lakers are good but i think they are being overrated just a little. they are 14-4 since december, but only 6 have come against teams above .500. including a win over the spurs without duncan. they have dominated the suns though, but that is just a good matchup for them now that they have bynum to push around the suns small frontline. the lakers are basically beating teams they are supposed to beat.
Isn't that sign of a good team though? The only team they really had trouble with was Boston. NOH is no pushover, yet the Lakers won pretty handily against them @ New Orleans.
The Lakers have an impressive .527 record, better than Phoenix's .470, Dallas' .507, New Orleans' .494 and San Antonio's .487. That's a completely false argument you have there. The only Western Conference team with a tougher SOS at this point is Houston. They're beating their opponents by an impressive average margin of +6.76. They're now a top 10 defensive team as well as a top 5 offensive team. Don't kid yourself into thinking this team isn't for real. I sure hope the Rockets don't end up facing them in round 1 of the playoffs.
Why were winning? As usual, it's because of the growth of the youth particularly Bynum and Farmar. They have improved in every facet of their game. Bynum's post game is rapidly improving every day (yesterday, he dominated Chandler with his own post game). Farmar's jump shot is improving every day and he is a great play maker. They've been the boost. Fisher's locker room presence has helped big time. He has helped to heal some wounds. He is a guy Kobe knows and loves to play with, the two have chemistry on the court and Fisher knows when to take the ball away from kobe when he starts to ball hog. He has helped to bridge the gap between the youth and Kobe and you can see the team has real chemistry. Kobe's done an excellent job in getting his game intune with his teammates. He is getting the ball to people who are hot, something he had a problem recognizing in the past.
Ariza had rashard lewis and hedo Turkoglu infront of him in orlando, The guy is basically a jump shot away from being eddie jones, right now he is almost as good as Gerrard Wallace from last year, the guy who actually played defense. Turiaf is a taller verson of chuck hayes with more offensive game, and can dunk. 3/4 of the teams in the L would love to have him as a backup PF/C energiser bunny off the bench. VladRad is a shooter with no defense, basically a poor man's peja, but most teams would love a player like that off the bench. Farmer is a poor man's jason terry, but this is his 2ND year in the L, compare his progress with our very own luther head, it's light years ahead of head, he could very easily become a legit starter in this League. Don't forget Javaris Crittenton, who I would trade straight up for Aaron brooks, because unlike brooks he has a legit chance to become a starting PG in this League, the guy is talented. Kwame, even though he has no brain, no BBiq, still has the best body in basketball, and is a good defensive post player, expect to see him slow down Yao ming in the playoffs if the two teams meet. Again, name one team that has a better bench than the Lakers.
I'm not sold on the Lakers yet. Last year's collapse is still in my mind. The team is definitely better, with Bynum stepping up and with their PG situation on a whole different plane than last year. Radman is actually productive sometimes instead of being a complete zero. I'll reconsider around the All-Star break. At the moment, I don't consider them on the same plane as the Spurs, Mavs and Suns, even though they match up well with Phoenix.
Do the SOS numbers take into account home/road, back to backs, etc.? I only ask, because it would probably be prudent to wait until at least March. Why? Starting the last game in February, they have a 9 game, 2 week road trip (including 3 back to backs...though against the East)...then they have a nice lay-off, play 1 game at home, go back on the road for 3, come home for 2, and then finish the month on the road against Portland. Including that last game in February on the 31st, of their 16 games, 13 are on the road.
Well they've a couple more home games than road games so far, but it hasn't really been a home-heavy schedule (unlike last year). The point is, they've beaten some real quality teams along the way, and they've beaten them impressively. Replacing Parker with Fisher, trading for Ariza and Bynum's improvement have all done wonders for their defense (ranked 24th in efficiency last year, 7th this year & 4th in opposing eFG%). It's OK to still be skeptical -- we need to see them stay healthy and prove themselves in the playoffs. The point is, what we've seen so far is no fluke -- as far as I'm concerned, they're the best team in the West _right now_ considering how San Antonio is going through their usual midseason slump.
i agree we can beat the lakers. we are still a good defensive team and that will be the key. they blew out NO, but NO also beat them badly the previous meeting. im not saying the lakers arent a really good team because they are, but there people calling them the 2nd best team in the west and i just they are being overrated.
i cant' help but to follow the Lakers after I pledged my allegiance to Sam, Cuttino, and the Clippers. the Lakers drama is just more intruiging. now I'm not saying I'm a fan, but I will listen to pre-game, gametime, and post-game on the Lakers radio station and it sounds like a team is starting to really gel.. they could easily match up with Portland or the Hornets and win a first round series no problem... their radio guys are hilarious though... one minute they are crying for Kupchak's heads, the next minute the Lakers are the eventual team who will beat the Spurs... the game against Memphis they wondered why Houston traded Rudy Gay for Battier, so they had a point there at least...
Phil Jackson says the reason for Bynum's improvement is because of money.... http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...,1,2582655.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true
I guess we just need to put everyone on the team on rolling contracts. That way every year is a contract year!
He played in the first couple of games but wasn't that effective. When you consider how the Pistons controlled that series, they probably would have beaten the Lakers anyway. If it wasn't for Kobe's 27 foot shot at the end of game 2, it would have been a sweep. The Pistons dominated them. If Sam Cassell weren't injured for much of the Western Conference Finals, the T-Wolves would have beaten the Lakers and played Detroit.
