Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 5:56 am Post subject: More Success... Kobe and Duncan or Kobe and Garnett?
Duncan and Garnett are probably my two favorite players all-time not named Kobe Bryant. I've always wondered what type of basketball would be played and how any many championships could have been won if Kobe had gotten the chance to play with either of these two.
I am gonna say both duos could have run the NBA for 8-10 years easily as long as they were supplied with the right role players. I am not sure which duo would have been more effective, but Kobe and Garnett together (in the triangle) sure would have been a scary combination. My goodness... _________________ “There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.” ―Bruce Lee
I'd go with Kobe and Duncan because you could go to Duncan as your go to guy late if Kobe was struggling. Garnett and Kobe would have been pretty awesome too. I've never trusted KG in the clutch though. A lot of us hoped for that pairing for a long time though, it's a shame that by the time KG became available, it was in in the middle of Kobe's pluto tirade and he wasn't interested in coming. Though the silver lining of course is they got Pau without giving up Odom or Bynum not long after.
I'd go with Kobe and Duncan because you could go to Duncan as your go to guy late if Kobe was struggling. Garnett and Kobe would have been pretty awesome too. I've never trusted KG in the clutch though. A lot of us hoped for that pairing for a long time though, it's a shame that by the time KG became available, it was in in the middle of Kobe's pluto tirade and he wasn't interested in coming. Though the silver lining of course is they got Pau without giving up Odom or Bynum not long after.
I think KG gets unwarranted flack for this. Whenever I've seen KG have to knock down a clutch shot, he's done it. That mid-range jumper was money. Also, to KG's credit, he's never had many high level players to where he's spent a lot of time in the playoffs as the undoubted centerpiece or part of a duo. As good as he was in Boston, he was part of a four headed monster.
Duncan has been clutch in the playoffs. He's also let guys like Amare and Dirk bully him. That would be a concern for me. _________________ “There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.” ―Bruce Lee
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35812 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:39 am Post subject:
Darth Los Angeles wrote:
J.C. Smith wrote:
I'd go with Kobe and Duncan because you could go to Duncan as your go to guy late if Kobe was struggling. Garnett and Kobe would have been pretty awesome too. I've never trusted KG in the clutch though. A lot of us hoped for that pairing for a long time though, it's a shame that by the time KG became available, it was in in the middle of Kobe's pluto tirade and he wasn't interested in coming. Though the silver lining of course is they got Pau without giving up Odom or Bynum not long after.
I think KG gets unwarranted flack for this. Whenever I've seen KG have to knock down a clutch shot, he's done it. That mid-range jumper was money. Also, to KG's credit, he's never had many high level players to where he's spent a lot of time in the playoffs as the undoubted centerpiece or part of a duo. As good as he was in Boston, he was part of a four headed monster.
Duncan has been clutch in the playoffs. He's also let guys like Amare and Dirk bully him. That would be a concern for me.
KG definitely had a reputation for being a perennial loser until he got to the Celtics, but it's rather undeserved in that his supporting casts were awful. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
And the reason why I pick those two? Yin/Yang. Duncan would be a perfect opposite to Kobe. Kobe/KG are too similar and that may burn out teams. _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
Kobe and KG for me. Not discrediting Duncan, he's had a far more illiustrious career but the intensity Kobe and KG would have brought to each game would have been terrifying. Teams would literally fear playing us if we had both in their respected primes. Not to mention I probably would have preferred the brand of basketball played with Kobe and KG as well. _________________ Music is my medicine
Joined: 15 Jul 2002 Posts: 6938 Location: searching for the mojo of Dr. Buss
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:48 am Post subject:
Duncan. He has the rings and San Antonio never won less than 50 games while he was there... 5 rings, won 5 out of 6 Finals, 17 straight playoff appearances.
Kobe is great, but Duncan's career in terms of team performance has been greater.
Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 3820 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:29 am Post subject:
silkwilkes wrote:
Duncan. He has the rings and San Antonio never won less than 50 games while he was there... 5 rings, won 5 out of 6 Finals, 17 straight playoff appearances.
Kobe is great, but Duncan's career in terms of team performance has been greater.
His team's performance has been so great that they never repeated once?
Duncan. He has the rings and San Antonio never won less than 50 games while he was there... 5 rings, won 5 out of 6 Finals, 17 straight playoff appearances.
