Let's get it Kobe!

[bksballer89]

Hibbert is overrated. Everyone wants to hype the man up because he dominated a small Heat team. He struggled on offense in their first 2 series. When he plays someone close to his height he is nothing special. He is a 12-15 PPG/8-10 RPG player against real centers.

 

[Heatles84]

I repeat, you're expecting him to be able to compete with the best Centers. Height and weight doesn't mean anything if you suck.

Not sure why you think Oden is a crappy player. He's actually pretty decent.....when healthy. Question his health by all means. I for one will have my eye on him come post-All star break. All he needs to do is defend and grab rebounds considering his size he will at least make Hibbert less effective then he already was during the times he's faced the Heat. That's all he needs to do. The only question is health, not skill.

 

[bksballer89]

Not sure why you think Oden is a crappy player. He's actually pretty decent.....when healthy. Question his health by all means. I for one will have my eye on him come post-All star break. All he needs to do is defend and grab rebounds considering his size he will at least make Hibbert less effective then he already was during the times he's faced the Heat. That's all he needs to do. The only question is health, not skill.

Exactly for the last month lakers fans on here been talking like the Heat are asking him to come here and avg a double-double. We don't need his offense. All we need him to do is defend/grab rebounds against some of the bigger centers in the league. Whatever he gives us on offense is just a plus.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Not sure why you think Oden is a crappy player. He's actually pretty decent.....when healthy. Question his health by all means. I for one will have my eye on him come post-All star break. All he needs to do is defend and grab rebounds considering his size he will at least make Hibbert less effective then he already was during the times he's faced the Heat. That's all he needs to do. The only question is health, not skill.

He has little to no NBA experience is why I think he's a crappy player and has a mountain of work ahead of him. He's been away from competitive basketball for 2 years. He bumped knees with Corey Maggette and chipped his knee cap.

How many Heat fans say Bynum is done? Because Oden's knees aren't much better.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Beasley was the number two pick. I know....semantics.

Yeah, guess my mind went straight to dissing Beasley lol, thanks for correcting me.

 

[Heatles84]

He has little to no NBA experience is why I think he's a crappy player and has a mountain of work ahead of him. He's been away from competitive basketball for 2 years. He bumped knees with Corey Maggette and chipped his knee cap.

How many Heat fans say Bynum is done? Because Oden's knees aren't much better.

I personally don't think Bynum is "done" physically. I just think mentally he's done as was evident by this past season.

- Got knee surgery a couple weeks before training camp, while his season ended in May.
- I don't have a link, but apparently he's 30 pounds + over his playing weight. Not a good thing when you talk about degenerative knee issues.
- People, including Lakers fans, have always questioned his commitment to basketball.

Oden has the same issues as Bynum, there's no arguing that. I'm not going to try to sound like an idiot to convince you otherwise. His knee injury history is well documented.

However, he has lost significant weight which helps out as pointed out above. Multiple teams have scouted and pursued him after watching workouts (something Bynum refused to do). He did decent during the games he played which I'm not questioning his skill. The reason Hibbert was so effective was due to the Heat's size, or lack there of. If healthy, worse case scenario is that he's just another big body that could at least grab some rebounds from Hibbert because he was brought in for Chicago and Indiana (the latter more specifically).

I'm not trying to feed you that Oden will become the second coming of Kareem. His knees will not allow it. I'm 50/50 on how his knees will hold up. My medical experience which amounts to self research offers me no definite conclusion on how this story will conclude.

 

[Heatles84]

Yeah, guess my mind went straight to dissing Beasley lol, thanks for correcting me.

Big bust regardless, but your point was made.

 

[Lakers+USC=#1]

You misunderstood me. Was last year 2012 or 2013? Last I checked last yr was 2012 you know when the heat beatdown OKC. If I was talking about the Spurs I would've said it happened last season or this past season.

Now, you damn well know in the sports world when we say "last year", we mean "last season". Thats why you confused everybody.

 

[wlk3]

No. That's James on the treadmill (even though they do look alike).

My bad...

 

[bksballer89]

Now, you damn well know in the sports world when we say "last year", we mean "last season". Thats why you confused everybody.

My bad. I obviously smart enough to know that the Spurs series was not a beatdown....far from it actually

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

You misunderstood me. Was last year 2012 or 2013? Last I checked last yr was 2012 you know when the heat beatdown OKC. If I was talking about the Spurs I would've said it happened last season or this past season.

