Lakers starting line-up could surprise people

[BruceO]

I gave him an and1 for **** and giggles. but now I realize it was his first one and I'm the one who popped his cherry. It will always be special between us. Whoever you were. Gotta go...Erm. .call me ? *shrugs*

[TASTIC]

I gave him an and1 for **** and giggles. but now I realize it was his first one and I'm the one who popped his cherry. It will always be special between us. Whoever you were. Gotta go...Erm. .call me ? *shrugs*

Oh yeah, this is a funny one. You can't reason with this sort of poster so just have to sit back and as you say, giggle

He got me with the Spiderman pic, didn't see that coming. But, everybody gets one.

[JellosJigglin]

Who's underrating them? The top 9 in the West (SAS, OKC, LAC, HOU, POR, GSW, DAL, MEM, PHX) are here to stay, while DEN & NOP are likely to be better than your team. Even if you assume that all your players are going to be healthy and won't miss any significant time, there are still lots and lots of question marks about your team. How much do Kobe and Nash have in the tank? Is there a single guy who's above average on defense on that roster? Who's going to play off-ball among those of Nash, Kobe, Lin and Swaggy-P (none of them can)?

Lastly, the situation with your bigs... They're terrible. Boozer, at this point in his career, is terrible on defense, and mediocre at best on offense (another guy who's likely to demand the ball to be effective), Randle is an unknown, but isn't exactly the next big thing, and both Hill and Davis are below-average players who are better suited to come of the bench for 15-20 minutes and play the role of a hustle big instead of defensive anchor.

Your whole roster consists of below-average role players and washed-up stars. If there's any hope of this team making the play-offs, then Kobe must return to his MVP form or something.

Every team has questions. You could go down all 30 teams in the league and do the same thing.

Really? That is your response? By that logic, every team has the same chance at making the play-offs or winning the championship. Your team has a number of obvious issues. If you're turning a blind eye to them, then you're being a homer, and reality will hit once the season starts, I guess.

I'm sorry if I made you feel less important but I've already posted on this same topic countless times over the offseason. I'm over it. Like I said, just let things play out. I made my prediction in the predictions thread: 42-40.

[ballup]

I think it's too kind to say Hill would start for 3-4 teams consistently. He may start for the Celtics, but would have to fight for it against Zeller. Possibly for the Sixers. That's really it.

[Dat2U]

The Lakers base looks like the folks who are in the most denial.

That starting lineup makes Philly's lineup look competitive.

20 wins is a stretch and only if Kobe balls out.

[John Long]

The Lakers base looks like the folks who are in the most denial.

That starting lineup makes Philly's lineup look competitive.

20 wins is a stretch and only if Kobe balls out.

Just because one laker fan is in denial doesn't mean the whole laker base is in denial. The only thing Philly looks competitive in is in next years lottery.

[Lolo]

LA Clippers
SA Spurs
OKC Thunder
LA Lakers
Port. Blazers
Dallas Mavs
Phx Suns
G.S Warriors

The Rockets and Grizzlies ceased to exist?

Rockets are not making the playoffs... sorry to break it to you... loss of Lin and Parsons is going to hurt them more than you want to believe... also Dwight Howard is a perennial loser.

Grizzlies are a year older, and they havent improved much in the offseason.

Dwight Howard is a perennial loser, yet Boozer is a valuable starter on a 4th seeded Lakers team? Does Harden no longer exist? Sorry bro, but the Lakers aren't finishing above the Rockets, Mavs, Warriors, Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Portland or Phx.

[Ballerhogger]

i think we could get 8th seed in the west

[Austincys21]

Defensively Nash is old and has never even been a good defender. Offensively he can still produce and will do fine in B.Scott skeme, he will also get 16-20 min a night. I think if he can stay healthy he will be productive, unlike last season though we now have a good backup in Lin.

The Xfactor is just staying healthy, if they can do so I think the best bet is the 7th seed. I predict the 9th seed though.


Also don't be surprised at a deadline trade !!!

[EntropyPR]

I find it hilarious how many RealGmers, even after all this time, still fall for obvious troll posts.

[Kurosawa0]

What qualifies as a surprise? 35 wins? Its going to take 48-50 wins to make the playoffs in the West. I don't think the Lakers will be as bad as they were last season, but they'll still probably be a 10-13 seed.

[skywalker33]

Steve Nash
Kobe Bryant
Wes Johnson
Carlos Boozer
Jordan Hill

Dont under estimate Wes Johnson/Jordan Hill as impact players... they are high energy, defensive oriented players who bring intangibles on offense through garbage/clean up buckets, and dunks.

