The 2008/2009 NBA season thread

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Two great articles at NBA.com


http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/vince_thomas/06/08/kobe/index.html

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/dave_mcmenamin/06/08/lakers.sider.game2/

First one talks about Kobe's legacy with out without the 4th ring. Also talks about how the media and NBA fans claim that Kobe won his first three rings only because of Shaq and how unfair (and wrong) that assertion is.

Second talks about Lakers dynamic duo; Bryant and Gasol and how they commuinicate and rely on each other. I didnt know Kobe spoke spanish but it turns out he does since him and Gasol speak to each other in spanish on the court sometimes. The article features great lines by Fisher, Kobe, Jackson and Gasol. It also mentions that to some people Gasol will always be labeled as "soft" no matter what he does and (again) how unfair and wrong that assertion is.

I'm only speaking for myself here regarding languages, but I took Spanish in high school and I couldn't even form a complete sentence until last year.  Last year is when I took an Italian class in college, and for whatever reason it was, the floodgates opened.  Spanish didn't seem too hard after that.  The two languages are very similar.

[faldor]

I know everyone goes crazy about lebron (who is a world class player in his own right) but kobe is hands down the best player. he hits shots from anywhere on the court consistently. he hits all his free throws and can hit shots that are heavily contested.

Kobe's a much better shooter than Lebron and he's the better "closer" in the 4th quarter.  I think Lebron's a better passer, rebounder, scorer.  But Kobe's more clutch and a better defender.  But Lebron is still very young, give him some time.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I hope the Lakers win game 3, lose the next two, and bring it back home...

[Ignatius]

 
Gasol will be remembered as one of the great lakers players in history once his career is over, you'll see he's gonna get 3 - 4 rings along kobe

As I would love that to happen, The Lakers are one of the best NBA teams ever in history of basketball. In addition, some of the best players have been a part of the lakers squad; the likes of Magic, Kareem, Wilt, James Worthy, Shaq, Baylor, Jerry West,  Vladimir Radmanovic  so for Gasol to show his name up there the lakers would need to win 3 titles in the next 5 years and even if they did, Gasol would not be at the same level as the players mentioned above. Nevertheless, he's indeed a great player and if the lakers win a few rings, Pau would go down as the best power forward the Lakers had this decade.

but they are soft and usually don't win games they dont have to.  Kobe is not soft, but any team that has several european players with pony tails running around chucking up 3's and playing no defense is going to be soft.  Whatever team Lebron James goes to after next season will win the next 5 NBA titles...

I don't really get it what is it with some of you and the lakers being soft. I didnt particulary see any softness in games one and two. Lakers played great defense on Howard, so what's your point? Maybe you mean lack of muscle, but I don't think the lakers are soft, but then again, that's the stigma Gasol will always have to carry.

I'm only speaking for myself here regarding languages, but I took Spanish in high school and I couldn't even form a complete sentence until last year.  Last year is when I took an Italian class in college, and for whatever reason it was, the floodgates opened.  Spanish didn't seem too hard after that.  The two languages are very similar.

You mean mexican, right 

Seriously, I don't think spanish is that hard. I have a lot of friends and colleagues in the States who picked it up very quickly. I guess it does depend as well how much you really want to learn. When I was a foreign exachange student in the US, people would start by asking me the typical "How do you say fuck in spanish" "and shit" "and whore.." but apart from the typical dirty words, most of the people showed more interest and really seem like they wanted to learn the language. So kudos to them...I often get pissed off  when people in Spain say americans don't give a shit about anything else other than their country and traditions, but that's not really what I saw when I live in America. People had genuine interest in learning from my culture and traditions and today, 17 years later, I still have many, many friends I made then whom I visit every once in a while.

Now Kobe, as you sure know, spent some years in Italy. His dad played there for many years and I guess he learnt some spanish there also. Italian is not that different than spanish, so it should be easy...

On a side note, why the fuck you took ITALIAN in college?? 

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Ha, a bunch of softies made it to the Finals.

Maybe they aren't so soft?

They beat the tough Jazz, Artest's Rockets, and the Denver Thuggets.

Old Man, get a new argument.

[Bodhi]

Ha, a bunch of softies made it to the Finals.

Maybe they aren't so soft?

