Wade's finals apperance on the Lakers...

[Baller 24]

What would happen?

Replace 2008 Kobe's finals appearance with Wades 2006.

Would Wade have a better shot with winning it all then Kobe in the finals with that supporting cast?

[Farm Raid]

Obviously, Wade's performance was way better than Kobe's. But I don't think he could have had his 2006 performance against the Celtics. The real question, I think is if 2006 Wade would be better than 2008 Kobe and I think the answer is obvious. Of course, Kobe guys will say there's no way anyone currently in the league could play better than Kobe, that whatever he does is about as good against the Celtics as any perimeter player and be and I strongly disagree.

[Volcano]

Wade was a better and more frequent slasher than Kobe..Lakers didn't need Kobe taking mostly jumpshots. It would have been a closer series with Wade

[dockingsched]

replace's wilt's 100 pt game performance with pau gasol, would the lakers have a better shot at the title?

i mean, c'mon. you can argue about replacing the players (kobe for wade), you can't reasonably replace the actual performance. then u get questions like mine.

[Derekman]

Are you guys seriously comparing Dallas's D to Boston's. One has a knack of letting priemer wings killing them (kobe 62 in 3 quarters, Wade finals..etc), the other has been one of the best Defence's in the league EVER. Could Wade have played better; it's a possibilty that no one can actually know but there is no way that Wade would do what he did against Dallas. He is not getting that many calls because Boston knows how to D up and the box and 1 would've killed him to. I mean, come on, Kobe and Lebron struggled against Boston's D, do people actually think Wade could've done any better. Lebron is a better driving player than Wade and a better shooter, he got locked down. Wade wouldn't do any better.

[Wade2k6]

^^ Wades final performance is also higher then any level Kobe has played at during the playoffs/finals. And LeBron too. Wade had a down year (for his standards) because of injuries, people are forgetting how good he really is though. He is a top 3-5 player in this league when healthy

[shawngoat23]

Wade's Finals performance was a combination of a transcendent effort by a spectacular athlete and absolutely inept officiating, along with a massive chokejob by the Mavericks. His teammates blew chunks in that series, aside from a few key swats by Alonzo Mourning and some timely treys by aging role players Antoine Walker and Gary Payton.

If you take Wade's Finals performance, including the officiating, and transplant it to the Lakers, I believe they would have won this year. But his play itself in the 2006 Finals--although it was better than Kobe's this year--would not have been enough.

[eatyourchildren]

Wade's Finals performance was a combination of a transcendent effort by a spectacular athlete and absolutely inept officiating, along with a massive chokejob by the Mavericks. His teammates blew chunks in that series, aside from a few key swats by Alonzo Mourning and some timely treys by aging role players Antoine Walker and Gary Payton.

If you take Wade's Finals performance, including the officiating, and transplant it to the Lakers, I believe they would have won this year. But his play itself in the 2006 Finals--although it was better than Kobe's this year--would not have been enough.

As good as Wade is/was in 2006, he's not getting 120 freethrows or however many it was, against the Celtics.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

Dallas was actually around the the 7th best defensive team statistically that season, still Dallas wasnt on the same planet as the Celtics defensively. You cant compare Wades Finals to Kobes Finals....Kobe faced a much better defensive team.

but you can compare to Wade's ECF vs. the Pistons though ........he shot around 60% against one of the best defensive teams and the best perimeter defensive team...nothing was stopping him that season, not even a top 5 defensive team. So who knows, its not far fetched to think he couldve had a really good series vs. Boston

[eatyourchildren]

Dallas was actually around the the 7th best defensive team statistically that season, still Dallas wasnt on the same planet as the Celtics defensively. You cant compare Wades Finals to Kobes Finals....Kobe faced a much better defensive team.

but you can compare to Wade's ECF vs. the Pistons though ........he shot around 60% against one of the best defensive teams and the best perimeter defensive team...nothing was stopping him that season, not even a top 5 defensive team. So who knows, its not far fetched to think he couldve had a really good series vs. Boston

Is it really that comparable? The Pistons team has shown that it has not been the same team (defensively or offensively) that they were in 2004, under the iron fist known as Larry Brown. Rasheed has drifted farther and farther to the perimeter, Ben Wallace wasn't having any of Flip's mumbling, etc. Larry Brown was a great playoffs in-game tinkerer, while Flip...you know.

[Farm Raid]

Holy ****. Is everything with you a not-so-subtle justification for Kobe Bryant?

[eatyourchildren]

Holy ****. Is everything with you a not-so-subtle justification for Kobe Bryant?

Holy ***, did you see that I post in other threads too? And Holy ****, when someone takes a jab at Kobe that I feel is undeserving, can't I defend him? And Holy ****, is your whole purpose on this site to ride my nuts? Yes, yes, and yes.

[kooldude]

haha, this is ridiculous. Kobe faced an historic defense while Wade faced a choking team. Celtics would win in 5-6 games. Just imagine the Finals Celtics that finally clicked on all levels (aka, Ray Allen stopped sucking dick, etc) and the defense they put on Lebron. Btw, 2008 Lebron is better than 2006 Wade.

