Quote from TM_Direct:
BTW.....KOBE is not the MVP either....In fact, get rid of the award and just give it to Shaq.....Put SHAQ on ANY team in the NBA and they become the team to beat....can you say that about KG or Kobe?...It is mind boggling that shaq only has one mvp award....all he does is dominate the game
In case you don't remember, that did happen. Before becoming a Laker he (Shaq) tried to carry Orlando, remember? The only real trouble was some guy in Chicago and a squad of hapless performers known as the Bulls. Handed him lunch a few times if I remember correctly.
If KOBE played on another team ( one that didn't have the most dominant center of the last two decades) do you realize what he would average????....Put Kobe on that Min. team and he'd avg 40 point every night....KG is a good player, but he has not played a significant game in the NBA....Kobe does it when it counts and plays in the biggest market....KG should have great rebound and scoring averages...who are the power and small forwards? Why would you give a guy the MVP for coming in fourth in the division? Big deal....It's like Pat Ewing with the Knicks in the 1990's....24 points 10 rebounds and a 2nd round exit every year...at least he made it out of the first round though
But Kobe is on a team that has a little more talent and cohesion, AND a coach who understands how to get the most floor performance from the players. Say what you will about the players on a squad, it is the coach that molds the final product into a winner. The two do go hand in hand.
Before we fawn and glow about our favorite players being the best, you must give credence to the rest of the conditions at the time of their greatness. All of the truly great ones become that way because the rest of the cast acknowledges, supports, and adjusts THEIR particular games to complement his skills.
A great shooter learns where to position himself for maximum output. A dominant rebounder learns to sense where to be and when the shot will be taken. A great defender now acclimates his magic to hound not wondering if there will be help coming. The sixth man understands his role and now studies and plans for the coming situations. All in concert with their do-it-all better than the rest CAST MEMBER who can then them take collectively into a level of dominance.
Then it is the job of this floor general to translate this new machines' capabilities into a concrete plan as understood and adjusted by THE COACH. Without all these pieces working in concert, you just have another
AVERAGE excellent player who will go down in the record books as having the skill and talent to have placed him in the NBA. His name may even appear in outstanding individual stat categories. And there may even be debates in some online forums about what might have happened if he were on another team. No more, no less. IMHO!