They beat the tough Jazz, Artest's Rockets, and the Denver Thuggets.

Old Man, get a new argument.

Its not an argument, its a fact.  They beat a Jazz team that limped into the playoffs playing some of the worst basketball they ever have as long as Jerry Sloan has been there.  They beat a Houston Rockets team who was MISSING THEIR 2 BEST players and it still took them 7 to do it!  They also beat a Denver Nuggets team who way too often will find a way to play completely unorganized basketball for 8 minute stretches and take themselves out of games with some of the worst decision making in the modern NBA era.  Oh and now they are playing a Magic team who should not even be here.  If Garnett were healthy Celtics would have knocked Orlando out in 5.
Oh and case and point, tonight was another perfect example of the Lakers not winning when they don't have to.  Kobe Bryant is the best player on earth, hands down, and the Lakers are the best team in the league.  But this nonsense someone said about how they are going to win 3 or 4 titles in the next few years in ridiculous.  Not with guys like Deron Williams and Chris Paul getting ready to enter their prime.  And most importantly if Lebron James gets out of Cleveland and actually get ONE other teammate who doesn't belong in the WNBA, he will win as many titles as he wants.  Like ESPN said, this could be Kobes last shot at it.

[D]

Kobe looks spent.......... that is kinda scary if u are a Laker fan

[Bodhi]

Kobe looks spent.......... that is kinda scary if u are a Laker fan

if they were playing a good team it would be scary...they are playing the fucking Magic...Lakers in 6, at the most.

[D]

Orlando should be up 2-1 right now........... remember when what people thought was a shitty Detroit team blew a game and then went on to win 4 straight?

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Ha, a bunch of softies made it to the Finals.

Maybe they aren't so soft?

They beat the tough Jazz, Artest's Rockets, and the Denver Thuggets.

Old Man, get a new argument.

Its not an argument, its a fact.  They beat a Jazz team that limped into the playoffs playing some of the worst basketball they ever have as long as Jerry Sloan has been there.  They beat a Houston Rockets team who was MISSING THEIR 2 BEST players and it still took them 7 to do it!  They also beat a Denver Nuggets team who way too often will find a way to play completely unorganized basketball for 8 minute stretches and take themselves out of games with some of the worst decision making in the modern NBA era.  Oh and now they are playing a Magic team who should not even be here.  If Garnett were healthy Celtics would have knocked Orlando out in 5.
Oh and case and point, tonight was another perfect example of the Lakers not winning when they don't have to.  Kobe Bryant is the best player on earth, hands down, and the Lakers are the best team in the league.  But this nonsense someone said about how they are going to win 3 or 4 titles in the next few years in ridiculous.  Not with guys like Deron Williams and Chris Paul getting ready to enter their prime.  And most importantly if Lebron James gets out of Cleveland and actually get ONE other teammate who doesn't belong in the WNBA, he will win as many titles as he wants.  Like ESPN said, this could be Kobes last shot at it.

Who said anything about talent?

Those teams they beat are very physical teams.  Don't turn this into another one of your bowls of woulda-shoulda-coulda soup.








Regarding last nights game, Kobe choked it away, plain and simple.

[Ignatius]

But living in L.A., you pick stuff up.  I don't know if you know this, but we have a large Spanish-speaking population here. 

Yeah, I was there a few years back. Everytime I'd speak spanish to Mexicans or Southamericans in LA they looked at me like I was some kind of God. To most of them, Spain is the "Mother country" and contrary to what I thought, they really respect us. By the way, my spanish saved us from being mugged in Santa Monica, but that's another story...

Manana has rubbed off on me.

Manana is also tomorrow in italian?? Didnt know that


As for the match, I just watched till half time then fell sleep. Orlando had a close to perfect Field Goal percentage so what can you do really.  Did Kobe play that badly reall in the second half? He got a pretty good start.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

But living in L.A., you pick stuff up.  I don't know if you know this, but we have a large Spanish-speaking population here. 

Yeah, I was there a few years back. Everytime I'd speak spanish to Mexicans or Southamericans in LA they looked at me like I was some kind of God. To most of them, Spain is the "Mother country" and contrary to what I thought, they really respect us. By the way, my spanish saved us from being mugged in Santa Monica, but that's another story...

Manana has rubbed off on me.

