First of all, isn’t is plainly obvious that this is all hypothetical? That this is pure conjecture and speculation? I should think at this point, that’s taken for granted. We’re engaging in wild speculation here. The point isn’t that we have super-concrete things to go on, it’s that we do the best we can with what we have at the moment. Sure, I could say, “Well, we really have no way of knowing, so let’s not go there.” But what’s the fun in not going there? We’re sports fans, this is what we do!

So the point that anything can happen is pretty obvious, man. It’s assumed. BUT, we’re operating under a couple assumptions here: (1) Anything can happen TO ANYBODY, not just to the Lakers, and (2) we’re going based on what we see RIGHT NOW.

Sure, someone could make a big acquisition. But RIGHT NOW, the Lakers are the OBVIOUS favorites in the West, by FAR.

Also, I’ve said this a few times… This is NOT about Artest guarding Rasheed. The point here is that Rasheed means the Celtics have a better chance of getting to the Finals… therefore, he makes it more likely that we match up with them… and in that case, Artest will be guarding Paul Pierce, which is HUGE.

If you think I’m saying Artest is important for guarding Sheed, you didn’t read the post.

Are you implying that he won’ win many games with his horrible shot selection? Because if you are, that’s pretty damn true and there’s no way to argue.

If you think Ron’s shot selection is gonna be horrible ala the Houston Lakers series though, you couldn’t be more wrong.

…but the man deserves better credit than the stats from his last four playoff games. No one on Detroit was worth a damn really.

don’t be a complete stat geek. Please tell me you atleast watched ONE game of the Cleveland-Detroit series.

I’ve never seen a player more in “I don’t care” mode than Rasheed was during the series. It was sad, because had he actually given an ounce of effort, the Pistons could have given the Cavs a decent series.

For all his gifts, Howard is an extremely limited post player, as he doesn’t have any real go-to moves. His only so-so move is a running hook, which the Lakers continually denied him, forcing him to use a spin move as a counter, but literally every time he did that, we had a “soft” double team (usually Fisher) that would come in and rake down on the ball to try for a steal. If Howard kept the ball higher during the spin, he could have prevented this, but he continually allowed Fisher or whoever was the help to go for the steal.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-41-61/On-the-Notion-that-Dwight-Howard-Has-No-Post-Game.html

That’s a pretty good article on the same subject. Enjoy.

never gave much marketing thought on apparel. Contact people with the NBA, or Nike, or Reebok, to discover how to make a clothing lines pitch to them.

As for his jersey number, no idea yet. I’m sure we’ll know this Wednesday.

The point is that there are FOUR of them now. They don’t have to be Jordan or Kobe. They just have to be pretty good. And they will be.

Even championship “caliber” squads don’t just win because they have the talent. There is a certain hardening process, a learning curve, that teams have to go through, before they figure out what it takes to win in the playoffs. The younger the team is, the more true that is.

OKC is very young, and they’re not championship caliber yet. They’ll take at least a couple years getting to the “championship caliber” level (I’d say more like 3-5), and another year or two of trying, failing, and learning once they have the talent to be there, before they’ve gained the experience necessary and learned what it takes to win a championship.

They’re certainly not to be overlooked in the long run — but I think both the team and its star still have a lot to go through and a lot to learn on the road to finally becoming capable of being champioins, and that will take a few years.

It all depends on what team your playing. Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Arron Brooks kill us. But so do Melo, LeBron & Pierce.

Artest will be a help with the big guys. We just need to solve the quick point guard problem.

i would still like a back up big guy 6’9-7’0 that is as nasty as artest.

A couple of subtle distinctions:

1. Against Cleveland, a lot of it was the help defense on LeBron. Meaning, Big Z can shoot as many 18-foot jumpers as he damn well pleases, we’re not biting. We’re hanging back with our bigs and saying, “Come on, LeBron, we dare you.”
2. While that is actually a good strategy against LeBron, Artest bolsters that even more. He gives you solid man defense AND solid help defense on LeBron. Very problematic for Cleveland.
3. Your point about Luke vs. Carmelo is very astute. Luke had the size and strength to better handle Melo, and was surprisingly quick when trying to stay in front of him. Artest has more of all of these things. More size, strength, defensive quickness. Have fun, Melo.
4. And guess what? Melo has a broader offensive arsenal than LeBron. I like your points about Artest’s role on offense vs. the Cavs — it forces LeBron to actually guard someone who can score from all over, in a variety of ways, and can create his own shot, which he didn’t have to do before — but again, don’t overlook the defense. The advantage Luke presented over Trevor when guarding Melo is relevant when guarding LeBron, as well. The carryover being that Ron Ron will be even better against LeBron than Luke. You’ll never completely stop LeBron, but whenever you can add a guy who can defend him better than your previous guy, that is a Good Thing™.

