1. Phil Jackson is leaving L.A. SELL. I'm sure most of you have heard of Phil Jackson's contract running out, Buss wants him to take a massive cut, and Chicago contacted Jackson through backchannels. This is an obvious ploy to lure LeBron James to the Windy City. The opportunity to have coached Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Shaq is once in a lifetime, but Jackson is in a great situation right now. He is 64, he wont be coaching for much longer. He is in Hollywood, with the best player and the best team in the league, and has an opportunity for four 3-peats.
2. Trevor Ariza is a better fit than Ron Artest. SELL. Ariza was great last year, really came out of his shell in 2009. Ariza is only 24 and better long term, but Artest is certainly an immediate upgrade. Ariza gets the slight edge offensively, mostly because of Ron-Ron's poor shot selection, but L.A. already has the best scorer and offensive post player in the league so it's not that big of a loss. Artest is the second best perimeter defender of this era. The first is Kobe Bryant. The Lakers went from 6th to 4th in defensive rating from 2009 to 2010. Other than the Rodman style haircuts, he hasn't been the head-case he was in the past. Also like Rodman, Artest's hustle is unparalleled. I know it was his fault they were in the situation in the first place, but did you see him take out Richardson for that put-back? There's no doubt, Artest has made L.A. better.
3. Kobe Bryant is not as good as he used to be. BUY. Your shocked right? How could I of all people say that after I said he is having his best play-off run of his career. Well after a shaky series against a great defensive team in the Thunder, Kobe had the best possible match-ups for him and Los Angeles the next two rounds. Utah, who is an average defensive team, and Phoenix who are a sub-par defensive team. He is still the best player in the NBA, but do you see him dropping 81, or outscoring an entire team again? 2010 was the first time in five seasons Bryant hasn't had a 50 point game. He has aged very gracefully though, just as Jordan did.
4. Kobe Bryant doesn't care about the Celtics-Lakers rivalry. SELL. Bryant was quoted saying he didn't care about the rivalry, it's for other people to get exited for. LIAR. He can't honestly expect people to believe that he doesn't care about beating the team that humiliated him in 2008. A team that features Ray Allen, who he has a mutual disdain for.You think he doesn't care about potentially being just the the third Laker to win Finals MVP at the expense of Boston? Get real Kobe.
Technically if Kobe wins the NBA finals MVP and wins his 5th title he would be the 4th Laker to earn finals MVP against Boston despite it only being the 3rd time the Lakers have won a final series against the Celtics in now their 12th meeting. Jerry West despite having won his only title in 1972 did pick up the NBA finals MVP in 1969 after losing to Boston in 7 games, last time this was done in basketball. However, you make great points regardless.
ReplyDeleteI didn't count Jerry West's consolation prize in '69. It was the first ever Finals MVP award. The recipient being on the losing team renders the award virtually meaningless. Even if Bryant doesn't win Finals MVP, It would only hurt his argument against Magic. I would still put Kobe Bryant ahead of West in any ranking. Although I have no right to vacate accolades from a legend like West, so I probably shouldn't have omitted him.
ReplyDeleteI was just pointing it out. I also do think Bryant has already exceeded West not only with almost as many finals appearances, more rings, but also better stats. Think how West would be thought of if he played in our generations media era. Only winning 1 finals series out of the 9 you lead your team to would get him tagged as one of the biggest choke artist and disappointments in big games in basketball history no matter how great those Celtics team were he lost to. He certainly would not be known as Mr. Clutch.
ReplyDeleteFrom a baseball perspective the Laker Celtic rivalry can be compared to the Yankee Dodger battles. Those teams met in the World Series 11 times from 1941 to 1981 spanning Dodgers time in Brooklyn and LA. The Yanks won every series but 3, losing only in 55, 63, and 81. West could really be compared to Jackie Robinson who appeared in 7 World Series but won only 1 in 55. That is never discussed a stain on Jackie's resume just like West's lone title out of numerous finals is not for him. Remember I love West being a WVU grad but just find all that interesting.
It's funny the sort of double standard set for Bryant and West. Bryant is often criticized for winning the majority of his championships with Shaq, but look who West had. Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Gail Goodrich, three hall of famers. That's equivocal to Bryant having Shaq, Paul Pierce and Tony Parker. These 2010 Lakers are great, but do you think they have 1, let alone three surefire first ballot hall of famers other than Bryant?
ReplyDeleteThe worst part is that some would rank West ahead of Bryant. SLAM magazine puts Jerry West at 10 and Kobe at 12. Bill Simmons recently wrote that Bryant will surpass Jerry West only if he wins this title. That's ridiculous. Under what premise would a player who is 1-9 in the Finls be ranked ahead of a player who is 4-2 (potentially 5-2) with a supporting cast not nearly as strong? I'll toss in the MVP that Bryant has and West doesn't too.
Ramos and I had a heated debate about West's ranking (unfortunately before BDL) because I unlike most, don't have him the top 10. There are at least 10 other players equally or more talented that are better winners. After the Celtics dynasty ended he still went 1-3 in the Finals. How is that worthy of the title Mr. Clutch? He's hit a few big shots in a few big games but apparently not when it really mattered most of the time. West's reputation as a clutch player needs to be tested by the myth busters
For the first time no further analysis needed I could not agree more. That's exactly what I was eluding to with my initial response discussing West. I have also heard the Ramos opinion on West, I agree with you, Marcus. Yes, the Celtics teams were great but so were his Lakers squads and when does a player ever get a pass for falling to a "great" team on the big stage especially in the NBA....?
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