West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: Now_Im_Not_Banned on November 03, 2004, 02:09:39 PM
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In last nights season opener, Kobe Bryant had 25 points and 7 assists, many going to Mihm, as the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 89 to 78. As the Lakers moved toward a decisive 19 point lead in the second quarter, Bryant and center Chris Mihm combined for 21 points, surprising because Bryant had only 2 of them. Mihm did a lot of nothing while playing for Cleveland and Boston, but right now you have to give Bryant this: He's already shown the basketball world for one night on national TV that he's more than willing to go inside if the big man is willing to run up and down the court and play with enthusiasm. He sure knows how to hit Shaq where it hurts. Mihm had a career high-23 points after 3 quarters of play, and Bryant had 18 with a quarter to play. How funny would it be this season to hear folks talk about one of the great tandems in basketball: Kobe & Chris. Right about now, of course, Shaq probably has something he'd like to say in response, but who cares? The Denver Nuggets general manager, Kiki Vandeweghe, said (about trying to get Kobe to sign with the Nuggets), "We had a great meeting. I've always had a lot of respect for Kobe. I've always liked him a lot as a person. It was actually kind of an honor that he agreed to meet with us." In the 4th quarter of the game already decided, Bryant lost the ball near his basket, then sprinted down the court to block an ensuing Andre Miller layup. "One of the best plays I've ever seen. I thought that was the best example of a turnaround play that I've ever had" said new coach Rudy Tomjanovich. "He was phenomenal. Defensively, offensively, energy-wise, and being a positive influence, even on the bench. Phenomenal."
This proves that Bryant wasn't the only driver on this ego trip. Jackson and O'Neal say Bryant ran them out. Actually, Jerry Buss ran them out because they demanded king's ransoms and his priority was Kobe, which was the only choice, if you had to choose. The problem was a clash of egos, and Bryant was only one of them. Bryant is determined to show he can do this on his own and he will...As for Shaq, it looks like he won't be playing tonight. Gee, what a surprise.
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LOL Nik droppin a bomb on u suckaz
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ok, its just one game, nik you know my story so im not gonna explain all that lol. but everyone is talkin about how selfish kobe is gonna be this year, so what does kobe do? make a concious effort to get others involved. after a while though he migh tpossibly completely stray from that stlye of play once he has peoples mind off of their previous assumtpion of him being selfish.......you can only go so long before you fall back into your old habits.
of course, kobe might prove me wrong though.....make this thread again in january.....
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.make this thread again in january.....
I'll be sure to bring this up...
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Here's how I see it...
Kobe wants to win
Kobe will do anything in his power to win
At different points in the game, if he feels that passing it more will result in more points, he will pass more... if he feels that he should take some shots himself, then he will take more shots
He doesn't care what his stats look like, he wants to win
That's what all superstar status players do... people only hate on him because he's so young and doing what stars are usually doing so much later in their careers
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However, I don't agree with people comparing him to Jordan already. As of this moment, Jordan is on a whole 'nother level, and people have to realize that.
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However, I don't agree with people comparing him to Jordan already. As of this moment, Jordan is on a whole 'nother level, and people have to realize that.
That's not what coach Rudy T says...Rudy coached hall of famers like Hakeem, Drexler, Barkley, and others throughout his career...He said Kobe's on another level...After this season, more people will appreciate Kobe...You will all see.
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I do appreciate Kobe.
I think he's a great player.
In my opinion, he hasn't accomplished anything close to what Jordan has, that's all. I mean, yeah, he's got a lot of time to do all that, but until he does, he's not on Jordan's level. I'm not saying he can't, he just hasn't yet, which is quite understandable, considering that he's only been playing for the amount of time that he has.
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If he continues doing what he does, he will be on that level by the end of his career.
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If he continues doing what he does, he will be on that level by the end of his career.
Possibly... but you never know what could happen... he may even surpass him... or he could suffer from an injury and not play anymore... who knows
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However, I don't agree with people comparing him to Jordan already.