Great, great points about Delonte. They really need him on offense, but on defense he is often a liability… especially against a team as big as the Lakers, across the board.

I’m not even sure how I feel about this, myself. It could be absolutely retarded, as I haven’t really thought it through. But what the hell, let’s throw it out there…

Since Cleveland struggles so much to defend size, what would you think about this roster vs. Cleveland?

Bynum-Gasol-Odom-Artest-Bryant

Crazy enough to be completely stupid… or crazy enough to be freakin’ awesome?

To an extent, I agree with you. I am definitely NOT saying Kobe not having to work hard on defense is the only thing needed to make him efficient against Boston on offense. That’s why I wrote this part:

First, of course, was that Kobe Bryant was unable to be very effective on offense. This was no fault of his own — the Celtics trapped him at every turn, and when he was able to split the double team, a help defender was immediately waiting to seal him off. What should he have done, sprouted wings and flown over the green-clad defenders? Michael Jordan and LeBron James would have been equally ineffective, individually, against that defense. And yet, when Kobe made the pass to find the open man, the Celtics’ rotations were so crisp and quick that the open man was no longer open by the time he received the ball. That is how good the Celtics’ defense was that year.

First, I’m not saying I expect him to be better in any specific way, statistically, next season. In fact, I’m not really talking about the season, overall. I’m talking about Kobe vs. Boston.

As for Boston, I’m not saying I expect through the roof stats from Kobe because he’s not guarding Pierce on defense. That’s really not at all what I’m saying. I’m basically just saying I don’t expect him to struggle as much. That’s all.

Why? Again, I’m not saying it’s all because he won’t be guarding Pierce. I’m saying it’s a combination of things. Part of it will be that Artest gives us another scorer who can create his own shot, and another post-up option. Part of it is that Pau won’t be letting himself get bullied again like he did last time. Part of it will be that the Celtics are a bit older. Part of it will be that I think Lamar Odom has found what it takes, and will be better against Boston than he was last time. Part of it will be that the Lakers’ vastly improved defense/toughness will make it harder for Boston to score, which in turn will make it harder for them to defend us so completely, and will create opportunities for us to score.

And part of it is that Kobe won’t be as tired from constantly switching onto whichever Celtic is killing us. I mean, is it really that out there to suggest that a less tired Kobe is a better Kobe? That’s pretty much true of all players. All people, in fact. And that’s all I’m saying.

And while I do expect Kobe to work hard on defense at all times, I don’t expect that work to be as draining against Rondo as it would be against Pierce. That’s a pretty obvious thing, to me.

So I’m not saying Ron guarding Pierce, and Kobe guarding Rondo, will magically, in and of itself, make Kobe unstoppable on offense. That’s ridiculous. But isn’t it equally ridiculous to think that fatigue has nothing to do with Kobe’s performance on offense? I think so.

So while I do expect Kobe to continue to work hard on defense, I expect that work to be less draining against Rondo or Ray Allen than it would be against Pierce. As such, I expect Kobe to be less affected by fatigue. And I expect that to have a real impact on offense — not as the only factor, but as one important factor among several.

first off, great stuff. Glad to have read it. I never could find much of the exit interview stuff except with the major players, like Ariza, Kobe, and Pau.

I definately agree on the Farmar bit. We all panned him to start the playoffs, and expected him to not play at all, in favor of Shannon Brown against Deron Williams. But who was the first guard off the bench the vast majority of the time? Jordan Farmar. And considering what he had gone through recently, and the entire season, I was doubly impressed with his performance.

With Sasha, it is painfully obvious that he’s trying to jam a whole night’s work into a couple of minutes. And it’s really sad, because before we picked up Trevor, long term I saw Sasha as one day becoming the starting SG and Kobe moving to SF as he continued to slow down. Now, thought, I don’t think that will ever be the case.