Reply With Quote
Would the Spurs rather face Houston, Utah, or Denver? There are no gimme rounds in the Western Conference.
http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2007/...s/sports01.txt
By Nick Prevenas
Saturday, March 24, 2007 10:33 PM MDT
Kobe Bryant is an amazing basketball player.
This fact is irrefutable, and perhaps the only thing any basketball fan can agree upon regarding Bryant.
Since entering the league in 1996, few players have been as compelling and divisive as No. 8. Wait, I mean No. 24.
Bryant has topped the 50-point mark in his last four games, single-handedly pulling his Los Angeles Lakers out of its post-All-Star-game funk and back into the playoff picture.
In the past, Bryant’s scoring binges typically had little to no effect in terms of wins and losses. In the past, he was a cold-blooded assassin, consumed solely by his individual accomplishments.
Now, Bryant’s otherworldly play has captivated teammates and fans alike—but not all fans.
Since the avalanche of tabloid stories that followed him out of Eagle, Colo., Bryant’s image restoration program has gone into overdrive, but not all basketball fans have bought into the “new and improved” Bryant.
This anti-Kobe contingent never focuses on what he is—a supremely talented athlete. Instead, they focus on what he isn’t—namely, Michael Jordan.
Comparisons between Bryant and His Airness began when Bryant was still getting his feet wet with the Lakers. Over the past few years, Bryant has even stolen Jordan’s patented fist-pump after game-winning shots.
While Bryant won three consecutive championship rings at the turn of the century, he knew he could never reach that rarefied Jordan status with everyone (rightfully) crediting Shaquille O’Neal as the primary reason for the Lakers’ dominance.
After O’Neal’s acrimonious departure, Bryant remained as the league’s most unstoppable scoring force, but his squad was mired in mediocrity.
Even though he became only the fourth player to average more than 35 points a game last season, a 45-win season and a first-round exit at the hands of the Phoenix Suns—which included Bryant’s genuinely bizarre Game 7 performance—sent his stock plummeting with the average NBA fan.
He can’t win without Shaq, they said. He’s a ball-hog and a jerk, they said.
Now, after accomplishing something that only Wilt Chamberlain has done, Bryant’s name has vaulted into the league MVP discussion with Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki.
Currently, his Lakers sit in the No. 6 spot in the playoff standings, where the No. 3 San Antonio Spurs have to be positively terrified of the possibility of meeting Bryant in the first round.
For most of the past two years, I’ve been torn on the Bryant issue. On the one hand, he does things on a basketball floor that defy all logic. On the other, he occasionally represents everything that is depressing about the modern NBA—especially in that final game of the Suns series.
But there’s something different about this current 50-point streak. For the first time in years, I’ve been inspired by Bryant’s play. He has me racing home, just so I don’t miss a potentially historic evening of basketball.
No NBA player has more on the line these next few months. If Kobe can continue this phenomenal run, he might be able to finally convert the thousands of anti-Kobe basketball fans scattered across the world.
He might even be able to convert me.
Would the Spurs rather face Houston, Utah, or Denver? There are no gimme rounds in the Western Conference.
A Kobe-Violet Palmer combination?
Darn right its scary.
Scary as Dirk n hooking up on the Spurs again.
Man, meeting a team with only 1 player like the Lakers would give the Spurs plenty of time to rest their other players.
Scared?
Let's see Kobe scored his bunch against Portland, Minnesota, Memphis and the Hornets. OOOOOhhhh, I am so scared of Kobe.
STFU with the stupid ass excuses already.
As much as I hate to admit it.......Lakers do have the regular season edge aganst the Spurs and would have swept them if not for a Finley 3 pointer. Lakers would be a tough first round opponent (though I am sure the Spurs can beat them). Especially if Walton and Odom are healthy. Kobe + Phil Jackson's coaching has always given the Spurs some trouble.Man, meeting a team with only 1 player like the Lakers would give the Spurs plenty of time to rest their other players.
Scared?
I think the SPurs would take them in 6.
stench i don't mean to ruin your fantacy of snugglin with Dirk n Bavetta.
sorry.
LMAO......there is no IN way a ball hoggin Kobe and 4 stiffs can beat the Spurs..........The Spurs would win in 5 games
there are no easy first round series in the west this year. but i love how the lakers have changed up their in-game strategy. in teh beginning of the year, they played together like a team and won. now that the playoffs are coming around, it's the kobe show. as a spurs fan, i love that. this is not the same laker team that beat the spurs during the regular season.
If it was the mavs, I wouldn't even say terrified. So the Lakers ain't . terrified my ass.
At how confident you Spurs fans are. What you need to do is get that 2nd seed so you can try to avoid the Lakers. Even then I have a feeling we'll meet in the second round.
As much as I hate to admit it.......Lakers do have the regular season edge aganst the Spurs and would have swept them if not for a Finley 3 pointer. Lakers would be a tough first round opponent (though I am sure the Spurs can beat them). Especially if Walton and Odom are healthy. Kobe + Phil Jackson's coaching has always given the Spurs some trouble.
I think the SPurs would take them in 6.
I'll take the Spurs of late OVER the Kobe and 4 others of late in a series no prob.
Where The Is Green Valley? Isnt This About The Same Credence Given To The Sports Writer For The LEON VALLEY Paper??
What makes the Lakers a dangerous playoff draw is that they are "underseeded" due to injuries. That is always a concern because the higher seeded team doesn't get the full benefit of its seed if it plays a team that just got healthy and, had it been healthy all year, would have been seeded much higher.
The classic example of that is the '95 Rockets who were seeded way below where they should have been due to injuries. Not that the '07 Lakers are anywhere near as good as the '95 Rockets, but if they get well right as the playoffs start they could be plenty dangerous.
Thank goodness the first round is now best of 7!!!!
Tucson is where the Green Valley newspaper is written.
I don't think the Spurs are going to be "terrified" about anything. Appropriate fear is one thing but one of the more stoic teams in the league is probably not going to suffer from being terrified.
the lakers are a six seed right now. if they had been healthy and the rockets had been healthy, the lakers would still be a six seed.What makes the Lakers a dangerous playoff draw is that they are "underseeded" due to injuries. That is always a concern because the higher seeded team doesn't get the full benefit of its seed if it plays a team that just got healthy and, had it been healthy all year, would have been seeded much higher.
The classic example of that is the '95 Rockets who were seeded way below where they should have been due to injuries. Not that the '07 Lakers are anywhere near as good as the '95 Rockets, but if they get well right as the playoffs start they could be plenty dangerous.
Thank goodness the first round is now best of 7!!!!
This is the biggest homer BS article promoting that kirby dude,
spurs arent afraid of any wanksta in the NBA, no team is holding this spurs team back........
refs/ ft line looms.....
I think it would be great to face the Lakers. Kobe usually sucks with Bowen in his face and the rest of their team is a bunch of spares. Bring em on.
I'm more terrified on how to beat the mavs and phoenix is always a threat than 1 man team. LEt him shot, as long as no one from kobe's teammates scores...so kobe can make 60 points and loose anyway and we are all happy!
No way in the Lakers could beat the Spurs in seven games. Maybe if they had their 2004 team that could knock TP on his ass and get him to quit driving the lane. Those days are over. Spurs would win in 6 at most.
Spurs would sweep LA and i'm hoping we get them in round 1, a little payback for those years when they had the better team.
If not for Michael Finley's buzzer-beating 3, the Spurs would be 0-3 against the Lakers this year.
man... screw kobe.
vs the lake show, odom is a far worse matchup than kobe for us.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
