How are the Lakers "the team to beat"?

[Mainstreet]

If we switched teams with the Lakers we'd love the heck out of them.

I'd even settle for Gasol. I've always felt his game was perfect for the Suns. Instead, no KG no Gasol. With these two players the Suns could have upped their running game.

 

[pokerface]

I'd even settle for Gasol. I've always felt his game was perfect for the Suns. Instead, no KG no Gasol. With these two players the Suns could have upped their running game.

Yeah Gasol would have been "da bomb" on the Suns. What a perfect fit that would have been.

I mean Gasol was taken from the Grizz for a song and a dance...We couldn't have done a better deal??

 

[CaptainInsano]

I said that about the mavs last year too. there is a lot that will be settled in the playoffs. and any team 1-8 can beat one another come that time. the east is different obviously. 4 team race IMO.

You can't say that though, that is ignoring the cold hard facts:

It was an injury riddled season for almost the entire nba, the mavs dodged most of the plauge, netting them a lot of wins.

Mavs had no inside scoring presence. The Lakers have TWO in gasol and bynum, and odom can do a lot of damage on size mismatches, which he basically will always have now with the bynum + gasol + odom tandem.

Mavs had no real pointguardy type of point guard while the lakers Dizzle Fish is the sizzle for rizzle (Ok I am sorry for just doing that) and Farmer is bastardly good for a backup PG.

I hate the lakers, and I know they are going to win it all. Screw you basketball gods, I hope you get the deific version of cancer.

 

[arwillan]

I'd even settle for Gasol. I've always felt his game was perfect for the Suns. Instead, no KG no Gasol. With these two players the Suns could have upped their running game.

gasol can't play any defense either. he would be better than shaq, but he really doesn't solve our biggest problem.

 

[CaptainInsano]

Yeah Gasol would have been "da bomb" on the Suns. What a perfect fit that would have been.

I mean Gasol was taken from the Grizz for a song and a dance...We couldn't have done a better deal??

We already sold our picks for the fabled preorian djinni of najjalbar mcnootshenshveen.

I just made that up.

Aka it doesn't exist.

AKA we got nothing.

Would have been nice if we actually got that djinni though eh?

 

[arwillan]

We already sold our picks for the fabled preorian djinni of najjalbar mcnootshenshveen.

I just made that up.

Aka it doesn't exist.

AKA we got nothing.

Would have been nice if we actually got that djinni though eh?

i hear that guys has a great stroke!

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

gasol can't play any defense either. he would be better than shaq, but he really doesn't solve our biggest problem.

True, but there was a way for the Suns to land Gasol without giving up Marion in which case our defense would've become slightly better than it is now thanks to added size and rebounding but the offense would be pretty much unstoppable.

 

[CaptainInsano]

gasol can't play any defense either. he would be better than shaq, but he really doesn't solve our biggest problem.

If he would have just been added onto the Amare + marion tandem he sure as hell would have solved our problems.

He would get a good number of rebounds, and even though he is soft picked up the fouls that wouldn't go on amare.

We could have been great..

Edit: Imagine the ATL and the 2 of the suns first we gave up + KT for gasol, a bit tough on us giving that ATL and KT, but memphis would have laughed the lakers right out of the deal at that point after we offered them that. Nice job sarver you incompetent imbecile. How does the money smell now?

 

[D-Dogg]

I said that about the mavs last year too and they stomped teams for a longer period of time than the current lakers have. since the gasol trade.......sure i give you that. but they have much more to prove than what they have done in a very small stretch. there is a lot that will be settled in the playoffs. and any team 1-8 can beat one another come that time. the east is different obviously. 4 team race IMO.

They've been stomping teams all year...before Gasol too. They are second in the league with most 20 point wins...third with most 15 point wins. They are currently third in point differential, and have been in the top 5 in that stat almost all year.

 

[pokerface]

Do we still own the atlanta pick?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Do we still own the atlanta pick?

Yeah, but we pretty much had to keep it considering we don't own another 1st rounder until 2011.

Although at this rate we're in luck because that 2011 will probably be lotto. So will the 2010 Seattle has.

 

[Lorenzo]

You can't say that though, that is ignoring the cold hard facts:

It was an injury riddled season for almost the entire nba, the mavs dodged most of the plauge, netting them a lot of wins.

Mavs had no inside scoring presence. The Lakers have TWO in gasol and bynum, and odom can do a lot of damage on size mismatches, which he basically will always have now with the bynum + gasol + odom tandem.

