If you could assemble a team of the best players in the west...

[pauls931]

That did not include any laker players. Could you assemble a team that could beat the current lakers?

Rules are your starters can only be starters from other teams. In fact to keep it simple lets just go with a starting lineup.

If you must create a bench, suck it and pick a sixth man...

[21_Blessings]

No. Not enough defense.

Paul
Roy
Melo
Dirk
Timmy

[picc84]

Are you kidding?

I hate to say it but, get off the Lakers nuts. This is absurd. You act like we're the dream team.

[21_Blessings]

. You act like we're the dream team.

This Lakers team would beat the 04 Olympic Dream/Joke Team losers.

Just because you have a bunch of talent doesn't mean you're automatically going to play well together.

[wireonfire]

No. Not enough defense.

Paul
Roy
Melo
Dirk
Timmy

Enough defense with Yao, TD, Melo, Roy, Paul. Bynum is Yao's bitch.

[21_Blessings]

Enough defense with Yao, TD, Melo, Roy, Paul. Bynum is Yao's bitch.

Yao doesn't guard the pick and roll well.

I don't care who in the West you're putting out there against Lakers - still not stopping the Gasol/Bynum and Kobe pick and roll.

[Venti Quattro]

Deron
Roy
Carmelo
Dirk
Timmy

[Chieflion]

Deron
Roy
Carmelo
Dirk
Timmy
I give this a +1.

[Culburn369]

Bynum is Yao's bitch.

Only when Yao makes like an upright piano.

[monosylab1k]

Kidd
Ross
Marion
Dirk
Dampier

They already kicked the shit out of the Lakers.

[Culburn369]

Kidd
Ross
Marion
Dirk
Dampier

They already kicked the shit out of the Lakers.

Too bad you didn't have 'em in the Summer of '06, in south Florida, eh?

tee, hee.

[Venti Quattro]

Kidd
Ross
Marion
Dirk
Dampier

They already kicked the shit out of the Lakers.

Without Pau.

[Thunder Dan]

Just move the Bobcats to the west and there you go

[monosylab1k]

Without Pau.

Without Howard

[Venti Quattro]

Without Howard
Pau is light years better and more important than J Ho.

[monosylab1k]

Pau is light years better and more important than J Ho.

Prove it.

[Culburn369]

Even Gore failed to win Florida that year, actually he got stolen the win of florida as well as the win of election just like how mavs got trapped there.

Yep, Gore thought he was the tough guy, then old man Bush & Sons took him out to the Glades and left him.

Make no mistake, he had it comin'.

[Culburn369]

Seriously, I got no beef getting beat by the Mavs. We got beat. It happens. Ross is going to have to be accounted for in the equation.

Citing injuries is weak & puny. I won't do it. It's my religion.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Chris Paul
Shane Battier
Carmelo Anthony
Dirk
Duncan

w/ Deron Williams off the bench

Given LA's weakness against quick PG's, you kinda need to put a speedy PG as good as Paul on the team if it's who would be best against the Lakers. You figure he could have a few monster games against Fisher and Farmar.

You can't have a team full of ball dominators, you actually need a team that can play well together. Battier defends Kobe better than anyone in the West and is a great team player, so I put him in the lineup. Brandon Roy is a better player than Battier but has the ball in his hands all the time and can't co-exist with a star PG or star SF. The one problem here is Kobe won't have to work very hard on the defensive end.

Melo is the obvious SF just based on how well he usually does against LA. Yeah Artest can guard him better than Ariza can but the size advantage he had on Ariza isn't much bigger than the quickness advantage he has on Ron.

Dirk has always gotten the better of Pau Gasol in H2H matchups, mostly cause he's the better player. He's also an above average pick and roll defender with more than enough size to limit Pau. I almost put Scola here but the offensive gap was too much to ignore.

