i seriously dont think the clipps are better coz for one thing brand is tired and for the other sam i am is older.and when our team cliked we won 17 out of the 22 so....... it s closer than u put it .

Faith,

Ah, my streak of never making you happy continues! haha.

AK

The clips? better than the lakers? are you serious...

Go Lakers

The CLIPPERS MAY WIN 3TO5 MORE GAMES THAN US BUT ONCE THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN THE LAKERS ARE BETTER PLAYOFF TEAM. SAM i AM WON'T BE ABLE TO PLAY AS WELL AS HE DID LAST YEAR BECAUSE HE IS OLDER. THIS YEARS LAKER TEAM SHOULD BE THE BEST TEAM WE HAVE HAD SINCE GP,KARL, AND SHAQ WHERE WITH US.

As a Clippers fan and a Lakers fan, I'm trying to be objective here.

Keep in mind that I grew up with the Lakers, born and raised in Los Angeles, born in 1970. I remember the Lakers before I remember any other sports team.

I love the Lakers.

I love the Clippers.

But the Lakers are a deeper part of me.

Still, the Clippers will finish higher in the standings next year.

The Lakers will go deeper into the playoffs.

And the two will meet in the playoffs.

That is my prediction.

Go Clippers!

GO LAKERS!

GO TEAM!

Kind of a no-brainer if you ask me.

Nice analysis.

You're fortunate you posted this thread after a lot of people went home from work, I'm guessing someone says something about your mom.

Andrew Z,

I'd like to think folks will hurl their criticism at me, but leave Mom out of it. She is, after all, a big time Laker fan herself.

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2005/10/thoughts_from_m.html#more

AK

Andrew Z,

Truth be told, Mom (like many folks) hadn't seen Brand play a whole lot before last year. But she was VERY impressed by him in the playoffs against the Suns and Nuggets. In her words, those series gave Elton "gravitas" (one of her favorite phrases).

Mom is actually very good at separating her Lakers rooting from opposing player evaluations. Thus, she has a few non-Laker favorites, including Nash, A.I., Melo and T-Mac (whom she always refers to as "Yao's friend," because she can't remember his name).

Her least favorites include Raja Bell, Mike Bibby (because he clips his toenails on the bench, which she sums up as "bad courtside hygiene") and Yao Ming (whom she likes as a person, but not a player and refers to as a "potted plant," which is her way of saying "just a very tall guy").

AK

Andrew Z,

She is indeed a wonderful mom. BK and I tell her all the time.

AK

These videos are very good,I like how Kobe communicates with the interviewer and talks in a way that gets you into his conversation. There are interviews Kobe did in Taiwan:

In this one he talks about him trying to be one of the best defenders in the nba. About Vlad and Lamar, about versatility in the game, his relationship with Phil(do I believe him?oooooooohh mee doubting Kobe is that posible? haha) what 24 stands for, that he knows the international game because he grew up in Italy and many other things, very good interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvbxlBk5eLs&mode=related&search=

Does ESPN Asia also hates on Kobe? Who knows, because I don't understand what they are saying, haha
At the end of the video Kobe says that he has been a Laker fan since he was 3 years old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhS_vRvgzrc&mode=related&search=

AK,

When the Clippers with their "overall better talent" finish behind the Lakers as I think they will - What will you say then? the only advantage the Clippers have had is continuity, its not talent this year. We'll see what happens.

"You're fortunate you posted this thread after a lot people went home from work, I'm guessing someone says somethng about your mom"

It's comforting to know that people are getting their work done and earning their paychecks.

chuckle

WiZo, I can't say that arguing that depth "only" took a team to the NBA finals, where they lost at least partially because of the worst reffing I've seen in the finals in a decade, isn't the most convincing argument I've heard. I think the Brothers K have it about right; the Clips have more talent and more depth than the Lakers do. If they stay healthy, they'll finish with a better record than we do. After that, who knows, but that team is built to go far.

