West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: GangstaBoogy on July 19, 2008, 08:40:10 PM
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After being thoroughly outplayed by the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, the Lakers are well aware that in order to not only get back to the Championship, but to win it, they will need to address two areas of need: Their interior defense/rebounding and point guard play.
To be fair, they were without starter Andrew Bynum for much of the season and playoffs, and should have his services available next season. Having Bynum back in the mix should, without a doubt, help the Lakers. Moving Gasol to the power forward spot will make things easier for the seven footer, as the Lakers should have a towering front line.
Lamar Odom disappeared from the Finals this past season, but this came as little surprise to those who have followed the talented forward for much of his career. His lack of consistency hurt the Lakers terribly and has sent the franchise to the rumor mill, with talks circulating of trading for Ron Artest.
Artest would bring the physicality and consistent presence at the small forward position that would help elevate the Lakers starting roster to elite status. However, not everyone is sold on 12th year veteran.
For one, though he may be consistent as they come on the court, he is just the opposite off of it. Who’s to say he doesn’t duck out in the middle of the season to pursue his Hollywood interests (rapping, acting, God knows what else)?
Or, suppose he stays basketball oriented but doesn’t gel with Kobe Bryant. What if Artest can’t handle Kobe’s criticism/motivation techniques the way the young ones on LA can? This is the same guy who “accidentally” broke Michael Jordan’s ribs in a pickup game. Remember?
Phil Jackson was able to handle Rodman, as many will point out. But he’s already handling enough as it is with keeping number 24 happy. Asking him to be Artest’s psychiatrist might be too much. If the Lakers do not pursue Artest, there is another former All-Star who will soon be on the market and will address another area of deficiency; the point guard spot.
Stephon Marbury is expected to be released any time now, as the Knicks have made it clear that they are moving on without him. He still has a year left on his deal which pays him close to $22 million. The Lakers would be wise to at least consider bringing him on board.
He would provide another scoring threat in the backcourt along with a keen passing ability that could work perfectly in the Lakers triangle scheme. As much drama as Marbury brings, it should be noted that he has averaged 20 ppg and eight assists for his career.
Similar to Terrell Owens in the NFL, Marbury might come to the realization that this is his last chance to earn himself another contract. His behavior, one would think, would not be an issue, much like Owens’ hasn't been in Dallas.
From a pure basketball standpoint, Marbury would be a clear upgrade over Jordan Farmar (9 ppg 2.7 apg, down to 5.1 ppg and 1.3 apg in the playoffs) and Derek Fisher (11 ppg, 2.7 apg), both of who are good players but not nearly as effective or consistent at their respective stages of career.
How can the Lakers afford Marbury and his $22 million is what most are probably wondering. Simple.
The way the cap works with released players is if another team signs a player who had a guaranteed contract, the player's original team is allowed to reduce the amount of money they still owe the player (and lower their team salary) by a proportionate amount. The amount the original team gets to set off is limited to one-half the difference between the player's new salary and the minimum salary for a one-year veteran.
So in this case, if Marbury signed for the veteran minimum of $1.13 million (approx), the Knicks would then only have to pay Marbury $20,870,000 as opposed to $22 million.
Regardless of whether the Lakers pursue Artest or Marbury, they will be taking a chance on one of the two most skilled but rebellious characters available. However, if things work out with either one and the Lakers add a banner to the Staples Centers rafters, the risk would be well worth it.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/38276-stephon-marbury-or-ron-artest-lakers-will-gamble-on-one
This is pretty much speculation but how interesting would that be?
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daaaamn thiz sounds rlly interesting
Ron Artest or Stephon Marbury??
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ill take ron over steph...only cuz im from ny so i see alot of knicks basketball.....and trust me, you laker fans DO NOT want steph. :P
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Fuck Marbury.
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if it's between those two
Artest>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>marbury
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ron
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I'm glad the Lakers would never be stupid enough to take on Stephon.
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I wouldnt want Marbury if i was a Lakers fan. They already have Fish and Farmar has already proven hes the pg of the future, no reason to slow that development
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I'd love it if the Lakers got Marbury. Dude is a disgrace.
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I'd love it if the Lakers got Marbury. Dude is a disgrace.
I wouldn't really talk, if I were you...Kidd is almost just as washed up as him right about now, and ya'll traded D. Harris for him.
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Whenever the Knicks finally buy him out of his contract I guarantee the Mavs will be the first team to contact his agent.
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Why are you guys bringing the Mavs in? I never claimed that they never did no roster mistakes.
