Richard Jefferson Traded in Salary Dump

[DEEP3CL]

I'm good EE,.................Can I have a napkin for the poo !

[KObe Bryant]

Ariza> Jefferson

[JustinSane]

As a Pistons fan, I'd be quite curious to see where Rasheed and McDyess end up next season. If they both decide to join the same contender (particularly Cleveland or San Antonio), they could tip the balance of power. Were I the Lakers I'd be trying very hard to get McDyess signed this offseason. He was easily the Pistons best player this last season and he plays his heart out.

[larry14r]

As a Pistons fan, I'd be quite curious to see where Rasheed and McDyess end up next season. If they both decide to join the same contender (particularly Cleveland or San Antonio), they could tip the balance of power. Were I the Lakers I'd be trying very hard to get McDyess signed this offseason. He was easily the Pistons best player this last season and he plays his heart out.

Expect we can't afford him or find minutes for him.

[HunterSThompson]

I think we as Laker fans tend to dismiss the Spurs because we beat them a couple years ago. Problem was, Ginobili couldn't even move properly, we got the benefit of a huge non-call (Fisher controversy), and the games were STILL close.

A healthy Spurs team, like a healthy Boston team, is serious business.

And as good as Bruce Bowen was, he was never able to really contain Kobe. Richard Jefferson might be a worse defender than Bowen, but he sure as hell is 10 times the offensive player. His net effect would be even higher, because forcing Kobe to chase around Ginobili and Jefferson instead of resting on Bowen may be the best defense against him.

That's not the case. Kobe will go off against Manu and Jefferson. The only chance the Spurs have is to contain Kobe which they did a fairly decent job last year despite Kobe averaging 30ppg.

And Kobe won't be guarding Jefferson. He'll be guarding. And don't forget, Manu has to guard Kobe too.

And we have 2 Duncan stoppers, Pau and Bynum.

2 duncan stoppers? come on man Tim Duncan is one of the greatest big men to play this game, pau nor bynum will stop duncan, kobe is gonna have his hands full with manu, and as someone else stated trevor is a good defender but hes not gonna stop the top tier players, in the finals hedo shot 49 percent, Jefferson is not far off form hedo offensively, the alst time lakers and spurs met they werent fully healthy so dont buy into anything from the past, if we want to get past them its because we have got better and tougher, especially on the defensive end.

i have to interject here,in the 08 playoffs pau absolutely owned duncan, he just did. and i know and respect that duncan had one of worse years, and was a little beat up...but going into that series, everyone said that gasol would get destroyed, the opposite was true, and based on what we just saw gasol do to dwight(bigger, stronger, younger) i would submit to you that duncan, from this point on is essentially neutralized by pau.

[HunterSThompson]

Do you guys honestly dismiss the Spurs that easily?

Tim Duncan is still pretty damn good - top 5 in PER ahead of both Kobe and Pau, still commands a double team, along with Kevin Garnett plays the best team defense, etc.

Tim Duncan is still the best big man in the game.

Manu Ginobili...how can I put this? This guy is the best 2-way guard behind Kobe. How important is he? Without him, the Spurs have no chance of reaching the Finals.

And Tony Parker abuses defenses. Not much to be said, except he's a top 5 point guard in the NBA.

Like I said, people are dismissing the Spurs, but that's a huge mistake, if Ginobili were healthy, that changes EVERYTHING. He is arguably their best player.

They have 3 guys who are top 5 at their positions. It's a lot easier to build around that kind of nucleus, especially when they just added a a solid two-way player to their team.

You know they're going to get all their veterans back, and they're probably not done.

And Boston doesn't scare me, actually no team does, but Boston did beat the hell out of last year. So I'm not scared, but I do remember that humiliating loss.

salient points. however, pop is the only other nba coach to run the triangle as much as phil has(or did)...and with all that said, as our respective teams match pretty closely right now, i really like our chances, in a series.

and i dont mean to dismiss the spurs, i have a great amount of respect for them, but ive said and always felt , that in a 7 game series they will not beat a phil jackson team, and correct me if i am wrong but they havent since robinson played right?

[HunterSThompson]

something i have noticed in the pop/duncan/parker spurs over the years...they seem to have a dead spot in the team game.

i am trying to characterize this right, and ill use a car analogy;

the spurs, to me, are like, a c6 chevy corvette; strong fast, reliable, inexpensive compared to its competition...however, by a "dead zone" it seems that their first 4 gears are fast, and pull like crazy, but 5th and 6th are long and tall, and with the right approach, and the right personal, when you get the spurs in those "gears" they become incredibly vulnerable.

and that becomes the challenge for the spurs to succeed, for them to stay in their "zone", so to speak

does that make any sense?

i couldnt even apply that to this lakers team, because we still, on a day to day basis, dont ever really know what we will get.