And except for Cassell, they're not that old. Buggers should be around for a while. I don't even think losing Radmanovich will hurt them that much, even if Thomas puts away his complete game now that he's been paid. He can still shoot, and that's all Vlad can do anyway.

FYI re: Kobe Taiwan interview.

Kobe's Chinese name, according to this TV news cast, is xiao fei kuai, little flying fast. I assume it means fast flyer..

Is it me or what but I see an oppurtunity to move some players to Memphis to make some room for some of our young talent. Memphis needs a center over there badly with Gasol down, why cant we move Mimh, cook & mckee to them for Hasim Warrick and some future picks. I think thats a good trade for every one involved. Warrick is a good young athletic player that we could use of the bench. he has a Darius Miles type wirey body frame and is athletic and he doesnt come with the bad rep that Miles has. What memphis gets in return is a decent center in Mihm and a shooter in cook and some leadership with Mckee. Mitch lets get this done man

The Clips are just deeper than the Lakers and to me don't seem to be more improved. I'm not a believer in TT because he doesn't have any heart. He's lucky, but in the end, luck always runs out. He's going to be tanking it a third into the season. So w/ that assessment, the Clips have not improved in my eyes. Their in the same boat as the Lakers waiting for their young talent to develop. Livingston, Singleton, Ewing, and Kaman Vs. Vlad, LO, Smush, Bynum, and Kwame. The Lakers improvements must come from these guys which are mostly starters. The Clips improvements are going to come from the reserves. It's hard to imagine that they're starters will improve much. Cat, Cassell, Maggette, and Brand basically have all peaked. OK, maybe not Brand, he still can improve. I still agree w/ the assessment because of their depth and thats the only reason I'd spot the Clips 5-7 games. We'll just have to wait and see. Oh yeah, injuries are always a player during the season. We need some luck and just consistency. Can't wait for the season to start.

dref

Since the Basketball Thread is no longer the current thread I am going to post my reply to the various responses to me from yesterday, right here.

First, let me re-state (I have multiple times before.) the function of a player does not change the position of that player. Here's a simple example for you. Dirk N. is an excellent perimeter shooter known for knocking down 3-pointers. He has a very strong perimeter game overall. However, has anyone ever called him a small forward? He functionally has played (before Avery took over) more away from the basket, yet you never heard anyone calling him a shooting guard or small forward. That is because his function is not the same as his position. Those are entirely 2 different things.

Thus, to say that a player is functionally playing a point guards role, doesn't change the fact of what they are positionally lineup. In all the years that Scottie played in Phil's system he was never called a point guard. He was called a point forward. If he didn't create that title....he sure revolutionized it. In fact, LeBron James may be the closest example to another point forward in the league. It's not based on size either, because if that was the case, Magic Johnson would have NEVER been considered a point guard. However, Magic (Penny did it too) because of their abilities were point guards.

What I am simply trying to say is that in a system it is not about positions it is about functions. That is not just a Triangle Offense thing, it is true in whatever the offense. For instance for some teams, because of them having a point guard that is also a very strong shooter, that point guard may functionally shoot a lot. Therefore, for that team, the point guard actually has functional characteristics that overlap both the traditional functions of a point guard as well as a shooting guard. They are STILL positionally a point guard, it's just that their function is different. The same way, for some teams the point guard has a strong function of being a passer. That doesn't make that player more of a point guard than any other....which some try to intimate. It simply means that functionally that player tends to be more in line with the traditional functions assigned to point guards.

This should not be a hard concept to grasp with all of the changes that have taken place in the NBA since the arrival of several international players. Because of their skill levels and strengths, most international players are functionally doing things that are not in line with seemingly the traditional positions they play based on the traditional perspective of the game of basketball. That doesn't make it wrong or right....just different.