The only reason why the Cavs were in it because of their defense; it was obvious and the Celtics admitted to it. With Wade, the Lakers have NO ONE to defend Pierce, at least with Kobe, you had moments where Pierce wasn't torching inferior defenders.

[Wade2k6]

What do you have to say when Wade lit the '06 Pistons up for over 30 ppg on over 60% shooting? I guess that was a fluke right? guess so..

If you can't accept the bad things with the good things their are just no arguements to have with some you fans. Kobe obviously got outplayed by Boston, and the '06 finals Wade outperformed '08 Kobe by a lot. Some of you Kobe fans jump on every oppurtunity to compare Kobe to Jordan when he scores 50+ points or something, but when something bad happens you blame everybody else except Kobe. Not all Kobe fans, but alot.

This is directed towards KoolDude and some of the other Laker fans that have commented in this thread.

[tkb]

Dallas was actually around the the 7th best defensive team statistically that season

11th actually. Boston D was FAR better. Wade himself shot 31% or something against them this season.

[BBallFreak]

Would they have won with Wade? No, but I think Wade's aggressiveness would have helped the Lakers a great deal more than Kobe's passiveness. While Kobe was shooting jumpers, Wade was forcing his way into the paint and making the defense adjust to him. Say what you want about him and the officials, but that is an undeniable fact.

[kooldude]

What do you have to say when Wade lit the '06 Pistons up for over 30 ppg on over 60% shooting? I guess that was a fluke right? guess so..

If you can't accept the bad things with the good things their are just no arguements to have with some you fans. Kobe obviously got outplayed by Boston, and the '06 finals Wade outperformed '08 Kobe by a lot. Some of you Kobe fans jump on every oppurtunity to compare Kobe to Jordan when he scores 50+ points or something, but when something bad happens you blame everybody else except Kobe. Not all Kobe fans, but alot.

This is directed towards KoolDude and some of the other Laker fans that have commented in this thread.

No one said Wade's performance against the Pistons was an aberration; he's obviously a very good player. So is Lebron. In 06 and 07. And look at what Boston did to Lebron in their series, Lebron had 2 games out of 7 that can be considered "good" by any decent standard. And what does an 06 Wade do better than an 08 Lebron. Is there really any argument that an 06 Wade is better than an 08 Lebron? Not to mention that Wade's team was superior to Lebron's too.

Ok, I'll accept the good things: Wade is a better slasher and passer. So even with the dominant team defense the Celtics used, he would still be able to create more for his teammates than Kobe did. Except you ignore the fact that Kobe did that on times and his teammates missed opened shots. Here's the bad: Wade is an inferior defender and jumpshooter than Kobe. That means there's NO ONE on the Lakers that can keep up with Pierce and Wade would be a Lebron v2 against the Celtics. That means Wade would have to take jumpshots just like Lebron had to, just like Kobe had to, because that's all they got. If you want to say an 06 Wade is on another level than Lebron and Kobe now, that be my guest Wade2k6.

haha, I like how you take Kobe's worst series and compare it to Wade's best series without taking in consideration the caliber of defense in the teams they faced. There is no basis on usingWade's performance against the Mavs and saying he would have same success against the Celtics. Different teams, different situations. But it's apparently that Wade would likely replicate Lebron's performance since they are slashers, except Lebron is a better defender, rebounder, passer, and possibly jumpshooter too.

And I'm not a Lakers fan; I just not naive enough to believe that a player like Wade on Lebron/Kobe's level can beat the Celtics by themselves which is essentially what they had to do. (moreso Lebron than Kobe). I certainly don't think using Wade's performance against Dallas defense is in any way relevant when the Celtics are on another level defensively.

[Flash3]

If Kobe drove more, a la Wade, instead of taking a lot of jumpers, things might have opened up a lot more for his teammates.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

Here's the bad: Wade is an inferior defender and jumpshooter than Kobe.

Kobe is a much better shooter but Remember we are talking about 06 Wade....he shot 38% from NBA 3 in the playoffs compared to Kobes 30%....

And what makes Kobe a better defender?...Kobe was put on guys like Brewer, Bowen, Rondo these playoffs...he was asked to roam.....he was asked to help out on others, maybe get some steals and block shots...same exact role that Wade took in 06 except that Wade was more succesful in picking off passes and was a 1000000x better shotblocker.

Basically putting either Lebron/Wade/Kobe on the Lakers.....i think Lebron would do the best, hes the only one of the 3 that can guard Pierce, Ray Allen wouldnt go off..they would focus on Ray Allen and let Lebron go 1 on 1 vs. Pierce like in the Cavs series......hes a better playmaker and shot blocker, he would struggle with his shot, but like we saw..hed be able to get to the free throw line more often.

[That Nicka]

Didnt Wade average like 13 ppg on like 23% against the Celtics during the regular season?