Lakers vs Cavs in the NBA Finals?

[FlockOfSeagulls]

Funny thing is, as much as I love punkrockergirl giving my man Kobe all the props, I wouldn't necessarily call him the greatest ever. There is NO greatest ever. Jordan IS NOT the greatest ever. Magic is NOT the greatest ever. Wilt is NOT the greatest ever.

Each guy is ONE of the greatest. But mark my words (and punkrockergirl's), Kobe WILL be ONE of the greatest ever.

maybe one day he will be up there. But right now he isn`t even in the conversation.

 

[primetime]

Oh he definitely is in the conversation. He has 3 rings and he lead the Lakers to the title game last year. He wins this year and that will cement him as one of the greatest ever. Dammit, if Scottie Pippen is considered one of the greatest ever, then Kobe Bryant DEFINITELY is one of the greatest ever.

 

[FlockOfSeagulls]

Oh he definitely is in the conversation. He has 3 rings and he lead the Lakers to the title game last year. He wins this year and that will cement him as one of the greatest ever. Dammit, if Scottie Pippen is considered one of the greatest ever, then Kobe Bryant DEFINITELY is one of the greatest ever.

maybe you and I have different qualifications for greatest ever. This is simply my personal opinion on the matter.

I think of Jordan, Bird, Jabaar, Magic, Wilt, Robertson, and Russell as the greatest of the greats...again strictly my opinion


the next level are guys that are sure first ballot Hall-of famers and part of 50 best ever. But to me there is a difference between these guys and those I listed earlier. I know that I will miss many guys but these are a few to give you an example. Kobe, Ewing, Stockton, kidd, Malone, Dr. J, shaq, Duncan, hakeem olajawun..I no its misspelled, the admiral, ...you get my point

these are some of the greatest ever to play this game... there is no shame on being with any list that has Dr. J

 

[studm883]

Hey Stud, you still haven't told me how the Celtics bench is any good. WHO on their bench is any good? The Lakers lose games because they lack focus. What is the Celtics excuse? They "supposedly" play defense. Their bench is horrible and so are their other starters except KG, Pierce and Allen. You KNOW Rondo is a joke. They put Kobe on Rondo, so he can "sag" off of him and help someone else. No one cares is Rondo shoots the ball. He is no threat. You stop him by not allowing him to penetrate. We WANT Rondo to shoot.

What have you been watching? Everyone knows Kobe Bryant is the best basketball player in the NBA. As for Kobe's postseason success, I will forgive you because you were a kid then. If you ever watch the Lakers playoff runs, not just the NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant is a LARGE reason why the Lakers even made the Finals. It was Kobe that killed the Spurs, not Shaq. Do your history and you will see that. Lebron doesn't have the killer instinct that Kobe does. He's getting better at it, but Kobe Bryant is a cold blooded assassin on the basketball court. Lebron IS #2.

So tell me, what do the Celtics have on their bench for ANY team to fear?

The biggest guy the Celtics miss from last year is undoubtedly PJ Brown..well and Tony Allen who has been hurt. When TA is out there he has more than made up for the loss of Posey, he doesn't shoot from the perimeter but he's an attack first player which better fits into the Celtics system. They score a lot with the clock stopped and are weaker offensively when turned into a jump shooting team. People forget Allen was the 2nd best player the Celtics had (on an admittedly weak team, but still) before a devastating injury. Powe and Davis are solid, but neither has enough length, hence the need for another big man, and House struggles without the help of a guy like Allen.

As to Rondo...no, I don't "KNOW" he's a joke. Take yourself down a peg there primetime, people can have a different view than you without having central nervous system damage. Numbers wise, you just don't have a case here. Rondo has the best passer rating in the Eastern Conference among point guards...2nd best in the NBA behind Chris Paul. For the record, the formula is Ast/Min squared multiplied by Ast/TO rate (multiplied by 50). He has a higher turnover rate, which is natural because he's a passer more so than a shooter. He is below average among point guards in possession usage and points produced above replacement (Chris Paul is again best among point guards...LeBron is best in the NBA) which again isn't a surprise given the number of shots taken by the New 3. In the overall WARP rating system (wins above replacement player) Rondo is a hair behind Harris and both are a cut above Nelson. Now, I know some of you old-timers aren't into the saber-metrics...but scouts and front-office folks use these numbers in every major sport for a reason, they do mean something...more than saying a player is "garbage" with nothing to back it up.

As for LeBron, his numbers in terms of overall possession value and WARP are the best in the NBA and he has markedly improve his defense this season, especially on-ball, which was an area where Kobe had him beat substantially in years past. The Cavs have become the best defensive team in the NBA so far this season, in large part because of the strides he's taken defensively (and some great adjustments from Mike Brown who I think is a very underrated coach.)

Kobe is sensational...he will be one of the best ever when all is said and done. I do not do so far as to say the best ever, but whatever. He has better footwork than LeBron and can create his own shot as well as anyone, but LeBron doesn't have to do the same things to create his own shot because he's bigger and more physically gifted.

Since I know you won't like the saber-metric numbers, here's a few real ones: career 27.9ppg, 6.9rpg, 6.6apg, 47% FG...all better than Kobe and by wide margins in some areas...and more than 4,000 more points scored than he had at this age...oh and he's 24. I mean give me a break...what does he have to do? Go 50/20/15?

Yes, Kobe has 3 titles, and I recall how well Kobe played those seasons and in the play-offs, he was fantastic, but he had another hall of famer with him and a great coach...not a knock on Kobe at all, that's the way it works in the NBA. Much as the number of teams to win the Super Bowl without a front line QB is low, so is the number of teams to win an NBA title without at least two stars...even Jordan needed Pippen. LeBron and the Cavs competing with the Celtics reminds me of young Jordan competing with the Pistons, he tried and failed a couple times before he got help, got some more experience...and the rest, as they say, is history...