Ok, but you saying barring catastrophe, the Lakers COULD get there is much different than the confidence exuded in the SAS comment.
I guess we mostly agree then. Currently I have the Lakers ceiling at first or second round exit barring trades and/or significant injuries for the Rockets and Warriors. Keep in mind that less than 47 wins would have missed the playoffs last year though.
Actually- you're right. I had you confused on Harden but not with Melo hate and LBJ-c-goblin. My bad.
But he wasn't by himself. He had a 5x All Star and future HOFer in Kevin Love as his teammate and good enough role players that a lot of contenders would happily take. Before that, his CAVS teams were loaded by any other talent measurement if the Warriors just weren't more loaded. His Heat teams were always loaded too. The 1 and only season you could argue he could lead "bums" was when they went to the Finals in 07 with a top 5 ranked defense when they beat the 41 win Wizards WITHOUT Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, then beat the 41 win Nets in the 2nd round who was Kidd, VC, RJ and a bunch of bums and VC was abysmal bc VC is one of the most overrated players ever and RJ was never really that good and Kidd can't beat you if he's got no one to pass to. Then they beat the Pistons who were already without 4XDPOTY Ben Wallace or HOF coach Larry Brown and still it feels like people today think LeBron by himself beat the championship Pistons at full strength. If that Cavs team was in the west, they would have faced the Spurs in the 1st round and been swept there. I'll give him this past season. He did have his best personal playoff run of his career, but against lowly Pacers, yearly underachieving Raptors and super young Celtics missing of course their best veteran players. Forget false narratives. In the West on this Lakers team, the only way he sniffs the WCF is lucking out that their opponents have their best players or depth depleted by injuries or one or multiple of the young potential future all star Lakers take massive leaps into super-stardom of which LeBron will get all the credit.
it’s all good bro...lol I was legit shocked u thought I was a Harden hater, and what can I say, I love Lebron, I’ll never deny that
Add another superstar, and yes, they could potentially be there in the WCF. The predictions have all been with the Lakers as currently constructed though. I agree they could easily miss the playoffs if they don't click right away. Spending the first half of the season figuring out how to play with each other could mean disaster to their playoff hopes unless Denver, Minny, OKC, SA etc all deal with a lot of injuries again.
I was having a bad day and decided to take it out on Lebron fans by calling them Harden haters. Lol. No - I'm not on bath salts. I usually pick one fight every 12 months Glad to get it out of the way.
At full strength this past season, yes those teams were all significantly better than those East teams. Of those teams, only NO lost Boogie and everyone else can be better with full strength. Add Nuggets to that list as well. I won't add the Suns, but you never know how Ayton/Booker work. If it's a big hit, inside/out dominance doesn't take long to change the franchise in the right direction. Mavs also got much better with DJ, NBA ready Doncic, and DSj potentially taking a big leap. With health to all their vets, i wouldn't count out Rick Carlise to make them a very tough team.
Must be some type of new math that says a 7-8 seed will make a WCF. LeBron will have to play practically every game if they're going to get a first-round HCA.
they're not better than boston. toronto/philly can definitely give them a run for their money. even as dysfunctional as washington is, when all their guys are clicking they are a solid team just like any of the teams just listed but they too deal with injuries. There isn't some huge gap bw these east teams and those. the gap lies after gs/hou/boston
You'd have a hard time convincing me that SAS actually watches any basketball outside of Sports Center highlights. If the Lakers stumble out of the gate at all and hover around .500 (like this years Cavs team did) he will not make the playoffs much less the WCF. There is no room for error in the West. Look at how good the Wolves looked up to the All Star break, getting as high as the 4th seed, only to stumble w/ injuries and barely hang on the 8th.
Now Jordnnnn, u should know better than anybody that I try to address things on a real world basis and not just regurgitating the popular opinion or the view through homer glasses... Obviously, sometimes I'm wrong... but anybody who says they're 100% right 100% of the time is delusional... but I'm always based on an unbiased assessment of the situation... the 'real' if you will... and Yes, I will admit during the dark times of the James Kardassian era I did not think Harden would get his head on straight and apply himself to the betterment of the team.... and after the game 6 sh*tshow vs the Spurs (followed by hittin the clubs) I was again doubting Harden's fortitude.... but last season, with the addition of CP3, everything looked good... I had no complaints about James all year - even when he was slumping... and I'm hopeful that he will maintain the focus he exhibited last year and we can win a championship - as it has been far too long.
