Are we really the third best team?

[Dexmor]

People are saying we are because the Celtics and Cavs play D and frankly they have a damm good point.
I believe we have clearly the most talent in the league with the best player or tied with Lebron and we got Phil but we don't play D.
I am a little worried. I do believe if it's Cavs vs Lakers we will win that one.
Do yu guys think we are the third best team right now?

[iamworthy]

I think we are the second best team behind the Celtics. Cavs are overrated imo. They havent played anyone. If you look at there schedule they have played like 3 teams over .500, everyone else have a losing record. While the Easteren Conference is top heavy, their are alot of bad teams at the bottom they they get to play multiple times a year. I do give them credit for taking care of business against the bad teams though. But if Lakers were to play them in a series I think we would take care of them rather easily. They just cannot match up with our low post play and our bench. Plus the going rumor or talk in the NBA is that the Cavs are playing great ball even though have had a cakewalk schedule and there record is 19-3. Lakers are playing below expectations, have looked horrible, have played a tougher schedule and we are 18-3..hmmmm

[hermes]

who knows, its all perspective

and as for how we would fare against those teams, the finals aren't next week so i'm not going to worry about it

[magic1fan]

i think people need something to complain about. now record wise we are the third best team,but so what. all it takes is a loss by the celtics or cavs and two wins by us and we are the so-called best team again. our defense needs to get a little better but overall we are 18 and 3. detroit came in and beat us at home. the pacers needed a lucky tip at the end,and we just laid an egg against the kings. the one thing i will say i don't like is if you look at our three losses,we are still playing down to our competition. phil needs to address this. the three teams we lost to are not good teams,and that needs to be corrected going forward. other than that i think we are having a great season.

[lakersfanatic]

I guess they're basing it on how we did the past several games compared to how they did with the same teams.. IE Indiana, Washington... We lead but barely lost or barely won where as they killed.

Anyways - 1, 2, 3, 8... it doesn't really matter... it's getting to the post season and winning it all.
hehe

[dockingsched]

celtics and cavs are better because they play consistent sound defense. lakers defense isn't fundamentally sound. they don't help when they should, they don't rotate properly, sometimes they force their man to a side that the help defense is not at, and they gamble A LOT. Many of these weaknesses are masked by pure effort, as seen by the high intensity displayed in the first handful of games. Defense, however, is suppose to be consistent and when its mostly reliant on a high level of effort masking fundamental flaws, its going to be INconsistent.

You look at the cavs for example, and they are just a bunch of guys playing as one. Its like night and day compared to the lakers. Really, just watch their defenders, not the ball. They're never running around like a chicken with its head cut off, they hardly ever gamble. They are always ready to cut off the drive, they get out to shooters under control, they know which players u want shooting. the biggest difference though is how effective they are at boxing out, especially big Z. Whenever a shot goes up, he immediately turns his head and puts his body on someone. I must have seen him step inbetween the basket and someone crashing the boards like 15 times last game. He hardly ever got the rebound, but thats the type of play that you hardly ever see from the lakers. For LA, If their man isn't next to them, they turn and look at the basket and hope to out jump everyone.

[semi-sentient]

^^^ Agreed.

I don't see how anyone can possibly rank the Lakers higher than either the Cavs or Celtics at this point. Screw potential, talent, and schedule (as if ours hasn't been soft recently). Both of those teams are playing some great basketball, and more importantly, they play consistently sound defense.

[Gus McCrae]

^^ Agreed as well. The Cavs and Celtics are blowing out all the teams they need to and winning by better margins than the Lakers. And the defense, my god, in the Kings game we were atrocious. Lakers are the 3rd best team right now, hopefully we can get in focus and start dominating again. Christmas Day will be very telling.

[TonyMontana]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Well Im agreeing with all the three posters above me BASICALLY ON EVERYTHING THE HAVE POSTED. We do have a lot of work ahead of us, and our main test will come soon. Christmas day. Lets ee where we stand.

[mr-EEE]

the lakers are the best team, by the end we'll have the most wins

[iamworthy]

^^^ Agreed.

I don't see how anyone can possibly rank the Lakers higher than either the Cavs or Celtics at this point. Screw potential, talent, and schedule (as if ours hasn't been soft recently). Both of those teams are playing some great basketball, and more importantly, they play consistently sound defense.

Huh? Its all based on who you play, therefore schedule does matter. If we played the clippers everyday we would have the best defense in the league. Spurs were a better defensive team than us last year and we came back from a 20 point and 17 point deficit in the series last year...some defense.

[Erik Eleven]

The Lakers aren't even the third best team, right now. Celtics, Cavs, Pistons, Nuggets, Jazz, Hornets, Hawks and Spurs would all probably beat us in a seven game series if it started today. The Lakers' defense is flat out horrible right now. We have the record we have thanks to offensive talent over load, not because we're playing well as a team on either end.

[realfung]

I say you guys are either 1 or 2

[crazyeights]

Whoever says we don't need to worry about the Cavs is wrong. IIRC, we have a losing record to them since they drafted Lebron...and that was before they were legit.

[Sedale Threatt]

I've been amused for the past week or two, listening to the radio and whatnot with people debating whether or not the Lakers can win 70 games. It's like, aren't you people paying any attention?

Boston and Cleveland are CLEARLY better teams than we are right now -- it's not even debatable. Not only do they have better records, they're obviously more cohesive.

I don't even buy the "Lakers have more talent" argument, either. What, does Pierce-Garnett-Allen suck or something? And isn't it clear that Cleveland has finally surrounded LBJ, who will win the first of many MVPs this season, with a respectable supporting cast?

No question we can win a championship this season. There is a lot of time left, and after 2001 I will never write a team off, especially not one that is 18-3 despite playing well only about 1/3 of the time.

But there's also no question that until we develop a spine, and play some defense, it isn't going to happen, not at those two teams' expense.

[iamworthy]

Whoever says we don't need to worry about the Cavs is wrong. IIRC, we have a losing record to them since they drafted Lebron...and that was before they were legit.

How many of those games did Gasol play in?

[Chris435]

^^^ Agreed.

I don't see how anyone can possibly rank the Lakers higher than either the Cavs or Celtics at this point. Screw potential, talent, and schedule (as if ours hasn't been soft recently). Both of those teams are playing some great basketball, and more importantly, they play consistently sound defense.

The reason I think the Cavs should be lower than the Lakers right now is because they haven't played the better teams yet. However, I think they are an overall better team than the Lakers.

Also, I think that the intensity and effort of the Laker squad will peak come playoff time (I know.. a big assumption).

[hermes]

Whoever says we don't need to worry about the Cavs is wrong. IIRC, we have a losing record to them since they drafted Lebron...and that was before they were legit.

How many of those games did Gasol play in?

gasol can't guard lebron

[iamworthy]

Whoever says we don't need to worry about the Cavs is wrong. IIRC, we have a losing record to them since they drafted Lebron...and that was before they were legit.

How many of those games did Gasol play in?

gasol can't guard lebron

What does that have to do with the fact that Gasol has made this team ALOT better since we added him. Without Gasol this team doesnt make it to the finals.

[AceFresh]

yep #3 RIGHT now