Congratulations to the Lakers
by mikey p on Jun 15, 2009 10:30 AM PDT
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Well done.
Congratulations to Kobe Bryant, for getting the proverbial "can't win without Shaq" monkey off his back (and thank goodness for him that LeBron didn't win one first). Now we can prepare for the incessant Kobe/Jordan comparisons. Should be tedious.
Congrats to Lamar Odom, who has come full circle vis a vis LA basketball. Way to hang in there.
Congratulations to Pau Gasol, who clearly appreciated not having to face the brusing frontline of KG and Kendrick Perkins this time around.
Congratulations to Derek Fisher for hitting the big shots when they mattered.
Congrats to Trevor Ariza, who just doubled his salary with his terrific Finals performance. We would love to have you here across the hall. Our locker room is not that much smaller.
Congratulations to Phil Jackson, perhaps the greatest coach of all-time, in any sport.
Congratulations to Jeannie Buss, who may now be closer to her first ring now that Phil got his 10th.
And congratulations to the Lakers fans. Stay classy, and try not to burn the whole city down.
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Seriously.
Its like they’ve never been there before, immature. This goes for any fans from any city, don’t be sore winners.
It's not like
it has even been that long since they won it last. Was if 4 years ago or something. They can’t even say that it was a hard series, Although I can’t blame them because if the clippers ever do win it all I might do the same thing.
In Gordon we trust
by bestclipfan on Jun 15, 2009 10:46 AM PDT up reply actions
If clipper fans did it
It still would be lame. Grow up.
by STUCK IN LA on Jun 15, 2009 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions
"Grow up"
not directed to you bestclipfan
by STUCK IN LA on Jun 15, 2009 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions
Its been 7 years
Ahh, I should’ve enjoyed it while it lasted. Oh well I guess we will have bandwagon fans if we become a good team.
I was discussing this with a friend (Citizen Qlippers) but the funny part is if we sold out today and became Laker fans today the “Laker Nation” would welcome us in open arms (after all they have only been fans again past 1.5 years).
So here’s a hypothetical, if we won a championship and all these bandwagon fans emerge out of the woodwork, would you welcome them or dismiss them as being bangwagon fans? I think those of us here at the bottom (and it doesn’t get much more rock-bottom than this) should be exalted for our loyalty (however misplaced it is).
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Jun 15, 2009 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions
I reject the bandwagon fan
I did in 2006 and I do now. One of the things I like about the Clippers is that they feel like my own private team.
F-Elton!
Sucks cause
At Clipper games, i still see those annoying laker fan jerseys.
Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!
It still doesn't make sense to me
I won’t go to a PHX vs Spurs game and wear a Laker jersey…Doesn’t make sense to me
This happens all the time...
The difference would be that the LAC bandwagon jumpers would be inside LA. If the Mets win, NY fans won’t bandwagon jump from the Yankees or from not following baseball at all. I’m looking at Red Sox Nation and saying “Seriously?” How do perennial losers have so many fans outside their own city? Oh, because they stopped being losers in 2004. People in Boston were die-hard BoSox fans always, but when they started popping up in Arizona, you had to cringe. LA has some of the worst sports fans because people will crap on a team in their own city until they start winning (Raiders, Rams, Angels, Kings). Even the Clippers got bandwagon jumpers when they beat DEN in 5 games. All of a sudden all these “smart” front runners knew they had to sneak in to avoid suspicion.
Now where are those people? Seriously, only children are allowed to do that kind of crap, and even then they have to follow that team even when it’s terrible. LA fans should look to Chicago to see how real fans behave. The Bulls sold out about every game when they were the worst team in the league after Jordan left. CWS fans hated CHC fans who jumped to the southside in 2005. That’s a proper sports town. At least Miami’s problem is that no one cares about sports there. Here, we act like we care when the teams are good, and act like we don’t care when they’re bad. In Miami, The Marlins could win 6 world series’ in a row and still not sell out its home opener. They know they suck as a sports town.
Stay Classy LA
You know what they say…You can’t have class with an ASS. Ah..the classy Laker fans.
Do or do not. There is no try.
you forgot
Congrats to Sun Yue for, uh, not sure what…
Congrats to Adam Morrison for being a champion…yes, you read that right, champion…sigh
Congrats Jason Powell…One season out of the Clippers lockeroom and you win a ring…enjoy!
Roger Sterling: I bet there were people in the Bible walking around, complaining about "kids today."
Don Draper: Kids today, they have no one to look up to. Cuz they're looking up to us.
Actually...
I don’t have a problem with Powell. I met him at a Clipper’s kids clinic, and he seemed like a nice guy.
Lamar Odom, however… just makes me kind of sick.
Didn't anyone see the Will Ferrel "Old school" moment of running naked thru the quad?
There was a Laker fan, who had a 100 other fans following him, to the entrance of the 110 Freeway. He was trying to get everyone to follow him onto the freeway and he runs up to the right shoulder of the freeway and looks back..No one was following him. When He notices this, he begins to run down the hill and tumbles over. Classic.
