Love buzz - The Fans Speak Out - Letter to the Editor

I've been a subscriber for two seasons and now I enjoy your magazine more than any other. Your articles on the teams, players, and leagues of the past and present give me a new appreciation for the game.

Is it me, or were these the best playoffs we've seen since the Lakers started winning titles again? The Sacramento Kings changed my idea of how good a good team could be--and then the Lakers topped that! The way those two teams went at each other was amazing.

And Chris Webber, the player who always underperformed in the postseason brought his best game to every game this time. Could you publish his 2002 postseason stats? I'd like to see on paper just how good he played.

I wonder just how long the Lakers can keep the top spot in the West. You know they have the two best players and strong supporting squad--even if it was weaker than in past seasons. But in play they seem so underwhelming. They grind games out harder, man for man, than any team in the league. Their willingness to play any teams' game is to their advantage because of their ability to shift the pace in crunch time--when other teams simply can not handle a change in pace (whether it be slower or faster).

But for how long can the Lakers do it? I admire their toughness, but the teams I can't wait to see are the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento, and the Yao Ming-charged Houston Rockets. The entire West brings an exciting game to the table.

Anyway, keep up the good work, BD. And hey! No bragging about your playoff predictions. As if we all didn't know what was coming ...

Chris Webber's Postseason Statistics

YEAR      G    MPG    FG%    FT%     RPG   APG    SPG    BPG    PPG

Career   40   40.5   .458   .609   10.30   4.6   1.13   1.60   21.4
2002     16   41.7   .502   .596   10.80   4.7   0.88   1.56   23.7

Philip Lickwar

Houston

COPYRIGHT 2002 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group