Lakers Just Became the Best Team in the League

[daveisceltics]

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What ?

Who told you that ?

ESPN never said that .

ESPN news said it when they talked on the phone with some guy.
I can't give you the details because my girlfriend wouldn't stop talking.
But i assure you he did say that when they announced the trade.

[wetsthebed]

This still doesn't put them close to the Spurs as far as I'm concerned.

[greenbeans]

This still doesn't put them close to the Spurs as far as I'm concerned.

exxxacttttly

[Joebiscuit]

If I understand the trade than they got Gasol for next to nothing. Good trade for the lakers even though I think Gasol is a little overrated.

[TonyMontana]

This still doesn't put them close to the Spurs as far as I'm concerned.

I love this , first it the Suns they couldnt beat , since they beat them twice , now its the Spurs they cant beat .

Have you watched any Spurs games , they're beating themselves .
There 29-16 , they arent the same Spurs anymore .

They are old and they're falling apart game by game .

I wouldve givin more credit to the Suns and Warriors than the Spurs .

[daveisceltics]

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I love this , first it the Suns they couldnt beat , since they beat them twice , now its the Spurs they cant beat .

Have you watched any Spurs games , they're beating themselves .
There 29-16 , they arent the same Spurs anymore .

They are old and they're falling apart game by game .

I wouldve givin more credit to the Suns and Warriors than the Spurs .

The Spurs lost 2 more games then they did last year at this point.
And you know what happened last season don't you?

[greenbeans]

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I love this , first it the Suns they couldnt beat , since they beat them twice , now its the Spurs they cant beat .

Have you watched any Spurs games , they're beating themselves .
There 29-16 , they arent the same Spurs anymore .

They are old and they're falling apart game by game .

I wouldve givin more credit to the Suns and Warriors than the Spurs .

have you not paid attention to the current dynasty they have. they arent the C's or new-look Lakers, they dont need to prove themselves, they make their bones in June, not January

[JahReid]

A Lakers/Celtics championship would be legendary. I still have a few doubts about just how Odom is going to fit in now. LA should try and dump him somewhere for a legitimate PG; that would really fill out their roster nicely. It's scary to imagine Gasol in LA, and Memphis got nothing they need besides capspace in return.

I think I might agree with Steven A Smith for once, "the Lakers are the favorite (in the West)" If they somehow ended up with Kidd, even at the expense of Bynum, the Lakers would be the favorite in the league.

[JHTruth]

Gasol can't guard TD to save his life. Bynum is just too raw at this point. You can't count on him to shut down Duncan under playoff pressure. The Spurs still have a decided advantage there..

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

I think I might agree with Steven A Smith for once, "the Lakers are the favorite (in the West)" If they somehow ended up with Kidd, even at the expense of Bynum, the Lakers would be the favorite in the league.

I think the Hornets and Spurs are better, maybe Utah. Lakers are fourth though.

[NBAWestFan]

You Celitics Fans are hoping Lakers are not as good as they could be.

When they are healthy with Ariza playing D and IF Bynum comes back I expect them to make a strong run at the spurs.

The Spurs look older and barely beat the Lakers w/Kwame. Tony Parker has bone spurs in his foot.

I don't think Paul Gasol will take long to fit in.
It is the beg of Feb. He has 3 months at least. For a professional with a reasonable amount of smarts like Gasol I see no problem. Ariza did fine learning in a very short time.

The Lakers have to worry about whether Parker gets healthy and Dallas and Phoenix. I expect them to edge the healthy Spurs in 6 or 7.

Detroit I think will take alot out of the Celtics. Right now I m not so sure who will when. But I expect a 7 game series. A close series

Then a Laker vs Detroit or Celtics. We won't know until it happens and either way it will be close. The Lakers have a good bench if Ariza, Radman, Ronny and Farmar. The Lakers if healthy will have the best bench out of these three.

If the Spurs stay healthy and grind it out and somehow Horry comes back to life along with Finley, Barry, Ginobli they might be able to grind it out against the Lakers but it will take them 7.

Either Way it is the Spurs or Lakers
vs the Celtics or Detroit.

Phoenix and Dallas will be close and depending how the playoffs are setup
can determine who comes out of the West.

If Lebron and crew get a star they will make it more interesting in the East.

I guess will have an idea when the Lakers play the spurs, phoenix, detroit or dallas.

Also if Bynum doesn't come back that will put the Lakers out or slightly behind.