That being said, I saw a crazy comment about Steve Nash and Magic Johnson which I would like to address. First, I don't believe that Steve Nash would be a good fit for the Triangle Offense AS RAN BY PHIL JACKSON for a few reasons. First, he is much smaller than Phil prefers his facilitators to be. Secondly, he plays more of an uptempo game and not the half-court methodical game the Triangle caters to. Finally, he prefers to drive and kick which is not a major aspect of the offense. Instead the triangle offense is more about positions on the floor, passing and motion. As facilitator it would require Steve Nash to do more standing at the perimeter moving the ball around from inside out....which is not what he normally likes to do as seen by his previous seasons in the league.

As for Magic, obviously he would be the facilitator. To even question whether I would agree with that is crazy. He has the height, passing, and floor awareness to excel at that. In fact, the Lakers ran a similar post offense with Kareem back in the day. To question that shows that you still don't understand what I am saying.

As for Kobe being at the 3....I don't freakin care!!!! You are making a huge deal out of nothing. If Phil wants to put him in the position where MJ was to conserve his energy and get him easier shots....by all means do it. My only thing has been that he is our best facilitator right now and he demonstrated in the playoffs that he can still get his points and actually conserve energy by handling that function. Plus, if Kobe is moved away from the facilitator function, who will facilitate? Some of you will say that Farmar will, however, how can you feel comfortable having a rookie fill a function for an offense that has been said to take at least a full season to grasp? If it took MJ and Pippen a full year to grasp their roles, what makes you think that a rookie, already facing new issues simply by being a rookie, is going to grasp it well enough to run it efficiently? Besides, what happens when he messes up? Plus, is he going to play 48 minutes? Who will handle the facilitator function when he is on the bench if Kobe is playing on the weakside?

Sure, I watched many if not all of those Bulls games from the 6 years in which championships were won (WGN showed most of the games). I saw the ease for which Jordan got his shots. However, a lot of that was a result of Scottie facilitating the offense with such efficiency that Jordan could play on the weakside off the ball. Kobe has NEVER had a facilitator on the team to afford him the same luxury. MAYBE Farmar will become that person, but I doubt it will happen this season. Plus, I still have a problem with his height. Phil likes tall players to be his facilitators. He also likes tall guards because he likes to have their functions defensively be interchangeable. For instance, the Pistons have an ideal 3-some of Billups, Hamilton and Prince. All 3 are interchangeable defensively. That makes it very easy to handle switches and pick-n-rolls. When you have a smaller player at any of those 3 positions, it lessens this area because somewhere you may end up with a mismatch against you.

Is any of this making sense to any of you?????

Sorry to say, but barring injuries, the Clips will unfortunately end up with a better regular season record than us. They're just too deep. Don't worry, we'll crush 'em in the playoffs.

Calling all members of the 55+ win bandwagon, please let this dude know the clippers ain't got nothing on us this season.

Sure Brand is nice, and sure I almost cried when the bulls traded him but we got Kobe and they don't. So for that reason you can place the clippers under the lakers, same as any other team in the west.

Speaking of Kobe, new coach Nelly said if he could pick 1 player it'd be MJ or Kobe ... and umm being he's been out of the league a while we'll give him a pass ... cuz Kobe's the obvious choice. Seriously, have I told you guys how great this guy is gonna be ... I mean he's pretty good already ... but his story is just beginning ... all hail #24 ... and umm much love to Odom, Kwame, Smush, Cookie, Walton, Sasha and the rest of our killer squad.

In Kobe We Trust,
Go Lakers

Lakofan,

How did you find those Kobe interviews? Did you search Youtube or is there a site that's archiving material from the Asia tour?

AK

Good Luck, Xodus!

lakofan,

Great link. One of Kobe's best interviews. 24 has grown up before our eyes. Celebrate every day... damn right.

AK

Yeah, but the Lakers are much better looking than the Clippers. The camera can't pull back far enough to hide Kaman.

Mike T,

"Yeah, but the Lakers are much better looking than the Clippers. The camera can't pull back far enough to hide Kaman."

That's very funny. It reminds me of that scene from "Tootsie" where Dustin Hoffman is taking his screen test in drag.