Both TF12 and I took it the same way. To me, last year, in the NBA , means the season that last ended.
It would be like saying: " The Heat won their third championship last year", even though it happened in this current year.
If you ask people who won last years Super Bowl, they would say the Ravens. Correct?

 

[Heatles84]

Both TF12 and I took it the same way. To me, last year, in the NBA , means the season that last ended.
It would be like saying: " The Heat won their third championship last year", even though it happened in this current year.
If you ask people who won last years Super Bowl, they would say the Ravens. Correct?

I think part of it is just understanding the meaning of what the poster is trying to say. In no way was the Heat Spurs series a blowout. That 2012 Finals on the other hand....

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

I think you have Howard's statement wrong. Though he said he would have stayed if Phil Jackson were the coach, he didn't say that was the only requirement for him to stay.

He just knew for sure, that if PJ were there, he probably would have stayed over his other reservations.

I'm don't understand how you know for sure what you probably would have done?

And if the Lakers had signed Howard, they would have signed Kobe if he wanted to come back. It's a fantasy if you think otherwise or a lack of understanding of the Laker basketball. If the Laker weren't going to give D'Antoni the boot in order to get Howard, they certainly were going to get rid of Kobe.

Howard's passive/aggressive mentality is not the type of personality that lead a team to a championship. He's had this since Orlando. And the Lakers have seen the type of mentalities that win championships and could recognize that Howard is really a second fiddle. Even if Howard is the person on the team with the most basketball skills and talent, you would still need the mentality. Much like Garnett in Boston where he brought a certain mentality to the team.

I'm really not disagreeing with anything you are saying, but it is off topic.

This was all about whether Howard said he didn't want to play with Kobe or not.


From Ric Bucher of CSNBayArea:

Talks with various people close to the situation make it clear there were two prerequisites for Dwight Howard to remain a Laker: fire Mike D’Antoni and amnesty, or at the very least muzzle, Kobe Bryant.
The Lakers apparently asked Dwight to be patient on both fronts for at least another season, telling him “hey, you’re going to have to gut this out another year,” a source said, although it sounds as if VP of basketball ops Jim Buss isn’t ready to abandon Kobe anytime soon. “Dwight didn’t want to play with Kobe for 2-3 more years,” Buss said. “I’m going to stand behind Kobe because of his history with the franchise.”
​

VARIOUS people confirmed that Howard didn't want to play with Kobe.

TF12 would like me to believe it was only Buss and it was a giant conspiracy theory for him to win the fans back.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

I think part of it is just understanding the meaning of what the poster is trying to say. In no way was the Heat Spurs series a blowout. That 2012 Finals on the other hand....

1000% agree.
How many times have you hit that reply button, or sent a text and thought to yourself that what was written didn't come across as how you meant it.

Obviously what BK is saying is the truth, but it is also obvious as to why we perceived it the other way when first reading it.

 

[lakersrule]

Exactly for the last month lakers fans on here been talking like the Heat are asking him to come here and avg a double-double. We don't need his offense. All we need him to do is defend/grab rebounds against some of the bigger centers in the league. Whatever he gives us on offense is just a plus.

No. I've been saying he's a role player at best. Certain Heat fan said he was the latest Heat weapon

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

No. I've been saying he's a role player at best. Certain Heat fan said he was the latest Heat weapon

So role players aren't weapons?

We aren't the Lakers. We expect production from our bench.

Guess that's the difference between championship rosters and projected lottery teams mind sets!

 

[trojanfan12]

This is where your logic breaks down for me. Short Buss has been getting vilified by Lakers fans and the media ever since he picked D'Antoni over Phil, it got worse as the season unfolded and now he is being blamed by Lakers fans and the media for Dwight leaving.......but you think he has no reason to lie when he says Dwight demanded that Kobe be amnestied or muzzled!!

Blaming it on Dwight not wanting to play for D'Antoni doesn't help him in the eyes of Lakers fans and the media who all felt Phil should have been hired anyway!! But saying that he wanted Kobe amnestied or muzzled, definitely would get Lakers fans and media on his side!!

You don't think that he knows that given what Kobe has meant to the organization that the fastest, easiest way for him to get everyone off of his back was to basically say: "I was protecting Kobe"? Really?!?

