Big week coming up.

[supaflash]

We should be well rested (wtf is with this schedule...)

Houston on Sunday

back to back @ Dallas then @ NO

then Detroit on Fri


Should be a much better measuring stick to see where we are over these first few games. Our 4 wins so far have been impressive but pretty weak comp. Portland is good but it was their first game and with Oden getting hurt they had to adjust mid game.

We have a beautiful balanced rotation now. I have not seen such in a long time. I am really glad LO accepted his 6th man role, with him Ariza and Farmar coming in for the change of pace with Sasha spreadign the floor. Think about it Farmar, Sasha, Ariza, LO, Bynum/Gasol thats a better lineup then several teams starters. The 2 things that I think might be best about our depth though are:

1. Change of pace. It allows us two different types of gameplay and makes it very hard for other teams to adjust and matchup defensively. I hope to see this in effect on Sunday. If our first unit is locked in a slow defensive grind with Houston's I think the 2nd unit can come in and start forcing the pace so the Rockets can't set their D and really make Yao and Tracy get up and down the floor.

2. Defensive intensity. It allows us to keep up a full defensive intensity all game long if our guys are committed to it. Our starters should realistically log less minutes then any other contender and it really allows the whole team to expend more energy on the defensive side. Especially with guys like Vlad and Jordan picking up off Sasha's peskiness and Kobe's intensity. Kobe especially can really focus on locking down guys now. Boston showed it last year, if you committ to it for 82 games, by the time the playoffs come around its in your nature. I hope we never let up all year. I hope to see this against Dallas and NO on the road. So far our trapping and quick hedging bigs have kept teams out of the post and out of the paint a lot. I hope to see them adjust to the pentration and shooters of those two teams and really stay disciplined.

If we come through this week 8-0 the league will be on real notice as to what is coming with this team. I think part of Boston's success last year was psychologically, both in their own minds with supreme confidence that they were going to win every time and in the opponents. A seed in the back of their heads that they are going to lose and they are more likely to quit when they get behind under relentless defensive and offensive pressure. The Bulls were like this in their 72 win season too. A sweep of this week would go a long way to starting that off I think.

[hermes]

indeed we should be well rested

but i'm going to get this out there to put a cap on our ambitious optimism

take it one game at a time

[semi-sentient]

I'm not sure if we can properly measure where we're at over this run. The problem is that we are still a bit out of sync on the offensive end, and it doesn't help that we're playing 1 game a week. Defensively, I expect us to continue doing what we're doing, but I don't think we'll see anything special on the other side of the floor. Until we play Dallas.

[TonyMontana]

One game at a time fellas, one game at a time.

[crazyeights]

I haven't seen Dallas this season, SS, how do they look?

[lakersfanatic]

yup, take it slow. I think we're still trying out what's working and what's not. Even through we're winning our games.. like whatyou guys mentioned.. not very competitive games thus far. It's going to be a hard week. Let's hope they win.. or if not at least do very well.

Dallas has been pretty explosive... they play quick and try to tire out the starters and not allow their opponent to set their defense. A lot of fast breaks (notice dallas game vs. houston very high scoring in the first quarter).

[supaflash]

I can't wait to see a team try to run us all game Let them try

[Big Bird]

Nah, it's only a couple of good games early in the season. You don't have big weeks and measuring sticks in early November. The wins would be nice though, but it's not the end of the world if we drop a game or two.

I especially love how we've got New Orleans on the road on the second game of a back to back TWICE in the upcoming 2 months... before we see them at home. It's almost like the NBA wanted to give Paul a chance to outperform Kobe. I keed, I keed...

[Anklebreaker702]

Hopefully they can start to find an offensive flow. I love the defense if that keeps up they can be in every game right down to the wire. If we lose a couple the skeptics will come out like were down 0-3 in the playoffs but we have to ignore all that & realize its very early in the season. I would be nice to win all these early "tests" because it will build the teams confidence even more. I love the fact that in every interview every player talks about the same goal "WINNING THE TITLE"

[kobesmyhomie]

I don't think the Mavs will be a problem. We always seem to beat them and Kobe always seems to kill them. Seriously take a look at last season.

[Squirrel Boy]

One game at a time fellas, one game at a time.

Werd manggg

[Sofa King]