How Quickly Laker Fans Forget

[Gee!]

I didn't know that you were still a Suns fan.

are you on the abomb diet plan or something?

 

[oneofthesedays]

Wow anyone here suggesting that Shaq in his present state is in any way shape or form is comparable to Kareem or Wilt is outside their minds. That is a slap in the face to them and what they accomplished late in their careers.

Shaq is in the worst physical shape of his life. He hasn't been able to stay healthy for any reasonable stretch of games at all this season. You are bringing him in to be a defensive presence and it is that part of his game that has deteriorated the most. If you think that is all going to change because Shaq gives himself a pep talk you are setting yourselves up for disappointment. His body isn't there physically, he is broken down.

You don't think Riley knows the value of a big-man? He has won all his rings off the backs of the best big men in the league. If he thought Shaq had anything left in the tank he would not have dealt him. You got hoodwinked, plain and simple.

 

[arwillan]

You don't know much about Pau, I guess.

And it isn't a 7 footer. It is a front line of two 7 footers and a 6'10 SF. That's gonna destroy you. Not Pau alone.

let me get this straight....you lakers fans want bynum to guard shaq? mis match. you want pau to guard amare? HAHAHA....definite mismatch. and best of all, you want lamar odom to guard Grant Hill? HAHA, huge mismatch. odom can't manage to be involved in the offense when he is the second best player, how will he do when he is the 3rd/4th option? he couldn't guard grant hill if his life was to depend on it. the lakers really didn't get much better by adding pau because his defense is so poor.

 

[arwillan]

You got hoodwinked, plain and simple.

you're a moron for saying so, plain and simple. i try to respect lakers fans but that is pure ignorance. The suns ditched an overpaid cry-baby who was causing locker room cancer for a guy who is an excellent locker room member who just happens to have 4 rings. we lost a guy who gets all of his points off of nash for a guy who can get his own stuff in the post. we lost a SF playing PF who relys on his athleticism to make his game complete, and gained a power center that allows us to move our greatest scoring threat to his natural position while simultaneously helping him stay out of foul trouble. we lost a guy who got burned by a tiny frenchman in the playoffs and gained a guy who can go man on man with tim duncan on both ends, thus freeing amare up to do his thing even more against the spurs. we lost smallball which would win us nothing and gained another serious half-court threat who next to amare could be simply unstoppable. Only a true homer of a western team could really say that this move is anything other than what their team did NOT need.

 

[AceP]

Please do not underestimate the Lakers, Phil Jackson is a wise coach. He is not as magical as 9 championship rings defined, he won them with super-stars that no other coaches ever had (maybe not including Pat Riley). But when given good cards in hand, he can make the job done.

It is an interesting match up if both team show up with full strength. I'm not sure how well Bynum has developed, obviously he is not yet TD, or YAO, or Dwight Howard. Gasol and Odom r both nice offensive players, but on defence end, they r soft, very soft.

I would say the Lakers r too crowded up front, hard to share shots between Bynum, Gasol and Odom, their perimeter shooting is also not consistent enough to make good use of the powerful C/PF combination. The Suns r much better balanced, the best 3p shooting in the league + a more comfortable pair of bigs.

Really looking forward to see the Suns vs Lakers series.

About Shaq, don't worry about what he got left in tank. His age prevents him to be the dominating Shaq every night. But when he is well preserved, healthy, and motivated, he still rolls over anyone. I have seen him dominate Yao Ming early this season, it was just Nov 23, 2007. Then pretty much countered out Dwight Howard the next day in a back to back game.

U guys must know the ESPN Hollinger's PER rating, Shaq is 18.16, ranked #49 there, #50 is Kaman, #48 is AK, #44 is Chandler, all #40s r 18 something.

The biggest question for the Suns, and also for the Lakers, is to use the rest of regular season to adjust and fine tune the whole system, make sure everyone fit with each other well b4 playoff.

 

[Gee!]

Please do not underestimate the Lakers, Phil Jackson is a wise coach.

I stopped reading right there.. When has Dr Phil won anything without 2 superstars?

What has he won? I remember he quit on the lakers once only to come back cuz he hitting the owners daughter.. Not all that impressive..

 

[oneofthesedays]

you're a moron for saying so, plain and simple. i try to respect lakers fans but that is pure ignorance. The suns ditched an overpaid cry-baby who was causing locker room cancer for a guy who is an excellent locker room member who just happens to have 4 rings. we lost a guy who gets all of his points off of nash for a guy who can get his own stuff in the post. we lost a SF playing PF who relys on his athleticism to make his game complete, and gained a power center that allows us to move our greatest scoring threat to his natural position while simultaneously helping him stay out of foul trouble. we lost a guy who got burned by a tiny frenchman in the playoffs and gained a guy who can go man on man with tim duncan on both ends, thus freeing amare up to do his thing even more against the spurs. we lost smallball which would win us nothing and gained another serious half-court threat who next to amare could be simply unstoppable. Only a true homer of a western team could really say that this move is anything other than what their team did NOT need.

