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I like him a lot and I get to see him every game because I live in Canada and his playing for my Toronto Raptors. He keeps getting better and better and I like that he can shoot the three very well now and he doesn't hesitate to shoot if his open. The other rookie Jorge Garbojosa is just so fundamentally sound he just does everything you need what a great veteran rookie does all the little things and stuff to help the team win.
Haven't seen any Raptor games in Florida yet so I don't know what to think!
im from van.. but i still think andrea has a LONG way to go even with the little blocks and 3pts he has... but i think he got the potentials... at least right now hes alot better than the start of the year
Carmelo Anthony is back and man what a great first game he and A.I. had was sure fun to watch. Carmelo is showing no rust so far and been getting along with A.I. Denver also won tonight and Carmelo had 34 points against the Sonics and during the same game Allen Iverson became the sixth quickest NBA player to score 20,000 points.
Phoenix Suns has a 14 game winning streak going and its the second time this year they have a double digit winning steak, last one stopped at 15 I think.
Gilbert Arenas is lights out man it seems whenever its near the buzzer or end of quarter and he shoots a three it most likely goes in. Its like routine for him now his 11 for 11 so far and had two buzzer beating threes to win the game this season. People call him Agent Zero or Zero Doubt now because his been amazing this season and people should watch him play.Quote:
Agent Zero has seven 40-point games and three 50-point games this season. The 51 points he scored on Monday was a record point total for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
I actually saw that Nuggets game, a little of it at any rate. Carmelo Anthony does seem to be working well with Iverson so far, but it was also his first game back so I think Iverson may have deferred to him. But hopefully they'll see just how good their team's chances are of making the postseason and gaining a championship if they just work together and they'll continue to have good teamwork as they work towards that goal.
It's easy to play nice for a little bit, but we'll see what happens as time passes. Will A.I. give Carmelo the ball for the last shot in the playoffs? Or will he shoot over 2 or 3 people like always?
It will be interesting to see what happens. Maybe AI can coexist with him. After all he helped force this trade because he knows his time is running out. At any rate, the Nuggets will be an interesting team to watch.[br]Posted on: January 24, 2007, 02:52:13 AM_________________________________________________I'm not a Kobe Bryant apologist by any means, but the fact he is suspended tonight, for what is CLEARLY an accidental elbow, IMO, is RIDICULOUS!
The way the NBA has cracked down on so many things is ridiculous. I know a lot of people paid to go to the Knicks game tonight in an anticipation of seeing Kobe, and now they'll have to wait until next year.
This is the most ridiculous thing the NBA has done in a very long time.
And let me just say that Kobe Bryant just got the same punishment that James Posey did for tackling Kirk Hinrich in the playoffs. There is no consistency in this matter at all. Completely ridiculous.[br]Posted on: January 30, 2007, 06:08:12 PM_________________________________________________So I want to know, after Kobe got suspended a game for an accidental elbow, what does Lebron get for an accidental clothesline? My guess... nothing.[br]Posted on: February 02, 2007, 09:06:18 PM_________________________________________________Woohoo we won again last night! It amazes me how much better Kirk Hinrich plays on the road than at home, but he was big last night. Luol Deng continues to get better and better. He attacked the basket all night and really took it to the Sonics.
I thought our defense was only ok. We did a great job holding down Ray Allen, and we really put the hammer down in the second half. We allowed WAY too many easy baskets though, and our rebounding was horrible. Of course the fact that Ben Wallace is clearly not ready to play yet had a lot to do with that.
I tried watching the Nets and the Magic, but the Magic just crushed them, and the Nets don't impress me much at all.
What do you guys think about Kobe's 4 consecutive games with 50+ points huh? The only other person to do that is Wilt Chamberlain, of course, MJ did it only 3 consecutive games.
Here's a recap:
vs. Portland, he scores 65
vs. Minnesota, he scores 50
vs. Memphis, he scores 60
vs. the Hornets, he scores 50
As a result, the Lakers are currently on a 4 game winning streak. Kobe said that one of the reasons he's really hot right now is due to the debate whether he is a dirty player or not (in reference to his recent elbow suspensions).