HAHA
Really? Was there 100 people streaking with him or he was all alone?
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Jun 15, 2009 12:17 PM PDT up reply actions
He finally did it without Shaq
A fun take on that idea. The language is somewhat coarser than we hold to here. You have been unnecessarily warned.
"So what are the odds that the Clippers can compete next season given their limited flexibility? Slim and none."
That's good
He went one on five plenty in the series. But as we all know, he really, really wanted this. Really bad.
You could see it in his teeth.
F-Elton!
I'll give him his due
He just moved into the top 10 of all-time greats, he’s still a notch below Jordan but he’s now in the Magic Johnson, Shaq, Bird level of greatness.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Jun 15, 2009 12:18 PM PDT up reply actions
I dont know
I feel like finishing with a worse record than the Clippers TWICE precludes one from being called an all-time great.
"So what are the odds that the Clippers can compete next season given their limited flexibility? Slim and none."
Let me backtrack a little bit
Anyone who plays his whole career with the Lakers and finishes behind the Clippers twice…
A man can’t really control who drafts him, but Kobe is only “great” when he is surrounded by a great team.
Which is to say, he is probably a player who is slightly above average, but has benefitted considerably from undeserved hype and the never ending positive spotlight of tools like Vic the Brick.
In fact, given his performance in the series, there is every reason to believe the Lakers would be better if Kobe were replaced with a generic above average shooting guard.
"So what are the odds that the Clippers can compete next season given their limited flexibility? Slim and none."
Perhaps
I think the one thing Kobe gives the Lakers that a generic SG wouldn’t is a go to guy down the stretch. Orlando didn’t have a go to guy and it killed them in three of the games.
I think McGrady or Carter could have filled in for Kobe with not much drop off. Wade definitely.
LeBron on this Lakers team may have won 75 games and swept their way to the Finals. He would be perfect in the triangle.
F-Elton!
maybe youre right about Lebron...
But I’d bet you that New Jersey and Houston would trade their crunch time scorers for Kobe in a heartbeat…
True...sort of
A man can’t really control who drafts him…
true that Kobe couldn’t control the Hornets drafting him, but he DID control playing for them, which we all know he never did. He essentially pulled a Elway/Eli Manning, only he took it a step further and told the Hornets to trade him to the Lakers and no other team.
Do or do not. There is no try.
Do you think anyone besides Kobe could have led this Lakers squad?
It’s a fair question. I contend that another determined crunch time scorer could have done basically the same things. But who knows.
For being “the best in the world” as Mark Jackson tells us he is every other minute, Kobe sure has a lot of rather pedestrian games, something Michael Jordan never did, espeically in the Finals.
F-Elton!
You think an average 2 guard
can put up 32 points7.5 assists and 5-1/2 rebounds (along with 1.4 steals/blocks) in the finals? Maybe Dwayne Wade?
Give credit where credit is due….
How many shots and how many turnovers?
Any SG can get to 32 points. It all depends on how many of his team’s possesions he is willing to waste.
Kobe Bryant is always willing to waste quite a few of them to get his.
"So what are the odds that the Clippers can compete next season given their limited flexibility? Slim and none."
2.57 turnovers per game throughout the playoffs...
Ok…I am the first to admit that Kobe takes some bad shots…in the 4th quarter of the deciding game I thought he was definitely trying to force the issue, and as a result his play suffered. But when the lakers are playing really well, as they did for most of this year…Kobe was acting as a facilitator, creating open looks for his teammates out of double teams in the post, etc, while still managing to be one of the best scorers in the league. On top of that, he hit big shot after big shot in the playoffs this year, including 2 huge buckets in OT in game 4. The guy is not MJ, and he didnt do it by himself (though neither did mj) but hes a level above every other 2 guard in the league, with the exception of DWade . In my opinion the Lakers do not win another above average 2 guard in Kobes place.
LeBron & Wade
as far as wing players go.
F-Elton!
Right - a bit more than "slightly above average"
Of course, that comes from someone who described Carmelo’s game as “garbage”
Ginobli and Ray Allen
also may have been able to bring this team pretty far. Maybe even Rip Hamilton and Brandon Roy, too, but I’m not quite sure about them.
It is an interesting point that John brings up. Nobody else can “do what Kobe does”, but I think other SG’s could produce roughly the same results.
The players above are not as good as Kobe, but I think some of them could have accounted for his production.
F-Elton!
Problem is that he's a killer
Rip Hamilton? No.
Maybe, maybe Brandon Roy.
Ray Allen? Far too old.
Manu? He had another killer on the team
Magic and Bird?
Not quite. I would still take one of those guys in a heartbeat over Kobe.
Here is the thing with KB. Talent wise, he rivals anyone. I even think he could keep up with Jordan stride for stride on the court.
The difference is in the winning. Jordan would beat Kobe everytime becuase he was more mature and more of a leader. He loved to rip an opponents heart out and eat it. NOBODY ever beat Jordan.
Kobe is top 10. But there are plenty of players I would rather start my team with.
F-Elton!
