Teams with multiple great bigs (like the Lakers) will be a serious problem for anyone. I dont care how good Lebron/Wade/Bosh are, and I know they are very very good, anytime you have to guard multiple 7 footers whose games compliment each other you have an issue. LAL has just enough perimeter players to make teams pay on the kick outs also. Nash is a very good shooter. Kobe if hes left 1-1 will do damage. Pound the glass, keep FG% down, and force the opposing team to foul you. The other issue I see is that teams with multiple playmakers on the floor like Boston if they put Rondo and terry on the floor. Eliminates Miami's ability to trap the ball. Why? Because if you only have a single playmaker on the floor you may be able to break the trap but other players typically wont create as much for teammates as they will for themselves. Multiple playmakers = better ball movement which in turn should equal more open shots. I dont care how good the team is, every team is susceptible to that. I would also add that I know which poll youre talking about and while that says the majority think Miami will repeat, it doesnt say they have no holes, just that they arent sure someone can exploit those holes. I think LAL can.
Not a bad deal for OKC. Tough to get equal value when you deal a very good player but they did. Houston is still a fringe playoff team so the 2 firsts are nice assets. I like Lamb a lot long term as a viable solution to their 2 guard problem. Martin will be a 3 point threat which they need and make teams pay when the double Durant. Hes no Harden certainly but during the finals Harden didnt man up the way he was needed. The only things I dont like about the deal for OKC is that Martin sucks on D and that this year it probably makes OKC slightly worse, albeit deeper.
For only 4.5 million more, there's no reason why they shouldn't have gotten a deal done, but I don't see this trade being that bad for the Thunder. Biggest reason being I'm a fan of Jeremy Lamb. I think he can be a solid scorer, but I think he has huge defensive potential. Offensively, there isn't much of a drop off between Martin and Harden. Aside from last year, Martin has always been an efficient scorer. As the 3rd option on the Thunder, I can see his efficiency going back up. Obviously he's not the passer that Harden is. Or the defender, but Lamb should make up for that, eventually becoming a better Sefolosha for the Thunder, at the least. The draft picks they got are rather worthless though if I'm reading right. Lakers first round pick, worthless. Lottery protected Raptors pick isn't all that great either. Like I said though, no reason why they shouldn't have gotten Harden locked up.
If the LAL didn't have a very good Center before they added DH I might be a bit worried. I'm not sure their team is leaps and bounds better, I don't see chemistry on that team with Kobe and Nash either. OKC still worries me more even minus Harden.
Exactly. Bynum to Howard is not much of an upgrade. Better defensively sure, but won't matter all that much since all of their perimeter players will allow layup lines to the basket anyways.
Howard is a significant upgrade over Bynum in every aspect. I don't like LA either folks but Jesus, you guys don't want to admidt anything.
That's because he's not. Bynum is a better offensive player, everyone knows this. And Howard's certainly not a good enough defensive upgrade to make Steve Nash and Grant Hill look like competent defenders anytime soon.
Bynum has a better skill set, but he's not better offensively. Howard is more efficient and produces better than Bynum. Unfortunately, Kobe won't give him the chance to score.
You are disqualified from talking basketball if you think Jason Terry can still play. BTW, the Heat trapped Rondo in games 6 and 7 of the ECF's. how did that turn out? The Heat is built to defeat precisely the type of team you are talking about. The Lakers are too slow, and the one guy that can playmake on that team will be neutered by Kobe by game 20. You think Kobe is gonna want to become a spot up shooter, while Nash runs the P&R?
Your point about Rondo being trapped precisely proves my point. The lack of a secondary playmaker on the floor probably cost Boston that series. If you think for a second that a secondary playmaker wouldnt have helped Boston then I just lost every ounce of respect I had for your basketball opinion. Get off your high horse and admit even your Heat lost games last year and can be beat....whether someone can execute long enough to do so is a different argument but until someone has a perfect season, every team can be beat. And Jason Terry is better then Ray Allen at this stage of their careers.
He actually isn't, by any stretch, or any metric you can use. You are missing the point. The Lakers don;t have a secondary playmaker either. They are also not as good as Boston is defensively, and their bigs are horrific P&R defenders while KG is the best in the league.
Ray Allen WP/48= .187 WP= 6.1 EFF: 12.4 TS%: .604 Jason Terry WP/48= .099 WP= 4.1 EFF: 12.6 TS%: .540 and let's not get into the regular every day stats...then it gets really ugly for JT. Oh..and Ray Allen is cheaper.