If you yell loudly when trying to make your points people will listen to you. This is what I learned from SAS.
It's not possible for someone to be 'always unbiased'. You're just applying different biases. This is like going around and bragging about how humble you are.
How far can LeBron take this Lakers team this season? SAS: I think he can take them to the Western Conference Finals. I know everyone thinks I'm smoking something but it's not true. It's not true because I don't use drugs. Here's the reality of the situation: you look at LeBron James in the Western Conference, it's not just about what the Lakers are. It's about what the rest of the conference is not. Yes, Golden State is Golden State but Houston has Carmelo. An addition offensively but defensively without Trevor Ariza and Mbah a Moute, that's a problem. You look at Oklahoma City. Carmelo is no longer there. It's Westbrook, Paul George & Steven Adams. Formidable but possibly not enough. Who do you want me to bring up? The Utah Jazz? Donovan Mitchell and who else? The Portland Trail Blazers? We know what a Damian Lillard and obviously C.J. McCollum, they can ball but what else do they have? The answer is not too much. So when you look at the rest of the Western Conference, it's right there to be grabbed by everyone outside of Golden State. If you have LeBron James with young guys like Kuzma and Ingram and you added veterans who can defend & don't wilt beneath the pressure of playoff competition, you consider Luke Walton's pace of play, these guys & what Magic & Rob Pelinka have been building, I think it's entirely plausible it's a three horse race between Golden State, Houston & LA and who's to say that LA with LeBron cannot take out Houston? Safe to say the Celtics are your favorites in the East? SAS: Absolutely. Toronto is not my favorite. There's an upgrade from DeMar to Kawhi. I'm not knocking that. Toronto will be formidable but have we watched the Boston Celtics come within 48 minutes of a berth to the NBA Finals? Did we watch them do it without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward? I think we saw that. How much do you give a healthy Celtics team to win the title? SAS: I'd give them an 85% chance to come out of the East and a 50/50 shot to knock off the Golden State Warriors and win the NBA Championship. 50/50? SAS: Let me modify that. 45/55, it's that close to me. I look at this Celtics squad. Think about what they have. A star in Kyrie when healthy, Terry Rozier has proven he can play, a rough rider in Marcus Smart who can defend. That'll come in handy going up against the great Steph Curry. They're going to get physical with you. We saw how Golden State reacts to physicality when Houston with CP3 and those boys were going against them. Boston's a much better defensive team. In terms of athleticism, you got Jaylen Brown. In terms of athleticism & length, you got Jayson Tatum. Then you got Gordon Hayward. You know what he did in Utah. You got Al Horford who can pull Draymond Green away from the basket and shoot threes. We don't know how healthy Boogie Cousins is going to be because he's coming back from an achilles. They're young, they're vibrant, they're athletic, they're fearless, they're in the East, they don't have to worry about LeBron unless he's in the Finals and I believe if this team were in the Finals against LeBron's Lakers, they would beat LeBron's Lakers. I think the only team better than the Boston Celtics is the Golden State Warriors. Boston is for real when healthy. Frequent flyer miles from Boston to San Francisco, that'd be a beautiful thing. SAS: You're looking at it that way. I'm looking at spending a lot of time in LA so it's not that long a flight for me. Just throwing that out there.
SAS is not saying LA can beat GS. He's saying they could beat Houston. Don't discredit how badly the league wants LA vs GS either. Remember last year. The refs can cook up some suspect calls that determine the series. People will wonder about it for a bit then forget. It's already happened. The best case scenario is for GS and LA to be on the same side of the bracket while the Rockets are on the other. That way the league cant pull their BS. Then, hopefully the trio of Harden, CP3, and Melo will be enough of a ratings draw to let us through this year. I think the allure of CP3 and Melo finally winning a ring is a big enough story to script it out if the LA vs GS story line dies in the earlier rounds.
I am surely more informed about our team than i am other teams... and obviously I want to see our boys excel... but i think i see them for who they are - warts and all... that is to say, i dont bury my head in the sand and deny potential shortcomings... i dont wear the homer glasses... lol