"Rita: I'd like to make her look a little more attractive, how far can you pull back?

Cameraman: How do you feel about Cleveland?"

AK

JJ,

You make sense. I disagree with your idea that the Triangle must have a tall guard. Phil does like tall players as guards, but he knows it wouldn't be very smart to limit himself to taller guards. Especially if the smaller guard has a better, more fundamentally sound game.

The Bulls used small guards all the time. From John Paxson to Steve Kerr to Randy Brown. Those guys were effective players for the Bulls. It wasn't until Ron Harper came that Phil started using the taller point guard. Harper was a gifted player, a step below MJ and Dominique, and he was fundamentally sound even though he had lost a step. Harper was a very smart player, he knew where to pick his spots. His intelligence came from over 10 years of NBA experience. Harper was a special player. He revolutionized the idea of what a point guard should be in the Triangle.

I don't see anything relating to Ron Harper in Smush except maybe his height; Harper was taller. When Harper was Smush's age, he was averaging over 22 points a game. Smush struggles to average 11. Again, Smush is a good baller, he's not on Ron Harper's level, and he cannot fill Harper's role in the Triangle mentally or physically.

The question I wonder about is whether we want to go with a young inexperienced group of point guards led by Smush? Or do we want a group of young point guards led by Shammond?

My opinion is that Smush will still have a good career in the NBA, it's just not going to be with the Lakers. The Lakers need to move in a different direction in order to win a championship sooner rather than later. Shammond can provide valuable leadership for Sasha and Farmar, while providing more efficient play and stability at the PG position.

Rocky,

You missed what i was saying.

First, can we please stop this habit of everytime someone is compared to a player from the past we quickly say that they have nothing in common with that person and we stop right there and close up? I am not saying that he is the second coming of Ron Harper. I am simply saying that there are similarities in his attributes and harpers that make him a reasonable fit at that position for us. Does he do what Ron did as well as Ron did it, no! But, he does have the ability to drive, quick hands and feet, a decent perimeter shot and an explosive first step to the basket. He needs to improve in his mid range jumper which I believe that he will.

As to your comment about big guard....you are confusing to separate statements.

My statement about Farmar being shorter than Phil's liking is directed at the belief that he should be the new facilitator of the offense. That is a true statement backed by past experiences with the Bulls and Lakers. As the other guard (filling the position....not function....of the point guard) sure Farmar could work out. The function only requires movement and solid shooting.

Defensively, I still would have a problem with him because he is shorter but that's possibly still workable in time. However, it isn't a suprise that Phil Jackson feel s that way about smaller guards as a whole. He let Lue go because he was so short. He likes big guards...

im going to have to disagree with rocky on the idea that shammond will provide more stability than smush. shammond has spent the last few years in europe while smush spent all of the 05-06 season plus the playoffs as the lakers starting point gaurd. i feel smush is much more experienced than shammond. plus shammond was signed for only a year which means he will probably be playing for another team at the end of the season or he'll be back in europe.

Greek dude-

NO, what you see is what I was intending to write. I kinda see the 05-06 CLIPPS as the 04-05 SONICS (Maybe alittle better, just alittle). I believe last year was a LUCKY season for the CLIPPS were ever thing went RIGHT. then again they'll be fighting for a 8th SPOT. As for the LAKERS, I think Lamar Odom (the initiator of the TRAIANGLE) started figuring out the OFFENSE and Chris Mihm injury showed the LALs, KWAME would be much more productive as a CENTER than a PF.

Clipps are DEEP?
Where does everybody think the Clipps are DEEP:

Who's backing up Brand, who's backing up Kaman, Who's backing up Mobley, here is 2, 4, and 5 position and their most legitimate BACK UP is REBRACA??? I just see a team with too many SMALL FORWARDS and no back up big man. WOW, Clippers are deep ha?

AK,

I didn't understand your last post, unless there's another Mike T.

mike

Good point JJ.

