NBA 2011-12 Season Thread

[kalorama]

Well he really didn't become that Before he joined the lakers....

(A) He was an all-star in Memphis before joining the Lakers. (B) He's been a member of the Lakers for 5 years, so I'm pretty sure those first 3 will be taken into consideration as well.

[Aubergine~!]

Bron wins his 3rd MVP. Pretty well deserved.

[Huthaifa]

If I am the Knicks I trade Melo to Brooklyn. Maybe a sign and trade for Williams and a draft pick or Humphries.

[Hiromi]

If they get rid of Mel to go for Williams they'd best be damn sure they're getting him since Mark Cuban's been positioning for it since last year.

[Kasper Cole]

I guess we're conveniently forgetting that the Laker's weren't exactly on their way to any more rings before he came along either, Kobe was talking about requesting a trade unless my memory fails. Maybe you can trade back for Kwame Brown, happy then?

Edit: Seriously the Laker's bigs are not seeing a possession without being double teamed or even triple teamed, if you really want to point blame, look at the awful perimeter shooting by anyone not named Kobe, which lets the Nuggets focus on clogging the lanes. And if you think OKC, which has all the energy and athleticism Denver has plus an upgrade in talent and more size in their front court, isn't noticing Denver exposing the Lakers, you're crazy.

Actually The Lakers had the best record in the West before Pau had even gotten there. The Lakers were dominating the West off the play of Kobe and Bynum. Bynum went down with an injury and THAT's what made the Lakers go after Pau Gasol.

You're dead on about the perimeter shooting though. A lot of talking heads keep chanting "Feed the bigs" but they ignore the triple and double teams they're both facing. The bulk of the Lakers turnovers come from them trying to feed their post players. Blake, Barnes, and Sessions aren't just shooting poorly from the perimeter but they're also terrified of even taking those shots.

With that said Pau and Bynum's play during that game is completely inexcusable. Denver isn't even remotely THAT good, but any team can look great when only one guy on the opposing team shows up to play.

[Ottmeister X]

With that said Pau and Bynum's play during that game is completely inexcusable. Denver isn't even remotely THAT good, but any team can look great when only one guy on the opposing team shows up to play.

And the Lakers are not much better. Kobe and that's pretty much it. If they beat Denver, Oklahoma City is going to abuse them. At least Denver can run the floor with the Thunder to make it a better series.

"Isn't remotely that good". Because 38-28 in the competitive West is a horrible record? A record that was only 3 victories less than the Lakers? They would have been better than 38-28 if they didn't deal with a lot of injuries this season (which that argument can be made of a lot of teams). However, Gallinari going down for a few weeks when he was red hot did throw them in a funk when they could have easily ended up as the 3rd seed.

[Kasper Cole]

And the Lakers are not much better. Kobe and that's pretty much it. If they beat Denver, Oklahoma City is going to abuse them. At least Denver can run the floor with the Thunder to make it a better series.

To say it's "Kobe and that's pretty much it" is untrue. The Lakers have a legit big 3 but unfortunately the the two bigs don't consistently show up. Pau isn't aggressive enough considering how talented he is and Bynum just phones it in from time to time.

"Isn't remotely that good". Because 38-28 in the competitive West is a horrible record? A record that was only 3 victories less than the Lakers? They would have been better than 38-28 if they didn't deal with a lot of injuries this season (which that argument can be made of a lot of teams). However, Gallinari going down for a few weeks when he was red hot did throw them in a funk when they could have easily ended up as the 3rd seed.

You're misunderstanding what I'm actually saying.

I'm not saying Denver isn't a good team, I'm saying they're not even remotely as good as they looked during the last game.

Denver has been one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in the league this season but they shot 50% from that range last game. The Lakers simply weren't putting forth effort on the defensive end and Kobe was the only Lakers putting forth effort on the offensive end.

[RolandJP]

Williams to Dallas
Jeremy lin to Brooklyn or Pheonix..for draft picks

[Ottmeister X]

Denver has been one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in the league this season but they shot 50% from that range last game. The Lakers simply weren't putting forth effort on the defensive end and Kobe was the only Lakers putting forth effort on the offensive end.

Fair enough. Kobe did put in the effort but others did seem to give up when the lead went back up above 10 pts.

The reason I state Kobe and everyone else is the other two of the "big 3" are not mentally strong enough. Gasol is not the same Gasol that was helping beat the Nuggets and Melo a few years back and Bynum is only part of that equation based on talent. His mental part of the game makes him a slightly above average player at best.

Based on Kobe's age, I think we are seeing the end of his era in LA. He may play another 5 years or so in a Lakers uniform, but the talent around him isn't as good as it used to be.

[Hiromi]

Kobe is looking exhausted, this will be an interesting 4th quarter now that Denver's taken control of the tempo back.

[StoneGold]

Fair enough. Kobe did put in the effort but others did seem to give up when the lead went back up above 10 pts.

The reason I state Kobe and everyone else is the other two of the "big 3" are not mentally strong enough. Gasol is not the same Gasol that was helping beat the Nuggets and Melo a few years back and Bynum is only part of that equation based on talent. His mental part of the game makes him a slightly above average player at best.

Based on Kobe's age, I think we are seeing the end of his era in LA. He may play another 5 years or so in a Lakers uniform, but the talent around him isn't as good as it used to be.

It was supposed to be, but then Stern fucked over the trade.

[Kasper Cole]

Glad the Lakers bigs came up HUGE after that non existent performance the previous game.

Pau in particular played as aggressively as I've ever seen him play. He was even cursing during the post game interview.

Bynum had six blocks tonight......

Ron is still playing at the level he was before the suspension.....He's gonna have a tough task soon in defending Durant (though he's shut him down in the past).

Hopefully Steve Blake can continue knocking down those open shots and spreading the floor.

[Hiromi]

At some point you all are going to have to let that go, or at least get the story right seeing as Stern was only following through with what the majority of the NBA owners wanted, which seeing as the Hornets were at the time owned by the NBA they were perfectly within their right to do so. It was no different than a normal owner blocking a GM trade he didn't approve of, which they can do since its ultimately their team. The issue isn't whether they could should have blocked the trade, but whether the NBA should own teams to begin with.

[StoneGold]

At some point you all are going to have to let that go, or at least get the story right seeing as Stern was only following through with what the majority of the NBA owners wanted, which seeing as the Hornets were at the time owned by the NBA they were perfectly within their right to do so. The issue isn't whether they could should have blocked the trade, but whether the NBA should own teams to begin with.

Only brought it up because you brought up the specific aftermath. You're talking about how the Lakers are lacking new blood, well yeah, duh.

[Hiromi]

Oh its not just you, its been brought up a couple times in the last few pages, and all year in other forums by bitter Lakers fans. Pretty much every time Gasol's effectiveness gets brought up.