You clearly have not watched Shaq play a single game this season. Shaq is a shell of the player he used to be and no amount of motivation will change that. His body is broken down. He can put up a good game every now and then, but to sustain that effort throughout the entire playoffs is just not going to happen man. Your setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

[oneofthesedays]

Please do not underestimate the Lakers, Phil Jackson is a wise coach. He is not as magical as 9 championship rings defined, he won them with super-stars that no other coaches ever had (maybe not including Pat Riley). But when given good cards in hand, he can make the job done.

It is an interesting match up if both team show up with full strength. I'm not sure how well Bynum has developed, obviously he is not yet TD, or YAO, or Dwight Howard. Gasol and Odom r both nice offensive players, but on defence end, they r soft, very soft.

I would say the Lakers r too crowded up front, hard to share shots between Bynum, Gasol and Odom, their perimeter shooting is also not consistent enough to make good use of the powerful C/PF combination. The Suns r much better balanced, the best 3p shooting in the league + a more comfortable pair of bigs.

Really looking forward to see the Suns vs Lakers series.

About Shaq, don't worry about what he got left in tank. His age prevents him to be the dominating Shaq every night. But when he is well preserved, healthy, and motivated, he still rolls over anyone. I have seen him dominate Yao Ming early this season, it was just Nov 23, 2007. Then pretty much countered out Dwight Howard the next day in a back to back game.

U guys must know the ESPN Hollinger's PER rating, Shaq is 18.16, ranked #49 there, #50 is Kaman, #48 is AK, #44 is Chandler, all #40s r 18 something.

The biggest question for the Suns, and also for the Lakers, is to use the rest of regular season to adjust and fine tune the whole system, make sure everyone fit with each other well b4 playoff.

We have 4 players shooting over 40% from 3pt land (and yes they have taken more than 10 shots). Try again.

 

[French Fries]

I stopped reading right there.. When has Dr Phil won anything without 2 superstars?

What has he won? I remember he quit on the lakers once only to come back cuz he hitting the owners daughter.. Not all that impressive..

not to disrespect you (or support your argument, however you like to look at it), but i don't remember any team winning anything without at least 2 stars either, so it goes both ways i believe...

 

[AceP]

We have 4 players shooting over 40% from 3pt land (and yes they have taken more than 10 shots). Try again.

OK, I consider this is a first test of my knowledge here.

The Suns ranked #2 in 3p made, 9.2 per game, the Lakers is #9, 7.4.

The Suns ranked #3 in 3p%, 38.7%, the Lakers is 37.2% #8.

The distance is not huge, but pretty significant.

And we still have to see how Shaq works his way into Nash and D'Antoni's system. Normally, when u have Shaq in the middle, ur perimeter shooters get a lot more open looks. Gasol doesn't make that much space for his teammates.

 

[D-Dogg]

Good job destroying the Hawks tonight with all those "monsters".

Apparently you don't understand what injuries are.

Don't worry, with Shaq you will.

 

[D-Dogg]

U guys must know the ESPN Hollinger's PER rating, Shaq is 18.16, ranked #49 there, #50 is Kaman, #48 is AK, #44 is Chandler, all #40s r 18 something.

If you put anything into the PER, then you will know that Bynum is ranked 14th at 22.88, Pau 25th at 20.79 and Kobe at 7th with 24 something.

You have Amare ranked second with 27 or so, and Nash at 17 with similar numbers to Pau. Oddly enough, you traded away your other top 30 PER guy (#30) in Marion with just over 20.

PER isn't really a good argument for you, but again that also depends on how much stock you put in it in the first place.

 

[Bufalay]

Didn't Shaq get sonned by Dampier in the finals 2 years ago? How is he going to hang with Duncan? I'm pretty sure if the suns play the lakers shaq will kick the crap out of Bynum (physically beat him up).

 

[nashman]

Lakers fans are just ignorent if they think they will destroy us as some have said. Nice loss to the Hawks with your great team their Lakers! I hope we see the Lakers in the playoffs just to punch them in the face, and let them know who's bee itch they still are.

