Are the Lakers going back to the Finals?

[cvballa23]

I would still take the Suns, Mavs, Jazz, Hornets, and Spurs all over the Lakers if they played in a 7-game series. So, to answer your question:

No chance in hell.

HAHAHAAHAHA... that is awesome considering the Lakers blew out the Hornets by 31 in New Orleans a few games before Bynum got hurt and they beat the suns twice (1 in pheonix which was a blowout) before his injury, same with the Jazz. They have played the mavs once and lost but without bynum and the spurs twice, both with Bynum and split, but TP was out during the win in LA.

Now you add Gasol and they "Have no chance in hell?" HAHAHAHHAHA... pure comedy. Only team that worries the lakers is the Spurs.

You must be high or something...

[SDChargers#1]

For all the people who say that other teams have more talent, please tell me a team that has all of the following...

-Top 3 player in the NBA (I would say top, but for arguments sake)
-Top 3 Bench in the NBA (Farmar, Sasha, Vlad, Turiaf)
-TWO significant post presences (One who thrives on the inside, the other who thrives shooting and slashing as well as back to the basket ability)
-A 4th option who averages 13/9/4

When Bynum comes back, NO TEAM, has the talent to match up with the Lakers, but the Lakers have the talent to match up with ANYONE.

[Magz50]

For all the people who say that other teams have more talent, please tell me a team that has all of the following...

-Top 3 player in the NBA (I would say top, but for arguments sake)
-Top 3 Bench in the NBA (Farmar, Sasha, Vlad, Turiaf)
-TWO significant post presences (One who thrives on the inside, the other who thrives shooting and slashing as well as back to the basket ability)
-A 4th option who averages 13/9/4

When Bynum comes back, NO TEAM, has the talent to match up with the Lakers, but the Lakers have the talent to match up with ANYONE.

A) Spurs, Celtics, Suns, Dallas all have a player in the same elite status as Lakers.

B) Spurs, Toronto, Portland, Dallas and Sonics all have a better bench than the lakers.

C) I'll give the Lakers this one. Although i still take a KG, Dirk or Duncan in a must win game over the combo of Gasol and Bynum.

D) There's no way Odom will put up those numbers once both Bynum and Gasol play. He'll drop considerably to an average starter with below par numbers.

[Patterns]

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HAHAHAAHAHA... that is awesome considering the Lakers blew out the Hornets by 31 in New Orleans a few games before Bynum got hurt and they beat the suns twice (1 in pheonix which was a blowout) before his injury, same with the Jazz. They have played the mavs once and lost but without bynum and the spurs twice, both with Bynum and split, but TP was out during the win in LA.

Now you add Gasol and they "Have no chance in hell?" HAHAHAHHAHA... pure comedy. Only team that worries the lakers is the Spurs.

You must be high or something...

I agree. I think we can handle every team in the West except for maybe the Spurs because they have so much experience and Ginobili scares me.

[Deuce33]

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I agree. I think we can handle every team in the West except for maybe the Spurs because they have so much experience and Ginobili scares me.

Manu is actually my second favorite player in the league behind Kobe, and I more than anybody know what that man is capable of lol. But I do feel with the added presence of Gasol to relieve some of the scoring, Kobe will be able to up his defense once again to really "contain" not shutdown a player such as ginobili. That will go a long way to how we really match up with the Spurs.

[Magz50]

I must admit i'm looking forward to a possible Lakers VS Spurs WCF match up once again. Just like the ol days!

Duncan VS Bynum/Gasol

Bowen and Udoka VS Kobe

TP and Stoudamire VS Fisher and Farmar

Manu VS the whole Lakers bench lol.

[Heat3]

Has the new team played yet? I would say for sure going to WCF if they are not injured. I would even root for them in the Finals if they play the Celtics lol.

[SDChargers#1]

A) Spurs, Celtics, Suns, Dallas all have a player in the same elite status as Lakers.

B) Spurs, Toronto, Portland, Dallas and Sonics all have a better bench than the lakers.

C) I'll give the Lakers this one. Although i still take a KG, Dirk or Duncan in a must win game over the combo of Gasol and Bynum.

D) There's no way Odom will put up those numbers once both Bynum and Gasol play. He'll drop considerably to an average starter with below par numbers.

1) So I assume you are saying that Garnett, Duncan, Dirk, and Nash are on the same level as Kobe?

Honestly, I guess you can make the argument, but let's take a look.

