LAKERS FANS UNITE! The Thread to the Championship...

Well said. It's obvious the Lakers has much more talent around Kobe than Lebron has. It's by no means diminishing what a great player Kobe is because no matter how many Pippens you have on your team, you still need a Jordan to get it done.

I actually felt sorry for Lebron, watching him having to carry the team the entire game. Kobe has to do it at times, but more often, his teammates would have some hugh games themselves to lessen his load.

TO BET LAKERS MONEY_LINE IS A WEAK, FAIR_WEATHERED FAN WHOS CLAIMING ONE THING BUT BACKING ANOTHER GIMME A BREAK

SEEMS LIKE THE SPOT TO ME< BUT WITH THAT SAID LAKERS DO MATCH UP WELL VS DENVER I THINK THEY WERE 4_0 AGAINST THEM REGULAR SEASON? ALSO THAT LAST GAME SEEMED TO ME LAKERS PLAYED A BAD GAME BUT STILL WON> I COULD SEE LAKERS IN 5 HERE AND +4.5 YOU HAVE A CHANCE LAKERS KEEP IT CLOSE?

Actually, I think it's a very fair assessment as you're missing the point...he is absolutely carrying his team on his back, nobody's saying he doesn't. BUT, I've been watching LeBron since day 1, before day 1 even, I remember watching his high school games on ESPN...anyway, in his entire time in the NBA he has shown that he can NOT handle pressure. He becomes a totally different player when the pressure is on...some players (like Kobe, Ray Allen, MJ, etc.) thrive under pressure and step their games up when the game is on the line, LeBron however, CLEARLY does not. He's a fantastic player for the first 3 quarters and in the 4th quarter as long as it's a blowout, BUT, if it's close he has continually choked. His FT's even get horribly ugly...you can easily tell the pressure gets to him. Perfect example out of those 4 missed FT's he had late in the game and that one that was almost an airball, barely even hit the rim. LEBRON CAN NOT HANDLE PRESSURE!

Who would you want in a close game late in the 4th, LeBron or Kobe? I think the answer is quite obvious and this is why Kobe is STILL the best...he is a CLOSER and he is CLUTCH, LeBron is NOT.

Again, compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges;

Right now, LBJ does not have the same supporting cast as Kome.  If they both had the same quality of players around them, then yes LBJ is the better player.  Jerry West, Magic Johnson and many others [more say LBJ is better than those that say Kobe is better -- and if you take Laker fans out of the mix, then it is overwhelmingly in favor of LBJ   LBJ > Kome] have said that LBJ is now the best player in the league.

This more clutch crap was created by the media and Laker fans to try to cling on to something when their guy clearly is not the MVP and will probably not get the award again thanks to the emergence of D Wade, LBJ, D Howard and many others.

LBJ is better than Kome now in every NBA statistical category except free throw shooting [wow], and people still want to debate who is better.   All LBJ needs is a Gasol or Pippen and then folks his game will get better AGAIN...can you imagine that....the STUD has been getting better every year...and still people HATE.

Gotta give it to the media, for finding something for Laker fans and Kome to cling to............since when did clutch become a NBA statistical category and the measure to pass out awards or the measure to even draft a player.....YES, I know what the word means, but the spirit of the debate that people are trying to use the word to devalue a man that is star amongst stars......and will eventually have numbers acorss all nba categories that will make people say he his the greatest ever (per Jerry West)

Again, compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges......LBJ needs to become a senior citizen in the NBA like Kome to see if he can accumulate 3 rings and he needs a Gasol/Pippen/or Shaq before people start saying what he is not doing or not capable of doing --- because once he gets that sidekick, then it will be on and poppin'

Be careful what you wish for.  Orlando is capable of "out-scoring" LA...and quite frankly did so during the regular season as they swept the season series from LA

Orlando is capable of winning is LA-- they may not spank them the way the WHOOPED Boston in the Game 7 at Boston in the playoffs the other week, but they can win in anybody's gym.

