AK,

Other than disagreeing with how many games the Lakers will win (Mamba, fire up that 65-Win Bandwagon, will you? No way we win fewer games than last year), the ESPN consensus looked pretty reasonable as for relative standings. I do think the Lakers will open up more separation from Houston and New Orleans by winning at least 60 games and hopefully 65. After the Lakers, it will be another dog fight for everybody else in the West. I have to say I agree with the consensus that these will be the 8 teams and their order.

01) Lakers
02) Hornets
03) Rockets
04) Jazz
05) Spurs
06) Suns
07) Mavs
08) Trailblazers

By the way, great job on the video but I also missed it because it wasn’t on its own thread.

Tom

The Trees will come!

Don't care about wins personally...

But I do care about placement and the playoffs.

GO Lakers!

Xodus,

you wrote: It's not that the Celtics played defense and we didn't. Both teams played defense as evidenced by the fact that through 5 games the Celtics were averaging 96.4 ppg on 42% shooting (down from 100 on 47% in the regular season).

The Celtics played some of the best defense the NBA has ever seen and we underrated most of the season. Most people don't realize that they were third all-time since 1970 in defensive efficiency and the ONLY non-Bulls team to have a point differential over 10 points per game.

It's not that they played defense and we didn't. It's that we ran into one of the great regular season teams. Thankfully, the Lakers will be improved next season with Bynum and Ariza and the Celtics likely won't be as good.

my response: The celtics play the majority of their games
against East Coast teams. Last year, it was the
general consensus that the east was far weaker than
the west in general. So ... we held the Celtics to 5%
less then they generated against a weaker conference.

If that is *your* definition of defense ... Ok. It's not mine.

Here's the flip side. The Lakers play in the west. The
general consensus is that the west is much better.
The Celtics knocked 15% off of our score.

Let's not make excuses about the Celtics being one of
the best defensive teams ever. It does *NOT* make a
difference. We got physically and emotionally abused,
on international TV, by a physical aggressive defense.
Failure to understand what happened will lead to the
same result. "Defense wins championships!" They
knew it. They played it. If that is the type of defense we
need in order to win the next 5 years straight, then by
all that is HOLY ... PLAY DEFENSE!

If I have to put my foot in your chest to win then you're
giving Nike free advertisement, because I'm going to put
my foot in your chest or die trying! That is the attitude that
the Celtics had and they won. The Lakers need that
type of attitude to win. Let's stop sugar coating things
and "call a spade a spade."

If the key players can stay healthy, a return trip to the Finals by itself will not be satisfactory. Only a trophy restoring the Lakers to the NBA Championship will satisfy.

Too much pressure on Bynum? Not if he wants and gets that maximum extension. Can Pau Gasol settle for only a a Western Conference title and a silver medal? I sure hope not. Is Lamar Odom going to be more than an expiring contract? Etc. Etc. No need to go through the whole roster. Every player in the rotation has a reason to play Championship calibre ball.

Notice I didn't mention Kobe. No reason to. He'll play to the highest level he can throughout the season and post season.

And how about Phil? That elusive Red-topping ring still has to be the holy grail.

Yes, this 2008-2009 Laker Team must achieve a Redeem Team level of commitment and has all the right reasons to do so. Go Lakers! We fans love a parade.

I am not willing to accept that the Clippers are the Spinal Tap of the Western Conference. (Though I appreciate the analogy, AK.)

I am also not willing to accept a healthy Lakers only winning 55 games next season. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.

60+ win guaranteed.

Go Clippers!

GO LAKERS!

From Amare:

"I love Terry Porter," Stoudemire says to the camera. "His method. His way of coaching is going to be great for us. You know, he's extremely focused on the defensive end, something that we haven't practiced at all in the previous three years, and now we're definitely practicing and improving on the defensive end."

The Suns are going to be a different team. And with Shaq clogging the middle, that's going to work in their favor. As for offense, the pic' 'n roll with Nash and Amare is going to be lethal. If Shaq sets a high pic' for Nash, wow! Nash would then penetrate and who knows what Amare is going to be able to do with a big guarding Nash after the Shaq pic'.

The Suns are going to be a very very good team.

mike t.

ESPN's prediction basically has the top teams winning fewer games than last year, and the bottom teams winning more games than last year.

Therefore, what they're saying is the bottom teams from last year (Grizzlies, OKC, Clips etc.) are closing the gap?
And the Lakers(Return of Bynum), Hornets(CP3 will get even better), Jazz(D-Will is a stud) win LESS games than last year?

Don't think so...

I would say either 59-23 or 62-20 and top seed in western conference.

