Da Bulls look tough

bobheckler wrote:
sky,

Speaking of KB and PP, PP is 6th in the league with 19.0 fta/48mins of clutch and KB is 10th with 18.2fta/48mins of clutch time. I'm surprised. I didn't think Pierce ranked that high and I was sure KB was ahead of Pierce. In fact, I would have expected KB to be in the top 3 or so of clutch fta. He goes to the line A LOT. Part of that is because the ball is usually in his hands.


I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Dumars. What a mess Detroit is and they didn't have to be.


I've decided to put a moratorium on calling KB "KoME" out of respect for you. Won't change my opinion of course, I still think he's a conscienceless ballhog whose one-on-asmanyasyouwanttoputonme style undermines the Lakers team triangle offense, but I have no desire to antagonize a valued poster by taunting a key player of his favorite team. I'm not going to spare Sasha though. He's still nothing but an ineffective, one-dimensional Eurobitch to me. Couldn't even make a team for a country with the population of Arkansas. At least, with Bryant, he does a lot of other things very well. He just can't stop shooting and give up the ball when he's cold. Only 15% of Bryant's clutch fgm are assisted. That way down near the bottom of the league.

Hope you don't have "a thing" for the Euro.

bob

My view of Pierce might be distorted b/c I always see him in either playoff games or the big regular season games that are nationally televised (vs Lakers, Cavs, MAgic, etc), but I figured Pierce and Kobe would both be in the top 5-8 b/c when I watch the Cs, the ball is always in Pierce's hands down the stretch, and he draws so many fouls with his strength as he goes to the basket. He is just so hard to stop guys end up fouling him. Like the Lakers did to sunff out their Game 2 comeback attempt in the GArden in '08.

I was surprised to see Crawford so high on the list. A little shocked actually.


As for Kobe, I appreciate the sentiment. I love his skills, but have always been tough on him for not letting the game come to him. I blamed him mostly for the friction with Shaq. If he had just approached it the way Magic did with Kareem it would have been as whole different story.

I think the years in the wilderness after the Shaq trade, and the return to success with Gasol (b/c of his talent) and Fisher (b/c of his leadership) on board have caused him to grow up a lot.

He has always been his own worst enemy, trying to take games over singlehandedly and causing the offense to completely go out of sync. The Finals vs the Celts in '08 were a perfect example. I think he learned from that though, as last year, in most games, I saw him play as a facilitator who looked to get everyone else involved, while taking his shots only when they were within the flow of the offense.

There were still times where he couldn't stop himself from trying to take over and it almost cost them (the game vs the Cs in the Garden, the Finals vs Orlando), but I think he has finally realized that he is going to be judged from here on out on his team's success, and that the team's success is dependent on him acting as "the quarterback" who gets everyone else involved, then picks his spots to attack for easy hoops.

I also think the fact that he is ever-so-slowly starting to decline physically will cause him to act as a facilitator more and more, which is a good thing for the team, as he is realizing that he can't do now some of the things he was doing 5 or 7 years ago.

Bottom line- I think he's growing up, and he now has talent around him that he trusts to make plays in Pau, Fish, LO and Artest.

And I understand that part from his point of view. It's a lot different dishing to Pau or Fish than giving the ball to Smush Parker or Kwame Brown. I probably wouldn't have passed it to those guys very much either, as it would always result in a brick or a turnover.


As for Sasha, he is not only my least favorite player on the LAkers. He is my least favorite player to EVER play for the LAkers. I hate him. I hate everything about him. And he sucks. Badly. Bad shots and bad fouls everywhere he goes. I loved it that Brown, who is a baller and a difference-maker for this team, got all of his minutes in the last game or two of the NBA Finals last year. In fact, Sasha make smy top 10 list of all time most hated NBA players, joining the likes of Isiah, Laimbeer, and Mahorn.

So please- torture him at every opportunity. He deserves no respect and gets none from me, so please call him whatever you want. I just call him "douchebag", or sometimes "worthless douchebag".


I do have a taste for a lot of things from Europe, though: Monica Bellucci, tapas, Tempranillos and Riojas, etc. Come to think of it, I've had some good times with a girl from Sweden latley, so we might as well add her to the list.


Sasha- not so much. In fact, not at all. I would love nothing more than to see him traded asap. (And Farmar too for that matter.)

Damn Sky

Serious talk. That's a spot on view of how things are. I think that's why people dig your action over here because you call a turd a turd.

Brown jumped 4 feet in the frickin air on that putback. Phil's stupid if he does not play him major minutes. He is one of the best yall have and he is tough.

Jeb

Like Tupac said, "I just call 'em like I see 'em".



The fact that Brown (or UPS, as my friends like to call him, because the dude always delivers) is still fighting for playing time and is still behind Farmar and Sasha in the rotation is the single biggest point of irritation among every Laker fan I know.

I went to the Lakers-Bobcats game last year before they made the trade, and Brown tore the Lakers up that night. When they got him, my friends and I all said "Fantastic! The answer to our pg problems is here!"

And then Phil proceeded not to play him for a few weeks. I mean not even in garbage time. But then he finally got some run after the All Star break and performed well whenever he was on the court. And played great in the playoffs.

And now he's behind jokers like Sasha and Farmar ? I just don't get it.

