Playoff positioning: the 8th seed

[minifang]

It's pre-emptive, but If the Lakers manage to make the playoffs, would the 8th seed be the most beneficial for the team? Obviously the more wins the better. However, the 6th and 7th seeds require us to go through the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seeds assuming they win the first round. As the 8th seed, we would play either the 4th or 5th seeds in the second round if we advance. The road to the championship would be - slightly - easier. We are not going to get homecourt in any round this year so higher positioning doesn't matter.

Also, if the Spurs hold onto the 1st seed, I would much rather play them than OKC. I would love a first round Clippers match up though.

Yes, we should take things one game at a time, but it's interesting to think about.

Thoughts?

[Beethoven]

It is going to be very tight at the last few seeds so every game counts and you can't afford to position as one loss can drop you from sixth to ninth ( this kind of thing has happened a lot past few years in west conf seeding at near end of seasons) but I rather just try to go in wanting to face anyone of spurs/clips/okc and if we can beat them , I may get flack for saying this, it should be smooth sailing to the finals.

[AcecardZ]

Playoff talk is nonsense.

Dwight is hurt.
Pau sucks.
Nash didn't turn out to be as good as many of us thought he would be.


It's time to face reality guys. Reality is we just didn't have enough go right for us this year. Sucks that the rest of the world gets such pleasure out of seeing us falter but in my opinion squeaking into the 8th seed does little for us anyway. We still get bounced in the first round and our aging vets have a shorter offseason to prepare for next year. I do think we'll be a contender next year if we re-sign Dwight and make a few other changes.

Kobe + healthy D12 = a competitive team under most circumstances. I'm looking forward to it already.

[MoLakers]

It's just over half the season. I still believe in this team until we're mathematically eliminated. Sure losses like the one to phx hurts. Ouch. Sure the odds are stacked against us. But I trust in Kobe. I know he was much younger and in his prime but he led the lakers to the playoffs with Smush Walton kwame starting. I would be more scared if there were deep talented teams in front of us but there aren't. It's possible and I'm gonna believe. Howard get better soon!

[Kobe System]

I want the seeding to be something like this.

SAS
OKC
LAC
MEM/GSW
GSW/MEM
DEN
UTAH
LAL

First round against SAS.
Second round against MEM/GSW.
Then Western Finals against OKC or LAC. (I prefer LAC).


Okay, back to reality. Let's try making the PO first.

[Kobean]

If we make the playoffs we will have to start playing well enough to beat teams like SAS and LAC so were not necessarily screwed if we do make it, having said that I don't like our chances and we don't have our first round pick for the next draft (I'm pretty sure we gave that to the suns) and the chances of keeping Dwight if we don't make the playoffs arn't good. I'm not going to give up hope though so LETS GO LAKERS!!

[AdonisDeMarion]

Give me the Spurs or Clippers. I know we can beat the Spurs, but if we get the Clippers then we have home court for that whole series...lol

[AcecardZ]

We just lost to a lowly Phoenix team that didn't play a particularly good game in a must win game! Please stop with the playoff talk!!!!

The same problem keeps rearing it's ugly head. We play ok for 3 Q's only to get ran out of the gym in the 4th quarter. That's a physical problem caused by having older and injured players. What magical event is going to take place to prevent that from happening going forward? Gah!

Believe me I'm every bit as frustrated and pissed off about our situation as you are but just because nobody predicted what would end up being reality with this team doesn't mean we should discount what we're seeing with our very eyes. We're watching a talented team grossly underperforming due to factors not taken into consideration prior to the start of the season. Dwight's poor health. Pau's bad knees. J-Hill injury. Nash Injury. Coaching issues. Chemistry issues. It's time to accept that we're just not as good as we thought we were going to be. Teams don't play as inconsistently as we have all year then run off 25 wins in 30 games. Please spare me the '95 Rockets story..

If Dwight was getting better each week I'd feel differently but instead of getting healthier he's getting worse...

[swag2011]

I would prefer the 8th seed too.

But before we speak about playoffs, our defense has to REALLY sharpen up. We really need a good perimeter defender and PG defender before thinking about playoffs. D'Antoni needs to come up with defensive plans as well. We didn't double Beasley at all smh

[Doormatt]

We just lost to a lowly Phoenix team that didn't play a particularly good game in a must win game! Please stop with the playoff talk!!!!

you cant say **** like "enough with the playoff talk" on a message board specifically for the lakers. i mean, there would be nothing to **** talk about or care about if there wasnt some glimmer of hope that this team could at the very least make the playoffs.

if you dont think we can make the playoffs, thats fair enough, you have the right to believe what you want. but dont come into this thread which is specifically about what we can do to make or be in the playoffs and be like "GUYS WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS WE SUCK L0L0L." i think its awesome that some people hold out hope for this team, and i find it rather annoying when people want to shoot it down, most especially in a thread dedicated to us making the playoffs.

[Dr Aki]

Give me the Spurs or Clippers. I know we can beat the Spurs, but if we get the Clippers then we have home court for that whole series...lol

clips fans have shown up though, this season, its been a sea of red

[Doormatt]

that said we suck and probably wont make the playoffs.

[Jakay]

I'm still holding out hope that the Lakers make the playoffs. It's a long season, and it's only half finished, and the team has come a long way, it's just that no one (pretty sure that's actually "no one") realized how far they had to go.

