[OFFICIAL] Constructing the Greatest Lakers Team of All-Time
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activeverb
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:28 pm    Post subject:

greenfrog wrote:
The 4 is by far the weakest position in team history. I'd put Pau on the first team simply because he was the best player to officially log significant minutes there. Worthy didn't, to my knowledge Baylor didn't, and Malone was washed (that shouldn't be used any answer). 2nd and 3rd teams I guess would be toss ups between Happy Hairston (before my time), A.C., or Lamar. I'm unsure how much McAdoo was used there, but like Lamar he came off the bench.

Horry, too, might be a decent 2nd or 3rd team choice.



Baylor is generally considered a small forward. However in his day, they didn't divide up the forward or guard positions, so he was never officially a small forward or power forward.

Worthy was drafted as a power forward, but he was suited to the small forward spot. He did play a tiny bit at power forward, as did Jamal Wilkes.

You really have to go back to the 60s to find out 2nd and 3rd best PF -- Hall of Famer Vern Mikkelson and five-time all star Rudy LaRusso.
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epak
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:53 pm    Post subject:

Depends. Which era?
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MIMLaker
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 4:08 pm    Post subject:

Nice exercise. My thoughts:

-- LBJ should not count. The "generational talent" exception is inconsistent, because Malone clearly was one and yet only played one season with us. Sorry, no - LBJ just hasn't been here long enough.

-- I remember one social media meme that had a bunch of players valued at $1 thru $5, and gave you $15 to build a team. My brother circumvented the positional assignments and proposed a team that had Shaq and Duncan playing with MJ, Pippen, and Kobe. That kind of team would beat arguably anybody, having just enough of the traditional skills to match up with anyone (i.e., Pippen at PG, Duncan at PF, etc.) yet enough defensive length and physical dominance to run over people.

And assuming we get players at absolute primes? There are some we just didn't get at their absolute primes - LBJ again, plus Nash, plus McAdoo, arguably Wilt, etc.

That being said, for a pure dominant roster? Here goes:

Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Pau, Kobe, Baylor, Worthy, Coop, Odom, Wilkes, Magic, West, Goodrich, Scott, Fish

And starters?

Kareem - best low-post option in the game for around 15 years... most of the time as a Laker.
Wilt - averaged 19+ boards as a Laker. All of Kevin Garnett's agility with double the strength.
Kobe - Guy played PG, SG, and SF throughout his career. Let him and Wilt loose on defensive switches and see what happens.
West - Guy was making 3-pointers before there was a 3-point line... and he played in the Finals on 2 torn hamstrings. The Logo is the Logo - in any era.
Magic - Put him wherever you want during the game, but start him at point. Tell me a break with him in the middle, Kobe and Wilt running the floor, West as the kick-out wing, and Kareem trailing wouldn't have scared the daylights out of every other team.

And first off the bench? Coop. because you could literally plug him in for ANYONE in that lineup.
Kareem? Sure - Wilt slides to center, Magic to PF, and Coop locks up whomever.
Wilt? Sure - Magic slides to PF, Coop runs the point, and Kobe and Coop go full doberman and lock up whomever.
Kobe? Sure - Coop is the SF and you have 2 guys to grab aerial lobs from magic, and Coop locks up whomever.
West? Sure - Coop and Kobe go full doberman and lock up whomever.
Magic? Sure - Coop runs the point and locks up whomever.
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greenfrog
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 4:22 pm    Post subject:

LBJ is still one of the best players in the league, and we have him for some time. I don't think you can honestly paint him in the same light as McAdoo, Nash, or Malone just because he's not in his absolute prime.
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Arbitrary
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 10:30 am    Post subject:

MIMLaker wrote:
Nice exercise. My thoughts:

-- LBJ should not count. The "generational talent" exception is inconsistent, because Malone clearly was one and yet only played one season with us. Sorry, no - LBJ just hasn't been here long enough.

-- I remember one social media meme that had a bunch of players valued at $1 thru $5, and gave you $15 to build a team. My brother circumvented the positional assignments and proposed a team that had Shaq and Duncan playing with MJ, Pippen, and Kobe. That kind of team would beat arguably anybody, having just enough of the traditional skills to match up with anyone (i.e., Pippen at PG, Duncan at PF, etc.) yet enough defensive length and physical dominance to run over people.

And assuming we get players at absolute primes? There are some we just didn't get at their absolute primes - LBJ again, plus Nash, plus McAdoo, arguably Wilt, etc.

That being said, for a pure dominant roster? Here goes:

Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Pau, Kobe, Baylor, Worthy, Coop, Odom, Wilkes, Magic, West, Goodrich, Scott, Fish

And starters?

Kareem - best low-post option in the game for around 15 years... most of the time as a Laker.
Wilt - averaged 19+ boards as a Laker. All of Kevin Garnett's agility with double the strength.
Kobe - Guy played PG, SG, and SF throughout his career. Let him and Wilt loose on defensive switches and see what happens.
West - Guy was making 3-pointers before there was a 3-point line... and he played in the Finals on 2 torn hamstrings. The Logo is the Logo - in any era.
Magic - Put him wherever you want during the game, but start him at point. Tell me a break with him in the middle, Kobe and Wilt running the floor, West as the kick-out wing, and Kareem trailing wouldn't have scared the daylights out of every other team.

