LAKERS number 1 seed in the Western Conference. Officially

[Ballings7]

So Kwame's defense is irrelevant? I thought he was liked by Laker fans enough because of that.

[Showtime:Part2]

So Kwame's defense is irrelevant? I thought he was liked by Laker fans enough because of that.

there's two camps of laker fans. the ignant one's who support kwame, and the intelligent ones like me who want to ship his @$$ out.

[YiYaoYue]

Lakers are now a fringe playoff team without Bynum... bets are they will make it, but West is so strong a major injury like this could push lakers off contention.

[Slava]

Great accomplishment indeed but this is the West and there's only a 6.5 game difference between the 1st and 10th teams. One bad week and you could be out of the playoff bracket.

[Bgil]

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there's two camps of laker fans. the ignant one's who support kwame, and the intelligent ones like me who want to ship his @$$ out.

damn straight. I have no idea why some people think Kwame is going to magically gain PF skills. The first time I saw him airball a free-throw, three years ago. I knew he was going to be trash.

can't wait for Marc gasol though. All he needs to do in our offense catch the ball when Lamar or Kobe dish it to him and he'll fit in just fine. Kwame's best stints as a Laker basically coincide with streaks where he catches passes and finishes gimmies under the basket.

As a side note, I think Bynum going down will be Lamar's resurgence because he was always the best guy at setting up Kwame and giving him passes he could catch.

[Craig McDermott]

I know it wont last long without Bynum... But I find it hilarious how many RealGM'ers said that the Lakers would miss the playoffs

They're still doing it in this very thread and that's with a 15 game cushion. The uninformed hater brigade...gotta love them kids.

[hermes]

I'm a Lakers fan and first off I'd like to say that it's awesome that Boston and LA are number 1.

Secondly I'd like to say that alot of it was due to Bynum. Without Bynum we're screwed. With Bynum, make no mistake we'd maintain atleast top 4.

ya it could get ugly fast without bynum
i hope we can stay reasonably close

[semi-sentient]

Only time we'll be there this season, so might as well cherish it.

[Basti]

even though I really dislike the lakers, I say kudos to them. and yeah I admit it that I didn't have them on my list as playoff locks but even LAL fans should admit that it wasn't completely unreasonable to have that perception because of the "mess" they had in summer...

and losing bynum for 8 weeks must be pretty tough to compensate

[HarlemHeat37]

I had them as a 7-8 seed, and they're definitely better than that with the emergence of Bynum..

I don't see how they can stay at 1st with Bynum's injury and the tough schedule coming up though..Kobe's gonna have to drop around 40 every game to compete vs. the top teams they're going to be playing against coming up..

as a Spurs fan, I'd actually rather play Phoenix or Dallas as opposed to LA..

[Magz50]

Injuries are part of the game, the Spurs have lost all of their best three for chunks of the season already not to mention still not having Barry back. However we're still doing ok, not great but we're in the mix. Lakers just have to battle it out and see how they can step up without the bigman. I'm sure they'll do ok. It'll be interesting to see if they make the playoffs once the Utah's and Rox get momentum.

[joe.linnen]

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there's two camps of laker fans. the ignant one's who support kwame, and the intelligent ones like me who want to ship his @$$ out.

Its fans like you that make me damnit sick. If your a true fan damnit then you'll take the good with the bad. There is no in between in this at all. Kwame defense has helped us lots of times and don't you even discredit him for that. He may not be all that great on the offensive side but on the defensive side he has come up big for us. He'll do fine for us.

[Cracked Fingers]

actually i'am not a hater cause also i admire phil jackson, i only hate the spurs and the mavs.
when will some people understand that there are 82 games to play and not 60.

Oh we know. Andrew should be back before game 82.

[8'sReverse]

Woohoo #1 in the West.

[Day in the Life]

Lol, it's amazing how much Andrew affects the Lakers defensively...hopefully management signs another big man asap because butterfingers Kwame Brown isn't going to get it done.

[Joe Kleazy]

We will fall from #1 but the people claiming that we wont make the playoffs are sadly mistaken. I am loving bynum's progress but we did make the playoffs 2 years straight without his progress. Not to mention our team as a whole is better this season. NOW we do need to add a big for this up coming stretch but our sucess should allow for this to happen.

We just need to make sure that going in to the postseason that we are healthy, screw the seed since we are able to win on the road now.

Kobe will assume his old scoring role along with his new trust in his teammates. This injury allows the rest of the team to step up their games. Kobe is very fresh at this point of the year so out of 28 games I expect us to go somewhere near 17-11 .



KOBE + a healed, rested BYNUM + progressed laker role players = more playoff sucess regardless of the seed.

