2014-15 Official Lakers Season Thread, Vol: We Love Each Other

[MambaMentality824]

34 year old man straight fooling on cats.

Kobe's game is a huge reason why I always believe that stats can only take you so far when evaluating a player. Obviously, they are HUGE deal in determining the effectiveness of a player. But sometimes, a bucket is worth way more than two points. Some of those shots he hits in the above video, and obviously on a nightly basis throughout his career, absolutely can demoralize the psyche of a defense.

Knowing that you damn well just defended the possession the best you can yet you still got a trey bomb dropped in your face... definitely can deflate a team. Obviously, there are games where those shots don't fall and we lose as a result. But overall, I'd say 7 finals appearances and 5 rings prove that it has worked out quite well for the Mamba.

 

[CP1708]

Kobe can get back there man. I believe. If the achilles is truly 100%. It's not like his bones are brittle at 35. I mean the amnesty game was just last february. He was cooking up until April. I feel like he can do it. It was wild how fast he was just a yr ago.

He'll be 36 tho when the season begins. Year #19. 1,465 games in the NBA, not including preseason. (figure another 200 or so) plus 2 Olympics. He also has almost 54,000 minutes total, in regular season and playoffs, again, not counting the preseason or Olympics. And COUNTLESS pick up, practice work he's done thru his life.

All that, and now he has the achilles and knee issues to compensate for. At 36, not 26.


Everything in NBA history is stacked against him now. The first 17 years were pristine, minor knee things, finger things, a shoulder, things he could work thru. Work around. Now, he has a severe injury to his leg, which triggered yet another fairly significant injury within his leg last year after just 6 games, and add the fact that he seems to have added a little weight, not that he's fat, but that he has more weight/pressure on those legs.........His final 3 years could be bumpy as hell, compared to those 17, where he overcame everything.


People need to start preparing. Would love to see him play every day his last year like Jeter seems to be doing, but again, the odds are stacked against him big time.

 

[freeze]

Kobe can get back there man. I believe. If the achilles is truly 100%. It's not like his bones are brittle at 35. I mean the amnesty game was just last february. He was cooking up until April. I feel like he can do it. It was wild how fast he was just a yr ago.

He'll be 36 tho when the season begins. Year #19. 1,465 games in the NBA, not including preseason. (figure another 200 or so) plus 2 Olympics. He also has almost 54,000 minutes total, in regular season and playoffs, again, not counting the preseason or Olympics. And COUNTLESS pick up, practice work he's done thru his life.

All that, and now he has the achilles and knee issues to compensate for. At 36, not 26.


Everything in NBA history is stacked against him now. The first 17 years were pristine, minor knee things, finger things, a shoulder, things he could work thru. Work around. Now, he has a severe injury to his leg, which triggered yet another fairly significant injury within his leg last year after just 6 games, and add the fact that he seems to have added a little weight, not that he's fat, but that he has more weight/pressure on those legs.........His final 3 years could be bumpy as hell, compared to those 17, where he overcame everything.


People need to start preparing. Would love to see him play every day his last year like Jeter seems to be doing, but again, the odds are stacked against him big time.

I know . Don't remind me of Jeter

 

[MambaMentality824]

He'll be 36 tho when the season begins. Year #19. 1,465 games in the NBA, not including preseason. (figure another 200 or so) plus 2 Olympics. He also has almost 54,000 minutes total, in regular season and playoffs, again, not counting the preseason or Olympics. And COUNTLESS pick up, practice work he's done thru his life.

All that, and now he has the achilles and knee issues to compensate for. At 36, not 26.


Everything in NBA history is stacked against him now. The first 17 years were pristine, minor knee things, finger things, a shoulder, things he could work thru. Work around. Now, he has a severe injury to his leg, which triggered yet another fairly significant injury within his leg last year after just 6 games, and add the fact that he seems to have added a little weight, not that he's fat, but that he has more weight/pressure on those legs.........His final 3 years could be bumpy as hell, compared to those 17, where he overcame everything.


People need to start preparing. Would love to see him play every day his last year like Jeter seems to be doing, but again, the odds are stacked against him big time.

Unfortunately, this is likely the sad truth. It's just hard to come to terms with because, literally last year he was having one his best seasons ever and seemed invincible. But the man's body has started to let him down. There is no denying that.

CP, I know you have been a huge supporter of D'antoni. But one thing you absolutely CANNOT support, was the absurd minutes he was putting on Kobe at that age. IDC if Kobe refused to leave the court or whatever, Phil had Kobe's minutes set perfectly and he NEVER deviated away from the plan, that was when he wasn't 34 years old too.

In the game he tore his achilles, ALL the signs were there a major injury was coming. Dude went down multiple times hurting different body parts. He clearly was overworked all season.