Why?    Becuase they have shooters that can knock the three down or penetrate to the hoop at every position.  Even LA had trouble and will have trouble defending that.

So be careful what you wish for.

First off...I'm not talking about supporting casts and this and that and whatever. That all has nothing to do with what I am saying. But since you bring it up...what the hell ever happened to all the hype about how much better Cleveland's team is this year? Mo Williams, Delonte West, Varejao, Ilgauskas... I THOUGHT EVERYBODY WAS SAYING HOW GREAT THEY ARE AND HOW DEEP THEY ARE??? So now all of the sudden they are not? It's amazing how people change their tune (I'm not saying you specifically ct1016, but, in general) from one day to the next during the playoffs...

Anyway, AGAIN, the point I am making has absolutely NOTHING to do with supporting casts...

MY POINT IS SIMPLE: LEBRON JAMES GETS NERVOUS AND PLAYS FAR WORSE THAN HE NORMALLY DOES WHEN THE PRESSURE IS ON. THIS IS ABOUT LEBRON AND HIS OWN PERFORMANCE IN PRESSURE SITUATIONS, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS SUPPORTING CAST. LEBRON IS GREAT WITH NO PRESSURE, BUT, WITH THE PRESSURE ON HE FOLDS. THIS IS A MENTAL THING. HE MIGHT OVERCOME THIS, HE MIGHT NOT. SOME PEOPLE (LIKE MJ, KOBE, RAY ALLEN, ETC.) THRIVE WHEN THE PRESSURE IS ON...LEBRON IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE, WE HAVE SEEN IT TIME AND TIME AGAIN...

So anyway.......should be another great game tonight! All the pressure is on the Nuggets tonight as they try to keep the series from getting out of hand with the Lakers potentially taking a commanding 3-1 lead with a victory tonight.

GO LAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Well, if you read what I posted...it really had nothing do with wishing for anything. I mean if you had a choice to have home court advantage for a series or NOT have home court for a series...a series to win it all, which would you choose? Home court advantage or no home court advantage? It's pretty simple...

At this point of this years playoffs I think it's fairly evident that the Western Conference Finals are actually showcasing the 2 best teams remaining in this years playoffs...so essentially I think the Western Conference Finals are more like the NBA Finals this year.

Quote Originally Posted by PuNKiNT1TS:

Who would you want in a close game late in the 4th, LeBron or Kobe? I think the answer is quite obvious and this is why Kobe is STILL the best...he is a RAPIST and I wanna lick his NUTS, LeBron is NOT.

Do you ever have any legitimate, solid sports takes to add to these forums? All I ever see in your posts is some lame bullshit that is a waste of peoples time to read. Please don't post in this thread until you can actually bring a solid sports take (preferable on the Lakers-Nuggets series) that people might actually get something from or enjoy reading.

Quote Originally Posted by Jimmag:

KOBE

PAU 

Odom 

Fisher 

Ariza 

LETS GO LAKERS!

Hell yeah! 

Can you tell me where I said anything about any of what you just posted???

All I said was...if I had to choose between HOME COURT ADVANTAGE or NO HOME COURT ADVANTAGE then obviously I would choose HOME COURT ADVANTAGE.

So, I don't really understand what the rant is about...I never said anything about any of that.

One more time... HOME COURT ADVANTAGE 

Thank you for contributing to this thread with your insightfulness.

Cool.  No more back and forth.

Quote Originally Posted by retire_early:

Yeah but Brandon Lang has Denver too.

As cold as B-Lang has been, we gotta love that!

I respectfully disagree. As of now, Lebron is a better athete but Kobe is definitely the better player. Let's put all those considerations asides such as, clutchness, teammates, FT%..etc. If your team needs a basket at the end of a game, I would no doubt take Kobe's js over whatever LBJ is going to do with the basketball. I believe most would agree!