Again here's what I would forecast on the West will be all said and done:

1) Los Angeles Lakers
2) New Orleans Hornets
3) Houston Rockets
4) San Antonio Spurs
5) Utah Jazz
6) Phoenix Suns
7) Portland Trailblazers (Stoudewhiner will give Portland trouble)
8) Dallas Mavericks

1st Round
Los Angeles over Dallas 4-1
New Orleans over Portland 4-2
Phoenix Suns over Houston Rockets 4-2
San Antonio over Utah Jazz 4-3

2nd Round
Los Angeles over San Antonio 4-2
New Orleans over Phoenix 4-1

Western Conference Finals:

Los Angeles over New Orleans 4-2

NBA Finals

Los Angeles vs Boston though Detroit, Orlando, and Philadelphia are possible opponents. Dark horse is Cleveland.

-blitz

A random thought though, when PJ retires in the future, I'm hoping Adelman could come and coach.

Charles,

not to defend Mike T. since he really does wish to see the Lakers lose and other teams to beat us because of Kwa-may Brown (I guess that post in the AZ blog was him after all), but simply by posting that doesn't mean what you said though I know what you meant. Shame though Mike T. does bring good points from time to time but I guess he just wants us to fail, I guess it's fair now to lump him with Passionate Faker Fan.

Repost and Reply

Jon K - Laker Tom,

Thanks for your reply.

"There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads"

Posted by: Charles | August 29, 2008 at 03:46 PM

Charles,

where did you find that quote? Kinda cool in a dark way...

Posted by: humanomaly | August 29, 2008 at 03:56 PM

humanomaly,

They are lyrics from the group "Rush" from their song "The Trees."

Regards,

No forecast but we expect HEART, we're interested of the parade ONLY. A laker team never aims for #2 and justify in the blog that Mr. So& So is injured, that we're almost there but missed the parade by just two games. No such thing with the team that has the winning tradition. If they are not aiming for the parade, then they don't have the right to wear purple and gold.

Laker Tom/Greek Dude,

Thanks for the nice words about the video. Glad you enjoyed them. We're going to try to do them more often, but it required scheduling with techie folk from the Times, meaning there could be occasional conflicts.

AK

Well I think it's bit more realistic? Is it too low or too high you think Greek dude? If either one, what is your prediction? The Lakers will improve over 57 games (remember we had a bit of a losing streak between Drew going down and the Pau trade). Will we lose some games? Yes of course, even the 72-10 bulls lost 10 games lol. But I think 62 is a very good number to aim for, dunno after 65+ wins though, even with such a talented squad.

That was the regular season record btw Greek Dude.

Lakers will go 81-1 this year, losing one game to the Raptors when Kobe is suspended for a game for an "unnatural movement" in the previous game. The fine will later be rescinded when the league realized that the "unnatural movement" was really a 360 dunk.

I've got us at 67 wins next season. I think it's going to be fun times next year.

Charles,

You don't remember his rants after Kwame got traded?

Statements like I have never been a Laker Fan just like to post and get a reaction. This has something to do about getting attention. Viola....Kwame's calves are God's Gift to Mankind. Stuff like that.

But the true colors of MikeT showed up when he was wishing everyday on the blog for Bynum to get hurt.

How pathetic is that?

At 1 point before Kwame got hurt before AB went down he even wanted Kwame to get hurt just to prove his point that Kwame down low is the key to the Lakers because of his great defense. I am not kidding you..
Then Kwame went out and was so pissed that AB was doing so good for 2 weeks he came on here stating he wished AB would get injured. And he did. Then 1st week of Andrew getting injured MikeT couldn't shut up..
He was so proud of himself and then get this... he even thought he had something to do with the injury to Bynum.

Is that wacked or what?

Talk about a strange dude.

Anyway take care Charles and have a great weekend!

BD

BD,

No one has tangled as many times as I have with Mike who is a hopeless case but the funniest day on the blog had to be the day that he claimed his 60-Win Bandwagon trumped the 55-Win Bandwagon and every other bandwagon with lower numbers than 60. Mike claimed he would win over everybody if the Lakers won 60 or less games. It was just the most hilarious series of posts ever on the blog. When AK and BK put together the best of the blog, Mike’s 1-man 60-Win Bandwagon had to take the day. It was proof positive that Mike was not the sharpest tool in the shed despite whatever he thinks.

Tom

LakerTom,

I know I'm starting to sound like you here (lol), but I think we've got a chance to be one of the best teams ever next season. We're absolutely loaded right, health permitting. I think it's going to be really fun.

Rocky,

"Shaq is an idiot. Deep down, he wishes he were still a Laker."

True. He does wish he was still a Laker and the Lakers were "his" team. Watch. Our success next year will grate on him. It will drive him nuts. Watch for him to engage in increasingly bizarre behavior as we take control of the Western Conference.

GO LAKERS!

Charles,

"Michael C. Teniente

Are you no longer a Laker fan?"

I'm still a fan but you have to analyze the other teams to determine where the Lakers stand.

I think that the Shaq/Amare frontline can deal with the Bynum/Gasol line.

