Once again. Kobe is a free agent. Dump him and you get jack shit. Shaq has two years left on his contract. You can trade him for some fine players. Everyone agrees that Shaq is a mensch and Kobe is a dickhead. You still have to keep Kobe given that it’s one or the other.
I’d rather have Shaq as my business partner or my neighbor or my son-in-law. I’d rather have Kobe on my basketball team.
Haj
I think it would be in the Lakers best interests to dump the fuckers and start all over with a solid team based on 12 people who play a fundementally sound game. Passing, defense, free throws, teamwork, all the bullshit buzzwords. Rudy T could give that to them in just a couple of seasons. But, no one wants to rebuild any more. It all has to happen NOW! THIS SEASON! Bunch of stupids…
Yeah, I’m with you here.
Of course he was. The refs let any Piston within five feet of a Laker do whatever they want - hold jerseys, knock people to the floor, all kinds of stuff with nary a call.
Yeah, I agree. As someone in the LA Times pointed out - I sometimes thought Shaq didn’t care enough to go all out in a game, but at least I never thought he deliberately threw one.
I don’t see Kobe’s attitude preventing the necessary role players to be put in place - it’s the fact that Mitch Kupchak evaluates talent about as well as my ass. It’s freaking embarrassing.
[/quote]
He’s no better then Vince Carter, Tracy, or Iverson, a bunch of 30 ppg players on nobody teams.
[/QUOTE]
You’re wrong here. He’s much better than Carter, first off. Although I’m sure Carter’s got a note from his gynecologist excusing him from playing with any sort of tenacity inside.
McGrady’s good, but he slacks off too much - especially on defense.
Really? Outside of Yao, which great centers are you talking about in the West? Rasho Nesterovic? Michael Olowokandi? Shawn Bradley? Calvin Booth?
No, what’s going to hold Brian Grant back is his bad back.
Look, I’m not thrilled about this. Hopefully they can make a few other moves after this because they’re going to need more size. When is Grant’s contract up?
Yeah, they gave Ben Wallace the calls … the sort of calls Shaq’s gotten every damn game for the last ten years.
How’s the phrase go? Something about “if it’s good for the goose, then the gander gets to bend the goose over a table and make the goose his prison bitch in five games.” Yeah, that’s it.
OMG, furt! That was so fuckin’ poetic! Can I use that as a sig? Please?
Neurotik, gimme a break. This last season was the first time in years I’ve seen anyone call Shaq on his three second violations. The man damn near sets up a tent in the paint every possession.
NCB, I think that’s probably the best idea anyone’s come up with so far. But i don’t see it happening, more’s the pity. They have some strong young talent, but I doubt they’ll develop it. More likely trade them away over the next couple seasons.
I’m not talking about Ben Wallace, actually. I’m talking about pretty much every other Piston - especially Rasheed.
As for Shaq. Give me a break. He doesn’t do anything any other player doesn’t do. Ever watch Chris Webber in the post against a smaller opponent? Watch him slam his shoulder into the defender and knock him down before making his spin move to the basket. Happens every time.
Obviously you don’t watch basketball very much since I’ve seen that get called against Shaq regularly for the past 5 years. Especially in the past 3.
Is it too late to bring back Mark Madsen?
Errr you mean the guy that spent most of the series planted on his ass becuase of foul trouble?
Yes. I’m also talking about the guy who knocked Malone and George to the ground several times with nary a call. Frankly, he should have played about half as much as he did if they refs didn’t turn a blind eye to a couple of ridiculously flagrant fouls on his part (not “flagrant fouls” in terms of the NBA rule book term, just fouls that were pretty obvious and flagrant).
Here’s Bill Simmons’ take:
And it’s not like he’s particularly pro-Lakers.
Incidentally, he calls for the Lakers to pull a sign and trade with Kobe somewhere and to keep Shaq. A little late, but I couldn’t agree more with him. There’s several players that at least come somewhat close to Kobe’s abilities. There’s nobody close to what Shaq does. Milk the next two or three years of usefulness out of him and then let him go. sigh
I’ll be honest with you I don’t remember anything that flagrant done by Wallace in the finals. I do distinctly rememeber a few times when Big Ben jumped about 4 feet foward going for a rebound with the assistance of Shaq. But thats the way basketball games go I don’t think the calls were too skewed either way the reason the Pistons went to the line more was that they drove to the basket more.