article from TSN by deveney: Building a better Lakers trap June 18, 2002 Rather than merely lamenting the difficulty of building an NBA team in this era of the Lakers' dynasty, we at TSN decided to do something about it. We asked scouts and personnel men around the league a simple question: If you were to build a team designed specifically to defeat the Lakers, what current players would you want on your side? We then played mad scientist and picked these players for our dream team of Lakers stoppers. A good place to begin, not surprisingly, was having a strong, athletic center to guard Shaquille O'Neal. "You better start with a guy who can handle him," says one scout. "And you'd better have backups, too." The second-most important piece of our little band of Lakers assassins was a confident, energetic point guard. The consensus is the Lakers struggle defensively against quick point guards who can handle the ball and score. If you rely on a shooting guard or a small forward for points, the Lakers drape small forward Rick Fox on him. Better to have a good point guard who is a mismatch for Derek Fisher and ends up drawing Kobe Bryant. Thus, we want a point guard who can distribute the ball but one who also has the smarts and ability to drive and shoot. Some of our personnel people offered specific names -- Clippers small forward Corey Maggette or Pacers defensive guru Ron Artest -- to throw at Bryant. We tried to accommodate them where we could. In general, the consensus was that we should put together a team capable of playing up-tempo. Of course, it would be easy to assemble an All-Star team of non-Lakers and throw it on the court against LA, but that did not seem very sporting. Instead, we limited ourselves to a reasonable budget, meaning that our group of players could, in theory, exist in the current NBA. Because the league's luxury-tax threshold, should it come into play this season, will be around $60 million, that's where we set our budget. A few of our players are free agents (denoted by *), and we offered them generous contracts that should be close to what they receive on the market this year. STARTERS PG Mike Bibby, Kings salary: $12 million*. His energy and clutch shooting nearly carried the Kings past the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. SG Bonzi Wells, Blazers salary: $8.5 million*. He has a wide, strong body for a shooting guard and plays as well in the post as in transition. He traditionally gives LA trouble. SF Corey Maggette, Clippers salary: $1.7 million. OK, so we put Maggette on the team based on his 28-point showing against Bryant in January. Combined with his reasonable salary, it seemed like a good reason. PF P.J. Brown, Hornets salary: $7 million. He is a solid, smart player who does the little things to help a team win. Brown is a good help defender, which is essential for slowing O'Neal. C Michael Olowokandi, Clippers salary: $12 million*. A better offensive center to force O'Neal out of the paint might be nice, but Olowokandi did solid work on O'Neal late in the season. He held Shaq to 12-for-29 shooting and outrebounded him 26-23 in their last two meetings. BENCH PG Steve Nash, Mavericks salary: $5.5 million. He is another jitterbug point guard who could share floor time with Bibby. SG Damon Jones, Pistons salary: $1 million. He can hit 3-pointers and keep the locker room vibe positive. G Gilbert Arenas, Warriors salary: $600,000. Arenas is a pesky defender who can provide insurance at both guard spots. SF Ron Artest, Pacers salary: $1.4 million. He's on this team for defense -- if he starts shooting, we'll have to remind him of that. C Brad Miller, Pacers salary: $5 million. He'll be under O'Neal's skin before he even steps on the floor. C Jamaal Magloire, Hornets salary: $1 million. He's a young, energetic big man who can man the middle while O'Neal goes to the bench or fill in at power forward. PF Kevin Willis, Rockets salary: $1.5 million*. He adds muscle to the frontcourt and wisdom to the locker room Rather than merely lamenting the difficulty of building an NBA team in this era of the Lakers' dynasty, we at TSN decided to do something about it. We asked scouts and personnel men around the league a simple question: If you were to build a team designed specifically to defeat the Lakers, what current players would you want on your side? We then played mad scientist and picked these players for our dream team of Lakers stoppers. A good place to begin, not surprisingly, was having a strong, athletic center to guard Shaquille O'Neal. "You better start with a guy who can handle him," says one scout. "And you'd better have backups, too." The second-most important piece of our little band of Lakers assassins was a confident, energetic point guard. The