You have to realize that all those points Bynum was scoring last year, 13 pts. were based on broken defensive plays by the teams the Lakers were playing. Then in the 2nd half those team made adjustments to slow Bynum down. This happened time after time after time. And then when a true defensive team came along Bynum was stopped altogether. Only the Celtics and Spurs actually stopped the Lakers when Bynum was still healthy.

Now the Suns, it seems to me, are going to come with a whole different approach next season. That approach we aren't going to be able to evaluate until we see how well their defensive philosophy works. But if it's anything near what Boston did this past season with the likes of Perkins in the middle...that spells trouble for the Lakers.

There is something you need to keep you eyes on with the Lakers next season. When the season starts check out the Lakers philosophy of ball. If they play with a defensive philosophy and it works...they could be very dangerous. But if they play a defensive philosophy and the stuggle then there's trouble. They would have trouble with a defensive philosophy because their middle won't, in theory, be able to handle the pressure that is coming to the lane.

Now if the Lakers go with a defensive philosophy and struggle for the reasons I just mentioned, then this is what you want to watch for: The Lakers will all of sudden abandon their defensive philosophy and go back to trying to "outscore" teams. If you see that then you know the Lakers aren't going to win it all because that type of ball won't win a championship this season.

So, in summary:
1. Lakers start out with a defensive philosophy.
2. If they struggle with that type of play then they switch back to what they did this past season.

You know the results if that happens.

Again, I evaluate the other teams to determine how well the Lakers will do. NO WAY IN HELL DO THE LAKERS GET OUT OF THE WC IF GASOL IS THEIR STARTING CENTER.

And if Bynum can't hold the middle for THE WHOLE SEASON save your money and bet against the Lakers in the WCF or Finals. They get that far because they can score.

Teams who I think can beat the Lakers next season. Boston, Detroit and, if they play defense, Phoenix. Any solid defensive team who can score decently will beat the Lakers if Bynum can't hold the middle for the whole season.

Charles, I hope that answers your question about me being a Lakers fan. Being a fan doesn't mean to stand by when they do dumb things and say: GO LAKERS!

Being a fan, a basketball fan in general, is about looking at the other teams as well and seeing what they're doing and how that matches against the Lakers personal and philosophy.

mike t.

I really do think this team can be one of the best of all time. I don't re-call any other team in NBA history that's had two extremely talented centers to go along with the best player in the game, not to mention a VERY talented 4th option in Odom. There is so much potential to this team, its absolutely ridiculous. As long as everyone can get along (which I think they will) this team should easily win at least 65 wins and "cruise" to the NBA Finals. What happens there, I don't know, but we should win.

All in all, this is about excited as a Laker fan can be going in to a season.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

Charles,

I posted on the Grizzles blog and that's it. I wanted Kwame to get a job.

No Pistons, no Suns posts.

mike t.

ENOUGH!!!!

The Lakers will kill the Suns.

*Shaq has lost his athleticism and he's too slow these days.

*Nash cannot deal with Fisher's strength.

*Gasol is a better basketball player, and he's stronger than Amare. Yes, stronger.

*Raja "Taco" Bell?? Please.

*Terry Porter was a good player and will be a good coach, but we're talking about Phil Jackson here.

Yes, the Lakers can!

This Laker team is no gimmick.

"NO WAY IN HELL DO THE LAKERS GET OUT OF THE WC IF GASOL IS THEIR STARTING CENTER."

Absolutely. No way that could ever happen!

What's that you say? 2007 NBA Finals - Pau Gasol starting center for the Lakers? No way!!

The Suns won't suck simply because they're OLD. Or that they have a broken down, salary-lead-heavy Shaq...

But coz they have chemistry problems. They all have the wrong attitude.

While they got rid of one in Marion (always thought he was underrated, and he was)... they lose the guy that's really keeping them together. Marion did all the dirty work in that team.

As a Laker fan, to see the demise of the Suns, I'm hella happy.

GO Lakers!

Mike T.

for the posts that do make sense for you here's my thoughts about you and the defensive philosophy of the Suns.

Period, the Suns don't have any reliable stopper at defense other than Raja Bell. StoudeWHINER may crack the top 10 greatest power forwards of all time (yes I do give credit even to the Suns), but he is no defender. Shaq is 35 turning 36 and he was never a true defensive stopper in his prime (he never got more than 2 2nd All Defensive teams). Plus Shaq said it himself "I'm not a defensive guy, I've always been an offensive guy" when he was with the Lakers. It is unlikely that Shaq could improve even under a defensive system, that's why Tim Duncan will be greater overall than Shaq when time passes on. Shaq has never been a great defender and don't bring up that David Robinson did the same thing during his last season, Robinson was a great defender in his prime and he managed to guard Shaq well enough to win in the 2003 Playoffs. Robin Lopez? He's just a rookie and while he did have a solid summer league, there is no guarantee that he can guard against Yao, Bynum, Oden, heck even Dwight Howard. Lopez is the center of the future for the Suns but not yet. Bell is only solid and Grant Hill is no longer the player he was when he was in Detroit. Terry Porter is still an unproven coach and he is trying to bring defense to an offensive paced team? I would say to that: Dream on.