The West is so weak at center so I had to put a PF here (:stirpot:). Duncan is great on offense no matter who's guarding him, however the physical advantages Bynum has on him (50 pounds, 2 inches, more athleticism, younger legs) could be a problem.

Deron hopefully would carry the 2nd unit and destroy whoever is guarding him.


There really isn't a lineup in the West you could look at and know would dominate LA simply cause they have the best player regardless, and the thing about basketball is having the best player on the court automatically gives you at least a decent shot at winning the game.

[JamStone]

Deron
Roy
Carmelo
Dirk
Timmy

Definitely would be a better team than the Lakers.

But I don't think you even need a team of all perennial all stars to put up a team that would be very competitive and have a good chance. Just a well balanced team, one main scorer, a good lead guard, a very good perimeter defender, and size and strength up front.

Billups
Durant
Ariza
Nene
Kaveman

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Billups
Durant
Ariza
Nene
Kaveman


I think you would need a scorer at PF or C to get some high percentage shots.

It's a shame Amare sucks so much at defense or he'd be my pick at PF given his athleticism advantage over Pau. Since the Lakers got good again, he's been great against them as a power forward and horrible against them without Shaq ensuring Bynum isn't guarding Amare.

[picc84]

Josh Howard = Pau Gasol

[Lars]

Have to have a speedy PG to torch Fisher, so Paul is the obvious choice. Maybe Nash in there, but he has a tendency to choke vs. Lakers and a virtual zero on D. Kobe is obviously gonna ballhog so I like bringing in Battier to single cover his shots. Durant or Carmello in at the 3 as the primary offensive weapon. I'd have to double check to see who performs better vs. Artest d. For big men, I would bring in one offensive and one defensive, maybe Okafor and Yao. Why are we only picking players from the west?

[Culburn369]

Make sure Battier brings his "Stop Kobe" binder along with him. Have Ariza carry it.

tee, hee.

[Chieflion]

Well, my lineup would have been, I try not to make the team too godly. Laker fans might get cocky and think that only stacked teams with all-stars can beat them.

PG: Aaron Brooks (Just cause he is fast and owned Fisher when it comes to scoring.)
SG: Shane Battier (Another Rocket who can guard Kobe, but Kobe usually tries to go for 40 against Battier, I hope his 3 point shot is still good enough.)
SF: Carmelo Anthony (The leading NBA scorer can match Bryant point for point when it matters the most.)
PF: Tim Duncan (An anchor for my defense and can create offense in the post, with Brooks' limited PG abilities, he can just pass the ball to Timmy.
C: Greg Oden (Before the injury, he was the anchor for the Blazers' defense when he was on the court, his development led to a drastic improvement in defense for the Blazers this season despite the loss of perimeter defender Batum.)

I think this team can beat the Lakers, it does not really have to be stacked. If you like, you could replace Brooks with another fast PG who can score and defend without needing the ball on his hands too much, but I digress.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Kidd
Ross
Marion
Dirk
Dampier

They already kicked the shit out of the Lakers.

i agree

or go with

Billups
AA
Melo
K
Nene

they also owned the Lakers

(cue Lakers usual 'without Gasol' crappy comeback(

[The Gemini Method]

4-2 Western Conference victory over Nuggets...w/Pau

'nuff said.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

4-2 Western Conference victory over Nuggets...w/Pau

'nuff said.

w/Anthony Carter as backup PG

'nuff said.

[The Gemini Method]

w/Bynum scared to bash with the knee

'nuff said.

[Lars]

Hey now...

Anthony Carter is a quality NBA pla...Im sorry I can keep a straight face.

[EmptyMan]

Paul
Roy
Melo
Duncan
Matthew Jedediah The Leprechaun Prince Ivan The Red Straight Outta Concord I came I saw I Concord Bonner.


Jordan's dream team could not beat this line-up.

[The Gemini Method]

Anthony Carter and Sasha Vujacic should open up a camp..."How to Steal Millions From Your Favorite NBA Teams."

