Yuku free message boards

Rex Ryan wrote:

---

MoreUptempo wrote:

---

Rex Ryan wrote:

---

i been a laker fan since the early 90's and to be honest with you i don't know about all that.

in the 2002 offseason, the spurs, and even the kings made moves with the sole intent of dethroning the lakers.    the lakers countered this by signing tracy murray and drafting kareem rush.  even if shaq didn't miss those games early in the season i don't think they win in 02-03.  the spurs were a legit legit opponent and a great champion in their own right. perhaps they meet in the conference finals instead of the 2nd round but i think san antonio takes it that year regardless.  aside from the fact they made some very solid moves, the fatiuge factor for the lakers would've set in too.  playing til mid june every year and going through all those grueling series.

03-04, if both shaq and kobe put the stupid b.s aside and didn't let egos get in the way, i would like to believe they beat the pistons but like the case of the 03 spurs, the 04 pistons weren't a bunch of slouches either and they proved that by being a dumb rasheed wallace mistake away from possibly going back to back. i think a focused laker team wins the title that year, but lets no forget they were a derek fisher 0.4 miracle shot away from having to play a game 7 in the 2nd round in san antonio instead of winning that series in 6.

04-05,  this is where a motivated shaq played a big role in the heat going to game 7 of the conference finals and having a great season.  had they won the title in 04 and shaq came back and both him and kobe put egos aside who knows what happens. being realistic though, there was good competition in the form of the pistons in the east, the spurs in the west, and to a lesser extent the resurgent suns and mavs this season so there's no guarantee the lakers win this season with shaq and kobe 100% focused and no egos in the way.

also guys like rick fox retired, horry went to the spurs, the question of what role players take their place and how they step in and fulfill that role comes into question as well.

05-06 is when shaq started to gradually decline to me even though the heat on the title that year and from then on out the rest of the way it was downhill for him.  which is understandable considering 05-06 was his 14th season and he was 33 years old by then with alot of wear and tear on him.

had shaq stayed i think the lakers window of oppurtunity with a kobe shaq core would've been up until the 05-06 season had both of them put egos and everything else aside.


that said everything worked out best the way it did though.  shaq showed how valuable he was and went to another team and played a huge role in them winning a title within 2 years of him arriving there,  the lakers got to rebuild and while 05-07 seemed like dark ages by laker fan standards, they were playing in june within 4 years of the trade and winning titles within 5, where had they kept the two of them together they probably wouldn't start rebuilding until around 07 or so.

did not read, but  at a 15-1 playoff run being considered grueling

so you consider going the distance against sacramento in 00 a cakewalk?  7 against portland in 2000 easy and 6 against indy easy,  as well as that sacramento series in 02 where they were pushed to the limit easy?  this is why fellow laker fans sometimes get a bad name on the board. there's a reason why no team has won more then 3 in a row since the 60's celtics and it isn't because of shaqs toe or mike playing baseball in 94