blazerfan4life

On the thread it is PAYTON not PATYON..... unless you meant to do that...lol...OK so the Lakers got PAYTON and MALONE to go with O'NEAL...and BRYANT....thats no instant NBA championship...are they now the favorite...yes prob... but are we just going to hand it to them...NO...last time i checked there was 28 more teams...and everyone has to go through SA to get the Championship

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BLAZERFAN4LIFE
March 15th 2003 was the day i found out i had luekemia and May 29th 2003 i was in remission now the luekemia is back and it will be harder to get back into remission and i need a Bone Marrow Transplant..and there is a donor list people can be put on so that they may be able to help others who have this disease...contact your local hospital for more info..remember the life you save maybe someone you know and it might be someone you don't know..Thanks in Advance and GO BLAZERS

mook

Actually, this Blazer fan strongly disagrees. The Lakers could make the argument that they currently have the best starting lineup in the history of the NBA, if Payton and Malone sign on the line.

As consistent and enduring as Payton and Malone are, this Laker team has the potential to actually beat the Bulls' 72 win season. If that isn't special, I don't know what is. I may not like it, but it's special.

To me, it's hypocritical of us Blazer fans to put down the Lakers for what they are doing, when none of us were complaining a few years ago when Smith, Pippen et al joined on for a chance at a ring.

el_Diablo

but smith and pippen weren't selling themselves short in terms of money. and besides, didn't both smith and pip come through trades, not as free agents?

I mean taking less money to win a ring sounds great and noble, but thinking about the laker salaries, shaq makes 25 times as much as malone, if mailman signs that $1M contract. somehow I don't like that...

how much malone could earn in Utah? $10M??

Minstrel

I think they can make the argument that they have the best names in one starting lineup, ever. I seriously doubt that it will translate into the greatest starting lineup ever, though.

You know, if the Lakers had signed PJ Brown and Andre Miller, I'd have given the Lakers a high chance to break the Bulls' seasonal wins record. Brown and Miller would have given the Lakers the purest forms of what they needed (defensive, rebounding big man, elite play-maker) without any need for a lot of shots. They would have complimented two dominant scorers perfectly. My nightmare Lakers' lineup was actually:

Center: Shaquille O'Neal
Power Forward: PJ Brown
Small Forward: Scottie Pippen
Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant
Point Guard: Andre Miller

Two dominant scorers, three great complimentary players, stacked defense, plenty of experience and play-making...if that team won fewer than 72 games, it's only because they didn't want to win more.

Malone and Payton worry me less, though it's still a significant upgrade. It's entirely possible that those two make them championship favourites and equally possible, in my opinion, that Malone and Payton reproduce too much of Shaq's and Kobe's games, in inferior form, to hugely upgrade them.

Payton's play-making and defense worries me most. Even at 60, he'll be ten times better at both than Derek Fisher currently is.

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You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
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And dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.

MAS RipCity

I don't think it's special becuase they got those guys too easily just through free agency and just because of who they are. It is nohting special. It would be a cheap championship.

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PDX Fan Since '90

mook

too easily? Payton and Malone have more than paid their dues in the NBA. very little has come easily for them in getting to this point. Both men have come oh-so-close, only to fail against the mighty Bulls. i don't begrudge them for going to a place where they can finally win it all.

if you mean it'll come too easily to the rest of the team, then yes, I can see your point. it almost certainly won't be as special to Kobe and Shaq as the others.

as for the rest of that team--who cares? guys like Fox, Fisher and George have ridden coat tails on every championship team they've been on. not much difference for them.

mook

yup, that team probably would've been a better one. but even still, this one stands a chance at being in the record books.

Talkhard

Absolutely right, Wanker. You're hearing a lot of sour grapes right now, and for obvious reasons. It looks like the Lakers may have just secured next year's championship.

However . . . Tons of talent won't necessarily get it done. That's something we know all too well here in Portland. It's going to be intereseting to see if the Big 4 can mesh in L.A. next year.

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mook

yes, both came as free agents. but neither of them were the least bit sorry to be out of their old situations. if they could've signed on as free agents instead of being traded, I don't doubt that they would've in a heartbeat. so there isn't much difference in that respect.

as for your main complaint, you basically seem to resent Malone and Payton for caring about being on the best team possible, rather than being where they can get the most money.

because we lost out on Payton, it's easy to feel that way. that was my first reaction too. but honestly, isn't it a little more noble to go after a title instead of a big wad of money, especially if you already have more than you can possibly spend?

mook

christ, first I rip on the bible, now I'm defending the Lakers.

next thing you know, I'm buying into Schilly's "Stoudamire ain't so bad" demonology.

somebody get me a Jack Daniels before this gets out of hand.

el_Diablo

one more point, these guys have been the go-to guys of their teams in the past, and now they (if malone signs too) are going to be "only role players". I think that makes their looming championship rings less valuable. they couldn't do it by themselves (meaning leading their OWN teams), so they have to go and win a "cheap" ring with the lakers.

and by the way, it's easy to say that they are selling themselves short, since I have never liked payton or malone.

I wouldn't have wanted payton to "come" to portland. (management, andre please!) so two players I don't like to the team I hate. makes hatin' even easier.


THIS IS GREAT FOR THE LAKERS, i'm not critisizing(?) them.

mook

well, I'll concede that this championship wouldn't be as valuable as if they'd won it on their own teams as leaders. no doubt.

but there's nothing they can really do about that. if they win, IMO the rings won't be "cheap." i leave that designation to Rider and Richmond, who rarely left the bench on the way to the ring.

both guys will get 35+ minutes a game and make serious contributions to the cause that they've battled a long time to achieve. that's not cheap.