Kobe is great, but Duncan's career in terms of team performance has been greater.
His team's performance has been so great that they never repeated once?
Kobe has greater peaks that Duncan has never reached, but his teams have had some valleys too. It's a matter of preference I suppose, whether you want sustained success like Duncan, or success that also has seasons of failures but greater heights (3 peat and 2 peats). _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
Joined: 15 Jul 2002 Posts: 6938 Location: searching for the mojo of Dr. Buss
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:41 am Post subject:
to be honest, 5 rings = 5 rings Doesn't matter if you had 5 in a row and never won another or you got 5 in 17 years. It's the total that counts. Kobe can't say he has more rings than Duncan.
That being equal, it comes to sustained team excellence and individual awards imo. SA under Duncan went to the playoffs 17 years in a row. Kobe missed the playoffs twice. Also, Duncan lost the finals once while Kobe lost it twice. Finally, Duncan has 2 MVPs and 3 Finals MVPs. Kobe has 1 MVP and 2 Finals MVPs.
Kobe is more glamorous... but Duncan beats him out in terms of overall achievement (for now).
to be honest, 5 rings = 5 rings Doesn't matter if you had 5 in a row and never won another or you got 5 in 17 years. It's the total that counts. Kobe can't say he has more rings than Duncan.
That being equal, it comes to sustained team excellence and individual awards imo. SA under Duncan went to the playoffs 17 years in a row. Kobe missed the playoffs twice. Also, Duncan lost the finals once while Kobe lost it twice. Finally, Duncan has 2 MVPs and 3 Finals MVPs. Kobe has 1 MVP and 2 Finals MVPs.
Kobe is more glamorous... but Duncan beats him out in terms of overall achievement (for now).
Not sure how you took this question of teaming Kobe AND Duncan to being Kobe vs Duncan, but anyhow...
Still, personally I would consider Kobe having the slightly better individual career, whereas Duncan may have a slight advantage with regard to sustained team success.
Both were either the main or one of the main players involved in leading their teams to 5 championships. Both are easily top 10 players, but the question was never about Kobe vs Duncan...
Kobe/KG IMO would be too grating over the long haul. Both uber intense guys who don't mince words.
At least with Kobe/Duncan, you have a guy who is by all accounts a great teammate and someone who is the polar opposite personality wise with Kobe. Fisher used to play that role well with Kobe; Duncan could have done the same (albeit a million times better than Fisher as a player). _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 2415 Location: Far from home
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:38 am Post subject: Which pairing would seem strongest, longest ?
I'm inclined to think Duncan's versatility, durability, consistency, lack of weakness in any one area of play, ball-sharing style, proven clutch capability, ego, and low key personality would knit with Kobe better (for more championship runs).
Garnett wouldn't make for a bad combination with Kobe at all, but as a matter of comparison he seems to make the second choice here. He lacks the post offense of T-Duncan, and bigger still, Garnett's intractable personality seems less clear a great fit to Kobe's version of the same thing.
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:42 am Post subject: Re: Which pairing would seem strongest, longest ?
Wilkes52 wrote:
I'm inclined to think Duncan's versatility, durability, consistency, lack of weakness in any one area of play, ball-sharing style, proven clutch capability, ego, and low key personality would knit with Kobe better (for more championship runs).
Garnett wouldn't make for a bad combination with Kobe at all, but as a matter of comparison he seems to make the second choice here. He lacks the post offense of T-Duncan, and bigger still, Garnett's intractable personality seems less clear a great fit to Kobe's version of the same thing.
Kobe/KG would be the most intense team ever. But those kinds of squads tend to have a short shelf life. Obviously would have been amazing to have but Kobe/Duncan = more sustained success IMO. _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
Kobe/KG IMO would be too grating over the long haul. Both uber intense guys who don't mince words.
At least with Kobe/Duncan, you have a guy who is by all accounts a great teammate and someone who is the polar opposite personality wise with Kobe. Fisher used to play that role well with Kobe; Duncan could have done the same (albeit a million times better than Fisher as a player).
Great point. Personally for years I have always favored a KB-KG tandem, but I do agree that the personality dynamic of a KB-TD team would probably work better over a longer period. Similar to the KB-Pau tandem, there wouldn't be any drama, and it would probably be more successful since Duncan is a better player than Pau.
