Kobe's deepest team myth 2008/09 & 2009/10

[branslowski]

Basically, it was Kobe, with Gasol as a solid sidekick, and role players...Nothing was stacked.

History will look like this:

Bird had Mchal and Parrish

Jordan had Pippen

Magic had Kareem

Kareem had Magic and Worthy

Kobe had Gasol

[iamgine]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[KG215]

Basically, it was Kobe, with Gasol as a solid sidekick, and role players...Nothing was stacked.

History will look like this:

Bird had Mchal and Parrish

Jordan had Pippen

Magic had Kareem

Kareem had Magic and Worthy

Kobe had Gasol

True, but when/if you use context, and look at the competition for each player, it doesn't necessarily make Kobe's titles more impressive than Bird, Jordan, and Magic's titles. Impressive, yes, but it's not just as simple as saying "Jordan won with Pippen, Bird won with McHale, Magic won with Kareem, and Kobe won with Gasol" and just leave it at that.

[rhythmic]

Well yeah if you want to analyze deepness.

Also, to just rank them like that is misleading. It doesn't count for the differing pace the team plays. For example, Portland played a very slow pace so their numbers are gonna look pretty bad but they were actually a really good offensive team. Perhaps the one statistic that counts for pace was PER and LA was 2nd so that actually indicates that LA had quite a deep roster.

Even PER doesn't really account for defense which was what having two excellent 7 footers would provide.

I completely agree, great point.
I wasn't trying to compare the teams as an "absolute" and only measure. I just tried to give people a rough idea that Kobe's best teammates were pretty comparable to other star's best teammates. Even if we consider pace, I don't think the difference would be significanty but of course there are a few adjustments I would need to make to the numbers to make it more accurate.

You're right, I should have included all 12 players to compare "deepness", but honestly it would have taken me so long to do...

[branslowski]

True, but when/if you use context, and look at the competition for each player, it doesn't necessarily make Kobe's titles more impressive than Bird, Jordan, and Magic's titles. Impressive, yes, but it's not just as simple as saying "Jordan won with Pippen, Bird won with McHale, Magic won with Kareem, and Kobe won with Gasol" and just leave it at that.

Yea but,...what I posted is the truth, and which will be remembered. Just like Jordan won, but put into context, the perimeter players of his winning Era wasn't at the level of the perimeter players during Kobe/LeBron era....Yet at the end of the day, no one cares and Jordan still the best.

[Doranku]

How is a 57 team win favorite w/o HCA favorite against a 66 win team in a 2-3-2 format?

[branslowski]

How is a 57 team win favorite w/o HCA favorite against a 66 win team in a 2-3-2 format?

Who said this dumb shit?

[rhythmic]

Who said this dumb shit?

ESPN "experts".
It was more to do with how LA & Boston played in the playoffs leading up to the match-up. LA looked more impressive against better teams then Boston did...

[DMAVS41]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[riseagainst]

The Lakers had the best 2nd option in 2010. Kobe.

Pau led the team in PER and WS in the regular season. Pau led the team in PER and WS in the Postseason. Pau led the team in PER and WS in the Finals.

But PPGz.

RG's aka TonyMontana's other alt?

[DMAVS41]

Yea but,...what I posted is the truth, and which will be remembered. Just like Jordan won, but put into context, the perimeter players of his winning Era wasn't at the level of the perimeter players during Kobe/LeBron era....Yet at the end of the day, no one cares and Jordan still the best.

But you just touched on the difference....or at least the difference from my point of view.

I don't view Kobe as the clear cut best like MJ was when he was winning titles.

Which is why when you say "nobody cares"...it's a little misleading because certain players played at higher levels or perceived higher levels. Nobody cares about Lebron winning with a stacked team because he's clearly the best player in the game right now.

I think that is the difference Kobe fans fail to see...Kobe never separated himself from all the other players the way some of the guys he's compared to did...

[KG215]

How is a 57 team win favorite w/o HCA favorite against a 66 win team in a 2-3-2 format?

If you're referring to 2008, at least be smart enough to realize the Lakers were better than a 57 win team due to getting Gasol. After the Gasol trade, the Lakers went 22-5 (.815) which is roughly a 67 win pace. Not saying they should've necessarily been favored over the Celtics in 2008, but they were absolutely better than a 57 win team by the time the playoffs started.

[DMAVS41]

If you're referring to 2008, at least be smart enough to realize the Lakers were better than a 57 win team due to getting Gasol. After the Gasol trade, the Lakers went 22-5 (.815) which is roughly a 67 win pace. Not saying they should've necessarily been favored over the Celtics in 2008, but they were absolutely better than a 57 win team by the time the playoffs started.

And they tore through the western conference while the Celtics struggled to beat the Hawks and Cavs and Pistons...going 12-8...while the Lakers went 12-3

And the Lakers had Kobe...LOL

[branslowski]

But you just touched on the difference....or at least the difference from my point of view.

I don't view Kobe as the clear cut best like MJ was when he was winning titles.

Which is why when you say "nobody cares"...it's a little misleading because certain players played at higher levels or perceived higher levels. Nobody cares about Lebron winning with a stacked team because he's clearly the best player in the game right now.

I think that is the difference Kobe fans fail to see...Kobe never separated himself from all the other players the way some of the guys he's compared to did...

Well glad that's ur opinion....We can agree to disagree...Gotta get my work, brb..

[pegasus]

Basically, it was Kobe, with Gasol as a solid sidekick, and role players...Nothing was stacked.

History will look like this:

Bird had Mchal and Parrish

Jordan had Pippen

Magic had Kareem

Kareem had Magic and Worthy

Kobe had Gasol

And Lebron had Wade and Bosh, and much better role players. Plus, the competition was missing Rose, Deng, and Kirk; and Granger; and Parker got hurt early in the series. So, it's much more help, much less competition, and still came down to a miracle shot.