OT - Could the Dwight Howard soap opera be over??

[MikeSU02]

maybe, but back surgery is not a good sign. many people who go under the knife once end up going back again (and again, and again . . .)

Kobe might be taking the full team to Germany with him at some point after this season to get fixed up.

 

[CorduroyG]

your penchant for hyperbole remains undiminished, but as I noted - even if he is a better athlete, they are still older and slower at every other position. The only spot they upgraded was the one spot where they were already young and athletic - and even there, they just got two years older. By the time Kobe is done chasing Jordan, Howard will be 30 and no longer the young body to lead the next era of the Lakers (and don't think Kobe doesn't know this)

they got younger at pg last year by trading for sessions and dumping fisher and sessions was a complete disaster in the playoffs. yes nash is older and slower than sessions, i dont think they mind that tradeoff.

Sent from my SCH-R720 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I think Denver is the biggest winner is trade. They got the one thing they really needed a guy how can get his own shot when the offense breaks down. I don't think LA will be able to beat OKC because the match-up are horrible for LA. Nash will have to guard Westbrook or Harden and they will put LA's help defense it foul trouble (Howard, Gasol, and Artest). Lastly Kobe is not very good off the ball (reason he has been struggling in the Olympics) but Nash needs the ball in his hands to be great. In the playoffs in late game situations this will be a huge problem for LA it took Miami 2 years to figure end of game situations out. LA doesn't have 2 years at their advanced ages.

Down 2 late...its still always going to be a Kobe iso. The day they run a Nash/Howard pick and roll and miss the shot to win or tie...Kobe will be furious. I can't see Bean putting his ego aside like D Wade...for the betterment of the team.

 

[Gabjon]

Down 2 late...its still always going to be a Kobe iso. The day they run a Nash/Howard pick and roll and miss the shot to win or tie...Kobe will be furious. I can't see Bean putting his ego aside like D Wade...for the betterment of the team.

Agreed! And that didn't work against OKC this year and it won't work next year either.

 

[The General]

Kobe lighting up Argentina. I love how people don't get that he was just laying back at the start of the Olympics. Dude has to pick his spots. Like now. he's still one of the best on the planet.

He will be fresh for the playoffs for the first time in forever. The bs lock out schedule killed the vet teams Lakers, San Antonio, Boston in the playoffs last year.

The Heat got better. OKC did not. The Lakers could easily of gone up 3-1 on them last year. The Lakers will be fresher and more talented. And they aren't done.

 

[Gabjon]

Kobe lighting up Argentina. I love how people don't get that he was just laying back at the start of the Olympics. Dude has to pick his spots. Like now. he's still one of the best on the planet.

He will be fresh for the playoffs for the first time in forever. The bs lock out schedule killed the vet teams Lakers, San Antonio, Boston in the playoffs last year.

The Heat got better. OKC did not. The Lakers could easily of gone up 3-1 on them last year. The Lakers will be fresher and more talented. And they aren't done.

Great players don't pick their spots...old ones do

 

[CorduroyG]

Great players don't pick their spots...old ones do

Kobe is still a great player, come on

 

[The General]

Great players don't pick their spots...old ones do

Um, it's an Olympic team. They all pick their spots. My point was Kobe didn't need to turn it on, until he needed to. Just like last Olympics. Which he won for us.

No Kobe isn't Lebron. Or Durant. He's still great.

 

[moqui]

The Heat got better. OKC did not. The Lakers could easily of gone up 3-1 on them last year. The Lakers will be fresher and more talented. And they aren't done.

OKC is young; with the exception of Perkins, they will all get better just due to maturation. Contra that, the Lakers are old, and they will all degrade (some slowly, some more rapidly) just due to aging and wear and tear.

Kobe is going to play huge minutes again this year because they basically (a) their depth sucks - Steve Blake and Jody Meeks are the backups, (b) they will have to keep one of Nash or Kobe on the floor at all times and (C) they need to keep Nash to around 28 MPG

so, Kobe will log heavy minutes, after a summer of Olympic action, after a year in which by your own admission he was overworked and tired

I'm not hating, just giving my impression: the Lakers are going to pay their opponents millions of dollars for the right to top out at 55 wins and the conference finals.

 

[CorduroyG]

OKC is young; with the exception of Perkins, they will all get better just due to maturation. Contra that, the Lakers are old, and they will all degrade (some slowly, some more rapidly) just due to aging and wear and tear.

Kobe is going to play huge minutes again this year because they basically (a) their depth sucks - Steve Blake and Jody Meeks are the backups, (b) they will have to keep one of Nash or Kobe on the floor at all times and (C) they need to keep Nash to around 28 MPG

so, Kobe will log heavy minutes, after a summer of Olympic action, after a year in which by your own admission he was overworked and tired

I'm not hating, just giving my impression: the Lakers are going to pay their opponents millions of dollars for the right to top out at 55 wins and the conference finals.

