Originally posted by Linkalicious
Damnit. Bummed about last night, but you know, it's kinda hard to hate this Pistons team. They're humble...and courteous.I got all fired up in the 1st half because...well it was still a game. You didn't hear from me in the 2nd because the refs called the 2nd half straight down the line...
11 of the 12 Detroit Pistons just flat out wanted to win more than every Laker except one. Darko was Detroit's one player who didn't want the win more than others...but he doesn't play much anyways. The only Laker that wanted it as bad as any Detroit player was Karl Malone...and he's a gimp right now.
Detroit played 48 minutes of basketball all 5 games their short coming was in game 2's overtime where they lost that desire after Kobe's shot.
Kudo's to Detroit...they are the best TEAM in the NBA. And Ben Wallace is a complete beast. I'm kinda happy to see Detroit win it...they got a classy group of champions.
And I gotta admit, instead of being completely irrate about the loss i'm kinda just like "oh well....we didn't win this year" I guess that leaves more to look forward to next year. It should be a very interesting summer....again.
good sport you are, and i respect you for that, as for the Laker team i hear it will disassemble, since Phil Jackson's desicion to leave is like 95% certain and i do think Malone and Payton are to leave, i do wonder what lyes ahead for the lakers?
I try to be a good sport....besides i spent a good 15-20 minutes "mother f**king" the Pistons at home.
I think Phil Jackson leaving will be good for the team. They need a coach that will emphasize defense, rebounding, and the fast break. Those were their primary weaknesses against Detroit. Their half court offense, i felt, was better than Detroits....but Detroit really kicked LA's ass in those other 3 departments.
Kobe and Shaq on the same team will will put most coaches through the wringer. Getting those two ego's to work together was one of the more astonishing things about Phil.
Actually, I think this year would have been complete self destruct if not for Gary Payton and Karl Malone. Since they showed up, Kobe and Shaq atleast tried to put their differences aside in order to win a championship. I think they just flat ran out of gas at the end...and even with more gas...Detroit's tank was limitless...
Originally posted by Drifter101
yea........ so what do you think of Malone and Payton, gone?
Well that is obviously very difficult to say. It really depends on the actions of the people around him.
Karl Malone, though championship greedy, does not strike me as the type of person who would spend the remaining years of his career hopping around from team to team trying to get the best chance of winning a championship. With Shaq and a lot of salary cap room...I still think Los Angeles is an ideal home for Karl.
So I'd like to discuss what everyone else feels about this, but I feel that Karl will either retire or stay a Laker. I don't see him going anywhere else.
Gary is also another guy with a shrouded future. After this years, less than par performance for the Lakers, one would think that a 33 year old, sh!t talking, no shot having, slow defending guard would not be on high demand at this point in time. It is clear that Gary does not like the triangle offense and that he has had his disagreements with Phil Jackson...so you'd think he wants out. But Phil probably won't return next year, so the triangle may disappear with the head coach. This would eliminate Gary's reasons to leave...except of course unless another team would be willing to pay him more money.
I don't see any teams that would be willing to sign a multi year deal for Payton at this moment. He could stay a Laker, or he could go anywhere for a year or two for more money than LA will give him.
Kobe, Kobe, Kobe...
I love his hype, I love how he talks of getting out, and the chances of him leaving are good. But if I had to put money on it, i'd say he goes to check free agency out, but ultimately stays a Laker.
My reasons being:
1.) Los Angeles has the kind of money and cap room to resign him to a pretty high paying multi-year deal. Like the competing teams.
2.) He lives in Newport Beach, California. One of the most beautiful places to call home on this planet...let alone the US. Why leave his home to relocate? that's additional drama on top of his failing marriage, court trial, and off season work outs.
3.) Los Angeles supported him all season long, and seems more than willing to back him throughout his the remainder of his trial. Far better than most, if not all, cities in the nation.
4.) Most important....the teams that want him.
a.) Los Angeles - They want him back, he begun as a Laker, and Jerry Buss has stated that he wants him to end as a Laker. Jerry gets what he wants....generally. As Shaq said...they are the most potent one two combo in the league...there's no real need to break that up. Winning championships SHOULD be most important, and his best chances would probably be if he stayed in LA with Shaq.
b.) New York - A great city that would embrace him and support him with his court troubles. MIGHT not be able to offer as much money as LA, but this would be a tempting team. Alan Houston and Stephon Marbury require a lot of touches during the game in order to put up their numbers. This limits Kobe's shot attempts and chances of getting the ball. you've all seen Stephon's tendency to dribble up court and fire a 3 without running through the offense....Payton and Fisher don't do that.
c.) Memphis - Another tantilizing team for Kobe. Memphis is on the rise with all of their young talent. Kobe has always liked Jerry West and has become good friends with him. BUT you have to ask yourself....who really wants to move to Canada? Who wants to deal with Bonzi Wells and Jason Williams? One fights and argues with teammates, the other flings up wild shots like a mad man.
d.) Denver - He'd be insane to move to Colorado. There's almost no chance he would want to end up as a Nugget.
So yes, a good case could be made for Memphis and New York, but when was the last time those teams won championships? They don't have a winning tradition like the Lakers. And no one looks prettier in Yellow and Purple than #8.
Karl may retire, Payton may go anywhere that will pay him good money, but I'd really like to think that Kobe won't find a better place than LA.
you forget phoniex....with a big man like stoudamare and young talent like marion there also a superstar away from being contendor, plus theres the fact that kobe has always want his own team and as long as shaq is a laker that will be shaqs team...i was watchin sports center or espnnews after the finals and there talkin abot kobe and i like what stephen a smith said he said something like "you have a shaq in LA, you have an owner thats wants to win plus its LA so why would anyone want to leave, but kobe is a straaaange cat who is very unpredicatbable which means anything is possible with him"
too true. I'm more interested in seeing what the Lakers do with the rest of their team.
What do you do with Fox?
What do you do with Fisher?
What do you do with Slava?
What do you do with Grant?
I think George and Shaq are the only ones that are still held down by contract.
Though I don't see how Kobe is very strange and unpredictable...i do see your case for Phoenix. I still can't imagine #8 wearing a different jersey. it just looks funny when i picture it.
i've read and heard some stories about kobe that are very strange...he has own entourages and his own barber and when he went on vacation he couldnt find his barber so he fired him and sent him and his family home, another time he was on vacation in china he ordered somethin that looked awful and he told one of his bodyguards to try it his bodygurad told him no so kobe was goin to fire him if he didnt (the 1st one i read in a magazine so it may or maynot be true, but i saw the 2nd one on MTV Diaries)....grants old he needs to retire, same with fox i dont know why they would want to stay in LA they had a good run there but they would get more PT someplace else
it would be weird seeing kobe in a different uniform but who would have thought jordan woulda wore anything but a bulls uniform
Kobe isn't going to NY. I'm pretty sure. They don't have enough money to sign him and the Lakers said they won't negotiate any sign and trade deals, so Kobe would have to sign with a team that does have enough money.
Phoenix or Clippers are the top teams to get him in my mind. Kobe loves LA, just not certain things about the Lakers. Plus his wife doesn't want to leave LA. Phoenix would just be a good situation.