a legit shot at the title?

[TruSkool]

does anyone think we can actually win it all this year? to tell u da truth, i really dont think so...we can probably get out of the 1st round, but i think it ends there this year. if he have the slightest chance, i think we need gasol and bynum at 100%...gasol will be there, but i dont think bynum is up for the challenge yet.

the playoffs as of now would end up like this-

hornets vs warriors
lakers vs mavs
rockets vs suns
jazz vs spurs

i think our matchup vs the spurs will be tough...its a tossup between the warriors and hornets, but ultimately i think the warriors will pull thru with a back2back upset.
the suns will handle the rockets in 6 games and same goes for the spurs.

2nd round
warriors vs spurs
lakers/mavs vs suns

no way do the warriors beat the spurs...
whom ever of the lakers or mavs wins, will likely beat the suns.

conf finals
spurs vs lakers/mavs

i see the spurs winning this, and losing to the celtics in 6 or 7 games in the finals..

celtics- new champions

[Rox_Nix_Nox]

I think a lot of people think we can win it this year.

All the what-if's, bad matchups etc.. Doesn't really matter, that's why they play the games. We'll see how it goes.

[iamworthy]

I think we have as good of chance as anyone else. The Bynum factor just determines if were going to be favorites or not. No other team really blows me away in the West. I think the warriors can beat the spurs. I just think the Warriors style of ball is to much for the spurs. I know the Spurs are a good defensive team but you cannot defend the chaos which is called nellie ball. You gotta just hope they miss shots. Plus by game 4 the Spurs would be freakin tired. If Bynum can gives us 25 minutes of good solid D, I like our chances.

[Kilroy]

I don't think there's a team in the West we can't beat in 7 if we have Gasol and Bynum back... I think Bynum will be in better shape than expected, but even if he isn't 100%, he'll totally change the game for us with his presence in the paint.

The only team in the West I fear in the playoffs at this point is NO... They are scary on a lot of levels. They might just be a regular season team but I still worry about them...

On second though Phoenix is going to be tough in the playoffs too...

But it will either be NO or Suns who show up for the challenge... Not both.

Where I think our chances get decidedly dimmer is at the prospect of facing either Detroit or Boston.

If for some reason Boston doesn't get past Detroit, I think we have a chance to eek out a victory in 7 but only if Bynum and Gasol are 100%.

If Boston doesn't get stunned by some freak team like Dallas last year, then they are going to be very very hard to beat in the Finals. If they get through with their full roster, I think it's their Championship to loose.

[LAKESHOW]

we win this year, we go 4 straight! bank on it.

however, there is so much in the air as far as chemistry and playing mistake free ball late in games, it is going to be very interesting.

[The Laker Kid]

Honest opinion? I think we will get to the Finals, but lose to the Celtics in 5 games. They are more cohesive, ACTUALLY play defense, and healthier overall (by far).

K-Perk > Bynum
KG > Gasol
Pierce > Odom
Allen < Kobe
Rajondo >>>>>>> Fish

I don't see us even beating them ONCE, especially if PUKE keeps playing like this and we keep chucking threes.

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

I see us beating the spurs in 6 or 7. Then losing to the celtics in 6 or 7.

Hope im wrong though. But making the finals would be awesome.

[Gus McCrae]

Honest opinion? I think we will get to the Finals, but lose to the Celtics in 5 games. They are more cohesive, ACTUALLY play defense, and healthier overall (by far).

K-Perk > Bynum
KG > Gasol
Pierce > Odom
Allen < Kobe
Rajondo >>>>>>> Fish

I don't see us even beating them ONCE, especially if PUKE keeps playing like this and we keep chucking threes.

I"m gonna disagree on Perkins > Bynum..
he had better games during the season but Bynum is >>> Perkins.

I do agree as a whole, the Celts whooped us twice this year and they'd be scary in the Finals; if they can beat the Cavs to get there; 1-3 season agains them.

In the west, I'd have to say the Suns and Warriors scare me the most. Though I think everyone underrates New Orleans. But even without Bynum we've got a shot at the title. With Bynum we're looking damn good.

[That Nicka]

Honest opinion? I think we will get to the Finals, but lose to the Celtics in 5 games. They are more cohesive, ACTUALLY play defense, and healthier overall (by far).