[redzero]

Lots of the teams listed would kill the Lakers. They are a great team, but not that great.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

w/Bynum scared to bash with the knee

'nuff said.

w/Dahntay Jones scared to do anything but trip Kobe

'nuff said

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Anthony Carter and Sasha Vujacic should open up a camp..."How to Steal Millions From Your Favorite NBA Teams."

:lol definately. Carter is just so bad, i really can't explain the joy when i see him on the bench and i see Lawesome just tearing teams up. :toast

[The Gemini Method]

w/Dahntay Jones scared to do anything but trip Kobe

'nuff said

w/Kobe staying in Eagle, CO for a little reminiscing

'nuff said

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

w/Kobe staying in Eagle, CO for a little reminiscing

'nuff said

:lol

You win.

[Venti Quattro]

The Nuggets always disappear in big games.

[The Gemini Method]

The Nuggets always disappear in big games.

While they disappeared in Game 6 of last year's WCF, I hardly think they totally disappeared. I think the L.A.-Denver WCF was the one series where I couldn't really get comfortable watching the proceedings. They took 2 games from the Lakers and were close in another couple. I don't know if they're the type of team to gain alot of knowledge from what they accomplished last year, but at the rate this season is going--I'd say they're going to be the biggest Western Conference obstacle for the Lakers to make a 3rd consecutive Finals appearance.

[djohn2oo8]

Enough defense with Yao, TD, Melo, Roy, Paul. Bynum is Yao's bitch.

Now he is Chuck Hayes' bitch

[Culburn369]

I'd say they're going to be the biggest Western Conference obstacle for the Lakers to make a 3rd consecutive Finals appearance.

With Yao out they're the only obstacle for the Lakers in the West.

[djohn2oo8]

Brooks
Roy
Carmelo
Dirk
Oden

[The Gemini Method]

With Yao out they're the only obstacle for the Lakers in the West.

I'm still not counting out the Spurs...though, I think the Lakers are still far and away the WC's best squad--it doesn't necessarily mean there won't be other obstacles...

[redzero]

Paul
Roy
Carmelo
Dirk
Duncan

D-Will
Ellis
Durant
Boozer/Okafor
Yao

[Culburn369]

But, we can keep everybody in front of us with the Spurs. Even Parker has slowed some to where it's manageable now.

[redzero]

I'm still not counting out the Spurs...though, I think the Lakers are still far and away the WC's best squad--it doesn't necessarily mean there won't be other obstacles...

The Lakers' only obstacle is the Nuggets.

[Culburn369]

We know we're better than the Spurs. And the Spurs know it.

We know we're better than the Nuggets. And the Nuggets don't believe it.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

The Nuggets do have a cocky arrogance about them can really annoy me as a fan, but you are right in the fact that they don't believe the Lakers are better than them.

I like it when they channel that confidence and beat the best teams, but i hate it when they get arrogant and don't show up vs teams like the Twolves :lol

[Culburn369]

We went thru similar temporal moments in the mid-80s when teams like Denver & Utah tried to unseat Magic and the Lakers, in the fervent belief that they were our better. Moe was a devout hater and would go to the whip on English in near fury to that end. It was in vain. Layden & Utah went the way of ref baiting to get past us. It too was also in vain.

[The Gemini Method]

It is kind've interesting to see all the nifty combos people came up with...though, I have to wonder considerably if any of these so-called Laker beater teams could put asside their massive collection of ego to beat a team that has a few years of seasoning behind it. With that being said, I'm going to say:

1. Chris Paul - He seems to be the perfect blend of speedster and shotmaker that the Lakers have trouble stopping. Throw in the ability to pick-n-roll, lob, and flop with the best of 'em, you have yourself the quinessential Laker killer point guard.

