Comments on: Training Camp Opens

By: kneejerkNBA

kneejerkNBA — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:33:53 +0000

Phil: ‘I’ve never seen Lamar motivated’.

My man’s laying it on THICK.

By: J.D. Hastings

J.D. Hastings — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:14:01 +0000

John Hollinger on Kobe:

“He’s also 30 and has more mileage on his legs than any other 30-year-old in history, which might not be a concern except that his numbers have dropped fairly sharply each of the past two seasons. ”

That’s a little misleading, no? His numbers decreased 2 years ago because the year prior had been historical. Last year they decreased again because he had so much more help. It’s not like he lost a step.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be THAT surprised if the Lakers didn’t grab the top seed. PJ knows the value of that, but he also knows that the team will have to win on the road anyways, and fresh legs are more valuable than the 1 seed.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:13:37 +0000

news and notes new post up

By: Darius

Darius — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:19:24 +0000

Rubens,
I would actually say that Coaching played the biggest role in Jordan’s winning. Obviously the Triangle is tied to that, but Phil is the coach that told Jordan that he was going to run an “equal oppurtunity” offense and convinced him of it’s merits. Jordan was reluctant at first, but Phil got him to understand and built up the trust that allowed Joradan to understand that playing in that offense and playing the team game is what would lead them to the mountain top.

By: chibi

chibi — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:09:03 +0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingcamp08/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=LakersForecast0809

Hollinger picks Utah over the Lakers.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:40:12 +0000

Rubens, the timing of the triangle coming into MJ’s career coincided with two things: 1) After years of losses in the playoffs despite Jordan’s efforts, he finally was getting enough talent around him to win; 2) Tied to that point, Jordan was realizing that the team did better when he scored 30 not 60. I think the triangle offense helped facilitate some of that, but whatever offense the Bulls ran at that point they were poised to start winning a lot.

At the level of the NBA, offensive design is not wins a title. It’s how any offense is used to exploit advantages.

By: wondahbap

wondahbap — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:32:02 +0000

Rubens,

That’s an unfair hypothetical. Whose to say any player has won anything just because of the system they played in ? Jordan did win a Championship in college, and he nailed the game winner. He didn’t play in the triangle at Carolina. Have you thought that maybe the Triangle might look so good because it helps to have Jordan & Pippen, and Shaq & Kobe ? MJ was amazing.

By: Craig W.

Craig W. — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:30:08 +0000

Michael Jordan was one of the best NBA players of all time. However, I wouldn’t go farther than that and I wouldn’t try to isolate any player who is better than all the rest – can’t be done, in my opinion.

The thing about Jordan was that he was the 1st homegrown star for Nike and the first ESPN athlete. Both those things emphasized his exposure and minimized his troubles. I do tend to agree with rubens that the triangle system helped him to shine, while allowing the team to win with players who were closer to average than either the Celtics or Lakers of the 80’s had. I also didn’t hurt that the teams of the 90’s weren’t consistently as good as the teams of the 80’s.

By: rubens

rubens — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:20:31 +0000

I have a question. I was just thinking about it today and I wondered, “would Jordan have been as successful had he not played in the triangle offense?” My thought is that he would have probably won a ring or two, but definitely not 6. What do ya’ll think?

By: wondahbap

wondahbap — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:39:41 +0000

JD,

Good points. He had that star shaved into his head well after it was certain he had no shot of making the All-Star team, as if he didn’t get the memo.

I’m a fan of LO, but I posted something on FD yesterday about Marbury, and added that I think that LO to a lesser extent suffers from the same problem that plagues Stephon.

While it could be true that he may help this team more off the bench, realistically, hisego may not be able to handle it because of the shoulda, coulda, woulda baggage he has. Lamar, like Steph, came up as NYC legends, and the value they put on themselves and because of the shoulda, coulda, woulda we put on them, they can’t accept ANY thought that what they should be might be less than what they actually are.

This isn’t meant to bash Lamar at all. I just agree with JD, that I’m not sure if LO can really handle a “demotion.” Regardless of it’s real implications.