Lakers Thread

[Cable]

Even Pat Burke scored

... and it was a 3 pointer.

[Drex]

It's over now. Sucks for Lakers fans. This was a great, great series

[Air Jordon]

Kwame Brown, now thats worth trading Caron Butler for!

[Axel]

Even Pat Burke scored

... and it was a 3 pointer.

That was the highlight of the game. I wish D'Antoni played him more often

[Laker Socks]

STRIKE 3 MITCH KUPCHAK.

You wasted Vlade's, George's and Slava's expiring contract.

Congratulations to the suns and congratulations to our lakers for exceeding expectations.

[J@3]

Awell good series, most exciting of the lot. Good thing I love the off season

[TRUball]

Wow... that's all I have to say. I think Kobe wanted to prove something in the second half by giving the ball to his teammates on basically every possesion.

[Fenix]

Wow, now it's the time for really let the Kobe/MJ comparison go.

[TRUball]

Wow, now it's the time for really let the Kobe/MJ comparison go.

Kobe is 27. MJ won his first championship at 29. I'd say Scottie Pippen is a little bit better than Lamar Odom.

[Fenix]

You really think MJ would lose games no.5, 6 AND 7, poor man's or rich man' Pippen?

[Andrew]

Wow, now it's the time for really let the Kobe/MJ comparison go.

Kobe is 27. MJ won his first championship at 29.

What does that prove? Kobe Bryant was drafted out of high school and traded to the Lakers, thus joining a team that won 53 games the previous year and had just added one of the biggest free agents on the market who was on his way to becoming one of the most dominant players in the league. Michael Jordan was drafted by a team with the third worst record in the league and became the centrepiece of that squad. You could just as easily point to MJ's college accomplishments (the Wooden Award, etc) which Kobe lacks.

That's not to say Kobe isn't a great player but it's worth noting he came out of high school and joined a team that was already on its way towards becoming an annual championship contender. Those factors right away give him an opportunity to be a part of successful teams at a much younger age, not to mention achieving "youngest player to reach..." milestones as well.

[Matthew]

I don't think anyone is saying Kobe is better than Jordan. I think what Will is trying to say is that Kobe still is relatively young, and when you compare the accomplishments mj had after he got his first ring, Kobe could still finish his career with a huge bang.

[ElSeano]

good lord way to drop the fuckin ball lakers, losing a 3-1 lead? jesus that shits depressing. Meh they went further than most thought anyway, gonna be a straight forward playoffs now.

[Matthew]

Straight forward playoffs? Yeah everyone really knows how lebron will do against the pistons, how the nets and heat will play out, and how the best series of the playoffs in dallas and san antonio will turn out.

[Cloudy]

What?! Lakers lost?! Yeah we knew it, they fuckin' threw this series away. And Kobe is just playing shit ball like his team mates, we know the team mates are useless, but why is Kobe not taking a single shot. Damn it, wonder if it's another Coach/Player problem again. Ah well... Never mind, there's off-season. Ye, nevermind...

Anyway, here's an interesting fact in Daily Dime

His teammates didn't help, especially shrinking violets Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom. But this award goes to Bryant because he's set our expectations so high. After a great first half, the Mamba disappeared into Plan 8 from Outer Space in the second half, taking only three shots and scoring one point to match the one assist he had in the game. For the game, his last in the No. 8 jersey, he put up an octagon full of Crazy 8s: eight FGs made, eight missed and eight 3s attempted, to finish with 24 -- his uniform number next season.

Arghh. I'm so happy.

[pHLo]

After a great first half, the Mamba disappeared into Plan 8 from Outer Space in the second half, taking only three shots and scoring one point to match the one assist he had in the game. For the game, his last in the No. 8 jersey, he put up an octagon full of Crazy 8s: eight FGs made, eight missed and eight 3s attempted, to finish with 24 -- his uniform number next season.

what a coincidence xD

[Mayerhendrix]

Lakers still deserve credit for taking the Suns that far.

[BIG GREEN]

Only thing lakers deserve credit for: is the fact that they pay their bills on time...but not with this series. did that make sense?

In either case, i'm quite pissed. I wanted the lakers to win so it could prove to the basketball world..who the true mvp is. Anyway, there's next year.

[unholypotato]

someone needs to sexually assault kwame after this game, that fucking douchebag. you're 6'11 250 and you're shooting bricks in the post with boris diaw guarding you? fuck you. good job smush parker, i used to think eric snow was utter garbage, but you just took the cake and ran away with it tonight. if your shot is not falling for you, at least make an attempt to play some fucking defense. you let barbosa blow by you 2175021750189 times. you fucked us over on offense and helped the suns with their own offense. go to hell.

Haha. I agree with you 100%. Fuck that Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins trade. This guy is garbage.

[kingtrobe807]

look for some big changes for next year....and hopefully there will be another superstar other than Kobe in Lakers land.......

[CuhRazy]

Lakers lose= Kobe's fault.

Plain and simple.

[Pancitcooker]

Lakers lose= Kobe's fault.

Plain and simple.

How can it be Kobe's fault? He tried to get his teamates involved in the second half. You say it's his fault? It's not his fault, it's his teamates fault for not making the shots. It's his fault if he kept on shooting and lost the game.