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marbury a laker
that'd be a great idea LOL LOL LOL
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Artest >>>>>>>>>>>> Marbury. Artest will bring some toughness and a nice defensive presence. Marbury...blah.
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
marbury is not a bust, that's Darko.
he's had a long career with gaudy numbers but is a let down.
Marbury, Steve Francis, Chris Webber, Darko and T-mac. imagine how dope a team of under-achievers would be LOL.
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
marbury is not a bust, that's Darko.
he's had a long career with gaudy numbers but is a let down.
Marbury, Steve Francis, Chris Webber, Darko and T-mac. imagine how dope a team of under-achievers would be LOL.
I dont mean a bust in the way of being a horrible player. Im not talkin Bryant "Big Country" Reeves type of bust lol. Im saying, a bust from what he was expected to be.
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
Naa.. you guys are understimating Marbury. He had a pretty nice career, and he was been a pretty good player.
He's not the type of PG i like, since i prefeer players who defends, who leads the team with their maturity, who can handle the pressure and who can dish the ball.
Marbury lacks all of these things (even tho' he's skilled enought to make 10 assists a night).
But his career (and his mind) is over, tho'.
Anyway to answer your questione obviously the Lakers need a defensive minded SF-SG, so Ron Artest would fit that role perfectly.
The problem is we need Lamar Odom too, imho.
If we can somehow manage to get Artes Pau-gasol-style then i'm coll with it.
I don't want to trade Lamar for Artest, if possible.
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
marbury is not a bust, that's Darko.
he's had a long career with gaudy numbers but is a let down.
Marbury, Steve Francis, Chris Webber, Darko and T-mac. imagine how dope a team of under-achievers would be LOL.
I dont mean a bust in the way of being a horrible player. Im not talkin Bryant "Big Country" Reeves type of bust lol. Im saying, a bust from what he was expected to be.
He went to the NBA too early.
I mean he was skilled enought to make the big jump, but he was probably not mature enought to live all alone away from home and shit.
I don't know how ugly Minneapolis is, but i remember Stephon talking about it like he was living a nightmare.
He wanted to go home and nothing but home.
That damaged his career drastically.
(cause he got traded to the Nets first, and to the Knicks later, lol).
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
marbury is not a bust, that's Darko.
he's had a long career with gaudy numbers but is a let down.
Marbury, Steve Francis, Chris Webber, Darko and T-mac. imagine how dope a team of under-achievers would be LOL.
LOL at putting Webber and Mcgrady in the same sentence w/ Darko and Francis, what a joke
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
marbury is not a bust, that's Darko.
he's had a long career with gaudy numbers but is a let down.
Marbury, Steve Francis, Chris Webber, Darko and T-mac. imagine how dope a team of under-achievers would be LOL.
I dont mean a bust in the way of being a horrible player. Im not talkin Bryant "Big Country" Reeves type of bust lol. Im saying, a bust from what he was expected to be.
yeah that is very true "starbury' had a big fall from grace
but atleast he made it to stardom instead of floppin' like a fish like Sebastian Telfair (who if i'm not mistake is related to marbury?? maybe i'm wrong tho)
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^cousins
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He went to the NBA too early.
I mean he was skilled enought to make the big jump, but he was probably not mature enought to live all alone away from home and shit.
I don't know how ugly Minneapolis is, but i remember Stephon talking about it like he was living a nightmare.
He wanted to go home and nothing but home.
That damaged his career drastically.
(cause he got traded to the Nets first, and to the Knicks later, lol).
Thats a very interesting way of looking at it.
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He went to the NBA too early.
I mean he was skilled enought to make the big jump, but he was probably not mature enought to live all alone away from home and shit.
I don't know how ugly Minneapolis is, but i remember Stephon talking about it like he was living a nightmare.
He wanted to go home and nothing but home.
That damaged his career drastically.
(cause he got traded to the Nets first, and to the Knicks later, lol).
Thats a very interesting way of looking at it.
I was never been in Coney Island, man. But a guy who says "I want to live in Coney Island, i can't live anywhere else" surely got some problems.
When you think about Stephon, you think about the thugged out-cracked version of today, completely damaged in the brain and totally fucked up.
But look at this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/R5SwEMdN2mE
Dude was really a kid. Crying all the time. He couldn't even make the interview. And he was performing extremely well in Minnesota. Along with Kevin Garnett.
People were predicting a great future for the franchise and for the two players.
Then something went wrong. Stephon started to ask for a trade, and he wanted to go to the fucking New Jersey Nets!!
