Jeffrey on May 06, 2009 said:

Yes. The Lakers are one of the most overrated teams in sports history. Phil Jackson is the most overrated coach in NBA history. Any coach could win 9 titles with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant on their team. I want to see Jackson coach the Clippers or the Kings and see if he can get them to the playoffs. Then he will actually show his worth.

But as for the Lakers, their team is really good. They have a deep bench and everyone can score except for Luke Walton. No one likes Walton. He’s a little girl. He should take up tennis. But they are very very beatable. It’s like the teams mentally are defeated before they even step on to the court. Then when you have young players that go into L.A. and are playing in front of their favorite movie stars……they get flustered. They don’t play their game. It’s like every team that plays the Lakers in L.A. play their worst ball. Do the Lakers dominate? Absolutely not. It’s all mental.

The thing that I can’t stand the most is that the Lakers were GIVEN Gasol. Although he is one of the ugliest people on the planet, the ape can play ball. Why would you just give your best player away to the most hated team in the NBA? I don’t get what the front office of Memphis was thinking.

When the Jazz played L.A. in L.A., we didn’t have Okur, both games and we don’t have any other descent big men to defend against Bynum, Odom, or Gasol. So they’re big guys killed us. The Rockets have an amazing player in Scola, and they have the large overrated, but yet tall, Yao Ming. So they can play their big guys a lot better. Plus their little speedy guard, I forgot his name. I think it’s Brooks. Anyway, he runs circles around Fisher. So the Rockets just match up a lot better against the Lakers. So I agree with you……LET’S GO ROCKETS!!!!

montgump on May 06, 2009 said:

I pray the Lakers lose to the rockets, but we all know they will come back. I knew they were going to struggle with houston and they are going to have an even harder time with the nuggets. There is no way they are going to beat the cleveland lebrons if they dont step it up.

montgump on May 06, 2009 said:

and yes they are overrated.

Mal on May 06, 2009 said:

Cheering for the Rockets right now is the best way for a Jazz fan to show their fandom. Go Rockets!

Mal on May 06, 2009 said:

PS. I’m rooting for Denver all the way now! Go Chauncey!

Boondock Saint on May 06, 2009 said:

I’m with ya Mal. Go Rockets. Oh but I hate Denver…..I’m going East Coast for my hopes to take it all. Come on Cavs or Magic.

Boondock Saint on May 06, 2009 said:

Ohhh and totally overrated.

jessielou on May 06, 2009 said:

So I read the title of the blog and immediately thought to myself “Yes, duh!” lol And although I will never ever be a fan of another NBA team I am cheering for the rockets to upset the LA Fakers! yay!

Brad P on May 06, 2009 said:

Anyone see Kobe’s little number on Battier? Hopefully this link works: http://i40.tinypic.com/xelpxl.gif

Anyone who ever compares Kobe to MJ need only look at how the two respond to adversity. MJ would take it to another level and step on your throat — he MADE stuff happen, willed his team to wins. Kobe, on the other hand, whines, complains, throws a fit, tosses teammates under the bus, pouts and generally lashes out.

This is what happens when players are told since 4th grade that they’re better than everyone else. They develop a sense of entitlement and they can’t cope with failure. MJ refused to lose because he was hyper-competitive. Kobe hates losing because he has a fragile ego.

Ames on May 06, 2009 said:

How friggin’ hilarious would it be if neither Kobe nor Lebron made it to the NBA Finals and it ended up being the Nuggets and the Orlando Magic? I, for one, would love such a scenario to play out because all year long all we hear about is Kobe and Lebron. Who’s better? Who’s MVP? Who’s gonna win the ring? Who gives a crap? I’m sick of Kobe’s cocky nature and Lebron’s obvious belief that he is God’s latest gift to the world … I want to see some of the underdogs take it – teams like the Nuggets, the Magic … heck even the Hawks. It just sucks to see LA on top every year, the same way it sucked to see MJ’s Bulls dominate EVERY DAMNED YEAR! So, here’s to the little guy! Beat the living hell outta Kobe and Lebron and make the NBA Finals more about team play and hard work than superstar vs. superstar … that at least would make the Finals interesting! (Plus it would give me hope that the Jazz might one day do something similar … maybe …)

karen on May 06, 2009 said:

Ames, sorry to say but the nba and refs will never allow any other team except lakers or cavs to win the title this year. We all know this is a business and this year its good business for one of these teams to win. Its all about money. Hope I am wrong but dont think so.

xbyronx on May 06, 2009 said:

I never thought I’d see the day a Jazz fan said “GO ROCKETS!” on a Jazz website. It really deeply upset me; however, under the circumstances, it is necessary. I’d rather have the Despised Rockets advance than the Hated, Overrated Lakers. Besides, in this case it is appropriate, considering TMAC has been in street clothes and cannot be credited for any of the success his team has had. At least that’s my justification…

mike on May 06, 2009 said:

Im a jazz fan and i have to admit the lakers are a great team. They killed us in the first round. Kudos to the rockets for taking game one they played great. I think the lakers will bounce back in game two with kobe shooting less and more feeds inside to their bigs to wear out yao.

