Agreed. Lakers are long and have shot blockers. We lack in both of those departments. We really have no true shot blockers. Bynum + Gasol + Odom is a great shot blocking front court. Our front court is also slow and undersized. Jackson's Bulls were great at suffocating the advancement of the ball up the court. Jordan, Pippen, Harper etc were big guards who played physical D and closed down the passing lanes. You see the same from this Lakers team...Kobe, Fisher, Farmar, Sasha, and Ariza. With no shot blocking presence and a huge disadvantage at the PG spot, I don't see us beating Lakers in playoffs. I am saying this despite believing that we will get better as the season progresses. Regarding Ariza, he has been a forgotten man with all the Gasol and Bynum hype. He is a more athletic version of Shane Battier. Very similar roles on defense and offense, expect Ariza is more of a finisher around the basket while Shane shoots from the 3 point line. He has improved the Lakers defense.
Why are people so quick to through in the towel 7 or so games into the season? Lets do a simple comparison of the Lakers and Rockets: -Lakers have had their core nucleus together since last year. Their core nucleus includes Kobe, Gasol, Odom, and Fisher. Bynum does not belong in that category because he is still way too young and inconsistent still. -Rockets core nucleus has been together 7 games. Thats like telling someone that three weeks into a class, they should go and ace a final exam. Not going to happen. Plus, our fourth most important player is sitting on the pine. -Lakers have all their players healthy right now. -Rockets have all their players limping around right now. I am more concerned about getting our players healthy at the end of the season. If anything, I would suggest letting T-Mac rest once we get Shane back when we hit an easy part of our schedule. -Lakers pretty much have their complete roster set. -Rockets are still twinking around and looking for some bigs. The only thing that truly concerns me is the PG situation and lack of height. But PG situation should be okay once Rafer goes back to his normal (in the mid-30s ) shooting form b/c Brooks is backing him up. Now all we need is a big to come off the pine and we are good. Patience is the key to virtue my children. Patience!
Let them believe in their own hype. Its not how you start but how you finish. Their role players can't sustain this energy for the whole season. They made the number one seed as the underdog...lets see how they respond for the whole season as the favorite.
Think smarter man! Look at the forest, not the trees. Hornets = division rivals. Division winner = top 4 seed guaranteed. If Lakers lose this game, then nothing good really happens for us because more than likely they are winning their division and have a top 4 seed locked. But if Hornets lose, then they don't jump ahead of us in the division race. Always worry about a division rival because we want to win the SW division. Plus, just because you have the best regular season record doesn't mean you are going to win it all. Just look at the Pistons and Mavs in recent years. Best regular season record means #1 seed. Come playoffs, health > number #1 seed.
So lets Scratch the Hornets off the List of teams that might challange the LAKERS in the West. (X)Rockets (X)Hornets
Give me a freaking break. You people are all so caught up in the moment. This is November, talk to me when the Lakers are blowing people out like this in April.
Lakers need MAJOR improvement!!! 1. There is no excuse for a few of the starters to take a night off and let Kobe be Kobe and, even though you're beating teams by double digits. 2. Kobe needs improve his jumpshot... its not up to par this year as previous "MVP Season" years! , even though you're beating teams by double digits. 3. Pau and Bynum need to learn how to play better together.. maybe a few more weeks will get their game in-sync, even though you're beating teams by double digits. 4. Lamar needs to avg a double double playing 30 mins off the bench.... like his previous Laker years, even though you're beating teams by double digits. 5. The Chinese Magic Johnson needs to to play half of his potential and get stronger, build some body mass......learn the system faster......play harder in practice...earn your minutes....contribute to the laker's 2nd unit "The Bench Mob" so you can replace Luke Walton 12th spot off the bench, even though you're beating teams by double digits. 6. Sasha needs to recover faster from his ankle sprain... earn more minutes.. and play up to par like you did the previous year (Lakers gave you a HUGE contract...earn it) 7. Bynum needs to be more of an offensive force and stop being a p***y.... show us what every Laker fan was gloating about the first 4 months of the previous season a. back door lobs.. b. your up and under going left you teasing the laker fans the previous two year.... c. going up with both arms for a rebound.... d. swinging right handed jump hook you showed the Laker fans several times last season.... e. those fierce dunks due to your extraordinary length f. and when the hell are we going to see the Left Handed/Right Handed within 12 feet "Sky Hook" you have been practicing the past 3 years (Kareem says your ready to use it!) and the Lakers are still beating teams by avg of double digits. 8. Mitch needs some sucker team to take Luke Walton off our hand.. trade him for a #2 draft pick ... or trade him to Miami for Beasley (hahah.. that would be INSANE) Jloyola is online now Edit/Delete Message
Having viewed the game Lakers @ Hornets,I dont think we so bad as people said before.Although in the 4th qt they performed much better...
I guess we didn't learn anything from last season. This is a real post, not a personal attack Mr. Brooks.
No sweat. The Spurs never had good start but at the end of the season, they are always in the mix. It is nice if you can win at the start of the season, but it really does not mean a lot. Your rox is getting better, so just relax.
No it isn't if they stay healthy. The depth of this Lakers team means they could handle the Jan/Feb doldrums better than the Celts did last year. I could kick myself for not watching part of this game. For some reason, I thought it was blacked out. Then with about 1 minute left, I noticed it was on.
The Lakers are REALLY confident. I remember Bynum saying they can impose their will on ANYBODY, even though they haven't played every team. Also tonight he said they wanted to hit 10 games in a row, then hit the 20 mark and go from there. Sounds like the Lakers want to exceed are winning streak from last year.
Everyone is on the lakers case about being confident, I applaud any team with confidence. I like when a team says I'm going to win 20 games a row, we can beat the best of them.
Once we get Battier back and resign Deke, this team can really start clicking. By All-star break, it will be game over for the Lakers.
I do not care about the Lakers being confident, It is Laker's fans acting as if they have the West in the bag. Someone mentioned the Spurs earlier and they are a perfect example. They always started slow but finished well and were always in the mix. Does anyone remember the Mavericks a few years ago? They had the number one seed after a great start to the season and were knocked out in 7 games to the Warriors.
