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i'm sorry if this has been discussed before but i haven't seen it and i'm kind of surprised


with all of this star gathering in la again, are we going to see similar parallels to the 2003 season when malone and payton came to town? a team with a ton of talent that can win a ton of games but could be up ended at the end by a team that plays really well together


how worried are you guys about everyone pulling a 'me-first' or 'i've got to get mine' type thing happening or will this group figure out that working together and getting everyone involved will be for the best

hermes wrote:i'm sorry if this has been discussed before but i haven't seen it and i'm kind of surprised


with all of this star gathering in la again, are we going to see similar parallels to the 2003 season when malone and payton came to town? a team with a ton of talent that can win a ton of games but could be up ended at the end by a team that plays really well together


how worried are you guys about everyone pulling a 'me-first' or 'i've got to get mine' type thing happening or will this group figure out that working together and getting everyone involved will be for the best

To be honest the 2 things that truly worry me is health and backup PG play. Besides that chemistry shouldn't be an issue at all. Kobe and Nash will be the yin and yang for this team. Good vocal leader and Leader by example. Gasol is still a top 5 PF and very unselfish (to unselfish at times IMO) and Dwight is the guy that looks up to Kobe and Nash and wants to learn how to get even better from those 2.

Also, once the season starts expect alot more play making from Nash and less running of the Princeton offense for the 1st unit. Kobe likes playing off the ball with Nash having the ball. Dwight finishes around the rim and Gasol can knock down that elbow jumper or free throw line jumper in his sleep and Dwight can cleanup around the rim or get the ball in the post and go to work. I really believe the pieces on this years team fit alot better then even that 2004 finals team. Nash is a much better playmaker than Payton and Gasol is still a top 5 PF currently where as Malone was no where near that in 2004.

Another key is gonna be Coach Brown and his rotation and managing of mins for Gasol, Nash and Kobe. I really dont want Nash over 30mpg in the regular season. Kobe and Gasol nowhere over 35mpg also.

There aren't many similarities.

Payton was a horrible fit from the start, and with Malone getting injured it made it difficult for the team to play to their full potential. Kobe's legal issues were ongoing and that played it's part as well. That team was winning strictly on talent.

Our depth was really lacking though, so that's about the only similarity that I see. Our bench was pretty bad that year.

Injuries are always going to be a concern, but from a fit standpoint this team looks a lot better than 2004. Heck I'd even call coaching a wash given that Phil checked out long before the season was over.

It's funny. Last time we did this, we go rid of fisher. Sure enough, when we got rid of fisher again bam. In all seriousness I find that this team is different in that, well... It's younger.

Howard = Kobe (Young Superstars)
Gasol = Shaq (both barely over prime, still pretty effective, perhaps Shaq has a slight lead)
Kobe = Malone (past prime super stars, Kobe is better right now then Malone then)
Nash = Payton (way past prime superstars, but wouldn't you agree that Nash's game declined way less?)

Not discussing the bench, I'm liking our team more and more. Kobe's court case was also more extreme than perhaps Howard's "decision", so hopefully the media wouldn't take a toll on us as much, considering, the out bursts of our Role players ala World Peace, or potentially Lebron's Stepdad.

In the end, I think Kobe matured well, and I've seen him defer to Nash for that last shot against Sac. Nash missed, but he got a really good look. Kobe did chuck it afterward so it kinda reminds me of Lebron/Wade where they go, let's take turn brah. Hopefully they can use each other instead of taking turns. Gasol's passive ego won't pose a problem, and Dwight... I don't know.

Stay positive guys.

Idk if that 2004 finals team bench was that bad as you guys are saying. Remember it was a pretty decent bench before Rick Foxx, Horace Grant both got hurt and although he was starting it Karl malone injury was huge also. We even had Kareem Rush (Balled out that game 6 WCF game against Minnesota) on that bench. And Fisher was still on that team. He backed up Payton

Fisher and Fox (who missed most of the season) were horrible all year long and Grant basically had one foot in the grave. Regarding Rush, he was pretty much useless outside of that one big game.

The bench that we have this year is actually better as sad as that sounds.

Thing is, we really didn't have a "big 4" in 2004 by the end like everyone suggested we did. Payton was useless, and Malone was injured. It was really just Shaq and Kobe again, but with more feuding and chemistry problems. This year we truly have a big 4 unless one of Nash/Kobe/Gasol becomes completely washed up (although I don't see it), and we have less feuding

There's nothing to worry about, this group isn't anywhere near as dysfunctional as that team.

that team had kobe starting feuds with the whole starting lineup as well as phil jackson

there's nothing like there here.

the only thing I'm worried about is how effectively they can use steve nash's game

The only thing I see in common with that team is that kobe is on both teams, and both teams want to try to win basketball games by scoring more than their opponents. That's pretty much where the similarities end

Edrees wrote:The only thing I see in common with that team is that kobe is on both teams, and both teams want to try to win basketball games by scoring more than their opponents. That's pretty much where the similarities end

both teams had Superman