I think the jazz should learn some thing from the rockets defense( down right nasty) something I feel the jazz lack. We are playing too much finesse basketball. Hopefully we make some changes to our interior defense.

You cant say the lakers are overrated they just play good basketball. Even if your blind you can see how well they move and shoot the ball. So common guys if your just saying their overrated because We lost to them in the first round your just lying to your self.

Fact they are the second best team in the nba behind the cavs and fact they are the best team in the west.

Betty on May 06, 2009 said:

Hahaha Brian, you said the Lakers were pimp-slapped. This is my favorite blog for that reason only.
Anywho, I agree. The Lakers are probably the most overrated team in the NBA. Monday’s game, I thought, was fantastic. I loved seeing Kobe whine and complain over the refs. I’m no Rockets fan but I will root for any team that plays the Lakers.

canadajazz on May 06, 2009 said:

I never thought I’d cheer for the Rockets, after all that history between Utah and Houston. But here we are, pulling for the upset.
Houston has a team that seems to match up better with the Lakers than the Jazz. And if they’re successful, hopefully Jazz management can take some cues from Houston and add enough defensive elements to make us more competitive next year.
Dare we say it? Go Rockets?

Sheri on May 07, 2009 said:

I thought as a Jazz fan that I would never type this but it was great to see that the Houston Rockets win the first game of the series against LA and I’m not a big Houston fan but any team that is the same division and can eliminate the Lakers from the playoffs I’m a fan of.

Brian McCann on May 07, 2009 said:

Watching the game last night, I came to the conclusion that the Jazz need to play with a little more attitude. Even though Houston lost, they had a certain strut about them…almost as if to say “we don’t care who you guys are or who is sitting in the stands, we want to beat you”. I would love to see the Jazz come with that attitude next season.

Linda McFarland on May 07, 2009 said:

Certainly says something about the fans when they boo the team that loses in 1 out of how many games? They absolutely cannot stand to lose, ever. I wish I had watched game two when I hear about 5 technicals and Fisher and Artest got sent to the locker room. Really happy that one technical was on Kobe. I understand after the game the Lakers blamed everything that went wrong on the refs. Sounds typical doesn’t it? They held Yao to something like 12 points so Houston has to work on that. I too am a die heart Jazz fan forever but my next favorite team will be anyone that can put the Lakers out!!!!!! I feel the same as Brian in missing the games and not knowing what to do with the evenings. One good thing is that when they run the re-runs on TV I haven’t seem most of them. Keep blogging family, at least that is a contact to the Jazz.

Brad P on May 07, 2009 said:

If people question why someone would hate the Lakers, look no further than the last two games vs. Houston. In 96 minutes of play, plus some post-game theatrics, the Lakers have:

- Whined about officiating
- Kobe kneed and elbowed Battier
- Fisher forearm-shivered Scola above the mid-section
- Kobe elbowed Artest in the throat
- Kobe spent the entirety of game 2 taunting

These Lakers are NOT MJ’s Bulls because they can’t respond to adversity by rising above it. Instead, they resort to throwing tantrums. It’s really disgusting to watch.

I have no problem with some level of taunting — MJ did it, but it was in the competitive spirit. What Kobe does is flat-out arrogance. Also, the league needs to look at the well-publicized attack on Battier, coupled with the throat-elbow on Artest, and at least fine Kobe. If Carl Landry or Chuck Hayes had done either thing, they’d be sitting for the next game.

Mal on May 07, 2009 said:

I HATE the Lakers SO BAD!!!!!!!! The rules mandate that Kobe HAS to be suspended, but we all know he won’t!!!!!! How in the world did Artest pick up the foul when Kobe clearly elbowed him????? Not to mention Kobe elbowed Battier the night before. I HATE these guys. Double HATE. Triple HATE. I’m raging right now after having just looked up all the fouls on youtube!!!! Can anyone calm me down?