 

[SHAQFAN4EVER]

I can not wait till Feb 20th, so we can make a statement.. Once Pau got dunked on, what will Lakes say? I still remember how Bynum bot dunked on, kid fell on the floor and shat on himself.(Now tell me Shaq got dunked on, he didn't, Bynum, spun around for a drunk and Shaq was not under the basket) Thank you

 

[SHAQFAN4EVER]

Bufalay, I dont know which years finals you were watching, Shaq was double teamed, 24/7 regardless he had the ball or not..... Ummmm, people conveniently tend to forget some facts so they can have an argument

 

[oneofthesedays]

Do you realize that Shaq's hip is so bad that he can't even play 3-4 games without re-aggravating it? And now you want to put him in a run-n-gun system? If all you wanted was somebody who could get rebounds and body people up you should have kept Kurt Thomas.

 

[French Fries]

Bufalay, I dont know which years finals you were watching, Shaq was double teamed, 24/7 regardless he had the ball or not..... Ummmm, people conveniently tend to forget some facts so they can have an argument

may i know what your handle is in the other message boards? i'm just curious

 

[French Fries]

Do you realize that Shaq's hip is so bad that he can't even play 3-4 games without re-aggravating it? And now you want to put him in a run-n-gun system? If all you wanted was somebody who could get rebounds and body people up you should have kept Kurt Thomas.

all-star break is enough to rest that hip. if another injury happens, that's another story.

 

[Bufalay]

Bufalay, I dont know which years finals you were watching, Shaq was double teamed, 24/7 regardless he had the ball or not..... Ummmm, people conveniently tend to forget some facts so they can have an argument

Funny you should call me out on that, I couldn't bare to watch a single second of that series. I just heard Shaq was getting outplayed by Dampier.

 

[nowagimp]

Shaq does not have drive or moves...his power and strength is how he scores, and that is fading fast. quote]


This one is funny, shaqs strength and power are fading fast, but kareem and wilt(with one knee destroyed) were not. Laker fans, pity is you had wilt one year before he ripped his ACL out and had a nasty debilitating surgery(no scopes back then) to fix it. That "one legged" wilt chamberlain did not set any records in the NBA. After the injury, the former high school high jumper couldnt jump worth crap, he became an immobile bruiser who couldnt even run well. His record seasons were all set in philadephia as an incredible athlete, not a gimp. Being from the philadelphia area, I remember Wilt as a multi sport star at overbrook high, he even competed in the 100 yard dash and high jump. The dude was a sick athlete at 7'1", never seen before or since. Laker fans never won with that wilt, they won with an old gimpy wilt, a shadow for sure. Young wilt chamberlain was faster than david robinson with alot more hops than any modern center. The lakers won with a very different wilt chamberlain, an old gimpy one. The lakers also won with an older jabbar, a weak defensive center. But really, that was magic playing center, scoring 42 points in the deciding game in philadelphia in '80 when jabbar sat, injured. Moses malone would devour jabbar in the post in '83, a few years later, when the 76ers swept the kareem/magic lakers. Kareem was a great offensive center, but even a 35 year old shaq is a much better defender in the post than kareem was at anytime on the lakers.


Well, shaq can still crunch Pau Gasol or andrew bynum with his strength and power, even if he's at 70%. The losses of age dont involve power and strength, but speed and quickness combined with endurance and recovery. Hint: teddy bruschi(36), and junior seau(39) dont look like they have lost much power or strength, and olympic weightlifters compete into their 40's. Shaq never operated that way anyway, with speed and quickness. Bynum will have to guard shaq, odom and gasol, turiaf are too weak on the block. Laker fans better hope shaq loses his power real fast, 'cause the diesel wants another "championship without kobe". That would have a way of answering permanently who had more impact on the 3 laker championships, shaq or kobe.

 

[oneofthesedays]

The problem with Shaq is that unlike Kareem and Wilt he has never committed himself to staying healthy and keeping himself in shape. New injuries keep popping up because his body can't take the beating of the NBA anymore. It's not going to change in PHX because he is broken down. For him to sustain a high level of play throughout the entire playoffs is going to take a miracle.

To make matters worse Shaq never bothered to develop a more polished offensive game like Kareem. His game is all about power and strength. This is why Kareem was able to be effective until 40 and why Shaq has fallen so far in such a short period of time.

 

[Ode to Ocho]

You kids comparing to Shaq to Kareem/Wilt probably never watched them play late in their career. This is hilarious.

Shaq hasn't ran the floor well since he was 28. Kareem effectively ran the floor better than Shaq ever did in his prime, all the way into his late thirties. The comparison is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

 

[oneofthesedays]

You kids comparing to Shaq to Kareem/Wilt probably never watched them play late in their career. This is hilarious.

Shaq hasn't ran the floor well since he was 28. Kareem effectively ran the floor better than Shaq ever did in his prime, all the way into his late thirties. The comparison is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

Amen.

 

[nashman]

Some would say the garbage coming out of Lakers fans are the stupidest thing we ever heard. According to Lakers fans Bynum is now an all NBA center and they are the clear favorite to come out of the west. Hey Lakers fans, try getting out of the first round first!