2. Brandon Roy--While not in the same stratosphere of the Kobes, LeBrons, Wades of the NBA world, he seems to bring it consistently against the Purple & Gold. I don't know what triggers hits onslaught, but with recent primmadonna(ish) comments, I think it has to do with wanting to be mentioned in the same breath of the aforementioned superstars. (Special mention to Sasha V. for killing the Lakers in another way...)

3. Trevor Ariza--Can't have everyone who is a household name on this list. You've got to have someone who plays strong D and knows the system that Phil likes to run. I would give this to Ariza since he is lengthy enough to cause anyone problems.

4. Dirk Nowitzki--Getting him worked up is as simple as finding the Hasselhoff portion of his mp3 player. Got the range and fadeaway to draw Pau/Odom/Bynum out of the lane and is able to provide the needed counter to no. 5.

5. Tim Duncan--Though his best years may just be a memory away, (or a return to the championship DVDs...) there hasn't been a Laker tormentor this menacing since the days of Larry Legend and the 'stach seen around the world. While the Lakers gave as good as they got, no one in the '00s provided a stiffer challenge than the Virgin Island's no. 1 swimmer (son).

[sexinthatsx]

deron williams
manu ginobili
carmelo anthony
tim duncan
marcus camby

[Sportstudi]

Paul
Roy
Carmelo
Dirk
Duncan

D-Will
Ellis
Durant
Boozer/Okafor
Yao

:tu

[Allanon]

Y'all are crazy. :lol

NONE of these made up teams would stand a chance against the Lakers.

[badfish22]

Y'all are crazy. :lol

All of these made up teams would kick the Lakers ass

[WildcardManu]

deron williams
manu ginobili
carmelo anthony
tim duncan
marcus camby

I would add a guard and make manu the sixth man :lobt2:

[TIMMYD!]

Deron
Roy
Carmelo
Dirk
Timmy

This starting lineup could beat any team in the NBA easily.

[Allanon]

All these made up teams would kick the Lakers ass

Sorry Badfish, but no team put together for a day could beat a real good NBA team.

Not only the Lakers but teams like the Celtics, Cavs, Magic, Nuggets would lay waste to any All Star team. I would even bet the Mavs/Suns would roll a team of All-Stars (ie CP3/Wade/LeBron/Bosh/Dwight).

It takes months to jell as a team no matter how talented they are. A one day All-Star team can't beat any of the elite teams that have been together for months and even years.

[baseline bum]

C Tim Duncan
F Dirk Nowitzki
F Carmello Anthony
G Brandon Roy
G Deron Williams
6 Amare Stoudemire

They'd sweep the Lakers.

[Allanon]

2004 USA team with Duncan, AI, LeBron, CP3, Amare, Melo and Dick came home with Bronze losing to Lithuania and Argentina.

Hell, even Redeem team with the best of the best (LeBron, Dwight, CP3, Kobe, Wade) barely beat out a Spanish team with only one NBA All Star (Pau). Half the guys on the Spanish team wouldn't even make an NBA roster.

The Lakers, Celtics and Cavs probably would have swept the Redeem team.

Y'all are smokin' crack.

[DPG21920]

2004 USA team with Duncan, AI, LeBron, CP3, Amare, Melo and Dick came home with Bronze losing to Lithuania and Argentina.

Hell, even Redeem team with the best of the best (LeBron, Dwight, CP3, Kobe, Wade) barely beat out a Spanish team with only one NBA All Star (Pau).

The Lakers, Celtics and Cavs probably would have swept the Redeem team.

Y'all are smokin' crack.

Sons, one thing you are forgetting is the rules in those games were different. Big factor.

[Allanon]

Sons, one thing you are forgetting is the rules in those games were different. Big factor.

Excuses, sons, excuses.

[DPG21920]

Excuses, sons, excuses.

So you don't think your analogy is off base taking into consideration the difference in the rules?

Or what about the other dream teams that shit all over the world for so long?

[baseline bum]

2004 USA team with Duncan, AI, LeBron, CP3, Amare, Melo and Dick came home with Bronze losing to Lithuania and Argentina.


