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NBA 2015-16 - 1st Half


Dolfan in NYC

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The Knicks are playing like hot garbage (Carmelo in particular looks putrid) yet they lead by 23 after 3 quarters. This Sixers team may be the worst in NBA history because this is a new level of horrible.

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Reggie Jackson had one of his periodical "suddenly I'm unstoppable driving to the hoop for the last 15 minutes" games, and Pistons pulled off a fairly big comeback. Reggie finished with 34 points and 16 dimes. Andre went for for 22 and 12, ho hum for the standard he's set this year.

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Lakers and Sixers are going to see this Ben Simmons stat line from tonight and immediately shut all their young guys down for the year.  Holy hell. Those numbers in a college game with absolutely no jump shot.  Wild

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I haven't been a Kobe hater in awhile; what's the point? They've been bad for awhile now.  They don't post as much on here anymore,  but I missed the back in forth with AlfredoE and sydneybrown on here, DVDVR's resident Lakers crew.  This board lost the older NBA threads, but even the posts in the NBA season thread from 2013 is fun to look back on now.

 

BTW, Tim Duncan still averaging close to 10 points, 9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks this season.  Not bad.

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Duncan pulled away from Kobe in that "best of the generation" debate so completely the last few years it's absurd. You can debate their peaks, but longevity is so tipped towards Timmy now that overall it's Duncan in a walk.

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I feel as if I may defend Kobe's career here.   Just for fun since it would get me out of my comfort zone.  Contrarian is what I believe they call it. 

 

Peak Kobe was really, really good though.  Not being snarky or sarcastic there.  I don't have the time to do it proper justice right now.  Maybe later.

 

You can argue the merits of having a stable Coach like Popvoich managing Duncan's minutes late in his career vs.all the Post-Phil Jackson coaches failing to manage Kobe late in his career.

 

Duncan has probably had more seasons with a better supporting cast than Kobe, but the supporting cast bullet point isn't black and white.  You can argue Kobe's personality and actions had at least some effect on who he played with on the court at various points in his career.

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Peak Kobe was awesome. And still one of the most irritating human beings who has ever lived. Dude flat out quit on his team in that Game 7 against the Suns in the biggest diva act ever. Just a total gutless worm move. He was saddled with Smush Parkee garbage for a while but he wasn't a good teammate at that point.

The Spurs greatest strength is their overall organizational structure. There is no drama. Duncan sets the tone for the talent. He never complains save for every foul ever called against him. Pop is the best middle manager of all-time. I have no idea what RC Buford even looks like, which is sort of the ideal for a GM/team president type. PPP have never staged a power play (to our knowledge) and the whole organization seems like it is very collaborative and generous and appreciates all the moving parts.

The only times the Lakers have been good the past 20 years was when Phil Jackson was involved. He's a total drama queen with a large ego, but he runs the ship with the help of a competent Buss family member. Anytime he has been gone has resulted in Kobe essentially hijacking the franchise, like right now. And even with Phil there, Kobe still pulled strings Duncan never has.

There were the stories last year about how free agents wanted nothing to do with the Lakers because of Kobe. The best FA on the market last year turned them down to take a role in SA.

I think that all needs to go into checks in the Duncan vs. Kobe debate. Duncan hadn't been Peak Timmy for a while. But Complimentary Timmy is a constant finalist on one of the most entertaining teams of all-time. Retirement Kobe is a MST3K episode.

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Kobe played with peak Shaq. As great as Robinson, Manu, and Parker have been, PRIME SHAQ.

 

On the other hand, boy do the supporting casts for the other 2 titles look really weak in retrospect.  Considering how quickly Bynum and Odom's careers went downhill afterwards, I think people will be giving Kobe more credit for those as time goes on.

 

The 2000s will absolutely be remembered as Kobe's generation though, even if Duncan was better for large chunks of it.  I would take peak Kobe over peak Duncan to win one playoff series.  No doubt about it, but Duncan's longevity is so impressive.  I agree with whoever said the coaching situations played a large part.

 

My favorite Kobe moment was the '08 gold medal game.  Spain was making a run in the 4th, Kobe checked in and the game was suddenly over.  I'm sure he was talking shit in Spanish the whole time.  Probably the most clutch Kobe performance that the least amount of people have seen.

 

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Kobe played with peak Shaq. As great as Robinson, Manu, and Parker have been, PRIME SHAQ.

 

Open question:  was Shaq among the top three scariest guys to deal with during his peak?

 

He was literally unstoppable.  He was bigger and stronger than everyone by a ridiculous margin, and was also an incredibly skilled post scorer.  The only player in the history of the league who may have been able to match up with him physically is Wilt Chamberlain, but even then Shaq probably had 50 lbs. on him. 

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I ask the question because Shaq seems to come with so much dings on his greatness these days.  At least that's my interpretation.  The guy was basically the Hulk for 3-4 years, no one could do anything to stop him.  I agree that he wasn't the most motivated player to ever be in the league.  But he played long enough at a high level with his prime being get out of his way, Heaven help you if you don't! levels of amazing.  That 2000 season was terrifying in how incredible he played.

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I ask the question because Shaq seems to come with so much dings on his greatness these days.  At least that's my interpretation.  The guy was basically the Hulk for 3-4 years, no one could do anything to stop him.  I agree that he wasn't the most motivated player to ever be in the league.  But he played long enough at a high level with his prime being get out of his way, Heaven help you if you don't! levels of amazing.  That 2000 season was terrifying in how incredible he played.

Shaq was an amazing talent, he was as physically dominant as any player ever.  He was also someone who understood that he lived a very good life, and enjoyed every second of it.  Guys like Jordan and Kobe were incredible talents who worked harder than anyone to be great basketball players.  Shaq was an even better talent who was a great basketball player, and was going to be great whether he worked as hard as those guys or not.  Kobe and Shaq's conflicts were based mostly on the fact that Kobe was working as hard as he possibly could, and Shaq would come into camp out of shape and goof around when Kobe thought he should have been working.  I think the backlash is based on a lot of people wish he worked harder.  There is no telling what Shaq could have been if he had the Jordan/Kobe mentality, he was satisfied with being the best player in the league not necessarily the best player he could be.

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