consensus is the Lakers struggle defensively against quick point guards who can handle the ball and score. If you rely on a shooting guard or a small forward for points, the Lakers drape small forward Rick Fox on him. Better to have a good point guard who is a mismatch for Derek Fisher and ends up drawing Kobe Bryant. Thus, we want a point guard who can distribute the ball but one who also has the smarts and ability to drive and shoot. Some of our personnel people offered specific names -- Clippers small forward Corey Maggette or Pacers defensive guru Ron Artest -- to throw at Bryant. We tried to accommodate them where we could. In general, the consensus was that we should put together a team capable of playing up-tempo. Of course, it would be easy to assemble an All-Star team of non-Lakers and throw it on the court against LA, but that did not seem very sporting. Instead, we limited ourselves to a reasonable budget, meaning that our group of players could, in theory, exist in the current NBA. Because the league's luxury-tax threshold, should it come into play this season, will be around $60 million, that's where we set our budget. A few of our players are free agents (denoted by *), and we offered them generous contracts that should be close to what they receive on the market this year. STARTERS PG Mike Bibby, Kings salary: $12 million*. His energy and clutch shooting nearly carried the Kings past the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. SG Bonzi Wells, Blazers salary: $8.5 million*. He has a wide, strong body for a shooting guard and plays as well in the post as in transition. He traditionally gives LA trouble. SF Corey Maggette, Clippers salary: $1.7 million. OK, so we put Maggette on the team based on his 28-point showing against Bryant in January. Combined with his reasonable salary, it seemed like a good reason. PF P.J. Brown, Hornets salary: $7 million. He is a solid, smart player who does the little things to help a team win. Brown is a good help defender, which is essential for slowing O'Neal. C Michael Olowokandi, Clippers salary: $12 million*. A better offensive center to force O'Neal out of the paint might be nice, but Olowokandi did solid work on O'Neal late in the season. He held Shaq to 12-for-29 shooting and outrebounded him 26-23 in their last two meetings. BENCH PG Steve Nash, Mavericks salary: $5.5 million. He is another jitterbug point guard who could share floor time with Bibby. SG Damon Jones, Pistons salary: $1 million. He can hit 3-pointers and keep the locker room vibe positive. G Gilbert Arenas, Warriors salary: $600,000. Arenas is a pesky defender who can provide insurance at both guard spots. SF Ron Artest, Pacers salary: $1.4 million. He's on this team for defense -- if he starts shooting, we'll have to remind him of that. C Brad Miller, Pacers salary: $5 million. He'll be under O'Neal's skin before he even steps on the floor. C Jamaal Magloire, Hornets salary: $1 million. He's a young, energetic big man who can man the middle while O'Neal goes to the bench or fill in at power forward. PF Kevin Willis, Rockets salary: $1.5 million*. He adds muscle to the frontcourt and wisdom to the locker room i don't know about olowakandi... but i can't think of anyone better... i think his $12 mill slot could be better used elsewhere though.
Hey, go try that in fantasy ball and it still would not work for that team of role players. Mike Bibby is now considered one of the top PG's in the league????? Since when? A few playoff games don't show the real player. Without the kings, Bibby is no where. AS far as that TSN guy saying that Bibby will start, We'll see that team as another "Vancuver Grizzlies" Franchise. GURANTEEEEEED
And without Bibby, the Kings dont make it past the second round. Gurunteed, unless they get a top 5-6 PG in the league....then maybe...
It's like how the Sonics always give the Lakers fits but always face the danger of not making the playoffs every year. I'm surprised there was no Ruben "Kobe Stopper" Patterson on the list. He must've been at court when they did the story...
I think Vlade should be in there. He gets under Shaq's skin more than anyone (which could be a bad thing...a real bad thing). Afterall, he held Shaq in the lower to mid 20's in many of their games but this may have been because of injuries.
The team that can beat the lakers are the kings, next year i guardamtee that the kings will beat the lakers (even though i love the lakers) but this year a shot from horry is the only thing that kept them alive,and it should be the Kings without Bibby wud not have gotten as far in the series against LA. And yes he is now a top PG in this league, i mean dont just look at the LA series look at how he demolished Nash and his mavericks.
