Kobe Bryant will win first MVP award

[NO-KG-AI]

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/08kobemvp.html

Pretty sick vid.

Someone Youtube that.

[Kosta]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqorI7_0fZY

[Bgil]

I"m actually not that impressed with Pau Gasol..it seems like most of his points in the playoffs have been coming off Kobe's attention..

I've been impressed with his soft hands, passing, and ability to finish in traffic. His cuts to the basket are right on point too. I'm not impressed with his iso skills though. I thought we were getting the offensive Tim Duncan but it seems like Gasol can't score over anyone that has a strength advantage over him.

[Bgil]

These are some silly objections to PER. It's a per-minute stat, of course players who play limited minutes extremely efficiently are going to be really high. They deserve to be... they played extremely well. You just have to take into account that they might not be able to do so with more minutes. The stat doesn't claim to account for man defense, and should not be blamed for not doing so; NO-KG-AI's right, you almost inevitably have to eyeball defense anyway given the problems with +/- and defensive win shares.

You should eyeball offense too. IF you were to break down everything that happens to contribute to an offensive basket then you'd see it's a lot more than the direct pass and the shot.

[HarlemHeat37]

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I've been impressed with his soft hands, passing, and ability to finish in traffic. His cuts to the basket are right on point too. I'm not impressed with his iso skills though. I thought we were getting the offensive Tim Duncan but it seems like Gasol can't score over anyone that has a strength advantage over him.

that's what I meant..not impressed with his scoring..there's no doubt that his size, passing, finishing ability, and presence that has allowed Odom to play a more comfortable role has helped LA, but I think his weaknesses will be more publicized if LA doesn't win the title..it hasn't been publicized so far because of the huge success the Lakers have had since acquiring him, and the fact that he's such a HUGE upgrade over Kwame Brown..but I think we'll hear more about the lack of ability to score on his own and the rebounding if the Lakers don't win..also looked better against a team like Denver..doubling Gasol and leaving Kobe open?(I think more than once too) ridiculous..

to be honest, it just seems like Kobe is running everything out there for the Lakers, even more than anybody would expect..I'm not really noticing a legit post game or anything, it just looks like Kobe penetrating and dishing..so when it comes to his MVP, it doesn't make any sense for anybody to play the Gasol card or the supporting cast card this year IMO..

[shobe_81]

o be honest, it just seems like Kobe is running everything out there for the Lakers, even more than anybody would expect..I'm not really noticing a legit post game or anything, it just looks like Kobe penetrating and dishing..so when it comes to his MVP, it doesn't make any sense for anybody to play the Gasol card or the supporting cast card this year IMO.

OMG Did Someone just hack Harlem's User & Password?

[rewill17]

even Nicole Ritche is impressed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn4lhTPt ... re=related

[dockingsched]

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that's what I meant..not impressed with his scoring..there's no doubt that his size, passing, finishing ability, and presence that has allowed Odom to play a more comfortable role has helped LA, but I think his weaknesses will be more publicized if LA doesn't win the title..it hasn't been publicized so far because of the huge success the Lakers have had since acquiring him, and the fact that he's such a HUGE upgrade over Kwame Brown..but I think we'll hear more about the lack of ability to score on his own and the rebounding if the Lakers don't win..also looked better against a team like Denver..doubling Gasol and leaving Kobe open?(I think more than once too) ridiculous..

to be honest, it just seems like Kobe is running everything out there for the Lakers, even more than anybody would expect..I'm not really noticing a legit post game or anything, it just looks like Kobe penetrating and dishing..so when it comes to his MVP, it doesn't make any sense for anybody to play the Gasol card or the supporting cast card this year IMO..

your observations are right on point. they've been made for quite some time by lakers fans. gasol's soft label is somewhat justified, though he's playing against centers when ideally he'd be going against power forwards. that's why the return of andrew bynum is so anticipate. bynum controls the paint and covers all of gasol's weaknesses, letting him play a more perimeter oriented game.

