The Perpetual NBA Thread

[edzzz]

sana kunin ng Dallas si Speedy Claxton, bagay sya dun, errr Van Exel kaya...

[baiskee]

come to think of it...pang showtime na ang line-up ng lakers...fastbreak!

showtime 80's
- magic johnson
- james worthy
- byron scott
- ac green
- kareem abdul-jabbar

new line-up
- kobe bryant
- lamar odom
- gary payton
- caron butler
- brian grant

pwede kaya?

[baiskee]

ang problema lang...

si magic kasi namamasa, si kobe hinde..:lol:

[mantoy]

Divac spurns Kings; likely headed to L.A.

Vlade Divac`s six-year stay with the Sacramento Kings is apparently over ... and the veteran center told ESPN.com on Sunday night that he`s leaning toward a return to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers brought Divac to the United States from the former Yugoslavia as the No. 26 overall pick in the 1989 draft. They traded him to Charlotte in 1996 for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant in a move also aimed at creating some of the salary-cap space that led to the signing of Shaquille...

[artpogi]

and the veteran center told ESPN.com on Sunday night that he`s leaning toward a return to the Los Angeles Lakers

IMO if this happens, Lakers will have a strong front line, with Divac, Odom, Grant.

[ILuvDetailing]

They'd have to get a decent back up though, Divac can't play 40mins/game.

Good Read: (from The Sporting News Website)

In the wake of the epic transformation of the Lakers, I sat down with Jim Cleamons, who was Phil Jackson's assistant coach for this entire L.A. dynasty.

Cleamons was also Phil's assistant coach for four of the Bulls championships in the '90s, including their second three-peat.
In the first-part of a three-part series, I asked Cleamons about Kobe Bryant, now the Laker's lone superstar, and how he stacks up to Michael Jordan. In part II, we talked about the Shaq trade and the future of the Lakers. In the final installment, we talked about why Cleamons was curiously not even considered for the job of Lakers head coach upon Phil Jackson's departure.

SAM KELLERMAN: The pendulum seems to swing back and forth on the Kobe versus MJ question. After Game 2 against the Pistons, a lot of people were saying that Kobe's as good or better than Jordan. Three games later, few people still believed that.

You actually helped coached both of them to three-peats. You're one of the very few people who is qualified to answer this question. So I'm asking you, point blank. Who's better, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant?

JIM CLEAMONS: (After a 23-second silence.) Tough question.

In every generation you have a special superstar. In my day, growing up, Elgin Baylor was the joint. Kids in my neighborhood wanted to be Elgin Baylor. He brought it. Double-clutched, hung in the air, flipped something off the glass. In Michael's generation, it was Michael. In this generation it's Kobe Bryant.

I wouldn't know which one is the better player between Kobe and Michael.



Jim Cleamons couldn't (or wouldn't) choose sides in the "MJ vs. Kobe" debate. (Jed Jacobsohn / GettyImages)

Michael had a special IQ for the game of basketball. He accepted coaching, and that's part of his greatness. He accepts the chain of command. Even though he may not agree with it, he'll go out and do his best to try and make sure he gets the job done.

You see Michael thinking about what he needs to do to win the game. His mind is working, it's churning. He's calculating where the double teams are going to come from. He understands how to get rid of the basketball, how he's going to get the ball back. So he's thinking the game right along with you as a coach.

He didn't mind sharing the ball. Sometimes he didn't trust his teammates, early on. But in my first season with the Bulls, Michael had that game in the finals when he kept finding Paxon for like eight straight jumpshots. That was the game Michael finally became the Michael Jordan who is now revered. He trusted Pax, Pax came through for him. And from that point on, he trusted his teammates.

Now, on that road to trusting them, there were times when people said, 'Why doesn't he pass the ball?' Well, hell, they always threw it back to him anyway. He was our bail-out guy. Let's face it -- they threw him the ball in the worst predicaments. He accepted it. That's what superstars do. They say, Fine, I'll give you the basketball early enough in the clock so if you can't do anything with it, I know that you'll whip the ball back to me and I can take the bail-out shots. And I have to get accustomed to taking shots with guys hanging all over me.

SK: Does Kobe play team ball?

JC: Every year, during the regular season, people say things about Kobe. But come playoff time, it's winning time, and Kobe submits to the game plan to win championships. Oh, yeah.

SK: But it sounded like in praising Jordan for his coachability, there was an insinuation that Kobe lacks that.