I'm probably biased here because I'm a Laker fan, plus I live in Los Angeles, but c'mon guys, isn't these statistics impressive?
meh, there will always be Kobe haters, I guess.
These are impressive stats, but these aren't exactly the best teams ever he's putting these numbers up against. While 50+ is 50+ and is always impressive it smacks more of Kobe deciding he's going to do it no matter what, rather than there being an actual need too. If the Lakers can't beat those teams without Kobe scoring 50, then their is something wrong.
Oh, and elbowing in the face is a dirty thing to do. I can accept moving your arm out a little as part of your "natural shooting motion" but those two elbows were just dirty plays, period.
Even Karl Malone didn't do such blatant elbows!
well, I have no comments about the elbow incidents, as I haven't seen those games myself...and I'm more interested in the stats..
You're absolutely right, there is something wrong with the Lakers...let's face it, his teammates suck! I've seen Kobe improved so much in the last two years. Critics always complain he doesn't pass the ball, well he's done that this year. He's distributed the ball in order to get his teammates involved. If you recall from the Suns first round playoff match up last season, he even went to the extent of being almost nearly passive, yet his teammates couldn't even contribute.
The problem isn't with Kobe, but the lackness in depth with this Laker team.
However, the Lakers has gotten better this year, but they've been plagued by injuries all year so their standings in the West is somewhat misleading.
I think Kobe is ridiculously underrated in this league. I mean instead of getting compliments about his impressive scoring performance, the focus is immediately towards his selfishness.
Can't he catch a break?
His shooting percentage in the past four games has been about 50 percent, well above his normal average. Clearly not an indication of selfishness with the ball, but more on scoring efficiency.
True, those teams he's played against aren't elite teams, but seriously, can you really deny that he's that good? Drop 50 at least once on the weakest team in the league, is impressive enough for any player, but to do it four consective times?
lol, sorry I didn't mean to get carried away. I'm just enthusiastic about this whole mess, not bickering with you. :)
EDIT: Kobe didn't extend his streak to 5 games...he fell 7 points short; Kobe scored 43 points, and his Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors, making this their 5th straight win, tying their season best streak.
Kobe's 4 consecutive 50+ point performance is only second best behind Wilt Chamberlain's 7 straight (he also did a 5 game and a 4 game streak on separate occasions).
Side note: before this 5 straight Lakers winning streak, this team has experienced the worst losing streak of Phil Jackson's head coaching career, 7 straight games!
I guess you can say that as the playoffs are getting closer and their playoff position becoming more significant, this is Kobe's way of demonstrating to his teammates a "sense of urgency" that they've been thoroughly lacking all year. (They're currently 6th place in the West, comfortably 2 games ahead of 7th placed Denver Nuggets).
I don't think he is a selfish player, although he has been before. But he's definitely "matured". I've never seen a guy who works as hard as Kobe (besides Allen Iverson), who cares nothing more than to win. How can you look negatively at that? Heck, even his teammates are "awed" by him. And what's so great about Kobe's overall maturity as a leader of his club this season is his supportiveness of his teammates, in and outside the court. He has been said to have created good "bonds" with his teammates, and that's still not enough to please the Kobe haters. Smush Parker has testified that Kobe has been a mentor to him, and the same can be said from Luke Walton. And you can see his good relationship with his teammates just by watching him with his team. A selfish player is someone who is typically disliked by his teammates. I don't see any evidence of that at all, and I watch Laker games on a regular basis.
It seems a bit unfair of all the negative scrutiny this guy has gotten in his career, and instead of pausing for just a moment and compliment him on his incredible performance, all we can bother to look at is his "dirtiness" as a player, of which he has already paid his dues (game suspensions and monetary fines).
To see the full story from ESPN, here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2812067
I gave him his props for doing well! I don't personally have anything against Kobe at all.
You're right the Lakers aren't the most talented team in the league, but they're far from the worst. Lamar Odom is great when he wants to be.