Mavs had no real pointguardy type of point guard while the lakers Dizzle Fish is the sizzle for rizzle (Ok I am sorry for just doing that) and Farmer is bastardly good for a backup PG.

I hate the lakers, and I know they are going to win it all. Screw you basketball gods, I hope you get the deific version of cancer.

the mavs dodged everyone except for GS. that was the only team they couldn't beat all season(lost every game) and it hung over. and the numbers prove it. those are the facts cold or hard. you can blame it on injuries or make other excuses but 67 wins after losing the first 4 isn't only because of a plague. the plague hit them in the playoffs. everyone last year only talked about dallas or phoenix and ignored every other team. You can't do that especially this year. even if you are a fan of a contender.

I do agree that the lakers have a complete team......although fisher is not elite nor close to being that. they don't need him to be though. they need him for his D and outside shot. I don't think you can crown the lakers quite yet though because of one nice stretch of games.

 

[Lorenzo]

They've been stomping teams all year...before Gasol too. They are second in the league with most 20 point wins...third with most 15 point wins. They are currently third in point differential, and have been in the top 5 in that stat almost all year.

I understand that. and they did have a great start. although it was apparant that they had to make a move when bynum went down. I saw their last game vs. dallas without bynum and they wern't going anywhere with that. since gasol they have been very good. I'm just not ready to say they are instant champs yet. there are just too many solid teams. you see what the hornets did to a good team tonight. the spurs finally are doing what they do and that's play like champs. let's not forget they do have the best BIG in the game. ginobli is playing at a career best level over the last week or so, and parker is back. the suns still have plenty of time to get things back together. the mavs have a HOF PG....who still plays like one as we speak. then there are teams like the jazz who pound for pound are as good as anyone. the rockets were on track but once again can't stay healthy. GS is very dangerous as I know too well. GS is so good offensively....remind me of nellie's old mavs.

 

[D-Dogg]

I understand that. and they did have a great start. although it was apparant that they had to make a move when bynum went down. I saw their last game vs. dallas without bynum and they wern't going anywhere with that. since gasol they have been very good. I'm just not ready to say they are instant champs yet.

Oh yeah, they were only hoping to tread water until Bynum returned and get a 6-7 seed...then Gasol happened and the lights went back on. The last piece is to effectively integrate Drew and Ariza.

 

[passenger]

i still think they won't be in western conference finals.

call me mad but I think they lack guards.They won against Portland but not easily,plus half of their team is B.Roy and he was DNP.

 

[arwillan]

i still think they won't be in western conference finals.

call me mad but I think they lack guards.They won against Portland but not easily,plus half of their team is B.Roy and he was DNP.

we just barely beat memphis. who are you to criticize the lakers for barely beating portland (a potential playoff team)? they lack guards? is that a joke? they are pretty deep at the guard spots, with quality players. Fisher, Kobe, Vujacic (sorry to lakers fans if i misspelled that), and farmar. That is an excellent back court that has torched us consistently this year. Once again, who are you to say anything about their guard depth? we have nash, bell, barbosa, and that's it. all 4 of their guys can defend and shoot consistently....that's more than we can say for our 3 guys.

 

[passenger]

we just barely beat memphis. who are you to criticize the lakers for barely beating portland (a potential playoff team)? they lack guards? is that a joke? they are pretty deep at the guard spots, with quality players. Fisher, Kobe, Vujacic (sorry to lakers fans if i misspelled that), and farmar. That is an excellent back court that has torched us consistently this year. Once again, who are you to say anything about their guard depth? we have nash, bell, barbosa, and that's it. all 4 of their guys can defend and shoot consistently....that's more than we can say for our 3 guys.

Yes we have better guards,Nash,Bell,Barbosa,Hill is much better than those 3.And I didn't compare our team to Lakers,I was implying the media is wishing the Lakers to be the best team and kind of brainwashing.They're definitely very good team but I think they will be contender next year with chemistry not this year.

 

[arwillan]

Yes we have better guards,Nash,Bell,Barbosa,Hill is much better than those 3.And I didn't compare our team to Lakers,I was implying the media is wishing the Lakers to be the best team and kind of brainwashing.They're definitely very good team but I think they will be contender next year with chemistry not this year.

hill is not a guard, first of all. second of all, they have 4 guards, not 3. their bench guards together are better than barbs (especially on defense and play making ability). kobe is better than bell. Fisher is obvious not better than nash, but he at least plays defense as well. i never said you compared our team to the lakers. i simply said you can't criticize them for things we lack as well. your last sentence makes no sense grammatically, so i'll leave it alone.

