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Man just know this guy is pushing his body to unheard of levels to get this team to another ring and for him to get #6

Anyone thinking Kobe's tanking isn't paying attention.

I know we are by no means a contender, or even a given playoff team...but IMO the league is gonna be pretty wide open this season.

crazyeights wrote:Anyone thinking Kobe's tanking isn't paying attention.

I know we are by no means a contender, or even a given playoff team...but IMO the league is gonna be pretty wide open this season.

Feel the same way sir. The Westbrook injury opened up the West again

kobe needs to get these treatments in before they're inevitable outlawed.

dockingsched wrote:kobe needs to get these treatments in before they're inevitable outlawed.

Who's gonna outlaw it ? The eastern portion of the world is way more liberal than we are. So again who's going to outlaw it ?

The UN ?

leeprettyp wrote:

crazyeights wrote:Anyone thinking Kobe's tanking isn't paying attention.

I know we are by no means a contender, or even a given playoff team...but IMO the league is gonna be pretty wide open this season.

Feel the same way sir. The Westbrook injury opened up the West again

I don't know if the west is wide open, but it's gonna drop OKC from that top 4. Especially if RW is going to miss 14-20, that's close to a quarter of the season.

It's actually a bit sad we tailed off when we did. With Thunder doing an excellent job of gutting their core and the Spurs (as always) getting older, the West is pretty open. The team that should lead the conference this year IMO is the Rockets, but we'll have to see how that team fits together.

MistyMountain20 wrote:It's actually a bit sad we tailed off when we did. With Thunder doing an excellent job of gutting their core and the Spurs (as always) getting older, the West is pretty open. The team that should lead the conference this year IMO is the Rockets, but we'll have to see how that team fits together.

No it won't be the Rockets, I got the Clippers or Memphis possibly getting the 1 seed. The Rockets are just a glorified 2 man squad, they lack depth on the bench and they won't score interior points like you think they should.

In regards to the OP- yes, Kobe is a tough guy. I have my criticisms of him, but there's no doubt he's obsessed with his legacy and will try anything to get back on the court. Unfortunately the body has limits on it, which all players discover.

As to the claim the West is wide open, that's pretty silly. The Spurs ought to be about the same as usual, even if Duncan falls off slightly, they won 60+ games in 2012 (pro rated) and 2011, even before Duncan slimmed down and had a comeback year. Plus Kawhi is improving, and the team was hit hard by injuries last year (their 4 best players missed a combined 75 games). So even with a few things going wrong, logically they should be roughly as good as last year. The Thunder will have no problems winning 55+ with Westbrook out 4-6 weeks. All it's going to do is drive R.Jax stock up and remind people how good the Thunder are at managing a team. The Clippers should be better, not worse, ditto the Rockets who are ahead of you. The Grizzlies are the same team who looked much better than the (more talented) Lakers last year. The Warriors looked like they were turning the corner last year, and have younger players who should improve this season, plus added some talent. That's already 6 teams I'd say are pretty clearly ahead of you, and tough as hell.

That's the thing about the West. It never seems to get any weaker. The Lakers are a dark horse to sneak into the playoffs, but they've got some stiff competition, and anyone thinking about more than a 1st round exit is kidding themselves. Personally I think Kobe's going to take some time to come back, and the front office will react to the slow start by resting some guys and throwing the tank into effect late in the season once the playoffs are out of reach.

DEEP3CL wrote:

dockingsched wrote:kobe needs to get these treatments in before they're inevitable outlawed.

Who's gonna outlaw it ? The eastern portion of the world is way more liberal than we are. So again who's going to outlaw it ?

The UN ?

Why would it get outlawed? Its his own blood right? From my understanding (from listening to Dr. Klapper for the last couple seasons on the radio about this topic) that they're doctors actually in the USA that do PRP therapy/surgery (on animals I believe). What most people overlook is Gary Vitti was the person who first approached Kobe about getting this procedure done. And I'm pretty sure Gary did his homework on this. They're other players who've gotten the same exact procedure done in Germany Bynum. A-Rod, Jermaine O'Neal, Hines Ward, Brandon Roy and they exactly didn't light the world on fire after getting it done. This is just something Kobe is doing again to get the most he can out of his body in these last few years of his career to get another ring. Its not PED's or any type of steroids so I see nothing wrong with it

DEEP3CL wrote:

leeprettyp wrote:

crazyeights wrote:Anyone thinking Kobe's tanking isn't paying attention.