 

[kal-el-8]

I ****** HATE DANTONI.

******* MORON

 

[grandtheftbike]

not saying the minutes didn't contribute to it but it could have happened any time...like walking down the stairs or something

 

[scotthallwithapick]

I never understood Laker fans who preach about "Kobe is a warrior" "Kobe will will this team into the playoffs" "LOL lebron got a cramp Kobe will play with his arm falling off" and in the same breath blame D'antoni for Kobe's injury.

I know it's impossible to play hypothetical but I'm 99.9% sure if Kobe plays less minutes towards the end of the season yall do NOT make the playoffs. And hindsight is 20/20 so of course you rather miss the playoffs and have a healthy Kobe last year but yall would have been in here complaining about D'antoni's inept coaching taking out Kobe during a close game and watching the opponent's lead grow and subsequently knocking yall out the playoff hunt. Lose-Lose.

 

[kal-el-8]

Agreed GTB,

But I'm a firm believer had he been properly rested, then he wouldn't have tore it. Why were we in the position in the first place? Dantoni kept playing run and gun with a buncha old guys. And we were 10 games under .500. Once they switched it up they went on there run, but Kobe was playing 45+ a night for two straight weeks. Running on fumes.

I give a large part of the blame to dantoni. And attribute some to Kobes stubbornness.

 

[pmatic]

I blame bad luck.

 

[tay1]

I never understood Laker fans who preach about "Kobe is a warrior" "Kobe will will this team into the playoffs" "LOL lebron got a cramp Kobe will play with his arm falling off" and in the same breath blame D'antoni for Kobe's injury.

I know it's impossible to play hypothetical but I'm 99.9% sure if Kobe plays less minutes towards the end of the season yall do NOT make the playoffs. And hindsight is 20/20 so of course you rather miss the playoffs and have a healthy Kobe last year but yall would have been in here complaining about D'antoni's inept coaching taking out Kobe during a close game and watching the opponent's lead grow and subsequently knocking yall out the playoff hunt. Lose-Lose.

Nvm, misinterpreted a part of what you said.

 

[lovehateself]

I blame David Stern

fixed

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

[essential1]

So y'all doctors and trainers now?

“It had nothing to do with the minutes he had been playing or anything of that sort,” Grover told Mark Medina in a phone interview. “A torn Achilles tendon is a very freaky injury. It’s just one of those things that just happened.”

 

[ben roethlisberger]

I wish I could sit down with kobe. As a nutritionist, I'm 100% confident that changes in his diet would increase his energy levels to that of a man in his 20's if not better AS WELL as strengthen his bones stronger than they have ever been before.

Kobe would average 40 a game messing with me lol.

 

[CP1708]

The genesis of everything was the Hawks game. And that video was straight money for opening with that play. When Kobe got walked under and twisted his ankle, that was the beginning of the end, not the actual Achilles itself.

From that point, Kobe was working thru it, trying to still play, while still rest, while trying to keep it loose and fresh. One of those things where he knew he couldn’t afford to sit a week or two. So he actually asked to increase his minutes, to keep it loose. And for a while, he was managing it, like he had always done.

Mike would have loved to rest him, but how could he? He has a vet player that has been known to fight thru stuff, telling him, play me more, to keep it loose. Sit him, and that ankle tightens. And on top of that, the team was built to win a championship THAT season. And there they were, the 10th seed. He had EVERYONE ailing, Dwight wasn’t 100%, Nash was never right, Ron and Jamison were hangin on by string, Blake was gaming it, Pau and Kobe were the old dudes of the entire bunch (game/minutes wise) It’s not like he had options.

We all saw it coming in that Golden State game. He went down the first time, you’re like ****. He fights thru it, he’s Kobe. He goes down again. Damn man. Fights thru it anyway. Goes down again, COME ON MIKE, GET HIM OUT OF THERE………jumper Kobe, 3 pointer Kobe, 3 pointer Kobe, tie game, yeah, good job Mike, good job leavin him out there, good coachin.

Then he died. He carried a team with multiple hall of famers plus 2 other former franchise stars just to try and get into the playoffs, for 80 games. He did exactly what we said he would do. He died on the court. He gave everything he had, to give it the ol college try.