What?! Lakers lost?! Yeah we knew it, they fuckin' threw this series away. And Kobe is just playing shit ball like his team mates, we know the team mates are useless, but why is Kobe not taking a single shot. Damn it, wonder if it's another Coach/Player problem again. Ah well... Never mind, there's off-season. Ye, nevermind...

Anyway, here's an interesting fact in Daily Dime

His teammates didn't help, especially shrinking violets Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom. But this award goes to Bryant because he's set our expectations so high. After a great first half, the Mamba disappeared into Plan 8 from Outer Space in the second half, taking only three shots and scoring one point to match the one assist he had in the game. For the game, his last in the No. 8 jersey, he put up an octagon full of Crazy 8s: eight FGs made, eight missed and eight 3s attempted, to finish with 24 -- his uniform number next season.

Arghh. I'm so happy.

http://www.nba.com/games/20060506/LALPHX/recap.html

Bryant said if they were to get back into the game they would need everyone contributing.

[Zee]

Kobe's teammates just quit on him in the last 3 games...I don't know why he's getting criticized for not taking a lot of shots in the second half. It's not like they were going to come back with that strategy - PHX's offense would've fed off of that. He would've been criticized for that, too, so he probably just decided to pass the ball to his shitty teammates on every play to give them some sort of confidence.

[TRUball]

You really think MJ would lose games no.5, 6 AND 7, poor man's or rich man' Pippen?

When he was 27, possibly.

I don't think anyone is saying Kobe is better than Jordan. I think what Will is trying to say is that Kobe still is relatively young, and when you compare the accomplishments mj had after he got his first ring, Kobe could still finish his career with a huge bang.

Thanks, that's exactly what I meant.

Lakers lose= Kobe's fault.

Plain and simple.

Oh really? So all the blame is on Kobe? I guess that means the coaching staff, the 11 other players on the active roster, general management staff, etc. It's all Kobe's fault all right. It's expected now that if his team is down to just shoot as much as he possibly can to pull them back in. He should of scored 60+ points the second half instead of trying to involve his teammates in a game that will give them all valuable experience in which will benefit them next year. But no, he should of just not included them at all and did it by himself. They are still young that have other times to develop, right?

[Jackal]

Let's start off with saying how I despise Raja Bell. His face just annoys me. Even in 2001, I thought him & his little mustache-ish thing on top of his lip maked him look like a faggot.

Now to continue.

Great game by the Suns, people should pay them the respect, they made history. Every player of that team contributed in a great fashion. I hope Nash recovers from the collision and his ankle turns out to be ok.

It'd be a shame for the Clippers to kick their fucking ass and everyone goes "oh but Nash was injured."

Mm, that was a bit rude. On a more serious note, I think the Suns will advance past the Clippers, so as you can see, the statement above was just a joke.

On to the Lakers...

Everyone expects me to start off with Kobe Bryant, but I won't.

I'd like to start off with Phil Jackson, I feel badly for him, his unbeaten record just went down the drain, tis a pity but as they say...there's a first for everything.

Kwame Brown - Is it his youth or just the fact that he's not a very capable player? I've said it's his youth for a long long time, but honestly, Kwame isn't a very good player. He fumbles easy passes, misses easy shots, it can't be his nerves all the time, not all the time, right? He's a bench player at best. My hopes of big men to lead the Lakers are now on Andrew Bynum, come on young fellow, work your ass off this offseason. Kwame really disappointed.

Lamar Odom - He tried. That's all there is to say about him.

Luke Walton - Due to the team's overall offense being as flat as it was and the fact that Phoenix was defending (double teaming) quite effectively, Walton's biggest strength was not much a factor. Passing that is. Not kissing.

Smush Parker - I don't despise the kid, I don't. I blame youth and inexperience. He isn't a bad player (Kwame), he just hasn't been in this situation, every miss just added to an already uncertain player. Next season he should be better. More sure.

The bench, a weak bench as it is, just could not step up.

Kobe Bryant - Nothing but love Bryant, nothing but love. It's an old story with Bryant and me, at times I hate his guts & at times I love him. This time, I love him. I don't blame him. Kobe Bryant, on a good night, could single handedly bring back this Lakers team. That's just how fucking awesome he is. Every single NBA watcher knows this, this is why they fear him, this is why they hate him. Look at the previous page, someone made a comment about "as long as Kobe doesn't pull any heroics". That's just how dangerous Kobe Bryant is.

Kobe Bryant needed his team-mates to get into a rhythm, atleast 2 of them for him to be able to turn anything on. They never did. Not Kwame, not Luke, not Lamar and not Smush. No one. He could begin splitting defense and he could attract a quadruple double and even pass it out just to watch his team-mates fumble, turnover or brick the ball. Kobe Bryant realised "turning it on" with a cold team was going to get him nothing but "selfish" tags. He did what he thought was best, he let the young guys build experience in a clearly out of reach game.

I wish Kobe a wonderful offseason to spend time with his two daughters & his gorgeous wife. Here's a big big big applause from me to Kobe Bryant for all the entertainment he provided me over the years and especially this season. Around this time next year, Kobe Bryant will be reading his name in the papers.

Sources: Kobe Bryant to be named MVP.

You can't get robbed back to back.

Also noteworthy that the Lakers who were labelled as failures all season long, managed to push the second seeded Suns this far. I think Laker deserve that much. They pushed them 7 games.

Overall, good season, here's looking to an even better one next year.

Now, on to support Shaquille O'Neal & the Miami Heat.