I said he was in that group
Depending on the makeup of the team you then decide where to go. Its hard to compare him to players like Bird, Kareem or Magic because their styles all differed so much but the MJ comparisons are pretty clear as Kobe obviously patterned his game after the GOAT. I forgot where I read this but essentially MJ spent most of his career at the top of the food chain while Kobe’s chart looks more like a heartbeat with many up and downs. That’s the difference, MJ 6-6 in the Finals with 6 Finals MVP and Kobe 4-6 in the Finals with 1 Finals MVP.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Jun 15, 2009 7:40 PM PDT up reply actions
Right
I think talent wise, Kobe is as good as Jordan. Maybe even a better outside shooter. I think Jordan was more athletic than Kobe. More explosive. Kobe is more finesse.
Another key difference is that Jordan had a sense or feel for the moment. He knew when and when not to push. Kobe lacks that. He often plays out of the flow, so to speak. And yet, even then, he is successful.
Lastly, Jordan beat everyone, and always won when it mattered. He was just more intense.
Kobe is Top 10 for sure, but I would take Magic or Larry over Kobe any day. And although he is still in his NBA infancy and hasn’t won the big one yet, I would take LeBron over Kobe.
F-Elton!
Congrats.
Nice work, MP.
Everybody who hangs out around here gets to have their own feelings about the Lakers of course.
Once the Clippers are eliminated, or I guess I should say once the season is over (two very different things), I think I become a little bit more generous in my own feelings. I would be happy to see them get beat in the West, would have liked Portland to step up, and was very much rooting for Denver. I hate Boston more than I hate the Lakers, and will always root for the Lakers to beat and surpass the Celtics. Orlando had its chances and couldn’t get it done. The Lakers and their stacked team played some great basketball, did the job and finished off the Magic when they had them down. It was well done.
So yeah, congratulations to the Lakers and to their many knowledgable and devoted fans, leaving out the posers and fools. It’s a good thing for the city to have a championship team.
And is it just me (it probably is), or does the title seem muted and less than exciting somehow? Is that just the Kobe of it all—a difficult guy for many of us to support, let alone root for? Is it a residual of the Gasol trade and the stacked team issue, the possible lack of a level playing field? Is it the absence of a Lakers-Celtics rematch or a Kobe-Lebron showdown?
Whatever. The Lakers played some great basketball on their way to the title. Congratulations.
It's not just you
This was a very boring finals. Beating Orlando was not very impressive. I rooted for the Lakers during the Shaq run. There wasn’t a conflict because the Clippers were bad. Then, in 2005, the Lakers and Clippers were rivals. The Lakers were left with a still very immature Kobe and had just picked up Lamar Odom. They were rebuilding. They were very annoying. That’s when I began to actively root against them.
This year, with the Clippers so bad and the Lakers at the top, there was again no conflict. I was rooting for Cleveland this year, but I am happy to see Kobe finally get one (I was actually starting to feel bad for Kobe becuase he was facing the reality that LeBron is a superior player. Having LeBron beat him this year would have devastated him).
I rooted for Boston last year becuase I like KG and Pierce and too much Sasha Vujacic was getting on my nerves.
So anyway, congratulations Lakers.
F-Elton!
speaking of Vujacic
he has to be the real loser in all of this. He did not score 1 point in the whole finals, isn’t he a free agent soon? I can’t imagine his stock is that high at all after this.
In Gordon we trust
you forgot
Congratulations to andrew bynum… for getting in foul trouble every game! seriously does this guy ever play defense? All the other team has to do is throw the ball in the post, one shot fake and bam, another foul on bynum. haha!
by cantthinkofagoodname on Jun 15, 2009 3:50 PM PDT reply actions
andrew bynum is a complete bust. Last year they were talking about how he would have been the key to winning this year, and they signed him to a 14 million a year contract. I mean he’s completely worthless.
The reason they won is that orlando is not as good as last years boston team. that is pretty much it.
Andrew bynum i’m hoping will be the downfall of the lakers or at least will waste the last 3 years of kobe’s prime seeing as his contract basically chokes them salary wise for the next 3 years.
Seriously...?
Kobe is great..there’s no if’s, and’s or but’s about it
So Cal sports radio was all over Lebron
for two weeks following the loss to Orlando. “He didn’t shake hands and do press, character issues, immaturity, etc.”, all the while polishing the jock of a guy who during his career has been credibly accused of rape, publicly fueded with teammates, punched one teammate (Samaki Walker), attempted to punch another player (Reggie Miller), fueded with a coach, cried for a trade after accusing the owner of betrayal, called another teammate horrible and then lied about apologizing to him over it.
It was hard to sit still during all of those shows and the next few weeks are gonna be worse.
That would be like the Jailblazers calling
out other teams as rogue and bad for the NBA or Laker fans calling out other fans as bandwagon. How Ironic?
Ahhh yes...
Good ol’ Laker fans.. They make it easy to be a Clippers fan, with their displays of “celebration”
'Cause how you play, is how you'll be remembered. PLAY LOUD!
by CLiPPz WeRD 12 on Jun 16, 2009 10:00 AM PDT reply actions
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