"And then when a true defensive team came along Bynum was stopped altogether"

Here's some stats from those teams:

@ SAS: 4-5 80.0 FG% 11 points, 12 rebounds against Tim Duncan not to mention holding Duncan to 2-13 shooting. Could have won that game had Bowen not hit all those jumpers too

Det: 5-11 45.5 FG% 12 points, 7 rebounds

@ Cle: 6-12 50.0 FG% 17 points, 11 rebounds.

1st Game with Boston Guarded by Garnett and held to only 4 points (understandable, Celtics own the Lakers in that game)

2nd Game with Boston @LA. 2 points-in foul trouble quite a bit because of Paul Pierce penetration due to weak perimeter defense at the Small Forward slot. Yes Kwa-may was in that game too and played much because of foul trouble from Pierce and he didn't fare any better.

Only 2 Games Mike did Bynum struggle against a good defensive team. Against SAS he shut down Duncan and posted solid numbers off the bench. Against Detroit, another so called defensive team, 12 points with 7 rebounds. Cleveland, a defensive team (Mike Brown was an assistant to Pop). The 2nd Game against SAS he got into an argument with Oberto and had he not been ejected, would have posted a double double (He had 11 rebounds at that time already) Only Boston he struggled, the first time was against KG (Defensive player of the Year) and the 2nd time Paul Pierce just drawing fouls since our Small Forward couldn't guard Pierce for crap.

"Teams who I think can beat the Lakers next season. Boston, Detroit and, if they play defense, Phoenix. "

The Lakers beat the Pistons at Staples and nearly had the 2nd except for that Tayshaun Prince 3 pointer after a lucky offensive rebound. No Kwa-may Brown couldn't handle Amare Stoudemire and is worst at defense than Nazr Mohammed. Plus Detroit's new coach, Michael Curry, is even more unproven than Terry Porter is! (At least Porter had Head Coach Experience). And to top it off Rasheed must bleed Wallace won't play effectively anymore since he gave up in Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Poor Sheed. Detroit will still win but no longer a real title contender. Phoenix even if they do manage to stlil run and gun don't have any effective non rookie defenders other than Bell and to a degree Barnes and Barnes is not as effective at defense as Bell is. Shaq hasn't been a true defender since the Laker days and Lopez like I said is a rookie, it takes time to really develop and Grant Hill's defense is not up to par as Marion's was. The Suns could win but they are getting older and soon enough age will show up. So that leaves Boston, yes the Big 3 are still there and yes even at age 33 they are effective. They lost their biggest perimeter defender in Posey though and that gives Kobe more room to operate. Perkins has to guard Bynum and KG against Pau and this will tire out KG more quicker since Pau is a much better offensive player than Odom is (KG guarded Odom in the finals but Pau guarded KG and made him shoot 44.4%). So that leaves only Ray Allen as any kind of perimeter defense in the Celtics, time will catch up to them faster than it will to the Lakers.

Conclusion: Only the Celtics and maybe Houston (though they are injury prone and no doubt Artest will see some complaints about touches from Yao, McGrady and Alston) do have any chance of beating the Lakers. Pistons are only a threat to Lebron James and San Antonio, despite having the Best Forward in NBA history doesn't have enough offense to beat the Lakers, even with Manu do the voodoo GINOBILI! healthy.

"I ain't going tell you no more get that *#$@ing camera out of my face!"
http://tinyurl.com/5kk9m2

Sheed must bleed made me laugh so hard when I saw that.

"It's over"
-Post-Game 6 Interview of Rasheed Wallace after giving up Game 6 to the Celtics.

Well to change it up from GO LAKERS! I'll try this instead:

Rasheed must bleed!

"Terry Porter was a good player and will be a good coach, but we're talking about Phil Jackson here."

After 4 years of watching the Lakers play defense how can anyone point to Phil Jackson as an asset?

He's an obsticle.

mike t.

Aloha Hobbit,

I re-read the articles and I still do not see your point. Mitch said that Lamar isnt a lock down defender at the 3, which I have never disagreed with. He goes on to say that Luke had trouble with quick small forwards, which we all know is true But how do you get, that Lamar is not a good defensive player out of that?

Maybe its all in the interpetation. For me a lock down defender is something special. He is not a good defender, he is a GREAT defender. At least 3rd team all defense. For me there is only a handful of lock down defenders in the league, Kobe, Bowen, perhaps artest but he is a maybe for me. and a few others.

You stated in a prior thread that you would settle for nothing less then a defender at the 3 that was at least as good as the best guy on our current team, which would be Kobe, 1st team all defense. Good luck with that.

