D'antoni said before the game he didn't even know if Nash would be ready for the playoffs. you are delusional. and I wish nothing but failure for this team. you need to try and be rational and stop making up storylines.
Nope. I don't think in a million years the Lakers thought they'd be in the lotto. But now with Kobe out, I'm pretty sure they won't be since they should cruise to two victories with or without Stern's help.
Lakers are done this year. Kobe had to almost score 50 for them to beat a tanking Blazer team. The Lakers are just not that good this year. Without their best player they are SOL.
I'm the only one using facts here. Fact is the Lakers do fine when Kobe sits. They did fine this year too, winning @Indiana when no one gave them a chance. Yeah they lost @Phoenix and everyone wrote them off again but that was a 4/5 night situation and that won't happen in the playoffs. This team will be pretty good. Prob. not enough to beat OKC but they'll be more competitive than they would with Kobe for sure.
This is how the casual fan thinks. One-man teams are never good. The solution is to not use a one-man team. In this case, the Lakers backed into the right lineup.
The Lakers aren't going to all of the sudden come together and start playing great basketball. Perhaps if you take out Kobe this whole season and have a healthy Lakers squad they might be better but there's no way in hell the Lakers are making any noise this postseason without Kobe. The results will speak for themselves.
I really hope you will come back and back your prediction again when the season is done, two easy victories over Spurs and Rockets as you said.
I think this team still has a lot of flaws and aren't in the upper tier with the Heat, OKC, and the Spurs. However, if they let Pau be a playmaker in the post and Nash becomes ball-dominant so he can run pick & pop with Pau and pick & roll with Dwight, they will be very hard to defend because none of their opponents have the height to matchup. Obviously they have to get a lot together in a short time but the talent is definitely there now without a shotjacker playing iso half the game.
Yes, I think they'll do what they need to make the playoffs (if Utah loses they may not care about the Rockets game). And I think they'll be competitive in the playoffs if they make it there. Obviously I wouldn't call them a favorite against either OKC or the Spurs, but I think they have a chance, which is a lot more than I felt yesterday. Also, I'll be rooting for them because I'd much rather the Clippers face the Lakers than OKC/Spurs, assuming the Clippers advance too.
Fair points, but those are some big if's. Nash/Gasol are too old. Howard is great, but that's pretty much it. Lakers have a bunch of scrubs on their team other than the 4 HOFers. We can wager a tip jar bet on it if you really feel the Lakers will beat their first round opponent..
No. They don't have a first round pick this year. If they miss out, then Phoenix gets their pick. If they make it, I believe Cleveland gets their pick.
I don't bet on here anymore after YowZow welshed. And I don't think the Lakers will beat OKC/SA .. I'm just saying that they are going to be more dangerous now that they will run an offense centered around their mismatches. Everyone thinks that Kobe is this huge mismatch but the truth is that he's just like a lot of swingmen, he just takes more shots. Teams have players that can defend him to a reasonable percentage. But teams don't have guys that can consistently hold down Pau and Dwight, especially if you have a playmaker like Nash to set them up (with Kobe Nash was relegated to be a spot up shooter, which is ridiculous). Admittedly, it's a lot to put on the coach with two games left to play. But, for instance, if they keep the bigs & Nash next year and fill out with a few shooters, they will contend.
Lets take a quick recap of how bad the lakers are screwed now and for the distant future. 1. Lost Kobe for the season, and for most of next season. 2. May lose Dwight via FA 3. If they make the playoffs, their 1st round draft pick goes off to the CAVS 4. If they dont make the playoffs, they get to keep their pick 5. They get their 2014 1st round pick...they would have to tank in order to be a top 3 lottery team 6. They would have to tank on year one of Dwight's max contract. 7. They are another year older...Nash almost 40 8. 2015 pick unless top 5 goes to the Suns... 9. going to have to pay Kobe 30 mil in salary. 10. estimated luxury tax next year with eveyone back...80 mil... The Lakers really have to consider amnestying their "rock" bc their future depends on it...
Lakers are done this year and next. May as well keep D'Antoni next year since they won't have much potential. Summer of 2014 is their next chance meaningfully improve.
