you’ll see a lot of questions. No one knows. Personally, I have thought since the injury forst happened KG and the Celtics are screwed. I wish him well, and ope he comes back, but what kind of knee injury has no explanation of what is wrong and no real time table on when he’s coming back? Sounds pretty serious to me.

I think that you are one of the best I have read in regards to presenting your argument without getting inot petty and immature insults of other players/teams. I especially liked the following comment:

The amount of achievements and the records that Kobe has reached in this 10 year period has been pretty amazing. Not to mention, his highlight reels and his endorsements that he was getting prior to 2004 and now the endorsements he is getting after 2004, propels him into the spotlight that Tim Duncan hasn’t been able to get.

It would of taken me a whole page to make that point.

Duncan—the best 4/5 over the entire decade—achieves what he does by executing the hell out of a relatively modest array of moves. It’s incredibly effective. Even the most Lakersy of all Lakers fans can’t really legitimately deny that over time, Duncan has been the straw that stirs the Spurs’ drink. (Say that a few times fast.) And four titles in nine years is pretty damned impressive.

What it isn’t, however, is thrilling to watch. Duncan has never, as far as I know, sucked eternity out of the Target Center, or gotten Kevin Harlan to say, “How in the world did he do that?” I don’t recall Marv ever calling one of his moves “spectacular.” It’s no knock on Duncan from a superiority perspective; that’s just not the kind of player he is. Contrast this to Kobe, who seems to pick an incredible move out of his pocket (or wherever he keeps them) every other game. And ultimately, basketball is entertainment, the kind of entertainment that people are willing to pay through the nose for. That’s why Kobe has the endorsements. He simply entertains in a way that few do.

And Duncan doesn’t change a game the way Kobe does, in my opinion. He simply does what every post player should do, only much more effectively than anyone else does. If you have to play the Spurs, what are your choices? You double Duncan, maybe, or you front him, or whatever. You play him the same way you play any other very talented big man; the only difference is whatever defense would have limited an average center to 12 points, say, would still allow Duncan 20. He’s going to get his. But you’re not going to change your whole game plan around him.

By comparison, coaches all the time have to figure out something special for Kobe. No doubt that that’s got a lot to do with his outstanding supporting cast. But Kobe has such a varied array of moves that defending him any ordinary way is like trying to squeeze dry sand. Eventually, you’re going to go home empty-handed. LeBron has that, too, and Wade. But my own biased opinion is that no one has as many tools that can be employed with that degree of artistry and cold-hearted precision as Kobe Bean Bryant.

I go on there daily but I didn’t say any list. Do you have the Link?

Kareem is Kareem, of course. I think the reason you don’t see Wilt higher is not that he wasn’t a better player than Mikan—he was, I think, by any standard—but because he enjoyed a lot of his success elsewhere.

I also think, when you’re judging players across eras, you sort of have to judge them by the standards of their era. And Mikan utterly dominated his era. He motivated the first widening of the key (which, once upon a time, actually kind of looked like a key). Any time they change a rule because of the way you’re taking over the game…ehh, I’d say that’s pretty dominant.

Gasol is where he is in large part because he’s only had a year-and-a-half to establish his Lakers reputation. Give him time and he’ll move up, although whether it’s as a 4 or a 5 remains to be seen.

what we could use most for the Lakers. It’s under fan posts

It’s Henry Abbott teaching other bloggers how to treat zealous fanbases.

By e-mail, and on the phone even. He’s quite a reasonable fellow, by and large. And he is well aware of how the Kobe contingent sees him. It’s not that he doesn’t care, but he does think that a lot of them are bit batty and oversensitive. Frankly, this sort of assumption that every post about Kobe is designed to either inflame or to placate (and that posts about other players aren’t similarly designed) sort of plays right into that perception. I often am tempted to say to Henry that it’s not all about him—that there are plenty of Lakers fans out there who are perfectly reasonable to him but whom he lumps right in with the others—but I’d also say the same to some rabid Kobe and Lakers fans. Most people are not so stupid that they won’t see that it’s just Henry’s opinion, and those who are that stupid—well, let’s just say that they’ll believe what they want to. About Kobe, about the Lakers, about anybody.

I recommend Kurt’s post on the matter at FB&G. It’s level-headed and I think Kurt’s assessment of Henry vis a vis the Lakers is right on the money.

Nowadays everybody want to post like they got somethin to say
But nothing comes out when they type their lists
Just a bunch of gibberish
And Lakers fans act like they forget about Drew

Bynum’s going to be the dark horse this year. I see big things for him. I think he’s going to be extra motivated to make everyone remember who he is.

lol, won’t Kidd go down in the history books well ahead of Stevie?

Especially because Barbosa would be a far more effective energizer off the bench than anything we have right now besides Odom, but the question is whether Phoenix is willing to give him up for practically nothing. They arguably can make the playoffs next year if everyone is healthy, so unless Sarver has extreme cash problems, Barbosa likely isn’t getting moved at the reasonable salary he has.

The rest of them aren’t really worth their contracts; Daniels and Duhon are backups that are majorly overpaid and Bell is way overrated, especially on the defensive end at this stage in his career. Farmar’s possible upside (namely his ‘07-’08 form) is worth more than all three.

Olajuwon was the Anti-Dwight Howard. Offensively.

His fakes were amazing. He worked Shaq out in ’95.

Crap the league better watch out Kobe is downloading Hakeem’s moves!

Kobe’s work ethic is admirable. Even at this stage of his career, he’s still trying to add to his game.

Namely because with Artest, we’re going to have more of a slow, grind-out half-court game, and one of the advantages is that practically every one of our starters outside of Fisher can post up. Hell, if we run Kobe-Artest-Odom-Gasol-Bynum, then everyone can post up. As Abbott put in one of his more poignant posts, there are a lot of players that don’t really want to be isolated on the post against a superior offensive player. Basically, we give teams the choice of doubling and risk being burned by passing from the triangle or dealing with being burned by single coverage.

And per above, Olajuwon was awesome. His footwork in the post was perhaps one of the most beautiful basketball things I’ve been fortunate enough to witness.

It’s only right. You found the link. Thanks.

BUT don’t believe the hype. This is “marriage” is made for TV. Supposedly, it’s not even official. They had a “fake” ceremony because LO’s last minute desire for a Pre-nup would have delayed the wedding. E! News paid for the “wedding” and would not do so if there was a delay. So, they decided to proceed with the show, and handle the pre-nup and “real” nuptials after.

That all adds up to nothing but a thinly disguised publicity stunt. Kardashian reportedly sold the “wedding” pics for $300K.

I see a “break-up” within a month. More pub.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/09/26/lamar-odom-khloe-kardashian-married-prenup-problem/

This is the last time I will post a LO-Dash link.

Zaig’s gonna have a fit