That said, once they make the playoffs, assuming I'm not totally crazy here, it doesn't seem like them not having homecourt is any kind of advantage at all whatsoever in any way shape or form.

As far as matchups go, if you can't beat them all, you're not gonna win.

i actually intended this post to sound optimistic. Hmm...

[AcecardZ]

We just lost to a lowly Phoenix team that didn't play a particularly good game in a must win game! Please stop with the playoff talk!!!!

you cant say **** like "enough with the playoff talk" on a message board specifically for the lakers. i mean, there would be nothing to **** talk about or care about if there wasnt some glimmer of hope that this team could at the very least make the playoffs.

if you dont think we can make the playoffs, thats fair enough, you have the right to believe what you want. but dont come into this thread which is specifically about what we can do to make or be in the playoffs and be like "GUYS WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS WE SUCK L0L0L." i think its awesome that some people hold out hope for this team, and i find it rather annoying when people want to shoot it down, most especially in a thread dedicated to us making the playoffs.

I get where you're coming from and I don't have a problem being in a room full of optimistic Lakers fans. Heck even I was optimistic as little as recent the NO game. Even with the collapse at the end of that game I still felt relatively confident. However, along came the Phoenix game and all my confidence went right out the window. The problems that were causing to lose games prior to our three game win streak reared their head again. Sluggish offense, banged up Dwight, soft Pau, in effective Nash, Metta World Brick, and most importantly zero energy in the fourth quarter. These problems have plagued is all season and looked to have been mostly addressed during our recent home stand. Fast forward to Phoenix game Wed and problems I thought had been conquered reared their ugly heads again. They're going to continue to rear their head for he rest of the season because they mostly have to do with physical issues beyond the players' or coaches' control. Old and slow ain't goin' away. (Unforumately) and with Dwight teetering on the brink of the DL expecting to make the playoffs is just too much to ask.

I will try to keep the negativity to a minimum to prevent upsetting the optimists. I just don't see a realistic scenario where we improve enough to give us a reasonable shot at making the playoffs. I really hope I'm wrong though...

[JohnVancouver]

I still think this team will make the playoffs - other teams ahead of us will fall off and we'll win enough to squeak in
I still think they'll figure it out

[therobg125]

playoffs?! playoffs?!...we sitting here...almost 10 games under .500, and we in here talkin about playoffs?!

[Father Time]

We just lost to a lowly Phoenix team that didn't play a particularly good game in a must win game! Please stop with the playoff talk!!!!

you cant say **** like "enough with the playoff talk" on a message board specifically for the lakers. i mean, there would be nothing to **** talk about or care about if there wasnt some glimmer of hope that this team could at the very least make the playoffs.

if you dont think we can make the playoffs, thats fair enough, you have the right to believe what you want. but dont come into this thread which is specifically about what we can do to make or be in the playoffs and be like "GUYS WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS WE SUCK L0L0L." i think its awesome that some people hold out hope for this team, and i find it rather annoying when people want to shoot it down, most especially in a thread dedicated to us making the playoffs.

I get where you're coming from and I don't have a problem being in a room full of optimistic Lakers fans. Heck even I was optimistic as little as recent the NO game. Even with the collapse at the end of that game I still felt relatively confident. However, along came the Phoenix game and all my confidence went right out the window. The problems that were causing to lose games prior to our three game win streak reared their head again. Sluggish offense, banged up Dwight, soft Pau, in effective Nash, Metta World Brick, and most importantly zero energy in the fourth quarter. These problems have plagued is all season and looked to have been mostly addressed during our recent home stand. Fast forward to Phoenix game Wed and problems I thought had been conquered reared their ugly heads again. They're going to continue to rear their head for he rest of the season because they mostly have to do with physical issues beyond the players' or coaches' control. Old and slow ain't goin' away. (Unforumately) and with Dwight teetering on the brink of the DL expecting to make the playoffs is just too much to ask.

I will try to keep the negativity to a minimum to prevent upsetting the optimists. I just don't see a realistic scenario where we improve enough to give us a reasonable shot at making the playoffs. I really hope I'm wrong though...

was gonna say somemthing but decided not to... disregard this post

[Asianiac_24]

I still think this team can make the playoffs. With our new Kobe and Gasol slowly improving his play, I see us making the playoffs in all honesty

[DEEP3CL]

We just lost to a lowly Phoenix team that didn't play a particularly good game in a must win game! Please stop with the playoff talk!!!!

you cant say **** like "enough with the playoff talk" on a message board specifically for the lakers. i mean, there would be nothing to **** talk about or care about if there wasnt some glimmer of hope that this team could at the very least make the playoffs.

if you dont think we can make the playoffs, thats fair enough, you have the right to believe what you want. but dont come into this thread which is specifically about what we can do to make or be in the playoffs and be like "GUYS WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS WE SUCK L0L0L." i think its awesome that some people hold out hope for this team, and i find it rather annoying when people want to shoot it down, most especially in a thread dedicated to us making the playoffs.

Get'em D ! We will take out the weak minded.

[Penberthy]

playoffs?! playoffs?!...we sitting here...almost 10 games under .500, and we in here talkin about playoffs?!

Cool we cut that 10 games in half in less than a day. We may be at .500 by Sunday!