[purp8gldvanessa]

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that's what I meant..not impressed with his scoring..there's no doubt that his size, passing, finishing ability, and presence that has allowed Odom to play a more comfortable role has helped LA, but I think his weaknesses will be more publicized if LA doesn't win the title..it hasn't been publicized so far because of the huge success the Lakers have had since acquiring him, and the fact that he's such a HUGE upgrade over Kwame Brown..but I think we'll hear more about the lack of ability to score on his own and the rebounding if the Lakers don't win..also looked better against a team like Denver..doubling Gasol and leaving Kobe open?(I think more than once too) ridiculous..

to be honest, it just seems like Kobe is running everything out there for the Lakers, even more than anybody would expect..I'm not really noticing a legit post game or anything, it just looks like Kobe penetrating and dishing..so when it comes to his MVP, it doesn't make any sense for anybody to play the Gasol card or the supporting cast card this year IMO..

This is not true. Gasol's presence on the inside is huge. Pau scoring value is underestimated. He is about 20/8 everyday. This is something lamar odom has never been able to give the lakers. Kobe cannot win without someone in the paint who can hit that consistent hook shot. It doesn't matter who it is, but it needs to be someone the defense will respect so they don't collapse on kobe all the time.

[JellosJigglin]

Gasol has a solid post game when he actually uses it. During the regular season he played really well on the block. He hasn't really been the same since his ankle injury. It's still sore from what I hear. But he's still a second option to Kobe, and yes he does get most of his points because of the attention Kobe draws.

People need to remember that he's playing out of position. Just imagine if Dirk or KG had to play center on their own, without any big body in the paint next to them. Especially KG, who I think would get pushed around a lot without those fat guys taking up space in the paint for him. So I don't see Gasol as soft, just someone who isn't playing his natural position.

And dcash is right, Bynum's skillset seems like a perfect fit with Gasol's skillset. Laker fans were able to watch each player on their own for half a season, so we know each player's strengths and weaknesses. We're just salivating to watch them on the court together because one player's strengths are the others weaknesses. I just don't see a better front line in the NBA than Bynum/Pau/Odom. And with Kobe in the back court, pick your poison, NBA

[HarlemHeat37]

well I'm not gonna disagree, since I didn't watch many Laker games before Pau got injured..but it's definitely been the way I described in the playoffs..

as for the frontcourt..it definitely would be the best in the NBA..but that's assuming Bynum actually gets healthy one day..

[JellosJigglin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqorI7_0fZY

That video was noiiice.

[JellosJigglin]

well I'm not gonna disagree, since I didn't watch many Laker games before Pau got injured..but it's definitely been the way I described in the playoffs..

as for the frontcourt..it definitely would be the best in the NBA..but that's assuming Bynum actually gets healthy one day..

Just based on the playoffs, your observations are correct. He's getting a LOT of easy dunks and layups from Kobe, and hasn't really been affective at creating his own shot. Odom and Pau have a really nice 2 man game going too, but that's after Kobe passes out of the double team.

[A.J.]

Well deserved by Kobe.

[Paydro70]

You should eyeball offense too. IF you were to break down everything that happens to contribute to an offensive basket then you'd see it's a lot more than the direct pass and the shot.

Well, the difference is that statistics can offer you a great deal more information about a player's offense than his defense. There's no defensive "usage" to see how often a player is targeted, no clear-cut opponent FG%, no stats on rotation or prevention of penetration, etc.

I never said offense is just direct pass->shot, so I'm not sure where that comes from. Ultimately, a player's worth on offense is determined by his ability either to shoot for himself, or to create shots for teammates. Until they start counting hockey assists, which they should, we've only got so many tools to work with. Unless you can dedicate your entire life to watching basketball, you'll never have enough scouting information to judge someone's game with any authority. So stats pretty much have to do.