This is a great thought experiment but definitely something we will never know...
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:25 am Post subject: Re: Which pairing would seem strongest, longest ?
yinoma2001 wrote:
Wilkes52 wrote:
I'm inclined to think Duncan's versatility, durability, consistency, lack of weakness in any one area of play, ball-sharing style, proven clutch capability, ego, and low key personality would knit with Kobe better (for more championship runs).
Garnett wouldn't make for a bad combination with Kobe at all, but as a matter of comparison he seems to make the second choice here. He lacks the post offense of T-Duncan, and bigger still, Garnett's intractable personality seems less clear a great fit to Kobe's version of the same thing.
Kobe/KG would be the most intense team ever. But those kinds of squads tend to have a short shelf life. Obviously would have been amazing to have but Kobe/Duncan = more sustained success IMO.
Valid point but we don't know how it would've played out. I think the longevity for each pair (KG/KB and/or TD/KB) would've been equal in terms of contending each and every year. It's debatable. Really just a coin flip imo. _________________ Music is my medicine
Joined: 21 May 2001 Posts: 11831 Location: West LA
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:40 am Post subject:
I'd have loved to see Kobe play with either, but choosing between the two is really tough. It's a "what if" scenario that we unfortunately never got to see. _________________ Just chill and watch the new Dynasty evolve...
Time for the Lakers to create a whole new legacy! We want 10 more trophies boys!
I think you get 5 or 6 with Kobe/KG and 7 or 8 with Kobe/Duncan.
But there might have been some kind of synergy crazy effect with Kobe and KG that pushed them to like 10 titles. _________________ A banana is killed every time a terrible thread or post is made. Save the bananas. Stop creating terrible posts!
I think you get 5 or 6 with Kobe/KG and 7 or 8 with Kobe/Duncan.
But there might have been some kind of synergy crazy effect with Kobe and KG that pushed them to like 10 titles.
Yeah. Sounds about right. But would have been an interesting tell-all book from a former disgraced teammate about how KG and Kobe would flog lazy teammates who dared to sleep more than 5 hours and trained less than 10 hours a day. _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
Kobe/KG IMO would be too grating over the long haul. Both uber intense guys who don't mince words.
At least with Kobe/Duncan, you have a guy who is by all accounts a great teammate and someone who is the polar opposite personality wise with Kobe. Fisher used to play that role well with Kobe; Duncan could have done the same (albeit a million times better than Fisher as a player).
The thought of either Kobe/KG or Kobe/Duncan has me salivating. I do agree that Kobe/KG could/would have been grating on teammates, but together they would have been unbeatable. Obviously the same can be said for Kobe/Duncan, but imagine the Lakers somehow landing KG in 1995 and Kobe in 1996? How many rings is that? I think it would be similar to Jordan and Pippen in many ways, most of which being that over the span of 10+ years, as long as you have those two, you're in position to win a ring and you can swap out supporting casts when their teammates did burnout on their intensity.
I guess to me, Kobe/Duncan would have been a classic NBA pairing. Dominant guard and dominant PF/C. KG may be the most versatile PF the NBA has ever seen, so I think Kobe and KG together-especially in their primes-may have hit heights as a duo the league has never. Kobe doing his MJ-act with a 7'0' Scottie Pippen who loves nothing more than playing team-ball, defending, rebounding? Sign me up for that one, man. lol
I think you get 5 or 6 with Kobe/KG and 7 or 8 with Kobe/Duncan.
But there might have been some kind of synergy crazy effect with Kobe and KG that pushed them to like 10 titles.
This is what I think, too. I think those two guys would have pushed each other so hard, with their teammates falling in line behind them, that they'd do things this league wouldn't have been ready for. If you gave those two a legitmate third-option, it's a wrap. It's making me sad that this can never be now. lol
Kobe and Garnett IF KG doesn't suffer that knee injury he had with the Celtics. He was never the same again after that. He was still a very effective player but not the same guy.
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Doesn't matter if you had 5 in a row and never won another or you got 5 in 17 years. It's the total that counts. Kobe can't say he has more rings than Duncan.
and watch the new Dynasty evolve...
Save the bananas. Stop creating terrible posts!
