Real Deal

I see things will always be the same here. Figures.

I actually find you quite annoying, seeing you post in all caps every time you talk about the Lakers (and you really don't deserve to be in this team forum in the first place). You probably should've kicked up your immaturity a bit and added a couple more "Z's" to your OMGZ. Maybe Lakers fans are tired of your act. They have a right to swing back, when all of the swinging originated from the 2008 Playoffs after our loss to Boston. But you guys wouldn't remember that all too well, probably because it only makes you look even worse.

I didn't say he was the second best player ever. But according to you, the selfish fool did it all by himself...and there are very few that I can think of that fall into that category, so...

Yeah, Ko-Me, the selfish bastard who was reluctant to pass in the Conference Finals and Finals, when he had six consecutive games with 8+ assists. I don't even know why Ron Artest wants to come here and play with such a selfish player. Not sure why Odom will re-sign. Why did Fisher even come back? He could've went to the Clippers. Guess LeBron was joking when he actually sent a video tape to Jerry Buss when he was in high school, hoping that the Lakers would somehow trade to get the #1 pick...just so he could play with Ko-Me, who was running the triangle at the time. Awesome that Ko-Me is probably the second player in NBA history to be so selfish and win an NBA championship (Jordan being the first, I suppose). I guess that qualifies as him doing it by himself. Pretty cool.

No surprise here. Once Vince put on an Orlando jersey, you knew Hedo was gone.

Ariza was a starter for us, so I guess we should've been asking this same question last year, also.

I would rather a Celtics or a Spurs fan come in here and talk trash, since they actually have a chance of doing something in the playoffs and know when their team is going to suck, instead of predicting Finals berths every season. And it's funny that you'd say that last line. I wouldn't be shocked if that happened, since our GM knows how to wheel and deal. I distinctly remember everyone saying it was stupid that we were going to trade Kwame for an all-star, also, or offer a very good free agent MLE money (and him take it) without someone like Shaq to recruit for us. But yeah, you're right. We won't be good. We get it. Thanks for sharing the same opinion you had about us last season.

You just signed a player that did just that when he was traded to the Lakers. Might wanna go back and check out some old Magic and Knicks games. I'm sure I can give you many more players that fall into place, also.

You didn't even watch Trevor. He was getting destroyed by Melo and Turkoglu in the playoffs, and had trouble finding his shot in the Finals. You're telling us that Ron had his struggles in the postseason as a primary scoring option, but you ignore the fact that Trevor had his in the grandest stage of them all as a 4th-5th option that was almost always wide-open.

Chill out with the personal attacks, dude. We all have opinions. There are just as many stupid Lakers fans as there are other teams' fans.

No, we don't need anymore camp and shoot players. Battier relies on help defense, which means he'll be relying on Bryant and our bigs...more load on Bryant's shoulders. Ron Artest was your ball-stopper in Houston because nobody knew who to run the offense through on that team. You guys said the same thing last season, though, and then you were literally slapped in the face when the Lakers won it all in five games, despite all of your team reps switched to Orlando. Can't say I didn't expect this to happen. Denial is frustration's ugly cousin, and they always hang out.

Damn, even I was able to admit that the Spurs, who I absolutely hate, were a much better team after getting Jefferson. I can't believe what I'm hearing. If you don't think Ron Artest fits into the triangle and that we'll miss Ariza's defense over Ron (which is hilarious), then I don't know what to tell you.

McGrady did as good as Smush Parker back in 2006. Smush probably had the better season, actually. You guys are trying your best to dig up excuses as to why this signing won't work out for us. It was done with Gasol, when Pau wasn't going to be content with Kobe's shot attempts and him and Lamar/Bynum not being able to play together. People were saying that Fisher was a little too old to contribute anymore. People thought that the Ariza and Evans trade was a lateral move for us. Just how things go, I guess.

I sort of get that way, but I don't mind seeing someone lighting Vujacic up as long as we're blowing them out, in hopes that it will be his last set of minutes on the floor that season.

Without looking, I'm pretty sure Artest shot better from three than Ariza did, even with probably twice as many attempts. Ariza's higher field goal percentage comes from him attacking the rim and getting wide-open shots. Artest wasn't going to see much of that in Houston, especially when Yao was struggling or out. A primary option Ron Artest is a bad thing. One that can take a backseat and be the third option is excellent. Saying he won't take a backseat to a player is ridiculous (just putting this here in advance) because he did that with Kevin Martin in Sacramento, and Jermaine O'Neal in Indiana, with no problems (he just didn't like Sacramento).

Sigh? It's just Marbury.

We said the same thing about Trevor Ariza and his inability to shoot a shot, also, until he teamed up with Bryant. I'm not worried about it. Artest tops Ariza in most statistical categories except for field goal percentage, and that's understandable on a team where he doesn't have anyone creating for him.

Ron Artest suddenly becomes a detriment to any team he plays for now that he's signing with the Lakers.

Ah, you put OTR in the article. Much love (no homo).

Well, we have a strong, physical defender at the three. This is exactly what I've been waiting for. Kobe just shrugged off about 1/3 of the load, and he'll be all over the place on offense now, and we're also preserving him for the future.

Defense. If defense was just about effort, a lot of professional athletes would be good defenders, more than there would be good scorers. You rely on many other things for scoring. If you have someone like Steve Nash on your team, you find it easier to score because of his ability to find you on the court. If you have someone like Bryant, you can lose your man off of a double because Kobe draws more attention. On defense, you can be left out on an island plenty of times, or even screened off of your own man, or forced to rotate. There are too many aspects of defense that you have to learn, including mismatches. It's very difficult to become an exceptional defensive player.

We got him.

Thing about Shaq is he doesn't draw doubles against Perkins and Howard (most of the time), and at the end of the day, it's against Boston and Orlando that counts most.

Gortat isn't that great of a help defender, but I would say he's a better man-to-man defensive player than Dwight Howard is, and that's saying a lot.

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