http://www.realgm.net/src_feature_pieces/769/20090504/21_reasons_why_knicks_shouldn/t_break_bank_with_david_lee/

Some of it’s tongue-in-cheek, some of it a little misguided, but it does push forward a line of thinking that Lee is too much of a cipher on defense and too limited on offense to warrant big dollars.

It’s a pointless argument about Kobe, one which I have had many times. I will say, it does seem possible right now that this may turn out to be the playoff season where people begin to re-evaluate Kobe a bit, with the conventional view moving a bit towards my stance…

You could make this argument, but would never win it. Gasol is a solid all-star caliber player, not an all-time great. Kobe is, whether top 10, 20, 30, or 50, an all-time great, period (BTW, he is already 18th on the all time list of win shares). And he is only 30.

“The idea that Kobe is one of the top ten players of all time is laughable at best. Kobe right now is a full level below the elite talents in this league (Lebron, Howard, Paul) and wasn’t even the best player at his position this year (Wade).”

Kobe has put up MVP caliber numbers year in and year out for a long time and is a perennial first-team all-NBA defender. His numbers this year are pretty much what they were in his MVP year and have been every year. His team had the second best record in the league. When all is said and done, he may be in the top 5 on the all-time scoring list and in all-NBA first team defensive awards. His teams have been in the playoffs virtually ever year, including 2005-06 with as pitiful of a supporting cast as you can have, in a conference loaded with good teams. I understand not ranking him in the top 10 of all time, but it is not nearly as laughable as suggesting that Kobe and Lee are even remotely comparable, dollar for dollar or otherwise.

BTW, I predict we will see KG if they make it to the next round. That Doc Rivers stuff about being gone for the playoffs was BS.

BTW from anyone that has watched, whats the deal with the Magic? I thought they would cruise until Cleveland. What gives?

Magic didn’t shoot very well and the Sixers did a good job of containing Turkoglu and Lewis until the last couple of games. Plus the Sixers shot way beyond what they normally do from the 3 point line, before they regressed back to their normal ways.

In general, the Sixers had the right strategy — let Howard get his points against one man with token help, and focus on stopping the other players. You could really see the Magic struggle the first few games with ball movement and stagnant offense generally. Plus the Sixers are very quick on defense, so they did an excellent job of rotating to the outside shooters even when the Magic moved the ball well.

Interesting that with Howard suspended in Game 6, the Magic probably had their best game of the series to clinch it.

in general, I’m pretty bored by the playoffs right now (although I am digging Denver, and San Antonio going out early is a beautiful thing). it’s crystal clear that it’s going to be Cleveland and LA at the end, and it has been since Garnett went out, so wake me up when they finally get there.

It’s funny because with a newborn and a 2 year old, I haven’t been able to watch much. I keep catching the Celtics/Bulls (maybe because they’re playing about 50% more basketball than the other teams), and it’s been great. So at least from my watching experience they’ve been great (although looking at the boxscores of the other series show them to be snoozers).

BTW from anyone that has watched, whats the deal with the Magic? I thought they would cruise until Cleveland. What gives?

Advanced statistician Ron Artest chimed in with his opinion, claiming that Brandon Roy is better than Kobe and LeBron (and second only to some guy named Mike Chafway, currently doing time). I’m not sure if Ron is looking at TS%, pts/36, PER, or WoW. All I know is I hope Chafway is paroled in time for the summer of 2010!

heh…

I thought it should have been a flagrant foul, but he shouldn’t have been suspended.

and as much of a Celtic hater as I am (more of a general Boston hater than the Celtics specifically, for the record), it’s hard to root against Rondo, one of the handful of most exciting players in the league right now.

in general, I’m pretty bored by the playoffs right now (although I am digging Denver, and San Antonio going out early is a beautiful thing). it’s crystal clear that it’s going to be Cleveland and LA at the end, and it has been since Garnett went out, so wake me up when they finally get there.