Nash (Only better at passing and the %s), Kobe plays >>> defense than Nash and is a MUCH more dangerous scorer.

Dirk (Only better at rebounding), Kobe plays better defense, and once again the much more dangerous scorer.

Garnett and Duncan you have legit arguments, although Kobe is still a MUCH greater scoring threat than either. And a much better passer than Duncan.

2) According to the #s, the Lakers bench has the 3rd highest ppg in the NBA. In addition, who cares about the Sonics, Toronto, or Portland? They DON'T have a top 3 player in the NBA, they DON'T have two big post presences. So who cares if their benches may be comparable to the Lakers. The Lakers bench is what sets them apart from teams like the Suns, Utah, and Golden State that really rely on their starting 5.

3) True, but you already used Duncan, KG, and Dirk in your argument. The Lakers have a top 3 players (Kobe) AND 2 post presences (Bynum and Gasol). Dallas, San Antonio, and Boston's best player also happens to be their post presence.

4) His rebounding will probably drop, but I expect his assist numbers to go up, and his scoring may very well go up considering he won't be doubled any time soon.

[Magz50]

A) Spurs, Celtics, Suns, Dallas all have a player in the same elite status as Lakers.



3) True, but you already used Duncan, KG, and Dirk in your argument. The Lakers have a top 3 players (Kobe) AND 2 post presences (Bynum and Gasol). Dallas, San Antonio, and Boston's best player also happens to be their post presence.

Ok then i'll take out the big three of Kobe, Duncan and KG.

This is where things get hazy. Both Parker and Ginobili are bigger clutch threats than Bynum and Gasol. As are Ray Allen and Pierce. These are TWO guys that can create their own shot at the end of the game. Whereas Lakers only have Kobe for that. So it kinda equals out the advantage of the size the Lakers will have. It's going to be interesting either way. I just wanna see how the team meshes first before i say too much. I may be proven completely wrong, or totally right. Only time will tell.

Anyways, i'm glad you haven't resorted to name calling lol. Good to argue with someone who is using actual facts to back it up.

[Kobay]

Lakers only jumped a notch because we turned a huge negative into a positive not a huge positive one but a nice positive.

And stop overrating lamar the dude has been three years with the lakers and only continues to decline and hasn't even earned the trust of kobe while gasol already has. Hell how reliable is Lamar odom? comon as a laker fan you should know that. Only positives lakers have is Kobe, gasol, Ronny Turiaf and Bynum. The rest is show up or don't just like other team's role players.

[Patterns]

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Ok then i'll take out the big three of Kobe, Duncan and KG.

This is where things get hazy. Both Parker and Ginobili are bigger clutch threats than Bynum and Gasol. As are Ray Allen and Pierce. These are TWO guys that can create their own shot at the end of the game. Whereas Lakers only have Kobe for that. So it kinda equals out the advantage of the size the Lakers will have. It's going to be interesting either way. I just wanna see how the team meshes first before i say too much. I may be proven completely wrong, or totally right. Only time will tell.

Anyways, i'm glad you haven't resorted to name calling lol. Good to argue with someone who is using actual facts to back it up.

See, that's where Odom comes in. We're actually the big 4 and the Spurs are the Big 3. That's what makes people afraid of the Lakers: Odom. We have our big 3:Kobe, Bynum, Gasol but we also have a talented PF/SF who can rebound as well as anyone and is a play maker.

It'll be interesting to see how these two teams match up though. Too bad we won't play again in the season.

[LakersSquad]

Only team in the west I see beating LA is the Spurs. Everybody else I I think the odds are in our favor.

[Magz50]

I can appreciate that, however in saying that then guys like Finley, Barry, Rondo, Bell, Barbosa, Horry, Terry etc can all be considered a "big" player because they have all proven they can hit daggers at the end of games. I just don't buy into Odom as a bigtime player. He is a good player, but most teams have role players that make just as many important plays as he does for the Lakers.

[LakersSquad]

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Ok then i'll take out the big three of Kobe, Duncan and KG.

This is where things get hazy. Both Parker and Ginobili are bigger clutch threats than Bynum and Gasol. As are Ray Allen and Pierce. These are TWO guys that can create their own shot at the end of the game. Whereas Lakers only have Kobe for that. So it kinda equals out the advantage of the size the Lakers will have. It's going to be interesting either way. I just wanna see how the team meshes first before i say too much. I may be proven completely wrong, or totally right. Only time will tell.

