What is the over/under on analysts saying "The Lakers should not try to get into a scoring contest with the Nuggets" or something very similar?

I say 53.

HOU is going to win and SA is hammering UT.

That means LA will get Denver then UT/HOU winner for the first two rounds. Could not be written any better.

PHX will have to deal with SA then, if they survive, NO/DAL to get to us -- wow.

What is the over/under on analysts saying "The Lakers should not try to get into a scoring contest with the Nuggets" or something very similar?

I say 53.

Posted by: exhelodrvr | April 16, 2008 at 07:42 PM

About the same as Doug Collins repeating, "The Lakers do NOT want to run with this extremely athletic Nuggets team".

Any Bynum/Ariza updates?

shum,

If the Jazz lose tonight, which looks like is going to happen with them down 30 right now and the Suns beat Portland, which is very likely, the Suns will move up to 4 and the Jazz fall to 6. That puts the playoff match-ups like this:

1. Lakers vs. 8. Nuggets
4. Suns vs. 5. Rockets

2. NO vs. 7. Dallas
3. Spurs vs. 6. Jazz

Interesting match-ups.

Xodus

The seeding won't change and Utah will still sit at 4
because they've already won their division.
Therefore, it'll be Spurs vs Suns

Xodus,

The Jazz can't fall past the fourth spot...stupid division rule, remember?

GO LAKERS!!!

X

The Suns will likely stay in the 6 hole by virtue of the SA win, Hou Win, and Their own win. The Jazz will drop down to the 4 hole, and lose the home court to Hou. Everyone who had to win to stay in their current position, has,

Division winners have to get one of the top 4 spots -- UT is locked.

Can't wait for it to start on Saturday baby!!!

I'm anxious to get this going, dammit.

Dallas of course are not stupid, who wants to face Lakers in the first round ? I guess only Portland but they want all 7 games in Portland. Some La media guys want to give Mitch Kupchack the excutive of the year award, i don't think so. He did not invent anything, Danny Ainge did the great move in Boston before Mitch.This is the lucky year of Lakers, i give credit to Bynum who did not want to learn from Kwame when contract is up. I also give credit to Paul Gasol, the great passer ( Clipper coach said that before Clippers game at Houston), because of Gasol, we don't have to listen to excuses like it takes 2-3 years to learn the trial angle offense,.... Memphis are not stupid, they got rookie point guard, 2 first round draft pick, Marc Gasol in the future and money. One thing i am glad, i won't have to read some stupid comments from Phoenix fan, who thought Phoenix will win championship after beating the Lakers.

Wow. There are 8 teams in the West with 50 wins!!
Isn't this the most ever?

Any news on Ariza? While I'd love to see the beast back for the play-offs, I think TA does a couple of very important things for the Lakers. First, he makes them a lot stronger defensively, which as we all know becomes even more important this time of year. Secondly, they become one of the more athletic teams in the playoffs. A lineup of Kobe, Farmar, TA, LO, and Pau can run with anyone.

I think we'll be fine against the Nuggets as long as we play defense, run our offense and take advantage of the opportunities to run when they're there. Because the Nuggets have active hands and gamble for steals, we must take care of the ball and disect the Nuggets with precise passes and ball movement. I don't believe that Denver can sustain any type of discipline for an entire game, so the Lakers must execute on offense and not get caught up in the type of wild game that Denver likes. I think our guys will be up for the task. The interesting matchup will be Pau vs Camby because the Lakers swept Denver this year before we got Pau. Pau can take Camby, a great shot blocker out of the paint to open up lanes for the rest of team. Looking forward to it. Go Lakers!!!

Just a little extra brain teaser for confidence. Our magnificent LOS ANGELES LAKERS not only have the best record overall, but MORE importantly we hold the BEST division record in the West, the BEST conference record in the West and the BEST road game record in the west. These are obvious signs the DYNASTY will return.
GO LAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll be buying my tickets here in houston in a week or so.
How about Luke for most dissapointing player??
SEYA, Lakernation

So the Lakers basically get the path they could best hope for to get to the Finals.

Lakers v Denver:

We owned them 3-0. Now if you recall, this was the biggest win of the season in my book, because it happened in either game 2 or game 3 of the season. This was when A.I. and Kobe were battling it out. THis is before Pau Gasol, and before Bynum was a monster. This game I believe was won by the bench's contribution.

Now we are a way better team with a true playing identity. I feel the Nuggets just circled the wagon and are back to where they started the beginning of the season. Here's what we need to win:

1. Kobe to put up good scoring numbers and shooting percentages the beginning to offseat Carmelo and A.I. After though, he must get the rest of the team in the game. In the last game, PJ used Kobe has a decoy, because it forced the Nuggets to think on the fly, and turs out they're pretty stupid.

2. Pau cannot be afraid of Camby in the post.

3. Lamar has out "athletic" Kenyon Martin and dominate the match up.

4. They have to contain J.R. Smith and Kleiza by getting big minutes from Farmar, Sasha, Luke and Turiaf.

They should win this series in 5 games if they play hard. They have to play the first two games like there's no tomorrow. 2-0 would put too much pressure on Denver.

--------------

Lakers v Jazz (because theyll take out Houston with no PG and at home)

These two have played some intense games, but we just beat the Jazz in their building pretty hard w/o Pau Gasol. Kobe always goes off in games at Utah, because he never forgets the 3 airballs he shot his rookie year. Fisher has an axe to grind. Jazz fans are jerks.