And first off the bench? Coop. because you could literally plug him in for ANYONE in that lineup.
Kareem? Sure - Wilt slides to center, Magic to PF, and Coop locks up whomever.
Wilt? Sure - Magic slides to PF, Coop runs the point, and Kobe and Coop go full doberman and lock up whomever.
Kobe? Sure - Coop is the SF and you have 2 guys to grab aerial lobs from magic, and Coop locks up whomever.
West? Sure - Coop and Kobe go full doberman and lock up whomever.
Magic? Sure - Coop runs the point and locks up whomever.


Sorry I haven't updated recently. I've been busy. I'll do it over the weekend.

I like your idea on the plug-and-play setup with the starters and Coop. I didn't really think of that right away.

My flawed reasonings on the Malone/Nash vs. James were:
1) Malone only played a year
2) Nash played more, but he was hurt and more known as a Suns player (Wilt, arguably, was hurt as well)

Which leads me to think that James will be playing for more than a year with us, and he seems to be going strong still. I know I've probably irked a lot of other fans by making an exception for him.

In my mind, Malone and Nash (and others) weren't on my list of Lakers players because they didn't play long enough and/or win enough. I think I'm going in circles with my reasoning, and I hope someone at least understands where I'm getting at.

It's all the more reason why I want to read about LG's thoughts on this matter.
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Scoffs
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 12:00 pm    Post subject:

The only weakness on these teams might be 3-pt shooting, but we can fix that with Glenn Rice off the bench.

Wilt at PF and KAJ at Center fixes our weakness at the 4.

The only other all-time teams with a chance would be the Celtics (Bird, Kyrie, KG,Pierce, Chief) and the Warriors (Klay,KD,Stef,Hardaway, Mullin, Boogie) and the Sonics/OKC Thunder (Kemp, KD, Westbrook, Harden, Chambers, Payton).
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EthanHarris
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 12:24 pm    Post subject:

Arbitrary wrote:
MIMLaker wrote:
Nice exercise. My thoughts:

-- LBJ should not count. The "generational talent" exception is inconsistent, because Malone clearly was one and yet only played one season with us. Sorry, no - LBJ just hasn't been here long enough.

-- I remember one social media meme that had a bunch of players valued at $1 thru $5, and gave you $15 to build a team. My brother circumvented the positional assignments and proposed a team that had Shaq and Duncan playing with MJ, Pippen, and Kobe. That kind of team would beat arguably anybody, having just enough of the traditional skills to match up with anyone (i.e., Pippen at PG, Duncan at PF, etc.) yet enough defensive length and physical dominance to run over people.

And assuming we get players at absolute primes? There are some we just didn't get at their absolute primes - LBJ again, plus Nash, plus McAdoo, arguably Wilt, etc.

That being said, for a pure dominant roster? Here goes:

Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Pau, Kobe, Baylor, Worthy, Coop, Odom, Wilkes, Magic, West, Goodrich, Scott, Fish

And starters?

Kareem - best low-post option in the game for around 15 years... most of the time as a Laker.
Wilt - averaged 19+ boards as a Laker. All of Kevin Garnett's agility with double the strength.
Kobe - Guy played PG, SG, and SF throughout his career. Let him and Wilt loose on defensive switches and see what happens.
West - Guy was making 3-pointers before there was a 3-point line... and he played in the Finals on 2 torn hamstrings. The Logo is the Logo - in any era.
Magic - Put him wherever you want during the game, but start him at point. Tell me a break with him in the middle, Kobe and Wilt running the floor, West as the kick-out wing, and Kareem trailing wouldn't have scared the daylights out of every other team.

And first off the bench? Coop. because you could literally plug him in for ANYONE in that lineup.
Kareem? Sure - Wilt slides to center, Magic to PF, and Coop locks up whomever.
Wilt? Sure - Magic slides to PF, Coop runs the point, and Kobe and Coop go full doberman and lock up whomever.
Kobe? Sure - Coop is the SF and you have 2 guys to grab aerial lobs from magic, and Coop locks up whomever.
West? Sure - Coop and Kobe go full doberman and lock up whomever.
Magic? Sure - Coop runs the point and locks up whomever.


Sorry I haven't updated recently. I've been busy. I'll do it over the weekend.

I like your idea on the plug-and-play setup with the starters and Coop. I didn't really think of that right away.

My flawed reasonings on the Malone/Nash vs. James were:
1) Malone only played a year
2) Nash played more, but he was hurt and more known as a Suns player (Wilt, arguably, was hurt as well)

Which leads me to think that James will be playing for more than a year with us, and he seems to be going strong still. I know I've probably irked a lot of other fans by making an exception for him.

In my mind, Malone and Nash (and others) weren't on my list of Lakers players because they didn't play long enough and/or win enough. I think I'm going in circles with my reasoning, and I hope someone at least understands where I'm getting at.

