Lakers have lost 5 of last 7 games.

[KingSpeed]

We can beat this team.

 

[Natebishop3]

I was thinking the same thing while watching them. They look VERY beatable. I've never thought much of their bench, of course ours isn't too pretty either.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

They just took a team that destroyed the Blazers to the last posession of the game, without the best player in the world....

You cant be serious

 

[Nikolokolus]

Make no mistake, the Lakers bear a striking resemblance to a certain marsupial.

 

[EGame]

Well, it will be nice to have Camby when we play them (oh wait, he is playing, right)? If Camby doesn't play, I don't have much hope against them in our last regular season meeting.

 

[KingSpeed]

They just took a team that destroyed the Blazers to the last posession of the game, without the best player in the world....

You cant be serious

Lakers are better without Kobe this year.

 

[KingSpeed]

They just took a team that destroyed the Blazers to the last posession of the game, without the best player in the world....

You cant be serious

And the Lakers, WITH KOBE, got blown out by a Spurs team that we swept. What's your point?

 

[The Other Guys]

They just took a team that destroyed the Blazers to the last posession of the game, without the best player in the world....

You cant be serious

The best player in the world is on the Cavaliers, and that shouldn't even be a debate anymore. The early 2000's where Kobe was the best player is over.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Playoffs change everything.

 

[MrJayremmie]

without the best player in the world

This is actually a true statement. The Lakers did not have LeBron on their team.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I think the Lakers are genuinely weaker this year. Ariza was a better fit against most teams than Artest is. PJ seems to have lost all confidence in his bench. Fisher and Bryant are suddenly looking OLD. Bynum is out (but he's redundant in the playoffs anyway, unless Gasol is out).

BUT:

Jackson teams have a long history of having crappy records leading up to the playoffs and it not mattering once they start. I think even the 72-win Bulls were pretty shaky. Anyone able to confirm this?

 

[maxiep]

They just took a team that destroyed the Blazers to the last posession of the game, without the best player in the world....

You cant be serious

The law of transitivity doesn't work in the NBA. It's about matchups. We don't matchup well against Denver and the L*kers do. We do matchup well with the L*kers, however.

 

[Mamba]

Okay, speedy.

When we bounce your ass in 6 this year, maybe you'll eat some crow. Have you watched the last 7 games? There has been no motivation from the Lakers. Is it disturbing? Yeah. Is it something that is fixable? Yes. What will fix it? The playoffs.

 

[44Thrilla]

Yeah, as much as I hate the Lakers, I still have to assume they will destroy you.

 

[Sex Panther]

lol @ all this.

the last 20 games, the lakers were the laziest group of guys in the legue.

 

[tlongII]

The Lakers hopes in the postseason rest with Bynum. If he's out they don't have a shot at getting out of the West.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

The Lakers hopes in the postseason rest with Bynum. If he's out they don't have a shot at getting out of the West.

What an idiotic comment....

Cause last year, his 6 ppg and 3 rbpg really put the Lakers over the top....

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

And his win shares/48 min was less than Josh Powell..............

 

[Rastapopoulos]

When we bounce your ass in 6 this year, maybe you'll eat some crow. Have you watched the last 7 games? There has been no motivation from the Lakers. Is it disturbing? Yeah. Is it something that is fixable? Yes. What will fix it? The playoffs.

Are you saying that the immortal Kobe Bryant was not motivated? He looked pretty pissed to me. And he also looked like a shell of his former self, and has done for a while. Getting old and broken down can hit you kind of sudden - just ask Kevin Garnett. Of course, even with a broken down Kobe, the Lakers still have the talent to go all the way - so long as Bryant is prepared to give up the rock.

 

[Mamba]

Are you saying that the immortal Kobe Bryant was not motivated? He looked pretty pissed to me. And he also looked like a shell of his former self, and has done for a while. Getting old and broken down can hit you kind of sudden - just ask Kevin Garnett. Of course, even with a broken down Kobe, the Lakers still have the talent to go all the way - so long as Bryant is prepared to give up the rock.

Kobe is an idiot. He has played through injuries when we haven't needed him to. He may be pissed, but it is pretty evident that he hasn't played this season with the same motivation as last year. That goes for the whole team, though. I'm not worried about him right now. If he looks this way through the 1st round..then yes, you have a valid point.

 

[Webster's Dictionary]

I think somewhere this got taken out of context. I think that Speed was talking about our upcoming match up at Staples. I do feel like we could and probably will win that game. A playoff series is a different story, but I would feel like we have a shot.

 

[KingSpeed]

I think the Lakers are genuinely weaker this year. Ariza was a better fit against most teams than Artest is. PJ seems to have lost all confidence in his bench. Fisher and Bryant are suddenly looking OLD. Bynum is out (but he's redundant in the playoffs anyway, unless Gasol is out).

BUT:

Jackson teams have a long history of having crappy records leading up to the playoffs and it not mattering once they start. I think even the 72-win Bulls were pretty shaky. Anyone able to confirm this?

How could a team that only lost 10 games be shaky? For the most part, Phil's teams have finished rather strong. 2001 in particular when they closed out the season with 8 straight wins and then won their first 11 playoff games.