Lakers were on pace to go 52-30 last year. You think adding nash and howard is only worth 3 more wins? Do you realize how freaking good dwight howard is? You put howard on a bad team and that team will win 50. Ill go with 61-21

 

[Knicks411]

I think they will likely win around 55 games (could be a few more, could be a few less) but I think you are selling them short to say they're going to top out at the conference finals. Dwight got to the NBA finals with much less than (an aging) Nash/Gasol/Kobe.

Man, I had no idea Kobe averaged 38.5 minutes per game last year. That's outrageous.

I would def take the under on the Lakers at 61 wins. I think they will lay in the weeds a bit during the regular season.

 

[CorduroyG]

Id take the under on 61 wins also, but Id definitely take the over on 55. I think somewhere between 58-62

 

[Ward]

Obviously this Lakers team is going to be really good and I'd be surprised if they don't finish as the 2 seed and at least make the WCF. I'm not sold on if they're better than Miami or OKC yet tho. I would've been curious to see if this could've worked. Flip Bynum for Howard but keep Gasol, which it looks like they could've done. Then trade Gasol in a package for Iguodala to Philly. Give the Lakers a starting 5 of Nash, Kobe, Iguodala, Jamison? Or find a 4, then Howard. You get more athletic, a guy to run with Nash, an elite perimeter defender to help with the Miami's and OKC's, and a guy who can create his own shot and finish on the opposite wing from Kobe to take pressure off. Then when teams try playing small ball like Miami or maybe OKC you can play small with Nash, Kobe, Iguodala, MWP, Howard.

 

[Gabjon]

Um, it's an Olympic team. They all pick their spots. My point was Kobe didn't need to turn it on, until he needed to. Just like last Olympics. Which he won for us.

No Kobe isn't Lebron. Or Durant. He's still great.

Kobe is an all time great on the down side of his career. He will never forget how to be great but his body will stop performing for him just like every other human being.

 

[CorduroyG]

next years conference finals

okc-lal
mia-nyk

bring it!

 

[moqui]

Lakers were on pace to go 52-30 last year. You think adding nash and howard is only worth 3 more wins? Do you realize how freaking good dwight howard is? You put howard on a bad team and that team will win 50. Ill go with 61-21

I'm not the only one . . . advanced stats guys like Hollinger puts their ceiling at 53 wins, while at Basketball Prospectus, Kevin Pelton projects a 4 to 5 win increase and Brad Doolittle sees little change. Pelton's statistical system pegs the Lakers as 4th best team in the west, Doolittle's has them 5th. If anything, I have them a bit higher than do the analytical gurus

 

[The General]

OKC is young; with the exception of Perkins, they will all get better just due to maturation. Contra that, the Lakers are old, and they will all degrade (some slowly, some more rapidly) just due to aging and wear and tear.

Kobe is going to play huge minutes again this year because they basically (a) their depth sucks - Steve Blake and Jody Meeks are the backups, (b) they will have to keep one of Nash or Kobe on the floor at all times and (C) they need to keep Nash to around 28 MPG

so, Kobe will log heavy minutes, after a summer of Olympic action, after a year in which by your own admission he was overworked and tired

I'm not hating, just giving my impression: the Lakers are going to pay their opponents millions of dollars for the right to top out at 55 wins and the conference finals.

True, but Kobe will log less minutes. Which is really important. Meeks started 50 games last year, he can play. I was hoping for Barbosa but probly too $.

The Lakers are all in the next two years. It would not surprise me to see KMart be the last piece for defense. Duhon and Blake can spell Nash. I mean, Mitch has put together a hell of a team by trading a bunch of crap picks and an immature Bynum who has played 1 full season in 7 years. He has bad knees. It's an underrated part of this trade. Bynum isn't built for a long career.

The Lakers will coast and rest. In the games Kobe missed last year Ron Artest avg. 18 pts/game. Jamison, Meeks... this team can score without Nash or Kobe. Last year's 6th man was... Ebanks? They are so much better.

I also heard Artest on the radio yesterday saying Howard needs to be meaner on the court. If Kobe and Ron teach him how to play pissed, like a dominant center should, uh oh. Howard is missing that edge. He's 26. And in a perfect situation to start playing like a champion.