We didnt trade for anyone or sign anyone because we have Kobe available if needed. Lamar will be fine against most guys, even Paul Pierce who really isnt any quicker then Lamar. He is more of a power drive guy, then a quick drive guy. Again, having Andrew to help, erases a lot of mistakes. It will make even Vlade better, which really isnt that hard when you consider how bad he is at D.Lol. Anyway have a great weekend. Aloha.

MH

Mike T,

What's an obsticle? Is it what keeps you from seeing anything other than your version of reality?

The Lakers will not win a ring with:
Pau/Lamar/Luke/Vladimir
Too many soft players on the team.

Dodgers and Lakers have two things in common:
Bad contracts.
No heart.
Only two teams in Los Angeles have heart:
USC football.
UCLA basketball.

"After 4 years of watching the Lakers play defense how can anyone point to Phil Jackson as an asset?"-Mike T

After 7 years, we have 3 championships and are on the way to 4 and then some.

Phil Jackson is the greatest NBA coach of all time.

Just look at the other teams, including the Suns, and look at how lost they are compared to the Lakers. The Lakers are the most consistently well prepared team in the NBA since Phil Jackson became coach. I mean, how ignorant can someone be?

Even through the losing seasons, nobody expected us to even come close to making the playoffs. We've always performed above expectation levels under Phil Jackson. That's a fact. Kwame Brown is a clear example.

Remember when we had Del Harris? He's considered a good coach. Phil is way better. Mike Dunleavy? He's considered a good coach. Phil Jackson owns him. Jeff Van Gundy? Rick Adelman? Mike D'antoni? Greg Popovic? Phil Jackson owns all of them. How 'bout Pat Riley? Avery Johnson? George Karl? Cotton Fitsimmons?? Phil Jackson owns them. Who am I missing?

So how is Phil Jackson an obstacle??

Xodus,

>>>>>I became a Laker fan after watching Kobe put up those airballs
>>>>>against the Jazz in the playoffs

It’s funny but I remember thinking this kid is going to be great someday when Kobe threw up those airballs. I had already jumped on Kobes’ bandwagon based on Jerry’s word and should have been distressed to see Kobe fail so blatantly but the kid’s confidence seemed to be unfazed. And the stories of how hard he worked. How could you not fall in love with him as a player. He was the perfect role model, the handsome articulate, superstar until…

Colorado was a trial of everybody’s love for Kobe. I was obsessed with the trial and followed it online from and totally believed that Kobe was innocent and had been railroaded. I don’t think it was in character with everything I had heard and knew and felt about Kobe. I still think it is nonsense that we don’t know who our sports heroes are. I believe that I knew Kobe as well as I know some of my friends. And I don’t believe he could have done what he was accused of. It was not in his character. He was just a naïve chump who made a mistake.

We actually learn too much about our sports heroes today. It’s not like it was when Babe Ruth or John Kennedy were in the spotlight; today every miscalculated move, misspoken word, and misjudged action is reported, recorded, and reviewed to death. The omnipresent media and subsequently jaded and cynical public have made it impossible to for anyone to avoid getting tarnished or diminished in some way at some time during their career. Add to that the fact that most fans would willingly add an a-hole to their team if it mean winning. LOL. How many times have you heard someone say: He’s an a-hole but he’s our a-hole?

Hearing Magic had contracted HIV was probably the most shocking and disillusioning event next to Kobe’s being accused of rape. In the end, you have to realize that our heroes are only human and even the greatest of them is capable of making a human error. That doesn’t mean we should stop using our common senses and ability to judge what kind of person our heroes are. I for one have never doubted that my judgment of Kobe was wrong.

In a way, Kobe’s redemption has also been our redemption as Kobe fans. He’s not perfect, he forces shots, gambles too much on defense, and stalls the offense at times, but he is still a genius and maestro when it comes to playing the game. It’s funny but I’m glad we had those bad teams for a couple of years in retrospect. Otherwise, we would never have seen the 81-point game or the 62 points in 3 quarters game, or the streak of 4 straight 45 point games.

Tom

Blitz,

>>>>>65 is a good goal, 62 is more realistic for me anyways,
>>>>>I would be happy to win more than 62 games.

Boston won 66 games last year. I doubt they repeat that but the Lakers ought to be targeting 67 games this year if they want home court advantage in the Finals. Therefore, I am raising my prediction to 67 games. It’s the top seed that is the prize we want.

Mamba, we should only have one Win Bandwagon this year and it should be 67 games, our goal to win home court in the Finals. What do you think? Anybody else want in?

Great rebuttal to Mike on his Bynum bashing. Man, Drew is going to be so up for the Celtics after sitting during the Finals. I would not like to be Kendrick Perkins. He is going to get YouTubed so many times it will be funny. And GWB will need a double order of diapers.

Tom

BUTLER,

I must say that your stance on the Suns is indicative of a person trying to justify the number of CHAMPIONSHIPS they have won. If I were a SUNS fan, I shouldn't spend my time WORRYING about the Lakers ONLY. However, your concern and hidden ENVY is both complimentary and amusing to say the least.