A lot of haters will say Nash/Kobe are done, but if reports are true, and theyre healthy, then that changes the dynamics completely.

Nash gives you unparalleled outside shooting, and Kobe from 2 years ago was an MVP candidate.

With that said, the best this team could be is a 4 seed in the West.

But it wouldn't be a stretch to say that if the Lakers click early, there isnt anything stopping them from taking the West. The importance of Chemsitry should never be overlooked.

Deep bench as well when you consider the likes of JEREMY LIN, NICK YOUNG, XAVIER HENRY, JUILIUS RANDLE

thats a seriously strong bench.

Thoughts?

[og15]

LA Clippers
SA Spurs
OKC Thunder
LA Lakers
Port. Blazers
Dallas Mavs
Phx Suns
G.S Warriors

The Rockets and Grizzlies ceased to exist?

Rockets are not making the playoffs... sorry to break it to you... loss of Lin and Parsons is going to hurt them more than you want to believe... also Dwight Howard is a perennial loser.

Grizzlies are a year older, and they havent improved much in the offseason.

This doesn't actually line up with the reality of Dwight Howard's career at all

[Yoshun]

This starting lineup is all about staying "competitive" while they rebuild. By "competitive" I mean, not laughable. They will probably be some where between 9-12 in the West next year, an 8th seed is possible if Kobe comes back strong. I don't think they really care about that for the next couple of years though. Again, this line up is more about keeping the team from having multiple sub .500 seasons in a row while they rebuild. In the end, they'll be fine, they are the Lakers.

[roldy]

You know it's not going to be good when they're like, "Oh man, Kobe looks good... healthy... as if he was never injured. And Nash... well, um... his health has improved from last year." Can't even lie about his health like they usually do for players coming back from injuries.

[Dat2U]

For those saying the Lakers won't be completely terrible, please tell me who scores outside of Kobe? Or how they'll be able to defend the paint credibly with the likes of Jordan Hill, Carlos Boozer, Ed Davis & Julius Randle? Kobe is 36, not 28... he's not capable of dragging this group to any level of competence. It would be a miracle to squeeze 25 wins.

No low post defense. No perimeter defense. No scoring options outside Kobe. Is Magic going to cast a spell to get you guys in the playoffs?

I'm being real when I say the 76ers see the Lakers on the schedule and think that's a winnable game.

[ChosunX]

It happened in the 90s too when all of a sudden Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Byron were all gone. This is nothing new, the lakers will be back again. And lol at the lakers being 4th best in the west, love the optimism maybe a trade is in the works, we do have some nice pieces starting with Jordan Hill, and Julius Randle.

What position do you think the Lakers should trade for, if a trade becomes imminent by the deadline?

I have no idea, there is no short cut to re-building this team, its in the best interest of the lakers to just ride this one out till we land a top free agent and a top talent in the draft.

Could we reaplce the Lakers with Barcelone for a couple of years while they suck. I am curious how well they would do and LA has a lot of latinos.

[tsherkin]

Health is big.

Nash shouldn't play more than 28-30 mpg and if he gives 70 games at tha, I'll be thrilled. Boozer has scked on D forever and hasn't been good on O since basically Utah. If the Lakers have a structured PnR set to spam for him with Nash, maybe he'll be alright but he's not much these days. The rest of that team is unimpressive barring Kobe and perhaps a wicked rookie campaign from Randle. Ed Davis, not an awful addition either.

Long story short, health and Kobe (and Kobe's health) will determine this team's course. He isn't 05-07 Kobe anymore, he's in his mid-30s after a lengthy career, so I'd be happy just to see him play 75 games and, if relevant, the playoffs. Maybe this will be a 96-Jordan Renaissance season after some time off, but we'll see. Kobe should be scaled down to 34-36 mpg, tops, if Scott is smarter than Mike D (short putt, that).

LA won only 34 games with a cruddy roster and prime Kobe in 05, though it took Rudy T's health failing and him leaving the team to facilitate that collapse. They were actually 24-19 before Hamblen took over, on pace for
55 wins. I suspect they'd have tailed off anyway, but with Kobe posting 28/6/6 in 40, 41 mpg on 56.3% TS / 111 ORTG, that was not so surprising. If he can post 25/5/5 on 55 / 109 even ("even," like that's easy...), then LA with their current roster and health does have an outside shot at 45ish wins and an 8th seed berth (too bad they aren't in the EC, lol).

It's all health and Kobe, though.

[dznutzz]

i'm a laker fan and i'll keep it real..... making the playoffs will be impossible unless linsanity 3.0 comes through

[Zion Wembanyama]

I refuse to take the Lakers serious, until Kobe retires.

#forbasketballreasons