hornpharmd
5,000+ Posts
Sure we have not finished the series but after last night I think it is pretty certain that LA wins this series and gets their 4th title this decade.
I am sure there will be debate so that is why I posed it as a question.
LA on track to win 4th title in the last 10 seasons.....From 1999/2000 to 2008/2009 seasons. They have been to the finals and finished runner-up 2 other times. Thus they have been to the finals a total of 6 times the last 10 seasons, winning 4 NBA titles.
Their 2 losses came to Detroit in 2003/2004 and Boston in 2007/2008. Those 2 teams were arguably the 2 best defensive teams this decade and played very solid unselfish team-basketball. 2 very good teams to have lost to. In 2003 they lost to SA in the conference semifinals...SA went on to win the championship that year.
The LA team at the early part of the decade featured 2 HOFers in Shaq and Kobe and 2 other guys perhaps worthy of the HOF in Fisher and Horry. They had a deep bench and a HOF coach. Their 3 titles and 4 appearances in the finals is nearly enough to give them the best team of the decade title....except that SA has 3 titles (4 if you go back to shortened 98 season) during this time as well. However SA's 3 final appearance is only half of LA's 6 finals appearances during this time frame.
The LA team the 2nd half of the decade has featured only 1 sure-fire future HOFer in Kobe. Fisher and Kobe are the only 2 players to have been on all 6 LA finals teams during this decade. Jackson the HOF coach has been their the entire time as well. But other than that this current LA team does not appear to feature any future HOFers. They have only been to 2 finals appearances so far compared to the previous versions 4. Right now they are not as good as their earlier LA team but that is really a different discussion. However their accomplishment of going to 2 straight finals and likely winning 1 is pretty good considering their lack of overall star talent. If they can win 1 or 2 more in coming years then they will cement their own legacy as a great team.
When we look back at this decade I think we will look back similarly to what we thought about the 80's team of LA and Boston. LA won 5 titles and was far and away the best team of the 1980s. However Boston was a great rival and finished the decade with 3 titles. LA was the best team of the 1980s and Boston was #2. The difference then was that these 2 great teams met each other in the finals and the dual was a more elevated stage.
When this decade is looked back on people will see LAs 4 titles and 6 finals appearances compared to SA's 3 titles and 3 finals appearances. SA will only have been LA once during that stretch in the 03 conf semis. I think you would have to say that LA is the #1 team of the decade and SA is the #2 team of this decade. Unfortunately we haven't seen as many great face offs between these 2 teams as we did with LA/Boston and of course they never were able to face off on the biggest of stages.
Thoughts?
I am sure there will be debate so that is why I posed it as a question.
LA on track to win 4th title in the last 10 seasons.....From 1999/2000 to 2008/2009 seasons. They have been to the finals and finished runner-up 2 other times. Thus they have been to the finals a total of 6 times the last 10 seasons, winning 4 NBA titles.
Their 2 losses came to Detroit in 2003/2004 and Boston in 2007/2008. Those 2 teams were arguably the 2 best defensive teams this decade and played very solid unselfish team-basketball. 2 very good teams to have lost to. In 2003 they lost to SA in the conference semifinals...SA went on to win the championship that year.
The LA team at the early part of the decade featured 2 HOFers in Shaq and Kobe and 2 other guys perhaps worthy of the HOF in Fisher and Horry. They had a deep bench and a HOF coach. Their 3 titles and 4 appearances in the finals is nearly enough to give them the best team of the decade title....except that SA has 3 titles (4 if you go back to shortened 98 season) during this time as well. However SA's 3 final appearance is only half of LA's 6 finals appearances during this time frame.
The LA team the 2nd half of the decade has featured only 1 sure-fire future HOFer in Kobe. Fisher and Kobe are the only 2 players to have been on all 6 LA finals teams during this decade. Jackson the HOF coach has been their the entire time as well. But other than that this current LA team does not appear to feature any future HOFers. They have only been to 2 finals appearances so far compared to the previous versions 4. Right now they are not as good as their earlier LA team but that is really a different discussion. However their accomplishment of going to 2 straight finals and likely winning 1 is pretty good considering their lack of overall star talent. If they can win 1 or 2 more in coming years then they will cement their own legacy as a great team.
When we look back at this decade I think we will look back similarly to what we thought about the 80's team of LA and Boston. LA won 5 titles and was far and away the best team of the 1980s. However Boston was a great rival and finished the decade with 3 titles. LA was the best team of the 1980s and Boston was #2. The difference then was that these 2 great teams met each other in the finals and the dual was a more elevated stage.
When this decade is looked back on people will see LAs 4 titles and 6 finals appearances compared to SA's 3 titles and 3 finals appearances. SA will only have been LA once during that stretch in the 03 conf semis. I think you would have to say that LA is the #1 team of the decade and SA is the #2 team of this decade. Unfortunately we haven't seen as many great face offs between these 2 teams as we did with LA/Boston and of course they never were able to face off on the biggest of stages.
Thoughts?