Some part of me shudders at the thought that for now the Clips MIGHT be better (slim at best, AK lol) regular season wise...but I take comfort in the fact that chances are this is probably as far as it goes. By the way, how is Magette's health?

Go Lakers!

Mike, Ya that IS funny.

AK, In this case is the 110 good?

Mike,

And I tell ya, from a person that have lived overseas, all that have always ATRACTed people to the NBA are the BIG numbers. Well Wilt's 100 wouldn't get that much poblicity, the media power wasn't even close to what it is today. But the MJ's 37 average and SHAQ's big body were some of what has gotten the NBA popular all over the WORLD.

And I tell ya this: I don't think many people in the US know this BUT American Basketball blew up in the WORLD becase of ONE player. He's name is known like Mercedes Benz and Coca Cola all over. You know who? Mr. KAREEM ABUL JABBAR (that name had alot to do with it.) He is the reason WHY people know basketball, overseas kids go to work in basketball courts and Greece kicked our ... in the worlds. People overseas knew PELE, MARADONA, and KAREEM ABDUL JABBAR. Later they got to know MJ, and SHAQ too but KAREEM started it all.
So 81 is a much bigger deal for the people overseas than us watching EVERY game EVERY night. And it no surprise to me.

Ray Ray,

The thing is that they don't really have many question marks compared to us. For example: If only Lamar could... , If Kwame gets his head and hands in the game... , If Smush stays in front of his man..., If Kobe stays healthy..., blah, blah.

You (and most others) are expecting everything to go right for us, but nothing to go right for the Clips.

BTW, I usually agree w/ your posts, but Laker Tom must be getting to you! LOL!

rayray,

I dont know, VIN BAKER might do some damage!!...LOL

I agree with you on the Clippers depth. In fact, on paper, they looked better last year when they had Rad.

I would love to say that the Clippers will finish below the Lakers this season, but the fact is we still need to prove that we can win consistantly and not beat Miami one night and loose to the Hawks a week later. Or whatever. We have too many questions unanswered: All-Star Lamar? Smushes' mentals? Rad's incorporation? Mihm's health? Kwame's hands? And don't get me started with Jordan and Socks. When I look at the Clippers, at least know what to expect.

>_<

Save all of your jibber jabbering Lakers will win 50 plus games this year, as they will learn how to play great defense during stretches they don't score. Do yourselves a favor and watch tape of Kwame guarding Brand and shutting him down. Sorry NBA, the Lakers are back, LO all star, Kobe MVP, Vlad Rad gives us a scorer who could go for 20, Smush and Farmer nice 1 2 combo, KWAME, MIHM, and BYNUM, formidable frontcourt, Walton perfect 6th man. Just Stop it please, the LAKERS are back. Can't wait till the season starts! OOOOH YEAH Brothers, OOOOH YEAH!

I agree with AK's assessment but, I think we have a greater chance to grow. We know the players the Clips have, and we know how they're going to (or at least should) perform, but our team is more of an enigma. Outside of Kobe, and Radmanovic we really don't know how our other guys are going to play. How great could we be if LO, Kwame, and Smush come in, and play better than they did last season?!!

I think if Kwame can average 10-15pts he will equal, or be better than Kaman since he is a better defender. LO was a matchup problem for them last year, and if he comes in and plays the way he did at the end of the season, or even better there is no way he is getting stopped. And if Smush has the same offensive #'s as last year, and focuses more on staying in front of his man, I think he can stay with Cassell, or any other pg they have.

I know there are a lot of ifs here, but I don't think it's farfetched to think that these 3 players can come in a be better than they were last year. We all saw how they improved over 82 games last year, so even if they don't come in right off the bat playing better, they should be by the end of the season.