Yeah, that's what you get when Marbury and Iverson are your point guards. If you switched Marbury out for Williams on my team I'd probably pick LA too.



Hell, even Redeem team with the best of the best (LeBron, Dwight, CP3, Kobe, Wade) barely beat out a Spanish team with only one NBA All Star (Pau). Half the guys on the Spanish team wouldn't even make an NBA roster.

Blame your boy Kobe for that. He was awful until the fourth quarter of that game.

[ffadicted]

Ok, let's see

Paul would TORCH fisher and their defense probably enough to win the game on his own lol
Roy isn't Kobe, but he could keep him in check and still get work done
Ron Artest can't contain Melo
Duncan and Dirk would rape anything the lakers put up front

This is a stupid thread, try again another day

[Allanon]

So you don't think your analogy is off base taking into consideration the difference in the rules?

Or what about the other dream teams that shit all over the world for so long?

The rules do account for a bit. However, there's a huge talent gap as well. This talent gap more than makes up for the rules.

There was a big deal made about Redeem team having to make long-term commitments. No player was chosen unless he agreed to commit to alot of time with the team. How could y'all have missed this?

This is because they knew you can't just throw a bunch of Stars together and expect them to compete as a team.

Look at the 2004 Bronze, look at the 2008 Gold barely won over a very much less talented Spanish team.

[DPG21920]

So Jordan's first dream team in their first year struggled?

[Allanon]

Yeah, that's what you get when Marbury and Iverson are your point guards. If you switched Marbury out for Williams on my team I'd probably pick LA too.

More excuses. AI is a HoF'er. If they had spent a year preparing, 2004 USA would have swept the Argentinians.

You can't expect individuals practicing for a couple of weeks to beat a good TEAM playing together for years.



Blame your boy Kobe for that. He was awful until the fourth quarter of that game.

As usual, Kobe gets all the blame when his team loses and discredited when they win. :lol

[DPG21920]

Or the 92 dream team struggled with all of those stars?

[Allanon]

So Jordan's first dream team in their first year struggled?

Basketball wasn't even a sport in the world during Dream Team. Opposing players were rushing to get autographs :lol

[DPG21920]

Basketball wasn't even a sport in the world during Dream Team. Opposing players were rushing to get autographs :lol

Excuses, son, excuses.

[Allanon]

Excuses, son, excuses.

:lol



They got rock star treatment along the way, with even opposing players asking for autographs and pictures before games.
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/06/30/dream.team.hall.of.fame.ap/index.html

[DPG21920]

I don't see how that matters. So you are penalizing the new dream team and saying you can't throw guys together and just win, just because the world got better? The original dream team was stars thrown together and they won. This new team won. I just don't see that stance holding too much weight.

[Allanon]

I don't see how that matters. So you are penalizing the new dream team and saying you can't throw guys together and just win, just because the world got better? The original dream team was stars thrown together and they won. This new team won. I just don't see that stance holding too much weight.

The Dream Teams had no competition. That is no longer the case. Angola is a nobody, the Lakers are the World Champs. Big difference in competition there.

It's in the stats if you don't believe me.

I can even look up quotes from Colangelo himself saying that the team needed to play together for 3 years.

More stats from 2004 to show you how poor of a team it was..and it had nothing to do with the rules. It was mostly about POOR defense.

No different than the no defense All-Star games.

2004 Olympics - USA Team defense:

#9 in opponent scoring
#10 in defensive FG%
#12 in 3 point defense

Defense takes practice with the team. An ALL NBA team might have great individual offense but would be severely lacking in team defense.

Great defensive teams like the Lakers and Celtics would roll them.

[DPG21920]

So how does that one instance prove your point is what I am getting at? I can give you examples that disprove it like I did.

