RealGM

When: 10:00 PM ET, November 14, 2014
Where: STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA

The west coast road trip continues with a game against the 1-7 Lakers.

This should be an easy one but we'll see.

Go Spurs!!

Should be a win, but who knows? Byron Scott just ripped the Lakers on defense in their last game and they might actually bring it againts us.

Lakers suck though. They just are. I look forward to seeing Kawhi's defense on Kobe. I'm not sure if I've ever seen it.

I hope we continue to roll them. It never gets old....

SAMMY'S EXPERT PREDICTION:

It's early in the season, and all 30 teams are still sorting out the fine points, but by this time, their identities are really starting to crystallize. The Spurs are rounding into form after beating two of the West's best, and the Lakers... well, they are who we thought they were, with little success defensively, little consistency offensively, and little for the pink-and-yellow faithful to be excited about going forward.

Still, with the Black Mama on the bench, that team has at least ONE strand of high-level DNA left in its anatomy. For that reason, I think the Lakers are going to come out fired up. I think they see this as an opportunity to prove that, while they may not be frontrunners, they aren't going to be pushovers. I foresee a MAJOR effort from them in this game, and as a result, I predict a final score that is MUCH closer than anyone could have imagined.

FINAL: San Antonio 148, Los Angeles 53

KOBE-WATCH: 29 points (4-for-52 FGs, 1-for-17 3P, 20-for-26 FTs), 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 14 TOs

Could someone shoot me a pm if Kyle Anderson get's major minutes. Don't spoil the result but we will most likely whoop the Lakers so bad that even Jeannie Buss will have marks on her backside for weeks.

I'd thought I'd enjoy watching Kobe struggle more, but this is so pathetic it's hard to watch. This Lakers team is epically bad. Their starters aren't all bad, but once they unload the bench, look out!

Kawhi is playing out of his mind, if fouls hadn't limited his minutes he'd of had 20 points that half.

Lakers would probably take a Danny Green for Kobe trade right now. /s

Karma killing Kobe for being the league's worst teammate now is a part of the Laker's worst start in the history of their franchise. Hopefully Kawhi is ok after Kobe hit him in the face. Clarkson looked great for LA. Daye, Bonner, and even Anderson were pretty bad. That Gino nutmeg should be on Sports Center.

Kobe went 1 for 14 from the field?!

Good to see TD get the 25K points.

We're starting to play well, and on the road too.

Danny put some work in on Kobe. 1-14 with 4 turnovers.

Kawhi was having a great game until Kobe cut him.

Overall solid win on to Sactown.

Bryant is the biggest reason the Lakers are where they are today. I don't get the impression he realizes that. Or he actually does realize it but doesn't care because he got his, which would be more Kobe-like.

How much Kyle Anderson time? I could look up his minutes at 48 but that would meant too many spoilers.

imagump1313 wrote:Bryant is the biggest reason the Lakers are where they are today. I don't get the impression he realizes that. Or he actually does realize it but doesn't care because he got his, which would be more Kobe-like.

Well, he has helped them win five titles, let's not forget that. Kobe is not the type of player to go ring-chasing on another team, and I respect that. For the people that say he's holding the Lakers back, watch how many people turn up to games and tune in if he isn't there.

LA could had gotten an another player like Kobe without being a team cancer. It's LA. Even if you think he is the best player of all time, they could get 3 others that would be as good combined. Kobe don't need to go elsewhere for ring chasing because people want to chase rings in LA.

How is he a cancer again?

Donald Kaufman wrote:How is he a cancer again?

I wouldn't say he is a cancer but he is kind of a dick sometimes to other players (yes, sometimes they deserve it:See-Dwight Howard). He already seems to have alienated Jeremy Lin.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puwqi7IznEo[/youtube]

I can't argue that he wants to win and yes, they won 5 titles because of him but they are paying for it now which is what I meant. I guess if you asked most franchises if they would coddle and overpay a superstar to win 5 titles but suck for 10 years after because of him, most of them would say "hell yes"

MJ pissed off a lot of teammates too, and Kobe is the Luke Skywalker to MJ's Obi Wan. Kobe is ultra-competitive and expects to compete for a title every year, no matter the players surrounding him. He looked at a roster filled with the likes of Boozer, Lin and Swaggy P and declared that they were a playoff team. He's delusional of course, but that's his nature. He figures if he's on the team that's enough to compete.

The notion that Kobe is holding the Lakers back is illogical to me. He's the only blue chipper they've got, even at 36. And he's the only guy that's getting asses in seats. His ego will not allow him to be a secondary option, and that's his right. He's said several times that he won't average 15 a game on a team like others players. He'll retire scoring 20+. Once Kobe retires, that team is toast. People say they missed out on FA's because of Kobe, but who is going to a team with that current core and a coach that declares that 3 pointers don't win championships? No one. If you're going to live in LA, you'll play for the Clips over the Lakers.

imagump1313 wrote:

Donald Kaufman wrote:How is he a cancer again?