K-Perk > Bynum
KG > Gasol
Pierce > Odom
Allen < Kobe
Rajondo >>>>>>> Fish

I don't see us even beating them ONCE, especially if PUKE keeps playing like this and we keep chucking threes.

Perkins is not better than Bynum, and Rondo is BARELY better than Fish if at all, Cassell seems to have lost a step as well, and I'd take Farmar over him at the moment... KG still would rather face up than be a bruiser... Watching them recently, I see a perimeter oriented team... when their shots arent falling, they can be really bad... With Pau and Bynum I think we could take advantage of them and be a much more efficient team

[LLcoleJ]

Healthy ? Yes

[Italianhanger]

not trying to be a homer but if any east team thinks its going to be a walk in the park against our team in the finals is sorely mistaken. even boston and detroit respects what we have, i think it lingers in the back of their mind that they have the record they have b/c they play in a jv conference.
from what we saw in the last two games, when we are down by double digits we dont quit and actually take over games. sure we came out 1-1 on the win-lose column but those were two hell of a games.
i see we step up our defense and our offense is just fine, we're top 5 in the league in offense.
we have pau, bynum, and mihn coming back very soon, this would replenish our teams with quality bigs plus we have ronny so that doesnt hurt.
ariza, hopefully, can come back soon if not we have ira newble to hold down the defensive presence ariza had. if we have both ariza and newble come playoffs, there ya go...we answer our defensive woes with
bynum-c
ariza-g
newble-f
kobe-g
odom(against bigs)-f

if everything goes well....our playoff team could look like:
fish/farmar/sasha
kobe/ariza
radman/luke/newble
odom/ronny
bynum/pau

bench:(i forget how many we can have on our playoff roster...)mihn(c/f), coby(2guard), mbenga(c)

[Texas Longhorns]

You guys have a shot, but so do some other teams in the west.

[YiYaoYue]

lakers need to stop choking the ball in the last few minutes of the 4th... this has happened multiple times... sometimes its odom not making his free throws, turaif/walton turning over the ball... farmar or fisher chucking instead of moving the ball afraid it will get stolen or because some of the players dont move their feet and stand there next to the defender so the ball sticks to the PG... or giving the ball too late to kobe that he ends up also shooting a low percentage shot.

we really need a Bynum/Gasol/Ariza/Kobe/Fisher lineup in the last minutes because every playoff game will come down to the wire...

[hermes]

probably not right now, we need everyone healthy and we have as good a shot as any

[BobbySura]

no

next year.

[djericho]

After getting Bynum and Gasol (hopefully Ariza) back, the bench will be the factor on how far we get through the playoffs and how much damage we could do in the WCF and finals.

Bynum and Kobe will command double teams, leaving Gasol Odom and Fisher to pick apart teams. Farmar Radmanovic and Sasha all have to be hitting from 3s to spread the floor and keep the defense honest.

I'm very hopeful for this year, but realistically I look @ next year with Bynum and Gasol healthy and on the floor at the same time w/ Kobe and Odom.

[Joe Kleazy]

Honest opinion? I think we will get to the Finals, but lose to the Celtics in 5 games. They are more cohesive, ACTUALLY play defense, and healthier overall (by far).

K-Perk > Bynum
KG > Gasol
Pierce > Odom
Allen < Kobe
Rajondo >>>>>>> Fish

I don't see us even beating them ONCE, especially if PUKE keeps playing like this and we keep chucking threes.

For some reason I question your opinion

[tracey_nice]

If Bynum is able to comeback and just defensive rebound and alter shots we should be alright. Right now those are our 2 biggest weaknesses, we did a better job against the warriors in those departments ( Lamar n Turiaf) but thats against a much smaller team. In the playoffs all we need is Bynums height and length and the lakers should have a really good opportunity of winning it all.

[gmurray8]

If healthy and playing to their full potential, they are the favorites. Will this happen? probably not until next year..

As far as this year goes I would say its between:

LAL or SAS in the west
BOS or DET in the east

BOS are the favorites to win it all this year, with the Lakers 2nd.

[Milan24]

probably not right now, we need everyone healthy and we have as good a shot as any