with Bynum out for at least 8 weeks (knee injury), and Chris Mihm out for 3 weeks, rumor has it the Lakers are looking at bringing in free agent Chris Webber to fill in the 5-spot. I think he would be a perfect addition to the triangle offense, seeing as he is a great passer and can also knock down that midrange jumper.

Modified by s13jus10 at 1:15 PM 3/16/2008

The Lakers definitely have a good team going this year. Bynum is a great young player, isnt Kareem working with him? He's going to be incredible. Derek Fisher was a great grab for you guys this year. Farmar is bad as hell too.

Did you hear Bynum dropping the F bomb on national TV?

And how about Boston on a two loss streak? My Pistons loosing to the Knicks on Sunday...things are getting crazy in the East.

Yeah, Fisher is doing amazing things this year, he's a lot more mature and overall a great leader. he's actually team captain this year, Lamar Odom was last year. and yeah, Bynum is getting trained by Kareem. He, along with everyone coming off the bench (Farmar, Crittenton, Ariza, Vujacic..), have all vastly improved from last year and are finally clicking as a team. IIRC, Lakers have like 2nd or 3rd highest scoring bench in the league. but IMO, Bynum is the best center in the league right now after Dwight Howard. He's only 20yrs old and is already dominating the paint/glass.

Yeah, I heard Boston lost to Washington AGAIN! wow.. and Detroit losing to New York 89-65????

lol. Can't wait 'til All-Star Weekend

Rip scored 39 points tonight, love that guy. He's been our PPG guy for at least 3 or 4 seasons now.

The Lakers bench as you've said have come leaps and bounds. Mostly the same players but they play with a purpose now. Kobe has been dishing the ball more over the past year or two, and everyone on the team is benefiting. No matter how good you are, you cant win a game by yourself. Point in case, Lebron and the Cavs.

EDIT: Talking about Dyess, I just checked out the box score and he had SEVEN steals in 33 minutes. Nice hands Antonio!

GO CAVS!! lol

this coming post season is definitely gonna be one to remember. with the West suddenly getting "bigger" with all the recent trades, it really seems to be a complete toss up with who's coming out on top. although it may be a little biased, here's my prediction hehe:

Western Conference Finals:
LAKERS VS either SPURS/SUNS

I think Lakers/Spurs would be a great match up. with the spurs having recently acquired Kurt Thomas, their inside presence (particularly on D) really beefed up. not only is Thomas a great post defender, but his presence also frees up Duncan to do some damage on the offensive end of the floor. and with Bruce Bowen (always a great on-ball defender) on Kobe, we could definitely see a 7-game series here.

Lakers/Suns would be an easy call. we're 3-1 against Phoenix this season, and none of those games were with all Lakers fully healthy. Lakers take it in 5, maybe 6 games.

Eatern Conference Finals:
BOSTON VS. either DETROIT/CAVS

Boston is in the Final regardless. I don't care what you say. lol

IMO it's a toss up between DET and CLE. we all know Detroit is still the powerhouse they always were, but with a deeper bench than ever before with Arron Afflalo, Rodney Stuckey, etc they're even more deadly. and their chemistry seems to be the best it's been post-Ben. BUT...with cleveland's new contributions from the likes of Szczerbiak, Big Ben, and the great King James, it's hard to tell how well they'll fare against Detroit as of now. either way, I still say Boston takes the final slice of the Eastern cake.

NBA FINALS:
LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. BOSTON CELTICS

yup.. we all wished it would happen. now we're back in the 80's. my thoughts: yes, Boston does have Paul Pierce....and Ray Allen..........AND Kevin Garnett. but hey.. who else do they have? IMHO, the Lakers big 5 (Bynum, Gasol, Odom, Bryant, Fisher) will be more than a handful for the Celtics to handle. and with the League's 5th highest scoring bench, the Lakers will more than likely have the upper hand against Boston in a 7-game series. Boston is just too shallow. amazing starters, but a very very weak supporting cast. my final verdict: Lakers can take it in 6 games, but Boston may be able to force a game 7. either way.... Lakers are too big, too strong, and too deep for Boston to keep up with.

NBA CHAMPIONS:
LOS ANGELES LAKERS!

Modified by s13jus10 at 1:10 AM 2/27/2008

The East is a lot easier to follow right now in the standings. Boston and Detroit are way out in front. Dont think the Celtics are a runaway train either - the Pistons are only 2 games back. They have split their two meetings with the third coming up on March 5th, definitely a game to watch.

94 Q45, 72 MGB, 07 G35.

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you and me both brotha! and let's not forget, ariza will be coming off the bench. so that makes a second string of :Farmar, Sasha, Ariza, Walton, Mihm/Turiaf: not half bad!

as for Boston.. yeah, it seems they're really starting to run out of gas. did you see that game against Phoenix? ray allen was like 3-12, paul pierce 2-13... I guess fatigue of carrying an entire team is really starting to hit them. but you're right... I may need to change my predictions up a bit, it does seem that a LAKER/PISTON final is more likely. is that march 5th game at the palace?

and yeah we should have won both games against detroit. no offense xekushnr

March 5th is @ Boston. Boston lost to the Suns, and the Pistons smoked the Suns by 30 points on Sunday. Like I said before, we split the first two with our win coming in Beantown, so I'm optimistic.