Mike had nothing to do with it in terms of what he could have done. Phil would have had to do the same thing, force Kobe to play big minutes. The roster was built on NAME power, not actual youth and energy. Mitch had no youth on that team to help carry them thru December to April. The biggest hurdle was Nash getting hurt in game 2, and Blake 3 games later. No PG set them so far behind the 8 ball, they HAD to dig out from a huge hole, just to make it. The old guys had to fight from day 1, in training camp, when Mike Brown was runnin them thru 4 hour practices, in September. Fairly obvious, they would have tried to land some more young guys before the year began to try and save some of the older legs. They had no contingency for Nash breaking his leg, and getting nerve damage. Or Dwight’s back being off and on. Or if Kobe died. And figured Pau would be better suited as a #4 guy, than a #2 guy. And that Ron and Jamison would be able to relax and let the main guys carry their bodies. In the end, it was Earl Clark and Jodie Meeks trying to keep us afloat as the youngest guys on the court. Ebanks, Morris, and Glock didn’t have enough to help us, I really wish they would have. Theoretically, their legs would have been nice pieces, and Ebanks especially could have helped as he had shown flashes of talent, but as we all know by now, that kid didn’t work at all on his game.

At one point, I think they were the 13th seed, and got all the way up to 7th. And that season, literally only one dude had a quality year, and that’s Kobe. Dwight, Pau, Nash were all down. Ron, Jamison, Blake weren’t much help, Meeks was much better in 2014 than he was in 2013 (God I wish we could have switched those) and Clark was like the 2nd best player on the year after Kobe, which says a ton. To view all that, all those down years, and then say Kobe should have played LESS, they would have been giving up their fighter’s chance of just make the playoffs, and then take your chances that your elite guys would turn it on and make some sort of 2011 Mavs run.

In hindsight, maybe you lose that GS game, win the next 2 with a still alive Kobe, and finish as the 8th seed and try to take on OKC. LA matched up MUCH better with the just as old Spurs, not the young, fresh legs OKC. Everyone knew that, including the Lakers. They wanted the 7th seed. They wanted the Spurs, not the Thunder. Just cost Kobe his basketball life to get to that 7th spot is all.

 

[freeze]

I wish I could sit down with kobe. As a nutritionist, I'm 100% confident that changes in his diet would increase his energy levels to that of a man in his 20's if not better AS WELL as strengthen his bones stronger than they have ever been before.

Kobe would average 40 a game messing with me lol.

wait...what do you think you know, that the word class nutritionists and trainers he currently deals with don't? There's no big nutrition secret, I'm sure he knows what to do.

 

[grandtheftbike]

So y'all doctors and trainers now?

dr. gtb

 

[kal-el-8]

Sl

The genesis of everything was the Hawks game. And that video was straight money for opening with that play. When Kobe got walked under and twisted his ankle, that was the beginning of the end, not the actual Achilles itself.

From that point, Kobe was working thru it, trying to still play, while still rest, while trying to keep it loose and fresh. One of those things where he knew he couldn’t afford to sit a week or two. So he actually asked to increase his minutes, to keep it loose. And for a while, he was managing it, like he had always done.

Mike would have loved to rest him, but how could he? He has a vet player that has been known to fight thru stuff, telling him, play me more, to keep it loose. Sit him, and that ankle tightens. And on top of that, the team was built to win a championship THAT season. And there they were, the 10th seed. He had EVERYONE ailing, Dwight wasn’t 100%, Nash was never right, Ron and Jamison were hangin on by string, Blake was gaming it, Pau and Kobe were the old dudes of the entire bunch (game/minutes wise) It’s not like he had options.

We all saw it coming in that Golden State game. He went down the first time, you’re like ****. He fights thru it, he’s Kobe. He goes down again. Damn man. Fights thru it anyway. Goes down again, COME ON MIKE, GET HIM OUT OF THERE………jumper Kobe, 3 pointer Kobe, 3 pointer Kobe, tie game, yeah, good job Mike, good job leavin him out there, good coachin.

Then he died. He carried a team with multiple hall of famers plus 2 other former franchise stars just to try and get into the playoffs, for 80 games. He did exactly what we said he would do. He died on the court. He gave everything he had, to give it the ol college try.


Mike had nothing to do with it in terms of what he could have done. Phil would have had to do the same thing, force Kobe to play big minutes. The roster was built on NAME power, not actual youth and energy. Mitch had no youth on that team to help carry them thru December to April. The biggest hurdle was Nash getting hurt in game 2, and Blake 3 games later. No PG set them so far behind the 8 ball, they HAD to dig out from a huge hole, just to make it. The old guys had to fight from day 1, in training camp, when Mike Brown was runnin them thru 4 hour practices, in September. Fairly obvious, they would have tried to land some more young guys before the year began to try and save some of the older legs. They had no contingency for Nash breaking his leg, and getting nerve damage. Or Dwight’s back being off and on. Or if Kobe died. And figured Pau would be better suited as a #4 guy, than a #2 guy. And that Ron and Jamison would be able to relax and let the main guys carry their bodies. In the end, it was Earl Clark and Jodie Meeks trying to keep us afloat as the youngest guys on the court. Ebanks, Morris, and Glock didn’t have enough to help us, I really wish they would have. Theoretically, their legs would have been nice pieces, and Ebanks especially could have helped as he had shown flashes of talent, but as we all know by now, that kid didn’t work at all on his game.