Yeah, the whole thing boils down to this:

I believe that the Lakers are better than the Clippers, even if they finish with a better season record. Andrew Z. brought up the good point about the Lakers playing down to their competition. We tend to underestimate teams too often and that has been going on for YEARS. I wouldn't bet my life that it's magically gonna go away this season. But we match up well against the Clips and I am extremely confident that we can take them out any time that we want. And that is why I say the Lakers are a better team even if we finish behind them. Make sense?

>_<

Clips better than us? Where's the outrage? Where's my 55 win bandwagon?

Rocky,
I'm expecting our whole roster to show major improvements and for that reason I'm not keen on giving major props to the new comers. Let them show us what they can do first. So smush may be no ron harper, but it wasn't Shamond/Famar that busted his ass out there for all 89 games we played, so until proven otherwise he's the best guard we've got. Now if we'd signed bibby in the off season I'd understand why you'd be so eager to throw Smush under the bus, but speaking for all positions I don't think there's any off season aquisition we made that justifies dissing the guys that bled purple and gold last season.

That's not to say you can't criticize Kwame's hands or Mihms tenacity etc ... that's kewl ... however I dont think it's fair to pick a newbie over the guys that showed up last season just because we ain't seen the new guys strut their stuff in purple and gold.

In Kobe we Trust,
Go Lakers

Be it known, there is only one Mike T.

47 days and a wake-up.

Andrew Z,

I can only speak for myself, but I never said the Clippers will do worse in the playoffs than the Lakers. I only said that in a head to head matchup, the lakers will win. I think we match up well against the Clips, and in a seven game series we can beat them.

Here is how I back that statement up:

1. Kwame's only asset is to defend in the post. Brand happens to be their best player, and I think Kwame can supress Brand a little bit.

2. Laker's two biggest pieces are battle-tested (phil and Kobe), while Clips have one (Sam), their third option on offense.

3. In order for a team to improve, it must learn from it's mistakes. I certainly hope after the total collapse of last year's playoffs, the Lakers have learned from their mistakes.

i,ve been reading this blog for a while but ive never commented. But I like to ask a question to AK & BK and any ohters who wants to answer. Based on other teams offseason moves & since the lakers
schedule came out, could u analyze their season and make a prediction about their record.

Everybody

I did some investigating on what makes Lebron different then Kobe and Wade.

LEBRON JAMES never dunks on big men. Kobe and Wade intimidate people when the go to the hole. If you guys look on youtube you will see that between Kobe, Wade, and Jordan the 3 of them have dunked on every big man in the league except SHAQ.

What do you guys think about my theory. Until this changes LEBRON JAMES will NEVER win a NBA TITLE.

Had to work some...

Listened to KOBE's INTERV with DPATRICK. our man is GREWING UP. we're talkin KOBE the VERTERAN. they talked about KG comin to LA. if KG came to LA just know RAYRAY broke the news.

GREEK DUDE
Thats funny shoot. I tell ya, I do question LALs too but I think if the Question is will the LAKERS and the CLIPPS be better than last year? the answer is: VERY GOOD chance for the LAKERS, MAYBE for the CLIPPS

DAN DA MAN
we're in the same PAGE, except I think PurpleNGold comin in with the same people, knowing the OFFENSE better is a BIG plus for KOBE's team. Where the CLIPPS are comin in trying to douplicate what they did last year.

AK
Is it a possiblity for you to INTERVIEW the new comers. If so I would love to KNOW what JORDAN, SHAMMOND and JR think of in what ways they could CONTRIBUTE to the 06-07 Lakers. I think they will all make the ROSTER this year.

Lakofan
Thx for the Kobe clips. I like how he said he would like to retire as a Laker. If he does than I can see Kobe playing for another 6-9yrs. Im glad to hear he will stay with the Lakers and im pretty sure thats what Buss wants.

JJ
I agree with you on most of ur post regarding the players function and their position. Thats one of the reasons why Greece won the Fiba games. We also have one of those guys in Lamar Odom.

Greek Dude
"1. Kwame's only asset is to defend in the post. Brand happens to be their best player, and I think Kwame can supress Brand a little bit."

