Why The Lakers Won’t Win It All

April 17, 2009May 23, 2010Danny Vinik Leave a comment

The NBA Playoffs get underway tomorrow and everyone is expecting either the Cavs or Lakers to walk away as NBA Champions. With KG going down, most people have given the Boston Celtics very little chance of repeating. I agree. KG is the Celtics’ heart and soul and even though Paul Pierce is the best player on that team. their defense will be too weak and offense too unreliable for them to contend with Cleveland.

Speaking of Cleveland, they are the best team in the NBA. Period. They aren’t guaranteed to win the title, because the best team does not necessarily win it all, but I have them as the heavy favorites to win the crown. I don’t want to talk about the Cavs, though. Everyone knows about them.

Maybe its the East coast bias on ESPN, but I haven’t been hearing much about the Lakers except that everyone expects them to challenge for the title. However, let’s make this clear: THE LAKERS ARE POSERS

Here’s why:

Kobe isn’t good enough. Not many times has that phrase been said, but he still needs to become more of a team player. He’s averaging less than five assists a game and that isn’t good enough. LeBron? He’s averaging over seven assists per game and is shooting a better FG% (48.9 for Lebron vs 46.7 for Kobe). If Kobe ever wants to win the championship with him as the leader of the Lakers, he needs to distribute more. Continue reading “Why The Lakers Won’t Win It All” →

Allen Iverson: The Cancer of the NBA

April 3, 2009May 23, 2010Danny Vinik 1 Comment

The Detroit Pistons announced today that Allen Iverson is done for the season with a bad back. This comes just days after Iverson returned to the Pistons’ lineup, but in an unfamiliar role: as a reserve. Playing 21, 17, a iverson1 nd 16 minutes in his three games back, Iverson complained about his playing time and even spoke about retirement. From Philadelphia to Denver to Detroit, the only thing we’ve learned about Allen Iverson is that he is a cancer.

The greatest players of all-time all have one thing: a championship ring. As great a player as Iverson is, he has had only one real chance to capture the crown and even that chance wasn’t that great. He took the 2001 Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals, but they were easily defeated by the Lakers in five games. Except for that one season, Iverson’s record in the playoffs with the 76ers is 17-23, nothing to brag about. He may have been a superstar during his time with the 76ers, but he never was a winner.

Then he was traded to Denver to team up with Carmelo Anthony with what was deemed the best 1-2 punch in the NBA. Iverson was even more unsuccessful with the Nuggets as he won only one out of nine playoff games in his two seasons there. The tandem of him and Anthony should have done better. They should have been nearly unstoppable. All Anthony and Iverson had to do was to play unselfishly and to give the ball up for them to win. For whatever reason, neither really did that and the Nuggets never threatened for the Western Conference crown. Continue reading “Allen Iverson: The Cancer of the NBA” →

The Redeem Team

August 3, 2008June 15, 2012Danny Vinik Leave a comment

Photo: NBA.com

It has been eight years since the United States won gold in men’s basketball and this year’s team is making sure that that drought ends. Led by Kobe Bryant on defense and Dwayne Wade on the offensive end, this team has demolished its opponents in its first three exhibitions. Their average margin of victory has been 30 points, including a 36 point victory over Lithuania and a 32 point crushing of Turkey. Even more remarkable than the final score though, is how this team has played. Its defense has been nothing less than phenomenal. Kobe Bryant has embodied this defensive intensity as he has picked out the opponent’s best player and stuck to him. In US’s game against Lithuania, Kobe chose to guard European star Sarunas Jasikevicius, who scored 28 points in Lithuania’s victoryover the United States in the 2004 games. Kobe shut down Jasikevicius, holding him to just 9 points on 2 of 8 shooting.

Kobe has shown the same competitive nature, the Jordan-esque instinct that made many people expect the Lakers to beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals. However, unlike the NBA Finals, Kobe is now surrounded by other superstars. He can focus entirely on defense and not worry about his offense. He doesn’t have to sprint up and down the base line, running off picks just to get an open look. With so many other excellent players on the court, Kobe can’t be double-teamed. No one on Team USA can be double-teamed, allowing every player to get open looks and easily beat defenders off the dribble. Kobe, Wade, and Carmelo Anthony are scoring with ease. They can focus on defense, knowing the offense will come. And unlike many past Olympic Teams, this year’s team does focus on defense. Not winning gold in 2004 was an embarrassment and this team is not about to let that embarrassment continue. They are focused and determined to bring back gold to the US. Continue reading “The Redeem Team” →