It's all the more reason why I want to read about LG's thoughts on this matter.


I agree. One year playing for the Lakers it's not a "Lakers all-time player". We have to choose some players that played 3 years at least. That's my opinion
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Kobe2Lonz0
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2018 4:40 am    Post subject:

1st Team:

Magic
Kobe
Baylor
Gasol
Shaq

2nd Team:

West
Cooper
Worthy
Green
Cap

3rd Team:

Nixon
Goodrich
Ariza
Hairston
Wilt

This is proof of how ridiculous it is to be a lifetime fan of this team. Wilt rots on the bench, hahahaha.

I need to take a shower to feel clean again after That!
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2018 5:54 am    Post subject:

Kobe2Lonz0 wrote:
1st Team:

Magic
Kobe
Baylor
Gasol
Shaq

2nd Team:

West
Cooper
Worthy
Green
Cap

3rd Team:

Nixon
Goodrich
Ariza
Hairston
Wilt

This is proof of how ridiculous it is to be a lifetime fan of this team. Wilt rots on the bench, hahahaha.

I need to take a shower to feel clean again after That!



Now if we are only talking about time with the Lakers you can have Wilt rot on the bench. If we are talking in their primes Wilt is the man of men and he sits for no one.
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Kobe2Lonz0
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2018 6:07 am    Post subject:

oldlakerfan wrote:
Kobe2Lonz0 wrote:
1st Team:

Magic
Kobe
Baylor
Gasol
Shaq

2nd Team:

West
Cooper
Worthy
Green
Cap

3rd Team:

Nixon
Goodrich
Ariza
Hairston
Wilt

This is proof of how ridiculous it is to be a lifetime fan of this team. Wilt rots on the bench, hahahaha.

I need to take a shower to feel clean again after That!



Now if we are only talking about time with the Lakers you can have Wilt rot on the bench. If we are talking in their primes Wilt is the man of men and he sits for no one.


You have a point there.
The reason I had Shaq with Gasol is the combination of Power and Finesse. Too tantalizing to pass up with Magic dishing and Kobe attacking.
Wilt was like a combination of both Shaq AND Pau in his prime, smh.
I got Cap on the bench to team with Coop, Worthy and A.C. cause they knew each other like the back of their own hands.

Someone mentioned Glen Rice earlier. His shooting would be a boon off the bench if we needed to stretch the floor when our offense bogged down.
Given that reminder, I would switch out Ariza and put in Rice.
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 10:48 am    Post subject:

greenfrog wrote:
Michael Cooper ahead of Nick. I believe he started as a PG (before my time).


Coop started at PG only when Magic was injured, and the team struggled mightily when he did. Coop was a substandard NBA lead guard but proved just serviceable in a pinch.

Coop was the sixth man for the Showtime Lakers, the first sub for:
- in the early days: Nixon, Wilkes or Magic
- after 1985: Byron, Magic, or Worthy

I wouldn't put Coop on an all-time Laker squad on any basis other than affection. Some fans loved him more than most would for a such a niche, one-way player. He could coop-a-loop in transition but what guard his size couldn't finish with a Magic Johnson feed, really ? He'd be buried in contention for a role in the rotation of better players for the all-time Laker SG/SF/wing rotation, well behind Pollard, West, Baylor, Wilkes, Worthy, Kobe. I might prefer the addition of Byron or Rick Fox to his inclusion as well.
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Kobe2Lonz0
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:01 pm    Post subject:

70sdude wrote:
greenfrog wrote:
Michael Cooper ahead of Nick. I believe he started as a PG (before my time).


Coop started at PG only when Magic was injured, and the team struggled mightily when he did. Coop was a substandard NBA lead guard but proved just serviceable in a pinch.

Coop was the sixth man for the Showtime Lakers, the first sub for:
- in the early days: Nixon, Wilkes or Magic
- after 1985: Byron, Magic, or Worthy

I wouldn't put Coop on an all-time Laker squad on any basis other than affection. Some fans loved him more than most would for a such a niche, one-way player. He could coop-a-loop in transition but what guard his size couldn't finish with a Magic Johnson feed, really ? He'd be buried in contention for a role in the rotation of better players for the all-time Laker SG/SF/wing rotation, well behind Pollard, West, Baylor, Wilkes, Worthy, Kobe. I might prefer the addition of Byron or Rick Fox to his inclusion as well.



Rick Fox doesn’t get near enough credit, imho. That 3-Peat squad was PACKED with perfect vet/glue guys. I miss that era
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:35 am    Post subject:

Kobe2Lonz0 wrote:
1st Team:

Magic
Kobe
Baylor
Gasol
Shaq



I really love your first team. Maybe because I saw Kobe & Shaq playing.
In my opinion, Magic Johnson should also be in every team.
We have a great list Hall of Famers, we can be proud!
Check this article about the history of the Los Angeles Lakers: https://www.thebasketballfans.com/los-angeles-lakers-hall-of-famers/
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