I know we are by no means a contender, or even a given playoff team...but IMO the league is gonna be pretty wide open this season.

Feel the same way sir. The Westbrook injury opened up the West again

I don't know if the west is wide open, but it's gonna drop OKC from that top 4. Especially if RW is going to miss 14-20, that's close to a quarter of the season.

We gotta see how Westbrook looks when he gets back. Because D33P even you know 2 knee surgeries in such a short period of time is never good and this is a player that relies on his athleticism and speed over skill right now. Some doctors are on record saying that they believe Westbrook will comeback and be 90% of the player he had been before. For a guy who plays the way he does that matters. Also, I've always believed he was the engine of that OKC team, so we'll see. Man I understand why they moved Harden but that team has been weakened (even lost Kevin Martin) over these past 2 seasons.

In regards to Memphis, I think they're gonna also take a step back after losing their coach from last season. He gave them their identity. But we'll see

leeprettyp wrote:

DEEP3CL wrote:

leeprettyp wrote:

Feel the same way sir. The Westbrook injury opened up the West again

I don't know if the west is wide open, but it's gonna drop OKC from that top 4. Especially if RW is going to miss 14-20, that's close to a quarter of the season.

We gotta see how Westbrook looks when he gets back. Because D33P even you know 2 knee surgeries in such a short period of time is never good and this is a player that relies on his athleticism and speed over skill right now. Some doctors are on record saying that they believe Westbrook will comeback and be 90% of the player he had been before. For a guy who plays the way he does that matters. Also, I've always believed he was the engine of that OKC team, so we'll see. Man I understand why they moved Harden but that team has been weakened (even lost Kevin Martin) over these past 2 seasons.

In regards to Memphis, I think they're gonna also take a step back after losing their coach from last season. He gave them their identity. But we'll see

Oh man I agree 100% with you. That had to be the worst possible thing for RW and OKC. His whole game is reliant on speed and athleticism, without either he's reduced to Ray Felton type status. Yes they have been weakened and with no proven 3rd scorer, teams are gonna load up and blitz KD on every touch.

As far as Memphis, it is 50/50 with them. They had a coaching change which is major in my book because players play better when they respond to a guy they respect, and they respected Coach Hollins. Secondly they didn't make any major pickups. But I still place them ahead of OKC, I think they can play hard despite the new coach but when it gets tough how will they respond ? We'll see.

DEEP3CL wrote:

MistyMountain20 wrote:It's actually a bit sad we tailed off when we did. With Thunder doing an excellent job of gutting their core and the Spurs (as always) getting older, the West is pretty open. The team that should lead the conference this year IMO is the Rockets, but we'll have to see how that team fits together.

No it won't be the Rockets, I got the Clippers or Memphis possibly getting the 1 seed. The Rockets are just a glorified 2 man squad, they lack depth on the bench and they won't score interior points like you think they should.

I agree with this. When people started talking about D12 and harden being the next Kobe and Shaq I damn near got offended. Unless I missed something Houston was a 8th seed last year. D12 will have a great impact but I dont think the are contenders by any stretch of the imagination. Thats just my opinion. Clippers have a squad. I have to wait on Memphis since they have a new coach.

I have run out of good things to say about kobe and his dedication to the game. I have loss count on how many years he has been in the nba. What is this, his 18th season? who does that in this NBA!?

Kevin Garnett
Steve Nash
Marcus Camby
Ray Allen
Jermaine O'Neal
Derek Fisher
Jerry Stackhouse
Rasheed Wallace
Kurt Thomas
Grant Hill
Jason Kidd


those are off the top of my head, i cant remember anyone else

Gotta love message boards. I should have been more specific. Leading their team. KG maybe. What year is Nash in? Everyone else is not number 1 option material.

iamworthy wrote:I have run out of good things to say about kobe and his dedication to the game. I have loss count on how many years he has been in the nba. What is this, his 18th season? who does that in this NBA!?

Now officially over HALF of Kobe's LIFE, he's been in a Lakers jersey,

iamworthy wrote:Gotta love message boards. I should have been more specific. Leading their team. KG maybe. What year is Nash in? Everyone else is not number 1 option material.

Nash was in the same draft class Kobe was in