I wouldn't say he is a cancer but he is kind of a dick sometimes to other players (yes, sometimes they deserve it:See-Dwight Howard). He already seems to have alienated Jeremy Lin.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puwqi7IznEo[/youtube]

I can't argue that he wants to win and yes, they won 5 titles because of him but they are paying for it now which is what I meant. I guess if you asked most franchises if they would coddle and overpay a superstar to win 5 titles but suck for 10 years after because of him, most of them would say "hell yes"

It's LA, they could have higher standards and attract talent.

Donald Kaufman wrote:MJ pissed off a lot of teammates too, and Kobe is the Luke Skywalker to MJ's Obi Wan. Kobe is ultra-competitive and expects to compete for a title every year, no matter the players surrounding him. He looked at a roster filled with the likes of Boozer, Lin and Swaggy P and declared that they were a playoff team. He's delusional of course, but that's his nature. He figures if he's on the team that's enough to compete.

The notion that Kobe is holding the Lakers back is illogical to me. He's the only blue chipper they've got, even at 36. And he's the only guy that's getting asses in seats. His ego will not allow him to be a secondary option, and that's his right. He's said several times that he won't average 15 a game on a team like others players. He'll retire scoring 20+. Once Kobe retires, that team is toast. People say they missed out on FA's because of Kobe, but who is going to a team with that current core and a coach that declares that 3 pointers don't win championships? No one. If you're going to live in LA, you'll play for the Clips over the Lakers.

I'm not saying his game is what's holding the team back at all. Its that monster contract that has handcuffed the franchise. He is still one of the best scorers in the league. I do think he is on his way to another injury with the minutes he is playing though.

Donald Kaufman wrote:MJ pissed off a lot of teammates too, and Kobe is the Luke Skywalker to MJ's Obi Wan. Kobe is ultra-competitive and expects to compete for a title every year, no matter the players surrounding him. He looked at a roster filled with the likes of Boozer, Lin and Swaggy P and declared that they were a playoff team. He's delusional of course, but that's his nature. He figures if he's on the team that's enough to compete.

The notion that Kobe is holding the Lakers back is illogical to me. He's the only blue chipper they've got, even at 36. And he's the only guy that's getting asses in seats. His ego will not allow him to be a secondary option, and that's his right. He's said several times that he won't average 15 a game on a team like others players. He'll retire scoring 20+. Once Kobe retires, that team is toast. People say they missed out on FA's because of Kobe, but who is going to a team with that current core and a coach that declares that 3 pointers don't win championships? No one. If you're going to live in LA, you'll play for the Clips over the Lakers.

I'm a professional Laker-hater, so my comments about the Lakers should always be taken with a grain of salt, but in my view, what's happening with the Lakers now (and to some extent, what happened with them in 2005-2007) works as evidence of something I've always said, which is that Kobe is not a player who makes other players better.

Believe it or not, that's not a knock on him. There are, and always have been, great players who nevertheless don't have the effect of making other guys better. Examples in today's league include guys like 'Melo and Westbrook (I may get some static for that one, since Westbrook is a point guard with fairly high assist numbers, but so it goes; stats can be misleading). They're top-tier players who obviously help their teams in terms of their direct abilities, but they need other top-tier talent around them in order for their best attributes to have the effect of helping their teams win. Kobe is that kind of player (frankly, so was MJ for the first third of his career).

The defense of Kobe always comes in some variation of the 'who else is on that team?' argument, i.e., 'who else would be carrying the Lakers if Kobe weren't doing what he's doing?' But let's consider whether that argument has any real validity. Right now, the Lakers have the league's second-worst record and its third-highest negative point differential, just ahead of Minnesota and the Sixers, who have the potential to be historically bad. Would they be appreciably worse if Nick Young were their starting SG instead? His per-36 last season was 23 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists... not as good as Kobe's numbers this year, but not that far off. He also averaged far fewer turnovers and fewer than 18 shot attempts per-36- a far cry from the 24 Kobe needs.

My point comes in the form of this question: where would the Lakers be without Kobe? Where were they without him at this time LAST season? After 11 games, they were 4-and-7 with a differential of -6.8.

If Young were the starter and Kobe weren't, would they be worse? Yes. Would they be worse than this year's Sixers? I don't think anyone would argue that. Which means they would be the second-worst team in the league... which is exactly what they are WITH Kobe.

Juxtapose that against the performance of teams like the Pelicans, who would be a disaster if you took off just one player (that one Anthony Davis guy)... or consider how much worse, say, the Clippers would be without Paul. As bad as Cleveland has looked, if LeBron weren't there, they would be a terrible team, even with 'superstars' Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving leading the way.

None of this takes anything away from Kobe's superlative talent; it's just an acknowledgement that, for all he brings to the sport, that transformative effect is not something he produces.