Monday, September 24th, 2012 at 1:30 pm  |  77 responses

James Worthy Says Miami Heat Have Edge Over the Los Angeles Lakers


Despite the fact that he draws a paycheck from the Lakers as a television analyst, James Worthy has never shied away from publicly criticizing the team. Worthy also doesn’t mind saying that he thinks another squad is better – the former Laker tells the LA Times that he would give the edge to the defending champion Miami Heat: “Do they have enough to beat Oklahoma City? ‘Oklahoma City is younger. But with Dwight in at the same time with Pau, with Steve Nash, that makes a big difference. Last year, Ramon Sessions was young. Before Howard, the Lakers were second or third in the West. But with getting a 38-year-old point guard that still has some left and bringing in a franchise player, that puts them right back at the top. I don’t think too many people will bet against the Lakers against anybody in the West, assuming they’re a healthy team. But they still have to make it happen.’ What about the Miami Heat? ‘I would have to say Miami still has a little edge simply because they won last year. It will be so much easier for them to win again because they know how to do it. With them adding Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, they have tremendous scorers and three-point shooters off the bench. Then they also have the greatest player in the game with LeBron James. I give them the edge because they’re defending champions.’”

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  • Conor

    Right here, champ:
    http://www.justin.tv/

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Man I’ve had issues with that site. Someone told me to try fromsport.com but obviously the season hasn’t started so idk if it works well. More power to you if you are able to watch all the games you can tho, that’s dope.
    Sent from right behind you.

  • black pinoy

    kobe was the best player.. im a kobe fan but his game is starting to decline. Id have to give it to lebron or durant at this point

  • Mike From Spain

    Lakers like to say they are ‘underdogs’. It’s part of the heroics. Look at Kobe-Shaq championship teams, the narrative is that they were in some way ‘underdogs’. I am not necessarily agreeing here, I am just saying that this narrative is common.

  • Mike From Spain

    two things, you can edit comments after posting, and … what do you mean without subjetivity? The game itself? That’s like… Kantian ‘Ding an sich’ or somesuch? Well, it is a nice ideal, but for me it is a little bit of a cliché. It’d be more accurate to say ‘watch the game, judge it with fairness’ or something like that (sorry for my bad English). I am just nitpicking :D – I graduated in Philosophy.

  • Mike From Spain

    I am not condoning the use of illegal feeds in any way, but sometimes folks from other countries are forced to use them if they want to keep up with the NBA action.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    i have no issue with someone watching the game however they can. when i have no way to watch a game i do whatever i can to catch it. last season i was fortunate enough to have a friend who had league-pass and let me use it online. but i may have to go for another route this season lol

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    For Steve Nash to help the team in terms of spacing and setting up plays, he has to have the ball. — If the team is running a princeton offense, he won’t. He will start the possession with a pass, but he won’t be creating opportunities like he did in Phoenix. — And he is not that good of a spot up shooter, he’s the best ever off the bounce, but as a spot up shooter he is slightly above average.

  • LakeShow

    When were they labeled underdogs?

  • LakeShow

    Ron Artest doesn’t shoot that much. I wouldn’t label him a chucker.

  • Mike From Spain

    I am looking it up, but in the early 2000s three-peat they weren’t always the top team in the regular season… in 2000-2001 the Spurs had a better record and the 76ers had the same record as the Lakers. In 2001-2002 they didn’t even win their division, and the Spurs had the same record.

  • roscoe

    @nbk: I am not annointed that LAL will roll OKC, but the fact is in a playoff series dh12 D will make a big impact. As far as foul trouble goes, good point, but imo that will be one of the if not the determining factor when LAL & OKC meet up in the playoffs if they do.

  • roscoe

    RUn the numbers… he may have destroyed DAL/LAL but his overall playoff +/- slid.

  • roscoe

    I enjoyed believing in Santa Claus & Unicorns before I grew up too. Look at the numbers & stop thinking with your heart & what the media hypes.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    i realize Howard will make a big impact i never said he wouldn’t. i said, the advantages that OKC has on the perimeter (Westbrook + Harden + Durant) outweight what LA has on the block (Gasol + Howard) simply because OKC’s inferior players match up better than LA’s do. In My Opinion.

  • roscoe

    @point taken.

  • Drig

    But they weren’t called the underdogs. Their play was sloppy during the regular season but everyone knew the Lakers would turn it up in the POs from 2nd title onwards till the duo split. The first title, I knew some guys who considered LAL to be underdogs that season but even that, it’s at best a 70-30 in favor of LAL not being underdogs.

  • Drig

    The hell cares about +/- when it was clear that he was carrying that team and was a nightmare in close games for opposing teams??? This is a case where the numbers are wrong simply put.

  • Drig

    Kobe said they’d be incorporating parts of the Princeton O to their playbook and didn’t say they’d be running it to a tee because as you said, it’d be a waste. I think they’re gonna run those plays mostly when Nash sits for those 18 odd minutes and Pau-Dwight and Kobe are on the floor. And am confident Nash will make it clear to the team what places he wants to be and what kind of shots he likes to take. I’m more worried about how the team handles Pau’s and Kobe’s minutes this season. Esp. Pau’s.

  • Drig

    WIN

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    i feel that. i just don’t have faith in Mike Brown to make the correct decisions as a coach, specifically as an offensive coach, to put his players in the best position to use their strengths. That’s where my concern about their offense, and all that plays into it comes from. — I realize they added Eddie Jordan to run the Princeton offense and teach his philosophies, but I’ve never really been impressed with the guy, i mean what he did in Washington was great, but that was when Gilbert was an absolute force and that team was made up completely differently than this Lakers team is.

  • roscoe

    I don’t look at things simply with stats, but if you don’t realize stats including +/- are important you are missing an important part of the game. If you look at Bron bron he man-handled the reg. season and playoff +/-, total beast. Kd faded Brah.

    Keep in mind I am not a person that basis everything off numbers & understand your point about one player carrying a team & his stats being affected. Where I differ with you is I am critical of those who fall short of the ring including kd.

    What are of kd’s game do you think he should improve?

  • shutup

    Did you just say how Kobe Bryant maximizes talent??????What are you smoking? Name a player outside of D.Fish that Kobe hasn’t run off?

  • shutup

    Liar. Boldface Lies and fairy tales.

  • Drig

    KD should improve his passing, he can hopefully bulk up so that he can go into the post at times ( but not at the expense of screwing up his jumper’s mechanics ) and mostly improve on D. I haven’t seen much of OKC’s regular season play but I think he can do a better job as a help defender and rotating. Not much to specifically work on on O right now. Kinda crazy that he’s not even 25 years old lol

  • Drig

    I think another minor thing that’s gonna be a worry is about how quickly they can get the feel of the princeton plays. Artest as a decision maker is bad to say the least. Kobe calls off plays at will. Eddie already said it takes atleast a year for a player to feel at home in the Princeton O. I’m not too worried though because LAL has some experience with the triangle but it’s minor things like this that can ruin it……I just hope Kobe buys into this even when things are looking down and out…….

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