Cali Coug |
05-31-2006 09:05 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish
Nope... I don't think that is it. They are in the middle of some "rebuilding" years. With, or without, Shaq they were headed in that direction with the loss of Malone, Payton, Butler and Fisher. The fact they made the playoffs shows how good Kobe is... he carried an average team to the playoffs. (tough to say since I don't like Kobe)
But, I think the Lakers need to land either a quality PF or C during the offseason in order to be more competitive. Smush will be a top 10 PG next year so they should be okay there. Kwame showed some potential late in the season... if he can keep that up the Lakers will be headed in the right direction.
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Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Kobe isn't a phenomenal talent. He remains one of the very best players in the NBA today. The question is if he can coexist on a team with other great players and if he can lift a team the way great players do. I am not convinced that he can.
Kobe seems too intent on showing everyone just how valuable he is to the team. It seems like every time he is criticized, he stops shooting and stops caring about winning in favor of proving a point. He walks away with 6 points and 2 assists. I don't get it at all.
Yes, Payton left. So did Shaq. So did Jackson for a while. Why? Each of them gave Kobe as the reason (which apparently Jackson has now retracted). I can't imagine it is easy to attract top talent to LA when the top talent in the league has already been in LA and left because of Kobe. They are left with trying to build through the draft.
What was Miami when Shaq first arrived? Certainly not much better than LA at the same time. Where is Miami now? Looking pretty good. Shaq MAY not be a better player than Kobe (though I still think he is), but he appears to be a far better teammate than Kobe, and that is why Miami is about to go to the Finals while Kobe watches from home.
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