Let's look at your stance a bit CLOSER: Improvements made by a team by way of addition/subtraction do not necessarily GUARANTEE results, unless you add all-star caliber players like KG and RA to the mix (both guys FINALLY became hungry and determined after a DECADE of FAILURE on their respective teams). They could have made their teams better but had to LEAVE to achieve the DREAM! They had no CHOICE but to WIN and did! Congratulations to them once more for winning their FIRST EVER Championship over the Lakers.

Like LGC's says (your other EGO), "It's ALL about CHAMPIONSHIPS! How ironic coming from a person who feels that ONE championship title by his CURRENT Celtics (after a 22 year LONG ABSENCE) symbolizes complete SUCCESS.

Achievement in the NBA is all about the BODY of Work ONE has done (let's take KB24 for the sake of the argument) in their whole career playing at a CHAMPIONSHIP level CONSISTENTLY and winning them BACK to BACK with OTHERS. We are certainly going to find out where Boston's collective SATISFIED mindset is in terms of DEFENDING their title this upcoming season as well as Phoenix's CAPABILITY to WIN a Championship for ONCE!

Remember, both SHACK and NASH are getting OLDER and INJURY PRONE by the day. With their infusion of youth, good luck with the rest of the TALENTED and VETERAN laden WEST! GOOD LUCK!

FINAL THOUGHTS about CHAMPIONSHIP reality: If one compares KB24's trophy case to Steve Nash's own, for example, it's quite clear who has a leg up in the CHAMPIONSHIP department. Right? Nash's QUIET dependence/reliance on Shaq to save the day LITERALLY is ALL but a pipe dream at this point in time. They had their ONLY chance this past year and did not get it DONE (GO Spurs!)!

Let's look at SHAQ for a moment: Don't think for a second that your SHAQ won ALL LA's Championships and Miami's by his LEADERSHIP ,MUSCLE and WINNING ATTITUDE. His countless MISSES at the FT line and FOUL TROUBLE issues were MOSTLY covered up by KB8 and DWade when games were tight by his penetration to the basket, clutch shots and even man to man defense.

On the other hand, let's take a look at KB8 so that you know that I am a FACT driven blog participant. KB8's lack of hitting jumpshots consistently from time to time during a course of a game in all 3 Finals series (which does happen quite often since he is REALLY a slasher by trade) were covered by SHAQ's strong interior defense and dunk action.

In DWade's case, he COVERED for SHAQ a MAJORITY of the time. DWade, in other words, saved his OLD slow moving backside and KNOWS IT! His PROMISE to win ANOTHER ring after 2006 died in Miami when he ABANDONED and injured DWade to go to the desert. Paybacks are a B_ _ _ _ aren't they? Shaq won't last in Phoenix after this year. Historically, he has RUDELY and DISRESPECTFULLY left teams for which he WON with when times got really TOUGH (they are Orlando, LA and Miami FYI). Your Suns SHADE will FADE with that history in mind.

CLOSING THOUGHT: As for his time with the Lakers with KB8, look closely at the Indiana, Philadelphia and New Jersey Finals for FURTHER clarification. Both HELPED each OTHER EQUALLY! Let's face it, BOTH guys had BAD games throughout their Laker regular season and playoff careers and a lot of GREAT ones. NO ONE wins ALONE. Just ask PAULA PIERCE of Boston.....We shall see, we shall see...

The Suns better hurry to the Championship platform SOON! A team like yours can't ill afford to score any more ZEROS in that department. ZERO Championships that is....

Like I said earlier, the Lakers should be the least of your Suns problems. They have to make it to the top FIRST! Beating the Lakers in first or second round playoff series in years past ABSOLUTELY means NOTHING now unless it got them to the TOP then! Yes, it is ALL about Championships WON! Until the Suns win ONE, I see NO SENSE or VALIDITY in your argument...It is what it is! GOT RING?

Laker pride through ADVERSITY baby!

Jerry Sloan, Lenny Wilkens, Brian Hill, , Bob Hill, Rudy Tomjanovic, Chuck Daly...

Phil Jackson is the better coach.

So he is the obstacle?? How?

humanomaly,

>>>>> Ditto....on Yue over Livingston....

Great stuff tonight, h. In some ways, Mitch’s injury cost the Lakers as much as Bias’ death cost the Celtics as far as continuing each team’s dynastic aspirations. Both were major events that hurt the respective franchises. Loved your recounting of Mitch’s brief career with the Lakers. I remember the newspapers talking about how bad his knee injury was and the thinking was that he was through. And you are right that Mitch is exactly what the Lakers were trying to find. He reminded me of Rudy LaRusso. I thought Garbo would have been perfect. Maybe Josh Powell will pan out. Hopefully, we won’t need him.