I mean the pre-Kidd Nets!!
A team that was clearly worst than the Minnesota Timberwolves!!
The kid just wanted to stay home with his homies and family.
Like i said he wasn't prepared for the big jump. Just one year in Georgia Tech wasn't enought.
Not because he wasn't a good player, but because coming str8 from the ghetto, he should have stayed to mature a lil bit more.
And he should have learned how to handle pressures more.
But his family was struggling, so he was probably forced to go to the NBA to get the money, and he did it for this reason.
You can't blame him, tho.
He loves his family, you can see it from the video.
Anyway when he went back home that's where he started to ruin his career.
He totally lost his mind.
I mean it shouldn't be easy for a ghetto type of player like him to wear a New Jersey Nets and then a New York Knicks jersey, and to be the captain of the team.
He fucked up. He started to believe he was not only a franchise player, but the only good player in the team.
He started to assume crack, probably.
I don't know. But for sure today's Marbury looks totally different from the skinned version of the video i posted.
He was a man out of control in his own town.
That fucked him up.
But he was a pretty good player. People should remember him from back in the days, he was as promising as.. i don't know.. Wade, CP3, etc..
Something went wrong with his career. And his life.
I dunno if he's more mature now, and if a move to another city will help him finding himself.
He performed very well in Minneapolis and in Phoenix, so maybe he could find himself again if he moves from New York.
That said, Lakers don't need him. Farmar and Vujacic are probably better than him at this point of their careers.
Look at this video, tho. It's well done, and it might help you get a different view of Marbury, before he totally went crazy and out of control.
http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/mfvIutJXjC8
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
marbury is not a bust, that's Darko.
he's had a long career with gaudy numbers but is a let down.
Marbury, Steve Francis, Chris Webber, Darko and T-mac. imagine how dope a team of under-achievers would be LOL.
I dont mean a bust in the way of being a horrible player. Im not talkin Bryant "Big Country" Reeves type of bust lol. Im saying, a bust from what he was expected to be.
He went to the NBA too early.
I mean he was skilled enought to make the big jump, but he was probably not mature enought to live all alone away from home and shit.
I don't know how ugly Minneapolis is, but i remember Stephon talking about it like he was living a nightmare.
He wanted to go home and nothing but home.
That damaged his career drastically.
(cause he got traded to the Nets first, and to the Knicks later, lol).
Plenty of players make that jump as the age he did. Sorry excuse. Not being mature enough mentally doesnt mean shit. It means he was not ready for the NBA yet even though him....and everyone else thought he was. It cant be used as an excuse, its a truth. Something he should have had worked out before he made his move to the NBA. So whatever the reason for him being nowhere near the star everyone thought he would...it doesnt matter. It was all within his control. Its not like a freak injury or something.
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I dunno who's more a dickhead between the two of them..
they both are. but which one would help you win? Marbury is basically a bust in the NBA IMO
marbury is not a bust, that's Darko.
he's had a long career with gaudy numbers but is a let down.
Marbury, Steve Francis, Chris Webber, Darko and T-mac. imagine how dope a team of under-achievers would be LOL.
I dont mean a bust in the way of being a horrible player. Im not talkin Bryant "Big Country" Reeves type of bust lol. Im saying, a bust from what he was expected to be.
He went to the NBA too early.
I mean he was skilled enought to make the big jump, but he was probably not mature enought to live all alone away from home and shit.
I don't know how ugly Minneapolis is, but i remember Stephon talking about it like he was living a nightmare.
He wanted to go home and nothing but home.
That damaged his career drastically.
(cause he got traded to the Nets first, and to the Knicks later, lol).
Plenty of players make that jump as the age he did. Sorry excuse. Not being mature enough mentally doesnt mean shit. It means he was not ready for the NBA yet even though him....and everyone else thought he was. It cant be used as an excuse, its a truth. Something he should have had worked out before he made his move to the NBA. So whatever the reason for him being nowhere near the star everyone thought he would...it doesnt matter. It was all within his control. Its not like a freak injury or something.
I'm not defending him. I'm saying he wasn't ready for the NBA when he made the jump.
The only reason that can justify that move was that he had a poor family, and he went for the money.
You never know.. when you have a change to get drafted in the first 10 spots, you take it.
Cause an injury can end your career and can let you start from zero, again.
Then it's all his fault, cause even tho he wasn't ready, it's nothing but his fault that he became what he is now in NY.
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Odom >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Marbury and Artest