Dave on May 07, 2009 said:

I to believe this Laker team is overrated, not to mention cheap and arrogant. It was awesome to see Artest get into Kobe’s face. He had every right to. The constant cheap shot defense that Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, and Lamar Odom play is freaking ridiculious to watch. Whats even more pathetic is Phil Jackson went as far as complaining about our own Deron Williams doing the same thing to Andrew Bynum when Bynum set a pick. It was not even in the same degree or tenacity the way Fisher hit Scola. I agree that rooting for the Rockets was not my plan for the Month of May whatsoever, I really hope they pull of this upset and put the Lakers to rest. Kenny Smith said it well that the Rockest have a bunch of pitbulls on their team and they won’t back down. Maybe that is what our team needs. Defense like a pitbull! GO JAZZ!!!

Boondock Saint on May 07, 2009 said:

Those elbows by Kobe absolutely warrant a suspension especially the one to Artest. FYI Kobe…I wouldn’t want to piss off Artest too much he has a tendency to go a little crazy…actually ignore my disclaimer! I’d love to see him lay you out. Rafer Alston is probably going to be suspend for smacking House on then back of the head (and he should be) but they won’t touch Kobe for throwing elbows and intending to cause damage. Ooooo I’m really pissed off.

Betty on May 07, 2009 said:

After watching last night’s game between the Rockets and the stupid Lakers, I had a hard time calming myself down. The calls that Kobe gets away with are ridiculous! I was so bugged with Phil Jackson comparing what Fish did to what DWill did. IT WAS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE SAME THING!!! Bynum barely moved an inch when DWill ran into him and Scola was shoved to the ground. Fish knew exactly what he was doing. He turned around to look at Scola before taking that cheap shot. Fish deserves to be suspended and I hope the Stu finally gets it right and suspends him. If Dwight Howard got suspended for throwing an elbow surely, Fish should as well. Talking about Kobe getting suspended is just a waste of time. We all know that the NBA will keep looking the other way at anything their golden boy does. Gah, he makes me sick. Way to keep things classy LA.

J R Stewart on May 07, 2009 said:

Laker Haters arise!!!

The team you love to hate.

ABL = Anybody But the Lakers

Their scramble, zone, double team (or whatever it is) defense is impressive. I hope the Jazz look at incorporating it.

Jazzaholic

Brad P on May 07, 2009 said:

The league just announced a one-game suspension for Fisher, but none for Kobe. This is the NBA’s superstar protection policy at its worst. The rules clearly state that an elbow above the shoulders warrants a suspension. Fisher’s foul was out of line and cheap, but the blow was below the shoulders. Kobe’s elbow was to the neck, as was his pot shot to Battier’s head during the scrum in game 1.

Whatever. Once again, Kobe is insulated from having to take responsibility for bad behavior.

Karma, you better have something nasty in store for the Lakers.

Trent on May 07, 2009 said:

Kobe is ridiculous. Talented, but one of the worst men I have ever seen.

My only thought about Karma is that he will never get another ring. That would be so sweet! Then he will only be seen as a second fiddle to Shaq forever! Then you could say goodbye to the MJ comparisons (which shouldn’t be there in the first place).

xbyronx on May 08, 2009 said:

Kobe’s play is so pathetic and classless. Does anyone remember the blatant elbows he gave Sasha Pavlovic and Manu Ginobili and said it was “in the act of shooting”? We never saw a suspension then either.

Stu Jackson should be fired.

Brad P on May 12, 2009 said:

Read this, and you will instinctively nod your head in approval: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keown/090512&sportCat=nba

This is everything I’ve ever thought was wrong with Kobe, and it’s put perfectly.

Boondock Saint on May 12, 2009 said:

Brad…That was a great article and very very accurate. Thanks for posting it.

tman11 on May 19, 2009 said:

wow are the lakers overated yeah i have to say a big no on that i mean up till the last week the jazz could have been 2nd place in the west to rockets could have been to they had alot better teams to face then cleveland and boston ever did or orlando and i think you going to see that cleveland is overrated this round against orland they will give them a run for there money but i also thinkg the playoffs is really rigged i mean the reffs are going to faovr the more popular team so more money can be made off it if this wasnt the case i really believe the jazz could have taken the blus at least one of those times but no the nba cant have a team from utah win a championship i mean what kind of money do they make off that other then a little bit from utah not to manyt people like the jazz outside of utah so if they face a team like LA the league will try to set it up from them to win so more peopel will jump on the fan boat and support the more popular team