JC: Kobe's going to learn that. Kobe's bright, one of the smartest. He's going to learn. Half of the stuff he does, he's testing himself. He's testing who he is as a player. Kobe's still 25 years old. Like we used to say in the neighborhood, he's still smelling his piss. Kobe wants to put more notches on his gun. And the notches are going to come.

But you have to learn to say, 'My big guy, I've got to get something out of you, you don't need to be fresh at the end of the game, your ass should be as tired as the other guys. If I know that you're not getting enough touches, and we need you to score -- I'm getting you the ball.'

'And if you're up against a good defensive center tonight, and he likes to knock your stuff back in, and you haven't learned to score on this guy, then this time I'm not looking for you against the starter. But against the second team guy, I'm going to give you your touches then.'

SK: We saw the importance of offensive rebounding in the Pistons' defeat of the Lakers. Between Jordan and Kobe, who is the better offensive rebounder?

JC: Michael.

SK: Who is the better ball handler?

JC: Kobe.

SK: Who is the better playmaker?

JC: Michael wasn't the best passer, but he saw the court. When you talk about players, you have top of the floor players and beneath the floor players. Michael is a great beneath the floor player. Kobe is better initiating, coming from the top and making a pass. Michael isn't the ultimate point guard. We deferred to Scottie to bring the ball up. Scottie was just more fluid with the basketball, it was easier for him to do.

But if you get Michael the ball down there, he'll just kick your butt. Michael was our best post player.

SK: Is Michael stronger than Kobe?

JC: Yes. Oh, yes.

SK: Who has better hops, Michael or Kobe?

JC: In Michael's heyday, I'd go with him.

SK: What about footspeed? Up and down the court, who's faster, MJ or Kobe?

JC: Kobe's very athletic. Kobe might win that. But it would be by a nose.

SK: Overall athleticism?



"In every generation you have a special superstar. In my day, growing up, Elgin Baylor was the joint. ... In Michael's generation, it was Michael. In this generation it's Kobe Bryant."


— Jim Cleamons

JC: It's a coin flip. On any given day, one's going to have his way. The next day the other is going to come right back at you.

SK: Who has the better jumpshot?

JC: Michael has the better jumpshot because he took better percentage shots. Kobe has a nice shot, but he takes tough shots. If you take tough shots, your percentage isn't going to be as good. It's not degree of difficulty. Why break your neck? It's not a 2.5 or a 2.9. It's two points.

Michael had a way of just freeing himself. He was great at using his upper body strength, and people respected his first step and his spins. He always knew how to use his body to protect himself.

I remember Kobe came out two years ago with all these muscles, his arms, he had the guns. He didn't have that last year. He lost a lot of his definition.

SK: Wasn't that because of his two offseason surgeries?

JC: Yes. And he'll recapture all his tools and skills.

SK: Who's the better defender?

JC: Michael understood our schemes a lot better. I say that knowing that Kobe's been all-defensive first team three times, and that's testimony to his defense.

Michael and Scottie were terrific at understanding when to rotate and how to rotate. That team understood. Out here, I'm not sure our team did. When we had Ron Harper and Brian Shaw, Kobe really fit into that.

In Chicago, that's why we won. We had great offensive players, but we won because Scottie and Michael and Dennis Rodman -- we could shut teams down. You're talking about Bill Cartwright, John Paxson, Cliff Livingston. When we started rolling, we could just shut teams down for five or six possessions in a row.

In the pro game, your defense has to be two possessions better than your opponent. The average pro game is decided by 3.5 points. Two possessions. You've got to stop them twice, you've got to score twice.

SK: Do you think Kobe has a chance to end his career with a legacy greater than Michael Jordan's?

JC: Sure. Oh, yeah. He's accomplished more already. At 25, Michael hadn't even won his first title.

[dieselNUBI]

yeah sure! kobe has 3 rings already.

with the Big BIG help of Shaq.


i say MJ is not comparable w/ Kobe. no one will ever be. kanya kanya sila e.

[aubimerc]

MJ > Kobe

Kobe's 3 rings was mostly due to SHAQ
MJ's 6 rings was all due to HIS carrying the team as evidenced by his 6 NBA Finals MVP awards.

Kobe should not even be compared to MJ.

[kimpOy]

true. the only thing you can compare the two is that they play the same position.

kahit sa triangle offense kobe's playing pippen's role

[luloym]

with divac's arrival in la, the lakers just need to convince malone to stay for cheap bucks for the team to be competitive again (still below the spurs, wolves, and kings imo).