People is too much generic, man. Let's call out names: Phil Jackson said Bryant has some "jordanesque" in him. Coming from the former coach of Jordan, it's pretty much fat. Then Rudy Tomjanovic. He said Bryant is on "that level". If two of the best coaches of our time thinks that, maybe it's the truth?
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great player indeed but stop dickriding him in all lakers topics, it's only one game.
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didn't the lakers get their ass handed to them yesterday?
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people only hate on him because he's so young and doing what stars are usually doing so much later in their careers
Larry and Magic were about the same age as Kobe is now and they were doing great things. I've never hated on them. I just think Kobe was riding O'Niel to the championship, alot more than O'niel was riding Kobe. With Magic and Larry the driving force was clearly them. We'll find out in the next two seasons if Kobe can do it with out Shaq. The bottom line is that I htink Kobe is overrated and the next few seasons will either prove or refute my theory.
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people only hate on him because he's so young and doing what stars are usually doing so much later in their careers
Larry and Magic were about the same age as Kobe is now and they were doing great things. I've never hated on them. I just think Kobe was riding O'Niel to the championship, alot more than O'niel was riding Kobe. With Magic and Larry the driving force was clearly them. We'll find out in the next two seasons if Kobe can do it with out Shaq. The bottom line is that I htink Kobe is overrated and the next few seasons will either prove or refute my theory.
What about Shaq? If he doesnt win the title in Miami?
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this just in...
The lakers got OWNED by the jazz. Kobe had 38, the only other player on the team in double digits was Odom with like 12??
They were never in the game. This is gonna be a long season for laker fans.
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people only hate on him because he's so young and doing what stars are usually doing so much later in their careers
Larry and Magic were about the same age as Kobe is now and they were doing great things. I've never hated on them. I just think Kobe was riding O'Niel to the championship, alot more than O'niel was riding Kobe. With Magic and Larry the driving force was clearly them. We'll find out in the next two seasons if Kobe can do it with out Shaq. The bottom line is that I htink Kobe is overrated and the next few seasons will either prove or refute my theory.
What about Shaq? If he doesnt win the title in Miami?
Well the same goes for Shaq I guess. But he's shown in the past that he can take teams far (before Kobe). Shaq's also a bit older.
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this just in...
The lakers got OWNED by the jazz. Kobe had 38, the only other player on the team in double digits was Odom with like 12??
They were never in the game. This is gonna be a long season for laker fans.
Right now Jazz is a better team than us at home. Period.
But we will have Divac and George coming back soon, they will help us.
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people only hate on him because he's so young and doing what stars are usually doing so much later in their careers
Larry and Magic were about the same age as Kobe is now and they were doing great things. I've never hated on them. I just think Kobe was riding O'Niel to the championship, alot more than O'niel was riding Kobe. With Magic and Larry the driving force was clearly them. We'll find out in the next two seasons if Kobe can do it with out Shaq. The bottom line is that I htink Kobe is overrated and the next few seasons will either prove or refute my theory.
What about Shaq? If he doesnt win the title in Miami?
Well the same goes for Shaq I guess. But he's shown in the past that he can take teams far (before Kobe). Shaq's also a bit older.
Yes, but he didnt win a damn thing unless Kobe. And viceversa. Look, the truth is that Kobe cant win a title without Shaq, and Shaq cant win a title without Kobe. And the surrounding staff (Horry, Fox, R.Harper, B.Shaw, Fisher, George, etc..)
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this just in...
The lakers got OWNED by the jazz. Kobe had 38, the only other player on the team in double digits was Odom with like 12??
They were never in the game. This is gonna be a long season for laker fans.
True that the Lakers got fucked, but where were you when they shitted on Denver (an upcoming team from the west)??
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I predict Bryant to average like 30-34 points this season, yet the Lakers will have their worst record since like forever.
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people only hate on him because he's so young and doing what stars are usually doing so much later in their careers
Larry and Magic were about the same age as Kobe is now and they were doing great things. I've never hated on them. I just think Kobe was riding O'Niel to the championship, alot more than O'niel was riding Kobe. With Magic and Larry the driving force was clearly them. We'll find out in the next two seasons if Kobe can do it with out Shaq. The bottom line is that I htink Kobe is overrated and the next few seasons will either prove or refute my theory.