Anyways, i'm glad you haven't resorted to name calling lol. Good to argue with someone who is using actual facts to back it up.

hmmmmm good point although I think Fisher might have something to say about clutchness. But heres the thing the Triangle offense is good for getting even the avg scorer some pts.

[LakersSquad]

Odom is a disappointment but with Pau and Bynum we can deal with his ups & downs because he'll do something on most nights like get 7 ast or grab 15 rebs even though Bynum done already grabbed 10 and Kobe 7. Those are things we count on him for.

[Magz50]

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hmmmmm good point although I think Fisher might have something to say about clutchness. But heres the thing the Triangle offense is good for getting even the avg scorer some pts.

Fisher definitely is clutch (believe me that guy has broken my heart many a time) , i was talking more about allstar players for each team that score 20+ a game. I'd put fisher in the Horry group of clutch role players.

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

Kobe + Fisher Clutch. 2 Seven footers in the post to clean up missed shots. I like our chances.

[EHL]

Logic says yes barring health/chemistry issues.

[Bgil]

For all the people who say that other teams have more talent, please tell me a team that has all of the following...

-Top 3 player in the NBA (I would say top, but for arguments sake)
-Top 3 Bench in the NBA (Farmar, Sasha, Vlad, Turiaf)
-TWO significant post presences (One who thrives on the inside, the other who thrives shooting and slashing as well as back to the basket ability)
-A 4th option who averages 13/9/4

When Bynum comes back, NO TEAM, has the talent to match up with the Lakers, but the Lakers have the talent to match up with ANYONE.

That's just it... the bench is only good on this team put them nearly anywhere else and they fail. I highly doubt Sasha, Fisher, Luke, and Ariza would be as good on any other team. Bynum might not be as good either as on other teams he'd probably see double teams which he NEVER sees playing in our system and next to Kobe/LO.

that said, other than the bench aspect I'd say PHX has better talent. They don't have two post players but they have superior wing players (ignoring Kobe), a superstar post player, and two awesome PG's. Their fourth option (Barbosa) averages pretty good numbers too. So does their fifth option, Raja Bell/Diaw.

Denver has two superstars to our one. IMO they are superior to us at positions 1-3. their 4's aren't awesome but they aren't crap either. Marcus Camby is a pretty damn good center too. Their bench just sucks ass. Oh yeah, their coaching is crap too.

Lebron has a wealth of talent that is just being underused. Gooden is a solid 15/10 if not better on any other team IMO. Hughes was 20ppg and first team defense before he got to CLE. He's a bit of a chucker though.
Big Z is getting older now but I thought he was one of the top 3 true centers in the league before D12 took off. Their bench *should* be decent too... Pavlovic, Anderson, Jones, Marshall, Newble, Brown... their paper thin at the C spot but they have talent everywhere else. They just all play like crap.

[EHL]

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Umm, how about you check Odom's numbers the past two seasons and postseasons and not look at a halfway completed season where he's coming off an injury and is clearly playing below his usual level. There's no reason to suspect that his current level of play will continue indefinitely when we have the last 3-5 seasons as evidence to the contrary.

Odom has no shot at 15+ ppg as a 4th option if he's playing the 3 spot. His jumper has always been shaky since his rookie Clipper days. No matter how much attention Kobe/Bynum/Gasol draws he's still not going to hit from outside consistently (he never has) and that'll be a problem for him when he tries to score from the wing. He's also pretty limited as a creator off the dribble despite his physical talent, since he only goes left (no off hand) and has little to no counters in the post.

I also don't see him nearing 5 apg. When Bynum was breaking out in December and January (relegating Odom to 3rd option status) Odom's overall numbers dipped below his averages from the past 3 seasons, both in ppg and especially in apg, which were cut in half from his averages over the last 3 years as a Laker (something like 2.8 apg). So as 4th option there is little to no chance he'll be scoring 15+ ppg; don't even see how that's possible considering he has averaged that for 3 years in LA as a 2nd option. 12-13 ppg is about right, and probably 3-4 assists a game. Unless he magically improves his jumper of course, but since he's never healthy he'll probably continue to not be able to work on his jumper.

Also, I'm not even sure why you post in Laker-related threads, you clearly have a negative bias due to Kobe Bryant being a Laker. Whether it was your conviction that he'd never score 30+ ppg on 46%+ shooting in his career, that he'd never play for Team USA or help them win, or that he'd never even enter the All Star 3-point competition like Jordan because he would be "afraid" of failing...seriously, at this point your predictive capabilities have been proven historically horrid.