I also agree 100% with your comments regarding Sun Yue’s potential. I probably didn’t like Livingston because he was a Clipper and I got sick of AK always pimping him (JK, Andy) but Livingston was only 6-7 and while a good defender, ball handler, and passer, he was another Rajon Rondo, a guy who couldn’t shoot his way out of a paper bag. Sun Yue is a genuine 6-9 with long arms, excellent speed, athleticism, ball handling, passing, and a much better stroke than Livingston. He appears to have excellent shot blocking timing and skills. And he has not had a devastating and probably career-ending injury. Otherwise, the Clippers would have never cut the ties and the Lakers or some team would have picked him up.

I like your idea of the Star Trek treatment. Kind of prophetic since I have been watching the old Star Trek movies the last couple of nights. One of the benefits of being as old as I am and having watched literally almost every watchable movie released is that you forget them easily. It’s not like never having seen the movie before but it’s not like watching a rerun because most of it is new. I am introducing my grandson to Star Trek since he has recently become a big Star Wars fan. It’s really amazing watching his face during parts of the movies and remembering being just as entranced by it. Long time SciFi fan. Enjoy the weekend, h. Thanks for the great post.

Tom

Rocky,

Phil Jackson's triangle offense was the biggest factor against the Bad Boy Pistons. Then the apologists will say "oh they had Jordan and Pippen". Yeah the same Jordan and Pippen who got stopped twice in the playoffs by the bad boy pistons. PJ's offense was key to defeating the best defense the league has ever seen since Bill Russell's Celtics. Mike T's version of defense pales in comparison to what the Pistons did against Jordan (they had Bill Lambieer, and he weighed 260 lbs so there goes Mike's argument that a "defensive" team needs a fat man to succeed). So Phil is never an obstacle and Mike T.'s just hates Phil because he felt he treated Kwa-may Brown unfairly.

How did the Celtics stop the triangle offense? Some people like Mr. Teniente say because of no Kwa-may Brown. Some like Hobbit argue that defense simply pushed the Lakers out of synch. The real reason? (btw that % thing you gave me and Xodus Hobbit is a statistic so under your standards: all that damn lies and statistics). Simple, the Celtics made Kobe try to win the series by himself. During the Finals, the Celtics closed down the passing lanes and did a box in one zone to counter Kobe's jump shooting ability. Ray Allen/James Posey are constantly guarding him so he won't develop a rhythm to their defense. The Celtics know that the ball shouldln't go on Pau's hands since they know he is a great pass out of the post. They also know that Odom as versatile as he is would be out reached by Kevin Garnett. Plus they treat Fisher to try to also shoot contested jumpers should Kobe try to pass it to Fisher. In reality, the Celtics SF, mainly Pierce sagged off Radman during the few times Radman was on the floor since they knew he wasn't a real scoring threat and on the other side of the floor kept driving on him and giving him fouls, This would force Sasha to come to SG and Kobe to SF and gives Pierce a better advantage to force Kobe to play defense more and sap his energy at offense. Plus Sasha on the floor was better for Ray Allen since Sasha could be easily neutralized by a Pick and Roll and his poor wingspan doesn't put too much of a threat to Ray. This proves even more beneficial since the Celtics don't fear Sasha as a real distributor and only regard him as a spot up shooter. The rest of the bench aside from Luke don't respond that much. Luke's passing was neutralized without any decent big man to pass too since Pau was on the bench and Ronny shot mainly jumpers. Same thing happened to Jordan and not until it was too late did he do some decent scoring off the bench. They knew Ariza wouldn't do much then anyways and even if he got back to his pre injury solid defensive form, the Celtics knew he was a poor shooter, needed mainly drives to the basket to score, and didn't fear his passing abilities.

Who are the passers on the offense:
Kobe, Lamar, Pau, Bynum, (1.7 apg as big man is good), Derek, Walton, Farmar. Walton though is not a good one vs one player. The rest are mere role players like Ariza mainly defense (bench not really starter level). Radmanovic=3 point shooting. Sasha=shooter, Ronny=shot blocking. So by placing a box in one zone and sealing off the people who are the targets of Kobe's passing, Kobe is forced to shoot jumpers. Perkins had very few, if any effect defensively and since the starters played with Radman who isn't a great passer they played against the Celtics with only 4 guys in my opinion. The bench played without any defense and lacked a big man in the middle since their big man just kept shooting contested jumpers. That is why the Lakers lost offensively.

Hey Mike T

I really dont care if Terry Porter is a defensive genius, you still need the players to make it work and Raja Bell is the only defensive minded player that they have. Shaq was inconsistant, even in his prime, played D only when he felt like it and Amare, Please, one of the worst defensive bigs in the game. Nash? Come on now. Boris? again come on now. Just because a coach has a defensive mind set, he is only as good as his players and the Suns players are not that great on the defensive end. Not really worried about them.