Cant wait for baseball season to get started in a month too. The Tigers have an incredible team this year. You guys baseball fans?

ehh, not so much. even if I was mildly a fan, I'd be more following NBA post season (or the road to). you're just a big Detroit fan aren't you haha

on another note... how bout them Rockets?? looks to me like they've picked up where Portland left off before the break. Lakers aren't too far behind either, with 9 straight wins (well, I think it's safe to make it 10 straight wins, tonight's game being against Miami )

Portland is a very young and athletic team that's going to be around/competitive for a while. I mean once Oden comes into the mix and they start jelling, look out. I've always had respect for Nate McMillan. He was a never say die hard nose player and he coaches that way.

We can't win every game. I'm sure we'll get'em next time.

I'm much more nervous about the Pistons game on March 5th at Boston now. Cassell got released from the Clippers and Boston wants him. As if they weren't dangerous enough before, they are now going to add a lot more experience to their young team if they get Cassell. It's very hard to believe that Boston will fall short of the Finals. They are definitely the team to beat this year.

not true.. he got Rookie of the Year last season. he has just continued to contribute more this year because he is growing and getting better and better. he's not the only reason the Blazers are doing good this year (though he may be a big part). Lamarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw, Jarrett Jack, Steve Blake etc are all playing really well. not to mention McMillan doing a fantastic job behind the clipboard. They are the youngest team in the league, and are stocked full of fresh legs ready to run. Greg Oden will only make them even more of a contender when he returns.

Yeah I've heard about the Cassell deal that might go down. but don't lose the faith for any other team to take them out, whether it be in the Finals or before then. we can't forget that year when the Lakers starters consisted of Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, and Shaquille Oneal and still managed to get damn near swept by Detroit in the Finals (4-1).

Pistons/Celtics game is on now. If you can get it, you may want to watch it.

Boy the playoffs out here in the West are gonna be sooooome intense series. I think what Charles said last night is pretty interesting about the #2 seed, having the easier road to the Conference Finals.

Can't wait for the playoffs to get going!

I'm honestly starting to lose faith in a possible Pistons/Celtics matchup in the East. Pistons can take any other team in the east, but I think its fairly obvious that it will come down to a Detroit/Boston matchup before the finals and I'm not sure how they will fare. Boston DID end up grabbing Cassell, and that's going to bring a lot more experience and skill to round out their lineup. As long as Detroit can play CONSISTENTLY against Boston, they can win. They still have more depth in the lineup than the Celtics. The problem is how streaky they are playing Boston. They will miss 6 straight field goals, then go on a 10-0 run. In the first 6 minutes of the game on the 5th, the Pistons were 1/9. If they manage to get in front of Boston before the playoffs, it will be much easier on the Pistons to play those home court games.

Screw the playoffs, its already intense in the West. The GSW might take that bottom spot again, and if that's the case I would be a little nervous if I were sitting in first. I'm sure we will see a bunch of seat swapping in the West before we hit postseason.

The GSW are not going to surprise anyone this year. Unless they play the Mavericks again or Phoenix. I know the Rockets are on a roll and the Spurs are playing very good. I still like our chances.

What are you talking about? too many noobs??

the youngest player on the team (aside from Coby Karl, who doesn't play) is Jordan Farmar and he's playing at a degree where he could be mistaken as a veteran! he's probably the best sophomore point guard in the league! only one close is Daniel Gibson. and who else would you consider a "noob"? Sasha? Bynum? Turiaf? if so, please explain to me what makes their gameplay and contributions "noob"-like.

how can you say there's "no way" the Lakers win it all? they're number 1 in the Western Conference during a time when the league has the most talent and competition it's had in years, and in the eyes of pretty much every NBA analyst, are the "team to beat". they're pretty much a shoo-in for the Conference Finals at least.

.....maybe.......PAU GASOL?? LAMAR ODOM?? almost the entire Laker roster has playoff experience minus a select couple.

you're crazy if you honestly think the league is "sorry" right now. the Western Conference is so tight that losing two games in a row could bring you from 2nd or 3rd to 5th or 6th.

years of being in the league have no reflection on quality of gameplay. if Andrew Bynum is a "noob", then so is Deron Williams. so is Chris Paul.

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s13jus10-0

Quote, originally posted by redtop91 »

who on the Lakers has Finals experience?

Paper basketball is gay though. The Lakers have potential but I just don't think they have enough talent now to win it all. Proof is in the pudding though.

Modified by redtop91 at 1:47 PM 3/16/2008

^^none of which have "Finals experience" (as you say) except for Gary Payton, but that was back in '96 with the Sonics (wikipedia ftw).

I don't know about you, but I would take a combo of Fisher/Kobe/Odom/Gasol/Bynum anyday over Wade/Payton/Haslem/Mourning/Shaq.