Personal computing discussed
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Skrying wrote:Lakers and Cleveland. Cleveland wins the series is six games. I'm rather torn by this series. I want Kobe to win and cement his legacy, while I also want Cleveland to win and help secure hope that LeBron will stay in Cleveland for his career.
mattsteg wrote:A loss would go a long ways toward cementing his legacy too. Could easily go either way at this point - selfish player who couldn't quite get it done without Shaq or player who matured enough to lead a team to the NBA championship.
mattsteg wrote:A loss would go a long ways toward cementing his legacy too. Could easily go either way at this point - selfish player who couldn't quite get it done without Shaq or player who matured enough to lead a team to the NBA championship.
idchafee wrote:Especially since Shaq went on to win one without Kobe.
Skrying wrote:Let's not forget that Shaq wasn't alone in Miami, he had Dwayne Wade who had a ridiculous Finals in many regards.
Skrying wrote:Maybe he's matured into that over the past few seasons, but for the bulk of his career that just hasn't been true. He's been selfish by holding the ball too much and selfish by refusing to shoot at times, including the second half of a game 7.mattsteg wrote:A loss would go a long ways toward cementing his legacy too. Could easily go either way at this point - selfish player who couldn't quite get it done without Shaq or player who matured enough to lead a team to the NBA championship.
Kobe is selfish just like every all time greater scorer is selfish. It is sometimes hard to fault them when the system is built to support the actions and they can still take all their shots and have a higher percentage than even good scorers.
idchafee wrote:Skrying wrote:Let's not forget that Shaq wasn't alone in Miami, he had Dwayne Wade who had a ridiculous Finals in many regards.
Wade was the MVP IIRC so this is very true. However, I don't think Shaq's ring says "But he had DWade so this ring doesn't count as much."
Hawkwing74 wrote:Can the Lakers keep going when a Houston team down 2 players took them to 7 games? I'm starting to doubt they can beat Cleveland.
BKA wrote:EAST- Cleveland -FINALS CHAMP
WEST - DENVER
I say Denver because the Lakers played Houston with too much arrogance because they knew they could beat them anytime they wanted. They won't get away with that with Denver. They remind me of the Pistons when they played Cleveland in the East Finals a couple of years back, thinking they could just turn it on and off anytime they wanted to and got burned by it. Without Jameer Nelson Orlando won't have a chance and Cleveland also has this guy known as Lebron.
BKA wrote:I agree about the player-to-player matchups. If Gasol and Bynum don't get it together they won't win. Nene and Martin will outplay them in the post. What I don't agree with is how you said Denver will not outplay LA on the defensive end. Billups plays better defense than Fisher as far as I'm concerned and hes a better shooter. I expect a good series without blowouts. It will be interesting to see how the teams adjust from game to game. Wait a minute, LA doesn't adjust from game to game they stick with the same offense and mostly the same defense. We shall see.
Skrying wrote:Kobe was stopped. It doesn't matter if he scores 40 points, if it took him 28 field goals and 14 free throws to get there then you're doing your job defensively. That is exactly why Shane Battier is such a force against Kobe. Kobe might still put up a ton of points but by making him highly inefficient you're playing at your greatest chance of winning.
This is also a prime example of why LeBron is SO MUCH better than Kobe is at this point. It also is exactly why Carmelo was far and away the best player on the court last night. 39 points off of 14/20 FGs and only 8 free throws! 4/5 from three point land! That is an amazing game!
Sometimes letting the star "get his" is the best way to plan. Watch how Cleveland is going to play Dwight Howard. Howard will likely get 20 points and 20 rebounds but Cleveland will likely use single coverage on him and cover up Orlando's three point shooters. This is a prime example of why Howard can't take over a game and shows no signs of ever being close to as dominating a force as Shaq was.
Skrying wrote:Carmelo had nothing to do with that loss. A terrible coaching decision on the inbound pass was a reason. K-Mart putting an absolutely terrible foul on Kobe was a reason. This Kobe as a "closer" is ridiculous, he has one of the worst clutch percentages in the category of "go to" guys in the league. Ironically, Carmelo has the best.
The 81 point game is what happens when a great shooter takes 46 shots and 20 free throws. I'm not saying Kobe Bryant isn't one of the greatest to ever play, he is. I'd consider him in the top 10 of all time. He, however, at this point in his career is a bit overstated and his points in a game are often times not favorable in terms of percentage or his team winning.
Skrying wrote:I was looking at the "game winning shots" and not the "clutch" and "super clutch", sorry.
This is where Melo is the best and where Kobe looks horrendous. Kobe gets a lot of shots in the final minutes of close games, but his chances of making that big shot are very bad. I would want him on the floor during the final 5 minutes but I would let Melo take that game winning shot.
http://www.82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm
Skrying wrote:He doesn't have a good percentage in these situations...Kobe is selfish just like every all time greater scorer is selfish. It is sometimes hard to fault them when the system is built to support the actions and they can still take all their shots and have a higher percentage than even good scorers.
Skrying wrote:He is and always has been vulnerable to that.Kobe might still put up a ton of points but by making him highly inefficient you're playing at your greatest chance of winning.
Skrying wrote:Breaking back boards isn't going to win the game Dwight!
EDIT: I can't believe what just happened. How in the world did Cleveland let that slip away? Sigh, I had to listen to it over ESPN Radio but it just didn't seem like the rest of the Cavs had the same fire as LeBron.