Pop is a better coach than PJ...PJ has just been luckier.
As much of a drama queen as Larry Brown is, he's probably still the best coach in the league. Consistently gets teams to overachieve. Never really blessed with a transcendental superstar like Michael or Shaq or Hakeem or Duncan. And, while his off-court persona is definitely sullied, he's probably still the best coach in the game.
Yeah, POP really showed us that this season.
Jackson is probably right. Especially considering the injuries to the Rockets. The problem I have is Kobe has not won without Shaq. Kobe tried to put his stamp early in the game last night against a weaker opponent but couldn't. Last years finals he disapeared. The lakers are stacked and should wipe the floor with this Rocket team but it's all tied up. If the Lakers don't win Sunday I will be shocked. And if they lose the legend of Kobe is over.
The legend of Kobe has been over for a while now. Other than the mass media trying to push the guy down everyone's throat, basketball-wise he is nowhere near to the best ever player they try to compare him with.
Or do you think MJ would let this Laker team go seven games against this ailing Rockets team?
im sure when pop sticks with finely and udoka spurs fans say "that a boy! we love our pop
MJ had a killer instinct, Kobe can be clutch, but the killer instinct is not always there.
He did in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007.Yeah, POP really showed us that this season.
Pop has done more with less over the past decade than any other coach in the NBA, hands down.
You're dumb if you think that about Kobe.
Gasol and Odom is a FAR cry from Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
Pau Gasol has become so ing overrated since he became a Laker. Kobe makes him look much better than he really is. Who is he really? Yeah he's the guy that was 0-12 in the playoffs before he became a Laker.
Bulletin board material. Nice.
I also don't remember MJ quitting on his team, thanks for letting Phoenix advance that year...
Lets look at the last three seasons
Kobe w/o Gasol
Regular season: 72-56 (.563)
Postseason wins: 4
Series victories: zero
Kobe w/Gasol
Regular season: 92-26 (.780)
Postseason wins: 21
Series victories: 4
So who is who making who look good?
I agree.
I think we've seen enough post-seasons of Kobe's for that to be the case. 2004, 2006, I wonder if Kobe will take three shots again in this upcoming game 7? ...Only now he doesn't have Smush Parker and Kwame to blame anymore for his passive-aggressive leadership.
Only in 2008 do I give Kobe a free-pass in his losing the Finals, because Celtics had a good gameplan against him, and they were able to match the Lakers weapons....that said MJ on that Lakers team wouldn't have gotten blown out by 39 points in an elimination game.
Before Gasol and Bynum, Laker fan blamed it on lack of talent.
Now that they have talent surrounding Kobe, now they're complaining about not having players that retired 10 years ago.
It's never enough for Laker fan.
The problem with that is you left out the Gasol w/o Kobe stats.
Size doesn't win basketball games, strategy, talent and heart win basketball games. All the Lakers have is size. After that they pretty much suck.
The Lakers are like the Yankees now...a big market team spending big $$$ and stacking their team with talent, yet still not able to win it all. That streak will likely continue this year as well.
Agree with that to a great extent. I think when Kobe has gotten frustrated with teammates and realizes even with his best effort, they're likely to lose, he has been one to give up at times. That's definitely what happened in the second half of game 7 of the the 2007 Phoenix series.
I also think the respective careers of the two also affect this. Jordan experienced playoff failures early in his career and once he climbed the mountain, he never let up and never allowed his teammates to let up.
Kobe experienced great success in the playoffs early in his career, and he still has shown that he feels almost en led to greatness. Not that he doesn't work hard, because he does. But, he hasn't really had to deal with climbing the mountain from scratch. Even with becoming a lottery team for a year and those two early playoff exits, it seems like after the Gasol trade, it was like he skipped a huge part of the learning experience of climbing that mountain again. There's that sense of en lement. Then there's that frustration that gets to him when things don't go exactly the way he envisions they should.
He's being tested now. How does he respond not only in his performance but with his motivating and willing his teammates in the next game, and if the Lakers get past the Rockets, the rest of the playoffs? We'll see.
Good analogy.
I'd say they have the talent and strategy as well.
They lack that "heart" trait, and both mental and physical toughness.
"It's a home game. Nothing to worry about."
"It's not as bad as it seems. We're ok."
"We are not afraid of the Rockets. Allah has condemned them. They are stupid. They are stupid" (dramatic pause) "and they are condemned."
"Yes, the Rocket troops have advanced further. This will only make it easier for us to defeat them"
WINNER!!!
"It's a home game. Nothing to worry about."
"It's not as bad as it seems. We're ok."
"We are not afraid of the Rockets. Allah has condemned them. They are stupid. They are stupid" (dramatic pause) "and they are condemned."
"Yes, the Rocket troops have advanced further. This will only make it easier for us to defeat them"
I am sure the Rockets players check ST before going to bed.
I don't really agree.
Unlike the Yankees, the Lakers are still strapped by the CBA, otherwise they could have kept a guy like Turiaf last summer or they could go in every off-season acquiring a premier player. But there are still more restrictive ways of acquiring elite players in the NBA because teams can't offer max contracts every summer to anyone they want if they're already over the cap. And, after Kobe and Gasol, the talent on the Lakers is not quite at a comparable level as the Yankees. Bynum was a draft pick. Odom is a very good player. The rest of the roster is filled with role players.
Dude...the Lakers are ing STACKED...yet they still can't win a le since Shaq left. Kobe will never win a le without Shaq. Book it.
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