My friends and I are literally mystified by this. My only hope is that they are trying to showcase Farmar and Sasha Douchebag in the hopes that some team will trade for them. (Farmar is an expiring deal and the douche has one year left after this.)

one way or another, Brown will be on the court for a lot of minutes by the end of the season. I see him taking all of Sasha's minutes and most of Farmar's.

Got great love for Pac. One of my fav rappers.

Farmar looked gawd awful last nite and Sasha should be forced to play in skirt. Brown looked hard nosed and strong like he always does.

Phil plays head games. But this one he's gotta see. Point is a cause of concern for you guys.

Jeb

Sky, I have a question for you. I don't claim to know a lot about the Lakers, but I have become somewhat intrigued about their PG position. And, since they got him, I've assumed Brown was the heir apparent—probably sooner rather than later.

When I think about my reasons, I realize that I'm basing my opinion mainly on his athleticism. A couple of years ago, we had a similar scenario in Boston.

But, even at that time, I did see in Rondo some signs that he could also run a team and that he had special passing skills (much more important to a PG than shooting skills in my opinion). So I felt he had legitimate potential to become a very good ball distributor.

Happily for us, it now seems established that Rondo can really run a team and be an excellent ball distributor (even in the halfcourt, which wasn't a strength of his for quite a while).

So my question is this. What about Brown, other than his athleticism, gives you some clues that he can become a take-charge PG who can really run a team. A corollary question is whether it really matters, given that the PG isn't a traditional factor in the triangle offense.

Thanks,

Sam

sky,

i think Phil Jackson uses Brown (who looks a lot like Chris Brown, to be honest) in certain matchups/situations. he can shoot the occasional 3 but not with the accuracy of Farmar. he's a better defender tho and he brings tons of energy and hustle and i think that's what Phil Jackson weighs when he opts for either going with Farmar or Brown. do i need defense? or do i need shooting? just my guess.

as for his PG play, i'm not sure if he has much PG skills. you're going to have to clue us in on that. but LA has so many other playmakers anyway.

i just feel like this is worth mentioning, but did you guys catch Brown's putback dunk??? HOLY CRAP! he posterized his own teammate! lol!

Sam wrote:Sky, I have a question for you. I don't claim to know a lot about the Lakers, but I have become somewhat intrigued about their PG position. And, since they got him, I've assumed Brown was the heir apparent—probably sooner rather than later.

When I think about my reasons, I realize that I'm basing my opinion mainly on his athleticism. A couple of years ago, we had a similar scenario in Boston.

But, even at that time, I did see in Rondo some signs that he could also run a team and that he had special passing skills (much more important to a PG than shooting skills in my opinion). So I felt he had legitimate potential to become a very good ball distributor.

Happily for us, it now seems established that Rondo can really run a team and be an excellent ball distributor (even in the halfcourt, which wasn't a strength of his for quite a while).

So my question is this. What about Brown, other than his athleticism, gives you some clues that he can become a take-charge PG who can really run a team. A corollary question is whether it really matters, given that the PG isn't a traditional factor in the triangle offense.

Thanks,

Sam

Sam-

I knew there was a post that I had forgotten to respond to form you.

Sorry about that.


Brown will never be a great distributor, but you hit the nail on the head: they don't need him to be b/c of the triangle. If you think of guys who have thrived in the system at the point, most are not true pgs- Fish, Brian Shaw and Ron Harper being classic examples.

Plus, with bigs who can pass like Pau and LO, and with the ball in Kobe's hands so much they really don't need a traditional pg.

Brown has developed a nice three pt shot, can attack the basket and can defend both 1s and 2s because of his combination of size and speed. He played great defense against both Dwill and Billups in the playoffs last year, as he is strong enough to really give them problems, so he is a huge asset. (Dwill murdered the Lakers the year before vs Fish and, especially, Farmar.)

And he always plays with a huge amount of energy and hustle- something this sometimes-bored team needs.

The only thing Brown needs is minutes, which I know he will get as the season starts to roll along and management either trades or gives up on Farmar and the douche.

LilRip wrote:sky,

i think Phil Jackson uses Brown (who looks a lot like Chris Brown, to be honest) in certain matchups/situations. he can shoot the occasional 3 but not with the accuracy of Farmar. he's a better defender tho and he brings tons of energy and hustle and i think that's what Phil Jackson weighs when he opts for either going with Farmar or Brown. do i need defense? or do i need shooting? just my guess.

as for his PG play, i'm not sure if he has much PG skills. you're going to have to clue us in on that. but LA has so many other playmakers anyway.

i just feel like this is worth mentioning, but did you guys catch Brown's putback dunk??? HOLY CRAP! he posterized his own teammate! lol!

Rip-

you're right about the situational aspect. NOt so much b/c of the shooting, as Brown has actually shot from 3 very well since arriving last year.

It's more about who the opposing pg is. Phil likes Farmar vs guys like Brooks or Lawson, and Brown vs bigger guards like BIllups or Dwill.

Which would be fine if Farmar played defense, but since he doesn't, might as well just play Brown full time and let him develop.

That dunk was SICK !!!! That was right in front of our seats and we went crazy- it was the only good thing that happened all night.

Years from now I will remember that dunk, but will have, hopefully, forgotten the rest of the game.

Bottom line: Brown=baller.