What about Shaq? If he doesnt win the title in Miami?
Well the same goes for Shaq I guess. But he's shown in the past that he can take teams far (before Kobe). Shaq's also a bit older.
Yes, but he didnt win a damn thing unless Kobe. And viceversa. Look, the truth is that Kobe cant win a title without Shaq, and Shaq cant win a title without Kobe. And the surrounding staff (Horry, Fox, R.Harper, B.Shaw, Fisher, George, etc..)
But IF Miami does go deep in the playoffs or win the championship, and the Lakers don't make it to the playoffs, then I want every Kobe lover to shut up forever. Besides I was comparing Kobe to Larry and Magic, not Shaq.
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people only hate on him because he's so young and doing what stars are usually doing so much later in their careers
Larry and Magic were about the same age as Kobe is now and they were doing great things. I've never hated on them. I just think Kobe was riding O'Niel to the championship, alot more than O'niel was riding Kobe. With Magic and Larry the driving force was clearly them. We'll find out in the next two seasons if Kobe can do it with out Shaq. The bottom line is that I htink Kobe is overrated and the next few seasons will either prove or refute my theory.
What about Shaq? If he doesnt win the title in Miami?
Well the same goes for Shaq I guess. But he's shown in the past that he can take teams far (before Kobe). Shaq's also a bit older.
Yes, but he didnt win a damn thing unless Kobe. And viceversa. Look, the truth is that Kobe cant win a title without Shaq, and Shaq cant win a title without Kobe. And the surrounding staff (Horry, Fox, R.Harper, B.Shaw, Fisher, George, etc..)
But IF Miami does go deep in the playoffs or win the championship, and the Lakers don't make it to the playoffs, then I want every Kobe lover to shut up forever. Besides I was comparing Kobe to Larry and Magic, not Shaq.
But then there could always be arguments of Miami having the better supporting cast and being in the east doesn't hurt neither...Remember, Miami made it deep into the playoffs last year WITHOUT Shaq.
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LOL there could be NO argument that Miami has the better supporting cast, after shaq, they got wade who is sick, but then they basically got eddie jones who's only decent now... and what else, can't say christian Laettner he's whack now, they got nothin else.
Lakers defo got the better supporting cast end of story...
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LOL there could be NO argument that Miami has the better supporting cast, after shaq, they got wade who is sick, but then they basically got eddie jones who's only decent now... and what else, can't say christian Laettner he's whack now, they got nothin else.
Lakers defo got the better supporting cast end of story...
Miami has Shaq and Wade...Lakers have Kobe and a bunch of role players...Odom hasn't been playing like an all-star YET...Get that bullshit out of here, homie.
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Odom had 14 points, Anway....Lakers are going to lose games....people are so quick to say how bad they are when they lose....No one's talking about how Sacramento lost their first 2 games by about 15 points....It's going to take a while for the Lakers to come together and start winning some games....None of these guys have played together before....I still say Lakers will win 50+ this year
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people only hate on him because he's so young and doing what stars are usually doing so much later in their careers
Larry and Magic were about the same age as Kobe is now and they were doing great things. I've never hated on them. I just think Kobe was riding O'Niel to the championship, alot more than O'niel was riding Kobe. With Magic and Larry the driving force was clearly them. We'll find out in the next two seasons if Kobe can do it with out Shaq. The bottom line is that I htink Kobe is overrated and the next few seasons will either prove or refute my theory.
What about Shaq? If he doesnt win the title in Miami?
Well the same goes for Shaq I guess. But he's shown in the past that he can take teams far (before Kobe). Shaq's also a bit older.
Yes, but he didnt win a damn thing unless Kobe. And viceversa. Look, the truth is that Kobe cant win a title without Shaq, and Shaq cant win a title without Kobe. And the surrounding staff (Horry, Fox, R.Harper, B.Shaw, Fisher, George, etc..)