Ok and lets see what happens this year when JT is in the same environment that Ray Allen produced those stats in. JT will produce better stats in Boston then Ray did. Or then Ray will in Miami. Its just inconceivable to you that anyone Miami gets could possibly be worse then someone another team gets. That much is clear.
So Kobe Bryant cant create for others? Now Ive heard it all. Enjoy losing in the finals. Dwight howard cant defend the PnR? Roflamaooooooooo ok chief hater.
The next time Kobe Bryant facilitates, will be the first. Dwight Howard is a weak P&R defender. Gasol might be the worst in the NBA. No team in NBA history has ever made the finals after going winless in the preseason. and that Laker team has zero chance at winning 2 games vs. Miami, let alone a series. and I would BET ON IT.
If you notice, All I did was state FACTS (remember those?) and all I got for that was get called a homer. I apologize for my team being so good. (not really)
You do realize that Ray is the hall of famer and the player that has been better for YEARS? right? Terry was in a more favorable system in Dallas. They let him play in a 1-4. Boston only calls 1-4 for Pierce. So Terry will have to do more spot up shooting. Good luck with that and his terrible shooting.
Kobe is a weak facilitator? So I guess he doesnt average 5 assists a game for his career? So i guess now that the perimeter scoring load isnt all on his shoulders for a change he might average 6 or 7 assists? Would that change your mind? Or does he have to average 8 or 9 (impossible when Nash will be the one running that layup line)? Ok Dwight cant defend the PnR. All he does is block it in to the 5th row. Thats defending it enough in my book. Putting stock in preseason? Since when? If the Knicks went winless or won every game it still doesnt mean squat as for the regular season playoffs. There is literally no correlation. The Lakers spent the majority of the preseason wondering who their 14th and 15th roster spots would go to if anyone. And LAL wont have to win 2 in Miami when they have the best record in the league. Because I said JT would produce better stats in the same environment that Ray produced his in? Ray Allen was a phenomenal player and a HOFER. Ray Allen now is nothing more then a specialist. He is not better then Terry at this stage in their career. Sorry chief. Terry has functioned outside of a 1-4 at various times in his career and performed just fine. Is he a knockdown 3 point guy like Ray was for most of his career? No. But Ray Allen is no longer that player either. Ray specialized last year in the corner 3 but from the wings and top he was about 15% worse. Hes declining hard. Danny Ainge made the right decision letting him walk.
Danny Ainge didn't "let him walk". He offered him a contract for more money than Miami offered. No..Kobe is NOT a facilitator. In the Triangle, like he played in for most of his career, he was guaranteed to have a decent assist number, and even then..4.7 for his career, sucks. Considering that he has played on many good teams. and I didn't say that the Lakers would have to win two in Miami...I said they CAN'T BEAT Miami twice in a seven game series, so how are they going to win 4? even then, the Lakers won't have the best record in the league. In fact, they won't have the 2nd best either. I think you are just hanging your hat on what you think can beat Miami, because you were disappointed with OKC's attempt. Well, get ready to be disappointed again. The Lakers have SEVERAL teams in the West that are poor matchups for them. San Antonio and Denver as well as OKC are nightmare matchups for slow footed teams that can't guard the perimeter. This is without even getting around to mention that the Lakers bench is trash, and their coach might be the worst one in the league. In your zeal to "beat the Heat" you sure picked a ****ty horse to back. Stick with OKC.
If Jason Terry is better than Ray Allen at this stage in his career, then why doesn't he play better than Ray Allen at this stage in his career? Simple question. All we have is their careers and the last season that both players played. Ray Allen has not only always been better, he was also better last year. There ya go..not one single opinion in this post. All facts.
BTW..it is gonna be hilarious when Jason Terry gets benched in favor of a Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee rotation. Now this is an opinion.
So I guess Patriots fans are vindicated... I just find it humerous the same group of people who accuses the world of "hating" on them. Seem to be the biggest "haters" of all.
Tune into the Heat game tomorrow night..and see the ceremony before the tipoff...then ask yourself, if we are "hating". If anything, the wishful thinking crowd has found a NEW way to hate on the Heat. It's pathetic really.
I don't think it's hating, but OKC still scares me more than LAL. I even think LAL might have a better regular season record than OKC....but I can't see them leaving the West.