1. Lakers must play composured basketball. The Jazz fans can be annoying and mean spirited, and that cannot destract the Lakers. No Techs from Lamar or Sasha. Do dumb mistakes, like the one game that got away from them.

2. Kobe has to play his game, and hes a matchup Utah has no chance of matching up with.

3. Dont let Kirelinko get going. Keep them at a two-headed monster. That also means dont get swatted by Kirelikno or give him a steal, things that get him going.

4. Force Deron williams to do it all.

5. Put size on Boozer, maybe get foul trouble.

If the Lakers can make it a 12 on 2 series, I like chances. That means no 20 point game from Kyle Korver, Okur, Brewer or Boozer.

Lakers can win in 6 games, but that means they must also win two at home, since the Jazz are better at home.

--------

As far as the WC Finals, who knows who they see. The Suns should beat the Spurs, but doesnt anybody else feel that the Mavs could steal it from the Hornets?? If Dirk outplays West, and somebody like Jason Terry, Stackhouse or Josh Howard has a big series it could be a problem. Also, if Jason Kidd decides to save his legacy, he might become Paul's worst nightmare on D. I think the Mavs actually beat the Hornets, and face the Suns.

The Suns win that match up, but it will be long and tiring because of the pace. The Suns should win and that puts them agains the Lakers who played a more physical intensive match up. It would make for a great seires.

Great series on its way.

When Kobe is on the line, LA Fans will be shouting M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P

And when Melo is on the line, LA Fans should be shouting D-U-I, D-U-I, D-U-I

Hornets, Spurs, Suns, and Mavericks all on the other side of the bracket huh? Nice! I think we could beat any of them in a series but it's nice only having to face one of them to get out of the west. As much as I respect Utah, Houston, and Denver, I'm glad we are in the bracket with them. Go Lakers!!!

I don;t know if MAMBA24 did it on purpose, but my handle is taken from an old TV show called 'Alias'.

The number "47" was of special importance in that TV show and was always tied to the character Milo Rambaldi.

MAMBA24 put me in the 47th slot on the Championship Bandwagon...........must be fate.
LA to win it all--so says the 'prophet' !!!!!!!!

I just read the ESPN MVP choice comments by
Hollinger, Ford and etc.

It amazes me how much these writers hate Kobe
and keep moving the goal only for Kobe.
Before, it was the team record and now it's the stats.

I wonder what they would say if next year,
we win like 65 wins with Kobe winning the scoring title.

Hopefully, they won't bring up
"we didn't even give it to MJ when he won
the scoring title and 69 wins"

The brackets are perfect. Games 5 and 7 at home in every series. We could not ask for a better set-up to get to the finals, except maybe a full roster.

And for those thinking about Andrew and Trevor, basically assume they won't be back at all and even if they do come back their contributions will be limited. We are going to war with what we have on hand. Anything else would be a bonus. We definitely won't see them before the Western Conference Finals, IMO. That is also when we would need Drew the most, for 15-20 minutes a night against Shaq/Timmy.

The key to Denver is defense. We play it they don't. Especially since the playoffs are way more defense oriented I think we will be fine. Just can't get in to a run and gun game with them. Predicting we beat the Nuggs in 5, maybe 6.

GO LAKERS

End of Season Awards excerpt
from Lakers.com...

Most Disappointing: Luke Walton
With Odom injured at the start of last season, Kobe desperately needed a teammate that could help keep the Lakers afloat in the über competitive Western Conference. Enter: Luke Walton. For most of last season, the forward was arguably the second best player to don the purple and gold, finally combining his widely discussed basketball IQ with a vastly improved offensive repertoire. However, this season has brought on one disappointment after another for Walton as injuries and a lack of confidence have derailed much of the momentum he established last season. On the year, Luke is averaging only seven points and four rebounds.

http://my.lakers.com/blogs/2008/04/16/end-of-season-awards/

We're going to disembowel the Nuggets.

4-0.

Smash.

Let's get mean this playoffs.

GO LAKERS!

I just read the ESPN MVP choice comments by
Hollinger, Ford and etc.

It amazes me how much these writers hate Kobe
and keep moving the goal only for Kobe.
Before, it was the team record and now it's the stats.

I wonder what they would say if next year,
we win like 65 wins with Kobe winning the scoring title.

Hopefully, they won't bring up
"we didn't even give it to MJ when he won
the scoring title and 69 wins"

Posted by: coolhair | April 16, 2008 at 09:18 PM

coolhair,

Great post mate. I have read and heard so much bs from some of these so called experts and analysts regarding the MVP. It seems as if they keep moving the goal only for Kobe as you mentioned or keep trying to change the criteria so that Kobe somehow falls short or they use the lame excuse that some writers are giving it to him as a "lifetime achievement award" because he's been the best player over the past few years. Some of these guys are just pure haters period. I will give credit to all the writers that have chosen Kobe and give legitimate reasons for doing so. Skip Bayless is a big hater that went from Tim Duncan(Skip is a big Spurs butt kisser)being the MVP to saying this morning on ESPNfirsttake that he'd now vote for Kevin Garnett and Kobe. I don't mind writers and those who have a vote for MVP choosing Pau, Garnett or even LeBron, but I question their motives at times especially when it's evident in their history of voting, their comments on why Kobe isn't their choice and the articles that they write about Kobe.

Humans in general abhor and despise snakes and it's no different with this Mamba. Kobe the Mamba, the villain is this year's MVP which proves that sometimes the "bad" buy wins.