At one point, I think they were the 13th seed, and got all the way up to 7th. And that season, literally only one dude had a quality year, and that’s Kobe. Dwight, Pau, Nash were all down. Ron, Jamison, Blake weren’t much help, Meeks was much better in 2014 than he was in 2013 (God I wish we could have switched those) and Clark was like the 2nd best player on the year after Kobe, which says a ton. To view all that, all those down years, and then say Kobe should have played LESS, they would have been giving up their fighter’s chance of just make the playoffs, and then take your chances that your elite guys would turn it on and make some sort of 2011 Mavs run.

In hindsight, maybe you lose that GS game, win the next 2 with a still alive Kobe, and finish as the 8th seed and try to take on OKC. LA matched up MUCH better with the just as old Spurs, not the young, fresh legs OKC. Everyone knew that, including the Lakers. They wanted the 7th seed. They wanted the Spurs, not the Thunder. Just cost Kobe his basketball life to get to that 7th spot is all.

So you blame injuries fully for being the 13th seed? or do you also attribute dantonis offensive style and trying to run a buncha old guys?

100% agreed on the mike Brown part.


****** idiot.

 

[rck3sactown]

So y'all doctors and trainers now?

dr. gtb

 

[tay1]

Tis all Dahntay Jones fault

 

[lovehateself]

 

[ben roethlisberger]

wait...what do you think you know, that the word class nutritionists and trainers he currently deals with don't? There's no big nutrition secret, I'm sure he knows what to do.

My apologies if I'm unaware, but to my knowledge I don't think Kobe is on a raw vegan diet. That's my expertise and that's what I would help transition him to. Scientifically proven to do the things I claim would happen at levels unimaginable and incomparable unless you've been on the diet before.

Most athletic nutritionists have there guys on a paleo high protein diet. I'm sure there are sports nutritionists advocating a raw vegan lifestyle but it's rare and highly scrutinized and controversial so there is a chance no one has approached kobe with it.

It would be nice to try and take athletes in the twilight of their careers and extend them beyond their imaginations.

 

[noblekane]

Your hatred of the contracts is a bit too much.

nope

 

[essential1]

So you blame injuries fully for being the 13th seed? or do you also attribute dantonis offensive style and trying to run a buncha old guys?

100% agreed on the mike Brown part.


****** idiot.

Further.

Tim Grover:

Grover conceded the possibility that Bryant’s torn Achilles tendon could stem from the bone spurs in his left foot that he has had “for a while.” But Grover said it’s common for anyone to suffer the injury through every-day movements, such as climbing out of bed or stepping off a sidewalk. “Everybody is trying to look at somebody to blame for it whether it be the coaching staff, Kobe, me or whatever it is. But everyone who is involved with him has to take responsibility in this. But it’s more of a freakish injury than anything else.”


Gary Vitti:

"If you want to say it's 48 minutes, it has to do more with every minute that you're on the court gives you an opportunity of being injured," Vitti said. "You can't be injured if you're on the bench. So if that's your argument, I can see that. The odds increase with time on the floor; you could step on somebody's foot, you can get yourself in a bad position and you can be injured. But to say that he was injured because he played 48 minutes, I think, is a stretch," Vitti said. "Lots of guys rupture their Achilles' tendon and don't play 48 minutes. So to make that correlation I don't think is fair. We've just had a really bad-luck season."

 

[mister friendly]

wait...what do you think you know, that the word class nutritionists and trainers he currently deals with don't? There's no big nutrition secret, I'm sure he knows what to do.

My apologies if I'm unaware, but to my knowledge I don't think Kobe is on a raw vegan diet. That's my expertise and that's what I would help transition him to. Scientifically proven to do the things I claim would happen at levels unimaginable and incomparable unless you've been on the diet before.

Most athletic nutritionists have there guys on a paleo high protein diet. I'm sure there are sports nutritionists advocating a raw vegan lifestyle but it's rare and highly scrutinized and controversial so there is a chance no one has approached kobe with it.

It would be nice to try and take athletes in the twilight of their careers and extend them beyond their imaginations.

Can you explain the raw vegan diet?

Athletes need protein?

 

[lovehateself]

PG: Jeremy Lin, Steve Nash
SG: Kobe Bryant, Xavier Henry
SF: Wes Johnson, Nick Young
PF: Julius Randle, Carlos Boozer, Ryan Kelly
C: Jordan Hill, Robert Sacre, Ed Davis
 

add clarkson and we have 13. seems like he and kelly will be alternating time in the d-league ( depends on Nash's health). 

X might handle the ball with that 2nd unit