George Mikan once scored 83% of his team's points. That record probably won't be broken.

He was unstoppable that game, except for when the other team held the ball all game, resulting in a 19-18 loss for Mikan's teams and a demand for a shot clock.

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looked even worse

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You sir, are on the verge of a Muy-type meltdown. The lakers took 6 games to beat a David West-less Hornets team that was slumping at the end of the year, and then got completely humiliated by the Mavs.

The Spurs played a tough 6-game series against an opponent that is still in the mix and that had a winning record against LA AND Dallas in the regular season, and that was one of the hottest teams in the league after the All-Star break.

Pretty sure the Spurs have NEVER punked out to the tune of a 30+ point loss in an elimination game 4.

...and you sir are being a little irrational. They equaled an NBA record for lowest turnovers at the same time their bench was going 16-22 in Game 1. Paul, easily one of the most unguardable players in the league, and Ariza played incredible much of that series. The Lakers easily owned most of the games they won.

The Lakers were only humiliated against Dallas in Game 4 thanks in large part to an NBA playoff record 20-32 three-point shooting effort. The Lakers missed a wide open three by Kobe in Game 1 for the win and choked Game 3 away in the final two minutes after leading the entire second half. This series was not humiliation. Game 4 was. Give Dallas credit for their incredible shooting. They earned it.

'Pretty sure the Spurs have NEVER punked out to the tune of a 30+ point loss in an elimination game 4.'

Sun, May 27, 2001 WCF Game 4 111-82

I was at this one. Fisher was hitting three's like Jason Terry.

ouch.

Boy my calculator is broken. It keeps telling me 111 - 82 = 29.

Beside that, I was talking about teams as they are currently constructed. The only player remaining from that 2001 team is Tim Duncan.

And lets not compare those two series. The Spurs were vastly overmatched in 2001, and nobody would argue with that. You can not say that about the 2011 Lakers.

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Not to mention the Grizz have been a much better team without Gay.

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I disagree. The Grizzlies are much better now because of the improvement of Conley, and Tony Allen and OJ Mayo figuring out their roles on the team.

The Rockets helped the Grizzlies (and hurt their own playoff chances) by dealing them Battier, who also has made a big impact.

However, Rudy Gay makes them a better team.

nah Iowa haven't you heard? Since it's the Spurs, the Grizz obviously would suck more with Gay and had Gay been playing...the Spurs would've swept.

Conversely, had the Lakers or Mavs lost in such fashion to the franchise with the possibly weakest history in the entire NBA with zero playoff wins ever, without Rudy Gay, it would've been the biggest chokejob ever.

[This message has been edited by Simplebay (edited 5/10/2011 2:31p).]

You can argue semantics over a single point or personnel issues all you want but both were complete ass-kickings which was your original point.

I keep repeating this and I'll do it again. Dallas shot the ball incredibly well and absolutely earned it. The only person on the Lakers that should be embarrassed at their overall play (and I mean play, not cheap shots) is Gasol. A year or two ago people were saying he had the most complete game among NBA big men. Now? Ugh.

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A year or two ago people were saying he had the most complete game among NBA big men.

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Maybe they were talking about Marc Gasol?

Bryant is still a great player. He's just not a typhoon anymore. He's probably got another 5 years easy.

I think it depends how he wants his legacy to go out. I can't see Kobe hanging on like Shaq trying to get another ring on someone else's shoulders even when he sucks and can't get his body to hold up for half the season or score 10ppg. His explosiveness is starting to go. He's never been a great three point shooter - best season was 2003 at 38%. I think Kobe plays out the remaining 3y83mm and retires. That would be 36 years old, 18 years in the league, and another 264 games (assuming 75 regular season and 13 post season games per year) - total of 1575 games played over his career.

Playing 1600 games (reg season+playoffs - not including TEAM USA) at SG is pretty much unprecedented. Clyde Drexler played about 1200 games. Jordan played 1250. Gervin played 1100. Jerry West played 1150. Ray Ray is at the end of his career at 1200 games. Reggie Miller played 1539 games - but didn't break 15ppg for his last three seasons and didn't break 20ppg in his last 8.

fortunately for kobe this is the earliest the lakers have exited in 3 years, and the least MPG in 13 seasons. his minutes were down, and his season average points per game was exactly his career average at 25.3 while playing less minutes per game.

kobe shows no real signs of this huge regression that's supposed to be happening.

He averaged 22/3/3 on .446/.239 shooting in 10 games in the playoffs this year. He was swept out of the playoffs for the first time since he was 20 back in the 90s.

That isn't progression.

that was his fault and indicative of regression? your sample size is 10 games. well sheet i guess Pau should retire too, he must be regressing, look at his averages through those 10 games.

this season, kobe averaged his career per game averages in points, rebounds, assists while playing the least amount of minutes per game for 82 games, and playing the least total minutes in over 8 years.

That isn't regression.

Kobe had his lowest PPG in 7 years, his lowest RPG in 13 years, his lowest 3fg% in 9 years, his second lowest APG in ten years (only trumped by the season he averaged 10ppg more than this year), his lowest spg in 13 years, his lowest bpg in his career, his lowest FG% in 5 years.

He is still effective and one of the best players in the NBA, but he hasn't shown himself to be as dominant was he was a few years ago.

i will agree with that. but most people were predicting/hoping for a much larger dropoff than this. (see: yourself, simmons)

His quickness is definitely not what it used to be. He's still pretty agile and controlled. I thought his athleticism was gone until that dunk on Okafor. He at least has those in spurts.

A steady-but-slower-than-expected decline is what we're seeing. It's most noticeable on defense and getting to the rim.

i somewhat agree. i think kobe is just prone to taking difficult shots. he thinks he can make everything.

early on in game 4 against the mavs, he was literally getting any shot he wanted in the paint. i just think he chose difficult ones more than his inability to get there. when he was younger and "could" get there, he still took those type of shots.

that being said...i watch derek rose get to the rim like he's being guarded be me, and i think kobe has definitely lost a step or two.

Simplebay 5/10/11 3:58pm

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kobe shows no real signs of this huge regression that's supposed to be happening.

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Simplebay 5/11/11 9:14am

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when he was younger and "could" get there, he still took those type of shots.

i think kobe has definitely lost a step or two.

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when compared to derek rose, as i said if you quoted me correctly, yeah he looks like he's regressed. as does the whole league.

when compared to kobe's career stats vs. minutes per game....no, he's not regressed. he's putting up his average career numbers while playing less. per game.

You can't lose a step in comparison to someone else. You can't fail to be able to make it to your spots in comparison to someone else.

Kobe is still efficient because he is great. But he has regressed in his abilities, as you admit here. He is just so great that he can make up for much of it in other ways.

he's a step slower. yes. as is expected. however, this regression everyone was speaking of was supposed to happen this year and last year. and his stats just dont support a huge regression claim.

and about them losing early in the playoffs, i guess his regression started in 2006 when he was scoring 81 points and doing this to dwight howard:



only to lose to the phoenix suns twice in the first round and give up a 3-1 series lead for only the 8th time in nba history or something.

[This message has been edited by Simplebay (edited 5/11/2011 9:53a).]

Kobe to coach next year?

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/14820e72b5/kobe-byrant-s-post-game-meltdown?playlist=featured_videos