[ParticleMan]

Wow, Laker fans are suddenly a bunch of overconfident trolls!!



Well I for one am hoping for a Laker-Celtic final. Just like old times, only with air conditioning. But I'd say the Celtics are a much better bet to reach the finals than the Lakers.

Gasol/Odom might be the worst 3/4 defensive combo in the league. Bynum is good but methinks the Lakers are hyping him a bit much, I mean Kendrick Perkins has shut down the vaunted Saint Andrew Bynum twice now. Ouch. Gasol is certainly an upgrade, no question, but he is most effective when he is dominating the ball (the reason Memphis wanted to get rid of him in the first place), and with the Great Kobe in the building Gasol isn't going to get the touches. Without touches he is a mediocre player, because he does very little else useful on the court.

Because they gave away nothing and got something, this elevates the Lakers to a point where they would have a fighting chance against the Spurs (and LOL at looking at the reg season for the Spurs, they barely even pay attention to it), Mavs, and other elite WC teams. But to say hey are the best team in the league... ROFL... they aren't even obviously the best team in the WC.

Remember what wins championships: Defense and rebounding. That's why the C's are 35-8. That's why the Lakers didn't become the best team in the league just by getting Gasol, he doesn't help much in either.

[PPAW4Life]

I am not worried about the Lakers.

I am worried about Detroit, Cleveland and to a lesser extent Orlando.

[Craig McDermott]

[Day in the Life]

Gasol can't guard TD to save his life. Bynum is just too raw at this point. You can't count on him to shut down Duncan under playoff pressure. The Spurs still have a decided advantage there..

Um, Gasol doesn't need to guard TD. Bynum can handle Duncan fine...same with Ronny Turiaf to some extent. I don't know how the Spurs have a "decided" advantage when the Lakers can still go toe to toe with a healthy Gasol-less roster...and with the addition of Gasol...how do YOU expect the Spurs to defend both Bynum AND Gasol? Oh right...Oberto is such a great defender.

Lakers are pretty much the favorites to the Finals now. Suns? Not a problem. Expect Shawn Marion to guard Gasol? Rofl. Rockets? Please. Jazz? Blown out. Nuggets? No defense and will get abused downlow. New Orleans? Blown out by 30.

It's inevitable the Lakers will get to the Finals in the VERY near future.

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

I am not worried about the Lakers.

I am worried about Detroit, Cleveland and to a lesser extent Orlando.

Even if the Lakers were the favorites to go to the finals, we're in the East. We're not going to play them again in the regular season and if they do make the finals, that means they've taken care of NOH and the Spurs for us.

[Lakers05]

lol to the poster who said Bynum and Gasol are just like Curry and Randolph. Bynum alone is better than those two. The difference between the two pairs is that both Bynum and Gasol are 7'1(well at least Bynum is, not sure about Gasol, but he seems to look it), with condor wingspans, thus making them much better defenders(just look at the PER differential, Gasol is not as good but I think that has a lot to do with him playing out of position).

At this point, I'm not even worried about the Spurs. Bynum could already handle Duncan by himself, add in Gasol and it's no contest. I'd say they win one game at the most.

The Celtics? Before the trade, they would have been the only team I'd put above us. Now I'd say we're the favorites.

[wetsthebed]

I'm just gonna go ahead and ignore the Laker fans who are convinced that Pau friggen Gasol just made their team the best in the league. Again, Pau Gasol.

[Lakers05]

Gasol can't guard TD to save his life. Bynum is just too raw at this point. You can't count on him to shut down Duncan under playoff pressure. The Spurs still have a decided advantage there..

How is TD going to score with two 7'1(not 7'0, 7'1) guys patrolling the paint? If he faces up and tries to drive past Gasol, he'll lose all of his steps by the time he gets to the rim, in which case Bynum rejects him easily. If he tries to back Gasol down, Gasol has the length to block him.
Looks like we'll be giving TD back a taste of his own Twin Towers medicine.

Quite frankly, I'm much more worried about our perimeter D than any big, particularly Paul Pierce. None of our perimeter defenders has been able to stop him, and was actually the guy that got Bynum in foul trouble the most(it seems like he's a step quicker when it's a big game.) Let's hope Odom will do a better job next time.

[SLCceltic]

pau will give the achers some



but i still like my c's
pau is kG's woman/girlfriend

pau is a great player, KG is an elite player