Manana is also tomorrow in italian?? Didnt know that


As for the match, I just watched till half time then fell sleep. Orlando had a close to perfect Field Goal percentage so what can you do really.  Did Kobe play that badly reall in the second half? He got a pretty good start.

Really?  Most Mexicans I know stick closer to their Aztec or Mayan roots.  You must be really good looking. 

Kobe was real bad.  He went 5-10 from the charity stripe.  Those free throws could have won the game for us.  He was way off and was trying too hard to make things happen on his own.  He turned the ball over a lot at the end.

There was no Laker defense.  They would be better off just letting them score and not wasting their energy going to the other end of the court.

It's ok, like I said, I want them to lose 2 out of 3 in Whorelando so I can see the clincher in person. 

[Ignatius]

Really?  Most Mexicans I know stick closer to their Aztec or Mayan roots.  You must be really good looking. 

Ture, but you know Spain colonized half Central and south America... that's why I'd assume they respect us. Also, our accent is very different from theirs, much stronger I'd say...

Kobe was real bad.  He went 5-10 from the charity stripe.  Those free throws could have won the game for us.  He was way off and was trying too hard to make things happen on his own.  He turned the ball over a lot at the end.

There was no Laker defense.  They would be better off just letting them score and not wasting their energy going to the other end of the court.

It's ok, like I said, I want them to lose 2 out of 3 in Whorelando so I can see the clincher in person. 

yeah, sometimes he overdoes it. He is one of the best players in history, a real clucth player but he needs to rely more on Gasol and Odom as well. Gasol was 9-11 from the field (he made 7 field goals in a row without a miss) Lakers need to look for him specially since Rashaard lewis simply can't guard him inside.

[D]

Cant wait for the sport pundit over reactions today


Orlando shot out of their minds and barely won a game in which Kobe missed 5 Ft's and turned the ball over a shit load.


Game 3 was a must win for Orlando and the fact they barely won makes me believe they have no chance.

[fito_gnr]

wow!! everybody so quite after the first 2 games, now I hear that the magic should be up 2 - 1? c'mon!!!! this is the only game the magic will win... it was their best game of the season, they have the refs in their favor and they barely won..  Lakers soft??? have you seen the rest of the playoffs?? denver was a physical team result: lakers 4-2 and if Yao was ok, the lakers would have play much better and not that confident.

Ok, maybe I was too excited with Pau's play and he is not gonna be one of th best lakers of all time, but I do think that the lakers are gonna win 3 or 4 more titles in this era, once bynum is healthy no one can beat this team in a playoff series... no one could till now...

[D]

Yeah, u shoot 62 percent and only win by 4............. U are pretty much fucked.

only thing worries me is, Kobe looks like he has hit the wall and hasn't played Kobe like the last two games.

[fito_gnr]

I don't see people from spain as gods and I'm from south america... The fact that you bring  the language and other stuff doesn't make you special here. I lived in LA and most latin people hates Spaniards not to mention in south america because of the fact that spain came here and made horrible things, slavery, etc. etc.   not me I have a couple friends from spain and they are really cool guys... And no one can still be mad about something that happened 500 years ago!!

[Ignatius]

I don't see people from spain as gods and I'm from south america... The fact that you bring  the language and other stuff doesn't make you special here. I lived in LA and most latin people hates Spaniards not to mention in south america because of the fact that spain came here and made horrible things, slavery, etc. etc.   not me I have a couple friends from spain and they are really cool guys... And no one can still be mad about something that happened 500 years ago!!

Hey man chill. I'm not saying spaniards are Gods...it was just a way to express the reactions I got from hispanic people when I went to LA a few years back. That's all.

And lets not really get political in a NBA thread, shall we? I'm not saying all latin people love spaniards or anything like that.  Just sharing what happened with Garry since I thought it was relevant then.

Question for you guys....

Over the past few months I've noticed all NBA commentators on TNT; ESPN and coaches have the same pins on their suits. What is that??

[D]

They have CD on them for Chuck Daly who died of cancer. he coached the bad boy Pistons to two titles and the 92 Dream Team. one of the best coaches ever

[fito_gnr]

Ignatius it`s all right man     are you from Barcelona?? thanks for Pau.. all lakers fans are happy since he became a Laker