Kwame's defense is mostly post defense. Elton brand has way to many moves and range for Kwame to really hold him down. Kwame might force him to play away from the post and I think Elton has enough firepower to take him off the dribble or just take a jumpshot instead of just posting up every time.

AK,

Though being a die hard Laker Fan (also Kobe), I can appreciate your thoughts behind your analysis on the Clippers being better than the Lakers. I hope you are wrong, but not likely. Just have to hope that Kobe alone does make the dfference.

Thanks for the blog, as a fan who watches old laker games on tapes during the off season, this is a great venue to get my laker buzz.

Thanks again..AK

Neal./

AK and BK:

“And for my second favorite team, it’s the Clippers…”

Can’t say that I am surprised. I hope you’ll stand up and admit you were wrong like men when the Lakers finish with a better record and go deeper in the playoffs than the Clippers.

Let’s see how this goes. Andrew and ex and the realist faction will obviously agree 100% since they value past performance over future potential always and the Clippers did win 2 more games last year and go one round deeper into the playoffs.

Then there will be another faction that will just throw their hands up in the air in frustration justifiably convinced that AK and BK are really secret Clipper fans and rightfully viewing the ranking as further disrespect for Kobe’s value to a team.

Finally, there will be a faction that will just smile and nod their head, knowing the this year Lakers will win more games and go deeper into the playoffs than the Clippers just as easily and surely as they outmaneuvered the them in free agency to steal Vladimir Radmanovic and swing the power back to the Lakers.

In addition to Radmanovic, the Lakers added Maurice Evans, Jordan Farmar, and Shammond Williams in the off-season, losing only Deavon George. To replace Radmanovic, the Clippers signed Tim Thomas, which you admit was a mistake, plus adding Aaron Williams and Paul Davis.

You are predicting that the Clippers, who only won 2 more games than the Lakers last year, will win 3 to 5 more games than the Lakers this year. Do you believe Thomas, Williams, and Davis will help the Clippers more than Radmanovic, Evans, Farmar, and Williams will help the Lakers?

Last year, the Lakers were confident that they would have been able to beat the Clippers and reached the Conference Finals had they not lost to the Suns. This year they will prove it without question. Bad prediction, guys. I’m disappointed.

Tom

Shady, Awesome Triangle Videos. I bought Tex's book. This certainly explains it very well.

Baywood

AK:

Wow, is it a small world or just normal deja vu?

I actually didn't think your original post added up but your follow-up comments about the additions to both teams and the injury factor were valid although I still think your prediction smacks of a pro-Clippers' bias, which you smirkingly attribute to having seen them play a lot. haha.

Fair enough. And I do know you and BK will be good sports and split the job of eating the print out of this thread once the Lakers prevail.

Damn, I never should have admitted not watching the Clips that much. Stupid move on my part. Give that AK an inch and he'll take a mile.

Tom

Taliq:

Trying to get AK to back off his 2nd favorite team is nearly impossible. Remember in the previous Lakers vs Clippers debate, he was even willing to trade the entire Lakers roster, including Kobe for God’s sake, for the entire Clippers roster. He is just plain infatuated or mesmerized by the Clippers, maybe even brainwashed. In any close match, give me Kobe and Phil any day over Elton and Dunleavy.

Tom

Laker Tom,

"Remember in the previous Lakers vs Clippers debate, (AK) was even willing to trade the entire Lakers roster, including Kobe for God’s sake, for the entire Clippers roster."

Dude, what are you talking about? I never said I'd trade Kobe for anyone on the Clips roster.

AK

rayray:

Leave it to AK to bring together all of the blog's traditional combatants. You are absolutely correct that the Lakers have a much deeper and stronger bench than the Clippers.

Tom

Laker Tom,

"Sounds like a brother trying to seel some dude that his sister is really hot. Really, she's got a great personality."

Eww. If I had a sister, I don't think I'd ever pimp her out like that. But maybe things are different in your family. haha (just playing).

AK