Meanwhile, Dwight has said (publically, with his own mouth) that if Phil were the coach, he'd still be a Laker and that Kobe played no part in his decision!!

If anyone has no reason to lie, it's Dwight!! He's gone, he's in Houston. If the reason he isn't a Laker is because of both D'Antoni and Kobe, what reason would he have to say that it was just D'Antoni? He doesn't have to be Kobe's teammate, so he doesn't have to worry about that. So, why would he lie?[/QUOTE




I understand your thought process, I just don't agree with it.

Please stop with the Phil stuff. Phil was never his coach therefore he can't be the reason he stayed or left.
If Howard had made it known that the only way he would consider staying was if Phil was going to be coach, then why even court him or meet with him?
Phil was in Montana, not in the meeting weighing his options.

Your Kobe stuff also makes no sense. Laker fans keep talking 2-3 years down the road.
You prefer to include Kobe in those plans over Howard?

As far as protecting Kobe, Buss basically implied that if Howard would have agreed to sign, and didn't want Kobe, that he wouldn't resign him after this season.
How is that protecting him?

As far as Dwight, he is a happy Houston Rocket.
Could he do anything dumber then say anything about the Lakers at this point?
Whatever he said or didn't say publicly before or during the FA period means NOTHING if you have paid any attention to his past statements.

I'm not going to quit with the Phil stuff. Dwight said that if Phil were there, he would still be with the Lakers. Who are YOU to tell Dwight what HIS reasons are for leaving? It was the reason Dwight himself gave, you just don't like it because it doesn't fit with YOUR narrative!! You don't think it's possible that Dwight looked at a "big man friendly" coach with 11 championship rings and a "small ball" coach like D'Antoni with zero championship rings and thought "I want the "big man friendly" guy with all the rings"?

Gotta love how you are so full of yourself that you actually think you can tell Dwight what his reasons are for leaving!! You've truly outdone yourself this time.

The Lakers met with him because they had to. He was someone they had traded for and wanted to try to build around. It's really not that difficult to understand.

What Kobe stuff doesn't make sense? As much as you want to make it about Kobe, it simply isn't about him. It's about Dwight and who he wanted as coach!! According to Dwight he's not a Laker because Phil isn't the coach and as Dwight himself said: "My decision had nothing to do with Kobe"!!

It may well be that Dwight wanted Phil as the coach because he figured that Phil could muzzle Kobe, who knows? What we DO know is that Dwight said his decision had nothing to do with Kobe!!

As for protecting Kobe, Buss said that Dwight wanted Kobe amnestied or muzzled and that wasn't going to happen!! In other words, according to Buss, it was Kobe or Dwight and the Lakers chose Kobe!!

The only reason you think what he says means nothing is because he hasn't said what you want him to say!! By the way, the quotes I gave were from AFTER the FA period when he had already announced that he was going to Houston.

 

[trojanfan12]

Its all about the matchups. Heat would smoke the Lakers. Just like the Heat dealt with OKC but more lopsided.

Maybe I have given you too much credit after all!! If things had worked last season the way the Lakers wanted them to, the Heat would have been facing a team with the same advantages and a very similar style of play as the 2 teams that took them to 7 games, the Pacers and Spurs!!

As for the upcoming season? Kobe could discover the fountain of youth and return to playing like he did 7 or 8 years ago and they aren't making the finals!!

 

[trojanfan12]

Not sure why you think Oden is a crappy player. He's actually pretty decent.....when healthy. Question his health by all means. I for one will have my eye on him come post-All star break. All he needs to do is defend and grab rebounds considering his size he will at least make Hibbert less effective then he already was during the times he's faced the Heat. That's all he needs to do. The only question is health, not skill.

I don't think anyone is saying he's crappy, just that it's surprising that Heat fans are putting so much faith in a guy who, according to his history, is unlikely to make it through the season healthy!!

 

[trojanfan12]

He has little to no NBA experience is why I think he's a crappy player and has a mountain of work ahead of him. He's been away from competitive basketball for 2 years. He bumped knees with Corey Maggette and chipped his knee cap.

How many Heat fans say Bynum is done? Because Oden's knees aren't much better.

If Bynum signed with the Heat, Heat fans would say he's the next Kareem!! After all, on the Heat, Kaman would be a big weapon!!