wow.
No way...pau?? kobe was dropping bombs every game before this one.
what?
Kobe had the 29 on 29 game (terrible) The 19 point rd quarter game that was terrible (and he went like 1-7 4th quarter) then this 6 for 24 stinker.
Pau Gasol played at super star level EVERY game except Game 5. Come on let's be serious here. Pau was by far the best player in this series and I actually like Kobe.
I don't think so, Kobe opens the game up for everybody else and took a lot of responsibility on defense too, and the shooting isn't exactly his sole fault because he had to jack up difficult shots when there was no choice. I think it was game 3 he had taken like 10 end of shotclock shots.
ummm do you know how the Triangle offense works? When you do you'll realize why this is laughable.
On June 18 2010 13:24 Miss_Cleo wrote: Ive cried for the first time in years tonight. FUCK YEA
This, and people picking Kobe as MVP. This is LA mentality, makes me vomit.
He didn't play up to his potential game 7, but he played very well the previous ones. But of course this is the typical no brainer response from anti-kobe fans.
I'm actually a Kobe fan and I think Gasol was the best Laker on the floor also. Or you know you could just listen to Phil Jackson's interview where he said PAU GASOL CONTROLLED THE GAME.
Jordan vs Bryant comparisons are impossible. Jordan never played in a league that allowed zone defenses when he was in his prime, and zone defenses drastically reduce the threat a good driving player poses to a defense.
Moreover, Bryant is the same type of player as Jordan was offensively, but prior to Jordan nobody had ever played that type of basketball at that level, so teams had to learn on the fly how to deal with it. Now, everyone knows.
Its not a comparison that can be solved by anything even remotely empirical.
On June 18 2010 13:24 Miss_Cleo wrote: Ive cried for the first time in years tonight. FUCK YEA
This, and people picking Kobe as MVP. This is LA mentality, makes me vomit.
Me being from Spain, I wish more than anyone that Pau got the finals MVP. But, Kobe is the leader in LA, through-out the whole series he has been the leader and will be for more years, and he really was the MVP of the finals, all 7 games. Today's MVP was obviously Pau, with amazing play, Lakers wouldn't have won the ring if it weren't for his play today, but the MVP is awarded for the whole series, not just the finals, so Kobe MVP.
BTW; here in Europe in boxscores Fouls Recieved are shown, are they planning on doing it on the NBA? If so, when? Im sure it's a more useful stat than Blocks Against.
gasol was UNDOUBTEDLY the MVP tonight, but it's pretty close between gasol and kobe when you look at the entire series. kobe was just so good for most of the series. yeah, some games he took 29 shots and such to get 30 points but you can't expect him to torch it up against the best defense in the game. he was consistently the playmaker and the soul of this team throughout this series.
i would have been happy either way. gasol proved everything he needed to and more tonight, and there would've been nothing wrong with him getting the mvp. but in the end, you can't say that kobe didn't earn it,
Lmfao I was smiling at the end of the game cause I'm a lakers fan, then Ron's interviews literally cracked me up looooooooooool.
*Ignores reporter and her questions completely*
"First of all, I'd like to thank everybody in my hood". Major props to the reporter for not exploding in laughter. This was definitely one the best post game interviews of all time.
On June 18 2010 13:35 kzn wrote: Jordan vs Bryant comparisons are impossible. Jordan never played in a league that allowed zone defenses when he was in his prime, and zone defenses drastically reduce the threat a good driving player poses to a defense.
Moreover, Bryant is the same type of player as Jordan was offensively, but prior to Jordan nobody had ever played that type of basketball at that level, so teams had to learn on the fly how to deal with it. Now, everyone knows.
Its not a comparison that can be solved by anything even remotely empirical.
hand checking was allowed back then. The game was much more physical. Jordan is much more mentally tough than Kobe.
As a Michigan resident how can you hate LA more than BOS? Great 4th quarter!
because I hate derek fisher and pau. Laker fans are fucking horrible and I hate all the kobe bryant fans who just bandwagon and want to say hes > MJ when its not even close ;p
it's really not u are correct defense vs MJ was insane triple teams CONSTANTLY. and so physical
It's not as not close as people that make your argument want to believe.
hmmmm do you mean "it is closer than the people that make your argument want to believe" ? because I was agreeing with the post I quoted, not arguing against it.
Yeah, that's what I meant. Kobe, and MJ are a lot closer in terms of level of play than people who make the "tough physical hand-checking defense" argument believe.
Kobe is done. He's been done for some time now, it's true that Jordan was playing way better at this age than Kobe, but it's not the age, but the mileage that counts a lot more.
Jordan's career will obviously be remembered to be a lot greater, but let's not forget the circumstances during which it happened... In the beginning of his career he was getting trashed by the Pistons, no one really holds it against him, because the Pistons were great, and he was young. As the Pistons declined he was able to make the finals, and apart from his win against the Lakers against which his team had good match ups he beat up on the back-then weakish Western Conference in the finals, (not unlike how Kobe and Shaq beat up on the back-then weakish Eastern Conference in the finals,) the problem is when Kobe was approaching his prime (during the last two championships of his three-peat,) he was not running the team, and there was tension between him and Shaq, and Shaq was a very dominant force, and so the championships are mostly attributed to him. When Shaq was gone Kobe was finally allowed to take the reigns, and it took him a while to settle in. Then as he entered his overall-performance prime his team was terrible, and even though he was putting up record-breaking numbers, they were largely dismissed because at that time the Lakers weren't a contender.
When he finally got Pau Gasol, the Celtics made a series of historic moves, and picked up as it turns out a lucky pick (in Rondo,) and they were able to suffocate the Lakers out of the finals, partially because of Bynum's injury. Now, that he's starting to win Championships again, he's already been running on all cylinders for 13 years, and people are again rightfully starting to doubt his impact (and righfully so,) especially when he plays against good physical defenses. He will still put up great numbers against weaker defensive teams like the Suns because of his skill, but he is no longer consistent against good defense, because he's way out of his prime.
Overall my point is, his peak wasn't that much worse than Jordan's he just had it during a time when the Lakers couldn't make things happen, also Jordan came into the NBA as great powers were leaving, and he never really faced the other hyper-dominant player of his time - Hakeem Olajuawon in the finals. At the end of his career (not talking about the wizards,) his finals performances were against the Jazz against which had a defender on him that he had a significant size advantage on and yes Jordan made him look silly at the buzzer, and everyone will always remember this, and rightfully so because he was a great player, but he was also fortunate that he was facing his tougher opposition (while being both the first option, and having a good team,) while in his prime, and when he was slowly leaving his prime (second threepeat,) he was playing against considerably weaker teams defensively, this isn't quite the situation that Kobe is/was in, which is why I think that people should really compare the players' peaks, and career accomplishments separately.
edit: Just to continue a bit, and when you compare Kobe and Jordan in this manner, it becomes evident that although Jordan was better, Kobe is by far the second greatest shooting guard of all time (and probably first or tied with Jordan for the most skilled shooting guard,) and he's closer to Jordan overall than whoever you rate third is to him (once again, talking about shooting guards.)
EPT