[The Laker Kid]

Stop wasting time trying to hate on Kwame. We all know he sucks but really, what can we do..? We just gotta work with what we have. I'd like to drive a Ferrari too - but guess what.. I can't afford it.

Also, we are not alone in the #1 spot as we share it with Phoenix. Ironically, we play them tomorrow... I expect to get hammered without Bynum and Kobe still sick.

I'm hoping for Bynum's speedy recovery...

[Papercut]

The Lakers have definitely exceeded everyone's expectations so far, and Bynum has looked ridiculously good in every game I've seen of theirs. But with the way the West is shaping up this year, LA could easily be on the outside looking in by the time Bynum gets back. They're only 5 games ahead of 9th place, and have an INSANE schedule coming up:

Thu 17 vs Phoenix
Mon 21 vs Denver
Wed 23 @ San Antonio
Fri 25 @ Dallas
Sun 27 vs Cleveland
Tue 29 vs New York
Thu 31 @ Detroit
February Opponent
Fri 01 @ Toronto
Sun 03 @ Washington
Tue 05 @ New Jersey
Wed 06 @ Atlanta
Fri 08 @ Orlando
Sun 10 @ Miami
Mon 11 @ Charlotte
Wed 13 @ Minnesota
Tue 19 vs Atlanta
Wed 20 @ Phoenix
Sat 23 @ LA Clippers
Sun 24 @ Seattle
Tue 26 vs Portland
Thu 28 vs Miami
Fri 29 @ Portland
March Opponent
Sun 02 vs Dallas
Tue 04 @ Sacramento
Fri 07 vs LA Clippers
Sun 09 vs Sacramento
Tue 11 vs Toronto
Fri 14 @ New Orleans
Sun 16 @ Houston
Tue 18 @ Dallas
Thu 20 @ Utah

Bynum will probably be back some time just before that last 4-game road trip. He could miss 27 games, and even if they play well without him, just playing .500 is going to be tough with that schedule. A 9-game road trip, and only 3 home games in February, plus multiple games against the top teams in the West. They're going to need Bynum to come back quickly and come back strong to even make the playoffs.

[Joe Kleazy]

The Lakers have definitely exceeded everyone's expectations so far, and Bynum has looked ridiculously good in every game I've seen of theirs. But with the way the West is shaping up this year, LA could easily be on the outside looking in by the time Bynum gets back. They're only 5 games ahead of 9th place, and have an INSANE schedule coming up:

Thu 17 vs Phoenix----L
Mon 21 vs Denver
Wed 23 @ San Antonio---L
Fri 25 @ Dallas
Sun 27 vs Cleveland
Tue 29 vs New York
Thu 31 @ Detroit-----L
February Opponent
Fri 01 @ Toronto
Sun 03 @ Washington
Tue 05 @ New Jersey------L
Wed 06 @ Atlanta
Fri 08 @ Orlando
Sun 10 @ Miami
Mon 11 @ Charlotte
Wed 13 @ Minnesota
Tue 19 vs Atlanta
Wed 20 @ Phoenix------L
Sat 23 @ LA Clippers
Sun 24 @ Seattle
Tue 26 vs Portland------L
Thu 28 vs Miami
Fri 29 @ Portland--------L
March Opponent
Sun 02 vs Dallas---------L
Tue 04 @ Sacramento
Fri 07 vs LA Clippers
Sun 09 vs Sacramento
Tue 11 vs Toronto
Fri 14 @ New Orleans--------L
Sun 16 @ Houston--------?
Tue 18 @ Dallas------L
Thu 20 @ Utah------L

Bynum will probably be back some time just before that last 4-game road trip. He could miss 27 games, and even if they play well without him, just playing .500 is going to be tough with that schedule. A 9-game road trip, and only 3 home games in February, plus multiple games against the top teams in the West. They're going to need Bynum to come back quickly and come back strong to even make the playoffs.

I think that the next 6 may be the most complicated, but even though next mont has mostly road games that the schedule is not at brutal as some think. Losing bynum will hurt us moreso against teams that have good Bigs not against every team. I predict around 11-12 losses over the next 28.

That long east coast road trip is not as bad as it could be and people forget that other top teams will lose games here and there also. Our record will not just be based on our games only.

[Doctor MJ]

I see two extremist in this thread that make me roll my eyes.

People who say the Lakers will miss the playoff - WTF? Honestly, when was the last time a #1 seed in January missed the playoffs. This team is legit. I won't say I favor them to get to the Finals, but they are a contender.

People mocking others for underestimating the Lakers - Dude, when your own star thought the team was crap, then nobody with any kind of objectivity expected this. This isn't to say you didn't, just that if you did you had no rational basis for it.