 

[The General]

Obviously this Lakers team is going to be really good and I'd be surprised if they don't finish as the 2 seed and at least make the WCF. I'm not sold on if they're better than Miami or OKC yet tho. I would've been curious to see if this could've worked. Flip Bynum for Howard but keep Gasol, which it looks like they could've done. Then trade Gasol in a package for Iguodala to Philly. Give the Lakers a starting 5 of Nash, Kobe, Iguodala, Jamison? Or find a 4, then Howard. You get more athletic, a guy to run with Nash, an elite perimeter defender to help with the Miami's and OKC's, and a guy who can create his own shot and finish on the opposite wing from Kobe to take pressure off. Then when teams try playing small ball like Miami or maybe OKC you can play small with Nash, Kobe, Iguodala, MWP, Howard.

Yeah, I think Iggy is overrated. You don't stop Bron or Wade individually, it's a sound team concept. The Lakers are predicated on size. They like being big up front. What killed the Celtics? Trading size for Jeff Green. Cause Green had success guarding Kobe.

In Gasol you have a perfect fit for the pick n roll with Nash. They seem like a perfect fit. We shall see. Do people not get how good Nash was last year? He loves to pass. The lakers have never had a passer in the Kobe era.

 

[moqui]

Dwight got to the NBA finals with much less than (an aging) Nash/Gasol/Kobe.

yeah, but he got there from the East, not the minefield that is the West

let's just stop and consider the bunch of weak sisters that have advanced from the East in the post Jordan era

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

MIA and LAL should both win 60 comfortably and probably lose a few games due to disinterest/resting guys for the playoffs. No team is ever going to try to be the Chicago Bulls again...setting regular season wins records.

 

[Knicks411]

I'm not the only one . . . advanced stats guys like Hollinger puts their ceiling at 53 wins, while at Basketball Prospectus, Kevin Pelton projects a 4 to 5 win increase and Brad Doolittle sees little change. Pelton's statistical system pegs the Lakers as 4th best team in the west, Doolittle's has them 5th. If anything, I have them a bit higher than do the analytical gurus

I saw the story on ESPN about the basketball prospectus guys, I didn't see anything from Hollinger other than his piece on the trade where he raved about it for the Lakers.

It leaves the Lakers with a bit of a Miami in 2010-11 scenario, in which the pieces don't quite fit and they have to figure out how to make them mesh. As it was with Miami, having pieces such as these means it probably doesn't matter.
Process this: Pau Gasol is the fourth option. The Lakers are running the pick-and-roll with Nash and Howard, Gasol lifting for the midrange J, and Kobe lurking on the weak side? Good luck defending that.

Doesn't sound like a guy who has their ceiling at 53 wins.

As much as I'm into advanced stats, I'm still not sure how well the team projection systems work.

Doolittle's projections have the Lakers as the 5th best defensive team in the league. In the 4 years prior to last year, Orlando finished 3rd, 3rd, 1st, and 6th defensively. 5th is probably on the low side, though Nash is unquestionably a poor defender, I don't think you can underestimate the effect a guy like Dwight has.

And Dolittle has the Lakers offense as 9th. The last 2 seasons, Nash's Suns ranked 9th in the Nba in offensive efficiency; prior to that Nash's teams ranked first or second offensively 9 years in a row. I think Kobe/Gasol/Dwight is a little better Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley.

 

[Knicks411]

yeah, but he got there from the East, not the minefield that is the West

let's just stop and consider the bunch of weak sisters that have advanced from the East in the post Jordan era

Totally a fair point, though he beat Lebron James and the Cavs and the Garnett/Pierce/Allen/Rondo Celtics. 2 pretty strong teams. This isn't the 02 Nets or even (and this pains me) the 99 Knicks.

I'm not saying the Lakers are a lock for the finals; I'd probably put OKC ahead of them and you have the Spurs as well, plus a lot of solid teams in the next tier, but I could easily see them in the finals as well.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Great signing of Meeks today by the LAL. He will open up the floor a bit when needed.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

yeah, but he got there from the East, not the minefield that is the West

let's just stop and consider the bunch of weak sisters that have advanced from the East in the post Jordan era

Agreed. Allen Iverson got the 2001 76ers there. AI, Aaron McKie, Jumaine Jones, Tyrone Hill, and Dikembe Mutumbo. That team has to be one of the worst NBA Finals teams ever. I've said it here before, but a lot of the flak Melo gets for not winning a title comes without discussion of how ridiculously good the West has been since he came into the league and up until he got moved to the East. The Spurs were dominant, then the Lakers were, and now the Thunder/Lakers/Spurs are all very very good.

 

[Knicks411]

I've said it here before, but a lot of the flak Melo gets for not winning a title comes without discussion of how ridiculously good the West has been since he came into the league and up until he got moved to the East.

I think if he got out of the first round more than once this would have some more validity.

Also the East has gotten much better since the early 2000's.