Well, if there was any doubt that a healthy Lakers team is the team to beat in the playoffs, that game last night erased it. In fact, the injuries actually benefitted the Lakers, because Medvedenko stepped up big time and has proven to be a solid role player. Also, Malone will be a little fresher for the playoffs, rather than have another whole season of wear and tear on him... Lakers over the Pacers in 4 __________________ Without sports, who would cheer for the Nimrods?
Lakers will win it all, and Kobe will be a large factor in their run in the playoffs. NBA knows that noone wants to put a big winner in jail. For the sake of the Kobe, the Lakers will win it all.
Beating t-wolves at home is nothing to be so proud of. They are in a slump right now, only 5-5 in last 10. Just lost to Denver two nights ago. Their defense is horrible. Lakers are playing well. But I still would rather face Lakers in playoff than Kings/Spurs. Yao can stop Shaq. Mobley can contain Kobe. Rest are either too old or two young. Besides Laker's defense has been horrid the whole season.
LOL no kidding....this really didn't need a new thread. You could have put it in the other Laker thread.....
But totally crashed the T-Wolves is something to be pround of. Which team else can have the T-Wolves totally surrendered at the 3rd quarter, even though they are going through a slump? Yao cannot stop Shaq, nor can Shaq stop Yao. No way Mobley can contain Kobe. Kobe is now playing at a level that can be downright scary. He has a much deeper perspective of the game now than he ever had. It seems he now always does the right plays at the right time. Besides, it is not a one-on-one issue. Lakers' game tonight simply flowed like never before, thanks to the two old HOF's. If the Rox faces the Lakers tonight, there is just no chance.
Right now, hell no would I want the Lakers playing the Rox in the first round!!!! We've all been saying that Minny is the Rox's best chance and this game proved it. The Rox have never played the Lakers with Malone in the lineup and I'm starting to doubt whether they'd be able to hang with them down the stretch. Let me reiterate, the Rox have a chance of going to the 2nd round if they play the T-pups!
T-wolves totally surrendered to Rockets by the second quarter on Jan 17, losing 26-45 at half time. Also at that time, T-wolves are playing extremely well, won 5 in a row, 14 out of 17. Lakers are looking good with 7 wins in a row. But look at the competition, Chicago, Orlando, Clippers twice, Milwakee, and slumping Kings and T-wolves. Not much a resistence there. None of these teams play much defense. Sure Laker's offense looked good. Besides the two blowouts vs Kings and T-wolves, Lakers won previous 5 games by an average margin of 4 points. I am not saying Rockets will surely win a playoff serious vs Lakers, but the match up is much better than with Spurs/Kings. Yao plays best when playing against Shaq. If Shaq cannot dominate, it's very hard for Lakers to win. The three Rockets vs Lakers game this season, 2 are Rockets blow outs, the 3rd was almost a blowout, but Rockets' inexperience failed to close the game with leading by 10 with 8min to play. T-wolves would be the easiest playoff opponent, of course. Without a inside presense, and lack of playoff success, they are higly likely to get out of first round again if matched up with Rockets.
ill repeat what i said there... JUST SAY "NO" TO KARL MALONE GETTING A RING DEATH TO THE LAKERS AND DEATH TO THE JAZZ!
yeah while the kings and wolves been struggling lately, the big wins are impressive, but like what was said earlier they've struggled otherwise. The Bucks and Magic took them to OT and if it werent for a blatant non-call on Shaq in the magic game at the very end of regulation (The was a reason why Tmac couldnt get the ball up properly, Shaq was grabbing his arm, once again right in front of the ref ) and another noncall against the bucks where van horn was shoved on the last play (even the laker home announcers were surprised on the noncall) could have changed everything. They've played one 'road' game against the clippers in which again they won barely and one against chicago where if it wasnt for kobe in the 4th they would have lost. So basically they played 6 homes games (how many clipper fans you think were there during the laker 'road' game? huh not many) and 1 road game against the 2nd worst or worst team in the east. If you didnt expect them to win at least 5 of those games you had to be kidding yourself Imo the lakers got a benefit of a home heavy schedule at the end and begining of the seasons while playing the majority of the games on the road during the middle, having easier schedules at the begining and end of the season is crucial in positioning. Also was it just me or were all the laker road trips mainly just eastern trips? I cant recall once this season them going on a western road trip (more than 2 games) their toughest west coast run was I think a back 2 back at dallas and SA at the begining of the season, but they unlike every other team in the league didnt not play houston, thus completing the Texas Triangle. I am not much up for conspiracy theories and the sort since all western teams play each team the same amount, but the way the lakers have their schedule set makes in an a way easier for them not to have a major (3games+) losing streak and that makes a huge difference in how and when you play the teams. I live in LA i've taken notice of the laker schedule, not by choice really but everything is laker in the paper, kinda sucks for the clips of course, but it something worth noticing
here's what i think: they're the same person. note how the sigs are even the same. i don't see how two different people could find that commercial compelling enough to make it their sig. it's the River / Studdog phenomenon.
hm... and I remember A-train posting stuff from the lakers board in the past... Is A-train using the lakermania account to whip up laker hatred here?
pla·gia·rize 1. To use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one's own. 2. To appropriate for use as one's own passages or ideas from (another). see LakerMania
yeah he's doing a very nuanced job too... see? in the other thread, he picks the lakers in 7. and seemling dislike the lakers. here he pickes them in 4, after i managed to shoot down his idea of how good the pacers are. nice try A-Train. But I'm all over it!
Please. Do you for one second think that I was trying to pass the guy's post off as my own? It was a joke, the Lakers basically did the same exact thing to the T-Pups as they did to the Kings, so just altered the title and let it fly. An elementary school student could have figured this out, I even dropped the original poster's own sig for godsake. But if I got your panties in a bunch over this, I'm sorry. Really I am.
Oh I get it A-Train... pulling the sig now that you've been exposed eh? Oh well... for a school of 84 kids, they have some pretty hot Nimrod cheerleaders. Dang... I bet if i went there I could have started.