 

[passenger]

hill is not a guard, first of all. second of all, they have 4 guards, not 3. their bench guards together are better than barbs (especially on defense and play making ability). kobe is better than bell. Fisher is obvious not better than nash, but he at least plays defense as well. i never said you compared our team to the lakers. i simply said you can't criticize them for things we lack as well. your last sentence makes no sense grammatically, so i'll leave it alone.

Hill is not a guard but we play him as a shooting guard as well because he can play.Well,would Kobe be screaming to leave the team just weeks ago if they were that good with those other guys until Gasol came?
I said the Lakers will be "the team to beat" next year after they keep playing with each other,especially with Bynum's return.

 

[D-Dogg]

Well,would Kobe be screaming to leave the team just weeks ago if they were that good with those other guys until Gasol came?

He wasn't. In fact, he was giddy like nobody's business. You do realize that the day Bynum got hurt, the Lakers were first in the Pacific, don't you...with the best record in the west.

The offseason wasn't "just weeks ago."

DONE with this argument. If you don't know by now, you will never learn.

 

[passenger]

He wasn't. In fact, he was giddy like nobody's business. You do realize that the day Bynum got hurt, the Lakers were first in the Pacific, don't you...with the best record in the west.

The offseason wasn't "just weeks ago."

DONE with this argument. If you don't know by now, you will never learn.

Yes they were first but then again why would the best player of the team want to leave saying "he wants to play for a contender team" ?Plus you remember his comments about Bynum probably.He was complaining even when the team had a big winning streak.

 

[D-Dogg]

Yes they were first but then again why would the best player of the team want to leave saying "he wants to play for a contender team" ?Plus you remember his comments about Bynum probably.

THAT WAS IN THE SUMMER!!!!

GOOD LORD.

His comments were prior to Bynum coming in improved, Farmar coming in improved, trading Cook and Mo for Ariza and winning. Winning. WINNING.

He wanted a good team around him...he got it, and promptly **** and started leading them. This is ancient history already. Truly.

 

[Lorenzo]

i still think they won't be in western conference finals.

call me mad but I think they lack guards.They won against Portland but not easily,plus half of their team is B.Roy and he was DNP.

good point. they do lack guards in quantity as far as all star caliber players, but they have the best guard in the game. that makes up for a lot. in the playoffs it's all about team play of corse. you have to get that extra something from your supporting cast, but often times you are as good in the playoffs as your star player is playing. kobe is the best guard in the game. if he's on his top game that's all they need. you don't want anyone else. two years ago when my mavs made it to the finals it was because dirk played like an MVP and the mavs players around him played at a high level.....up untill game 3 of the finals of course. that's when superstar wade took over. kobe is definitely capable of taking over games...especially now that he has plenty of help around him.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

THAT WAS IN THE SUMMER!!!!

GOOD LORD.

His comments were prior to Bynum coming in improved, Farmar coming in improved, trading Cook and Mo for Ariza and winning. Winning. WINNING.

He wanted a good team around him...he got it, and promptly **** and started leading them. This is ancient history already. Truly.

Honestly, don't even argue with him.

Anyone with two eyes can see the Lakers have arguably the best team in the NBA and at this point are clearly superior to the Suns in nearly every facet.

Sad truth, but I'll offer my congratulations. You guys caught a lot of crap (sorry, but you deserved some if with your Kwame is a good defender nonsense) on this board for these last few years and never blinked or took your ball and went home. You took your medicine and even now when you could rub the reality of the situation in our face you're not overtly gloating. Congrats, what goes around comes around I guess.

 

[passenger]

Honestly, don't even argue with him.

Anyone with two eyes can see the Lakers have arguably the best team in the NBA and at this point are clearly superior to the Suns in nearly every facet.

Sad truth, but I'll offer my congratulations. You guys caught a lot of crap (sorry, but you deserved some if with your Kwame is a good defender nonsense) on this board for these last few years and never blinked or took your ball and went home. You took your medicine and even now when you could rub the reality of the situation in our face you're not overtly gloating. Congrats, what goes around comes around I guess.

You want my honest opinion?I think Lakers might have better overall players but Detroit and San Antonio are both easily "better teams" than Lakers.