But IF Miami does go deep in the playoffs or win the championship, and the Lakers don't make it to the playoffs, then I want every Kobe lover to shut up forever. Besides I was comparing Kobe to Larry and Magic, not Shaq.
If Miami will win the Championship, i'll shut up.
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About the Lakers-Miami thing, i've NEVER seen a team winning a championship thanx to one man only. NEVER. I mean Shaq & Kobe won 3 titles, right. But it was also thanx to the 3s of Shaw and Horry, who saved them against Portland in the best game i've ever seen. It's thanx to Ron Harper who added his experience. It's thanx to Robert Horry again who made them 3's against Sacramento. It's thanx to Lue who saved Phil Jackson's ass by guarding Iverson 1 on 1. It's thanx to Rick Fox who had great defence against San Antonio and Sacramento. It's thanx to Phil Jackson and Tex Winter. Shit it's even thanx to G.Rice, a big delusion, but shit he did his job. You cant really make it like Shaq won the titles alone. Or Kobe won the titles alone. Cause they didnt and they CANT. Alone they cant win nothing. Shaq without Kobe IMO cant win a title. Shaq without a GREAT supporting cast cant win a title. Kobe alone CANT win a title. Kobe without a GREAT supporting cast cant win a title. IMO neither Lakers and Heat got great supporting casts for Kobe and Shaq.
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2 loses in a row...funny how ppl get all high and mighty after 1 game...chill guys...wait till half the season then we'll see how good kobe is doing..and the lakers!
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2 loses in a row...funny how ppl get all high and mighty after 1 game...chill guys...wait till half the season then we'll see how good kobe is doing..and the lakers!
Well, the game against San Antonio was expected...San Antonio are he number 1 contenders for winning it all this season, and have been playing together as a team for years...Lakers are just now meshing together and re-building the franchise around Kobe...It'll take time until everyone learns to play as a team...Give the Lakers a few more months for the chemistry to flow..Also, let some of the injuries heal (Devean George, Slava Medvadenko, Vlade Divac, Luke Walton, Brian Grant, Kareem Rush, and possibly even Karl Malone)...Then we'll see.
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Raptors 3-0 they just beat Portland a few minutes ago, WHAT! 8)
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Raptors 3-0 they just beat Portland a few minutes ago, WHAT! 8)
Houston, Detroit, Portland....How about those Raptors 8)
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Don't get TOO happy, Raptor fans...They're gunna fall off really quick, and Vince Carter will be traded by mid-season.
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Yeah they got a REALLY hard wecoast road trip comin up... It's 6 games, and Id say they should be happy if they win 3 of them...
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Since I'm a Southern Cali resident and Laker fan, i figure I'll weigh in on the team.
For the record, I feel the Kobe is one of the most talented players in the NBA. He is not on the level of Jordan, Magic or Bird. Jordan won with Pippen, Grant/Rodman and a bunch of scrubs. Kobe was flat out shut down against Detroit. I never saw that happen to Jordan.
With that being said, even though I disagreed with the Lakers trading Shaq, I do see some good things happening in this young season. Once Lamar Odom gets it together and gets acclamated to the Lakers, he will be HUGE, mark my words. He's like a mini-Garnett, handling the rock at 6'10". Caron Butler got skills too, he reminds me of a young Eddie Jones, hitting the 3 then driving to the hoop and playing hard. The Lakers are moving the ball better than I've seen in a long time and Kobe is playing like a team player, which is key if the Lakers are going to go anywhere. They as a team play with a ton of energy, which is nice to see.
The team right now has 3 main problems. One, they turn the ball over way too much, but that should take care of itself after while. Their defense is kinda shaky and we have no inside stopper. Mihm can get a few blocks here and there but I guess I've been spoiled with 8 years of Shaq hoggling the lane defensively. If Karl Malone comes back and when Vlade comes back, and players are back at their normal positions, this will improve.
The Lakers will make the playoffs this year and they're probably win in the neighborhood of 50 games or so. They're not on the elite level of Minnesota and San Antonio.