It is too bad about the injuries for the Lakers this year, but even at full strength, I think they're pretty much where they would be anyway.
Yeah I understand. I just felt I needed to defend him, that's all, because he hasn't received a lot of respect in the league that I thought he deserves. My defense or apology (is that the word?) was directed towards the Kobe haters in general.
[EDIT]:
I found this in the internet:
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5...toonwa6.th.gif
:rofl
[EDIT #2]:
Wow, the sports section is so quiet.
I know you guys are probably thinking I worship Kobe. In a way, I guess I do, there's no shame in that, he's an amazing player. And after his 81 point game last season, and now this recent 4-game 50+ point performance (he almost made it 5 games with 43 points), my impression of Kobe has improved dramatically.
I read this article on ESPN written by Jemele Hill, and I'm afraid I agree with his column wholeheartedly.
You can read the full article here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...t&lid=tab2pos2
I thought the last 3 paragraphs perfectly captured the essence of the article, which I thought was so beautifully written:
Quote:
[...]The shame of it is that Kobe might finish his career without a MVP, even though his ability can be compared only to that of Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. All this time we've been looking for a player who is better than Jordan, but most of us can't get beyond whether we like or dislike Kobe as a person to recognize his contributions to the game.
Ultimately the MVP award will go to either Nash or Dirk Nowitzki, who are deserving this season, but neither are as good as Kobe. Dallas and Phoenix are strong enough to make the playoffs without their stars. The Lakers, however, are a lottery team without Kobe.
Now that's a valuable player.
Kobe is not better than Michael, these people need to put the crack pipe down!
^I agree with you there. Although Kobe is probably the closest to MJ, of our era.
Disregard Kobe's three championships with Shaq, and focus only on his career after that. What he has done with the Lakers, which is a lottery team without him, is comparable to what MJ had went through before he won championships. I believe it was MJ's second year, when he averaged 37 points that season. His teammates sucked, and so MJ needed to score that many points, just so his team can win games.
The burden is all on Kobe all the time, and so when his team loses, everybody blames him. Just look at how pathetic his teammates are, nobody wants to step up. How can critics even blame Kobe for being a ball-hog (btw he has improved his field goal percentage, and is taking 5 field goal attempts less, compared to last season), when none of his teammates, except Odom, are willing to contribute?
[/rant]
I would argue that the Lakers supporting cast is better than the Bulls was before 1987 and Scottie Pippen got there.
I mean... outside of Jordan, how many non bulls fans can name the players that were with Jordan?
Aside from Odom, and Kwame Brown (granted he's gotten a lot better but he's a no.1 draft pick who is the epitome of underachiever), Luke Walton who is popular only because of his father, but who the hell knows anything about Ronny Turiaf, Sasha Vucacic, Smush Parker...and don't forget about a young star talent Andrew Bynum...well, I'd put Jordan Farmar in, but he hardly gets any playing time.
Kobe is surrounded by non-veteran/inexperienced players. They do have a lot of talent, but they're mostly underachievers.
And how can you argue against Kobe's competition...he is playing in a tougher conference.
Pre-1987 Easter Conference is less competitive than today's Western Conference.
I'm not saying Kobe has surpassed MJ, but he is somewhat closer than anyone of this generation has ever been.
I'll switch gears a little bit...
By stats alone, Kobe is a lot closer to MJ than you may think, in fact, he's surpassed him on many areas.
For example, 81 points vs. MJ's 69 points.
The four consecutive 50+ points we talked about earlier, MJ's record was 3.
Kobe is the youngest player to reach, I forgot the stats, I think it was 9000 points (please correct me on this).
The point is, despite all these accomplishments, there is an obvious disparity between MJ and Kobe in terms of accolades. MJ has won 6 MVPs, yet Kobe has won none.
I respect Nash and Dirk, they both deserve to win the MVPs this year. But Kobe is as equally deserving of it. At least he should be considered third place, but last I checked, I think he was either fourth or fifth, which is pretty lame.