Re: The Truth Hurts

[Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
A few comments:

There is some truth in Gee's comments. We don't have much of a hope of 
winning a championship until Shaq has run his course. 
--- end of quote ---

Of course there is - he's just rehashing what everyone knows and putting a
negative spin on it. Still,  Shaq can't win alone - he must coexist with Kobe,
the chemistry with the supporting cast has to be right, the rules have to alow
him to keep doing what he's doing down low. If any of these conditions are not
met, the Lakers don't win it all, or at least not every year. These writers
make it sound like everybody should just concede the championship to the Lakers
for the next decade, and go watch NBA reruns from the 1980s on ESPN Classic. 

--- You wrote:
However, this is the 
same situation that every other team other than perhaps other than one with 
Duncan on it has. Therefore, should we and the other 26 teams (including the 
76ers) give up since we don't have a chance of winning a championship? No, 
you build and you never know what happens. Every dynasty only lasts until the 
dynasty is over and the next better player, team or gimmick arises. It is 
stupid (and not even sportsmanlike or manly) to assume defeat prior to the 
contest. This is kind of thinking is for losers....

Now, we actually have more reason to be optimistic this year than in the last 
6-7 years. We have more young talent than we ever had. We have two players 
(All-stars caliber) who are young and are coming into their own. We have 3 
rookies who look like they have a world of talent. We played well in the 
second half of our season which was the toughest portiion and came close to 
making the playoffs. I am more optimistic this year than ever. I am not 
wringing my hands at how other teams in our conference have improved. People 
don't give us any credit for the pickup of the 3 rookies but I feel the top 2 
will contribute immensely this year. As for the negativism of certain 
columists and members of this list, some people feel it necessary to take the 
contrarion because at times, it makes them seem more intelligent to not be a 
"homer". However, when people are consistantly negative even when it is 
obvious that things have improved, their true colors or agenda comes 
through...

DJessen33
--- end of quote ---

Agree on all counts.