[pauls931]

Ok, let's see

Paul would TORCH fisher and their defense probably enough to win the game on his own lol
Roy isn't Kobe, but he could keep him in check and still get work done
Ron Artest can't contain Melo
Duncan and Dirk would rape anything the lakers put up front

This is a stupid thread, try again another day


Funny, most people just ignore stupid threads...

[baseline bum]

More excuses. AI is a HoF'er. If they had spent a year preparing, 2004 USA would have swept the Argentinians.


That doesn't make Iverson a point guard. If they had a point guard, outside shooting, and Duncan wasn't getting called for ticky-tack fouls, then they would have won the gold.

[Allanon]

So how does that one instance prove your point is what I am getting at? I can give you examples that disprove it like I did.

Poor examples. We're not talking about the Clippers getting demolished, these are the World Champion Lakers.

Lakers >>>> any team the Dream Teams faced.

Find me any modern day example of a thrown together team that dominates the competition and I'll concede your point.

[Allanon]

That doesn't make Iverson a point guard. If they had a point guard, outside shooting, and Duncan wasn't getting called for ticky-tack fouls, then they would have won the gold.

The 2004 team was a poor defensive team, like most All-Star teams. They were great on offense like #1 or #2.

Their poor defense (around #8 ranked defense) got them the Bronze and a team of mostly non-NBA level Argentinians won Gold.

The embarrassing Bronze medal was the watershed event that made Colangelo require a 3 year playing commitment because he knew you can't just throw All Star players together and beat good TEAMS anymore.

[baseline bum]

The 2004 team was a poor defensive team, like most All-Star teams. They were great on offense like #1 or #2.

Their poor defense (around #8 ranked defense) got them the Bronze and a team of mostly non-NBA level Argentinians won gold.

That team was in no way great on offense. Jefferson and Odom couldn't shoot. Wallace was worthless. Duncan was constantly on the bench in foul trouble. Marbury had one good game mixed with mostly awful ones. James was a kid and still didn't get enough minutes. Anthony got even less respect (and minutes) from Brown than James. Iverson played well, but he wasn't a point guard and the offense always looked lost.

[Allanon]

That team was in no way great on offense. Jefferson and Odom couldn't shoot. Wallace was worthless. Duncan was constantly on the bench in foul trouble. Marbury had one good game mixed with mostly awful ones. James was a kid and still didn't get enough minutes. Anthony got even less respect (and minutes) from Brown than James. Iverson played well, but he wasn't a point guard and the offense always looked lost.

They were like #1 or #2 in offense which is very typical of All Star teams.

But they had only #8 ranked defense; which is also very typical of All Star teams.

Great defensive+good offense teams like the Lakers and Celtics would rage on them.

[The Third Man]

true, only bynum has such a pussy that is tense enough to sprain shit's dick and gets his career done thankfully. Yao used to be a decent player with nice stats including a 20+10 season and probably he was indeed that good as numbers indicated, but he's already done honestly. It's ironic you idiots are still listing him as a "player" while he's already done.

Shut the fuck up, Knick fan. Your franchise is terminally in the toilet. The Nets will rise up before you assholes do.

[024]

Funny, most people just ignore stupid threads...
:lol

[024]

i think the argument of 2004 should be how great manu ginobili is. single handily defeating a collection of the best basketball players in the world. ginobili is truly one of the greats and that 2004 performance probably put him in the hall of fame.

[redzero]

i think the argument of 2004 should be how great manu ginobili is. single handily defeating a collection of the best basketball players in the world. ginobili is truly one of the greats and that 2004 performance probably put him in the hall of fame.

:lmao

[5in10]

CP3
Durant
Carmelo
Duncan
Jefferson

[duhoh]

This Lakers team would beat the 04 Olympic Dream/Joke Team losers.

Just because you have a bunch of talent doesn't mean you're automatically going to play well together.

true, but that's what the original dream team did. they were out on the golf course for a while :lol

D-Will
Melo
Dirk
Duncan
Yao (when he's on the court)

6th man? - Durant? :toast