MH

I'm reading today's posts with a bemused chuckle. The Suns? The Suns? Are you guys fricken kidding me? It seems like a lot of bloggers are waking up for their morning crack and then hurrily posting to the blog.

THE SUNS! WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE SUNS!

Fricken lunatics. Where did the Suns finish last year? Was it sixth?

The Suns are a significantly worse team than last year and we--with a healthy Bynum and Ariza and a matured bench--will be a significantly improved team.

And if anyone hasn't noticed Shaq has become a psychologically unstable lunatic and if anyone knows The Big Mistake they know that he is an obsessive alpha personality who has to be in charge of his social environment. THUS, The Big Mistake's psychological breakdown is going to effect everyone around him in a highly negative way. Why? Because The Big Mistake is going to make SURE that it effects everyone in a negative way. That's his personal little gift of letting everyone knows that he's in charge. "There's a new a sheriff in town! And his name is The Big Homicidal! Let the season begin!"

Do you honestly think that Shaq is going to listen to Terry Porter? Seriously? HELL NO!

This is going to be an absolute treat to watch this team implode. It's going to be deliciously ugly.

Thank you Shaq for being a Sun. Thank you.

Best season EVER.

I can't wait.

GO LAKERS!

Vman,

Blazers are good witht the addition of Fernandez and Oden this year, however they are good individually but not yet as a team, it would take sometime to reach the desired chemistry. They need to play more games, Oden has to adjust with NBA standard as well as Fernandez, Roy is coming out from injury so that would take sometime to rearrange the blooming youth's vitality.

The Lakers would be a great team, if some players will blend with the best three - Kobe/Bynum/Gasol. The others have the role to play and they're merely treads that interwined with main tread. They should support its strenght and produce a strong fiber. The word there is "support" not destroy or discrupt the chemistry with lethargic indifference or inconsistence.

Phil Jackson is the best coach in the league when he's not experimenting and intriguing others, if he minds his own business and recognizes the laden talents in his roster, then no one can beat Jackson's abstract mind. Once he plays politics, get into verbal tossing with players and other coaches, he intimidates everyone and creates barriers that are not supposed to be there.

Being a great team does not merit arrogance in the blog and unnecessary chest thumping that need assurance that we're really great. Based on traditions, we Laker players and fans have to convert that perceived greatness into recorded victories consistently and not unwarranted exhuberance without substance (red meat).

AK what a way of telling Baron Davis and Coach Dunleavy that you don't have to play anymore, your slot is No.11. Knowing the shrewdness of Don Sterling, he will not settle as no. 11 bidder in the real estate world. With all the investment poured by a tight owner, anything below 8, blood will flow at the end of the season. He would think how many high rise condominiums he could have sold with the equivalent payrolls of the No. 11 Clips?

Xodus,

I've been a Laker fan since my 4th grade teacher took a group of 5 boys (no, he wasn't a molester, lige gwb) just a quirky guy who drove an old 50's black MBZ sedan, so that put me into LakerLand in 1966...so I got to see Jerry West play. They didn't televise much back then, so you would listen to the games on little transistor radios 10x the size of an ipod to hear chickie baby call the game, and even though he didn't relay each step, each pass, each shot, each collision, you still knew what was going on and you enjoyed it. LakerTom, that's kinda why I don't know, the play of Rudy LaRussa, I believe he played for both the Lakers and the Warriors during his career. Oh one more thing XODUS, back then there were only like 12 teams, so the play was good, and the rivalries heated. Look at today, where are you going to find 30 quality centers, plus backups....there's a lotta chum out there, and in years past the Lakers would lose to teams they were supposed to beat. Let's hope those days are gone. Get tough. What's the number one rule of Fight Club?.......

humanomaly,

>>>>> Ditto....on Yue over Livingston....

Great stuff tonight, h. In some ways, Mitch’s injury cost the Lakers as much as Bias’ death cost the Celtics as far as continuing each team’s dynastic aspirations. Both were major events that hurt the respective franchises. Loved your recounting of Mitch’s brief career with the Lakers. I remember the newspapers talking about how bad his knee injury was and the thinking was that he was through. And you are right that Mitch is exactly what the Lakers were trying to find. He reminded me of Rudy LaRusso. I thought Garbo would have been perfect. Maybe Josh Powell will pan out. Hopefully, we won’t need him.

I also agree 100% with your comments regarding Sun Yue’s potential. I probably didn’t like Livingston because he was a Clipper and I got sick of AK always pimping him (JK, Andy) but Livingston was only 6-7 and while a good defender, ball handler, and passer, he was another Rajon Rondo, a guy who couldn’t shoot his way out of a paper bag. Sun Yue is a genuine 6-9 with long arms, excellent speed, athleticism, ball handling, passing, and a much better stroke than Livingston. He appears to have excellent shot blocking timing and skills. And he has not had a devastating and probably career-ending injury. Otherwise, the Clippers would have never cut the ties and the Lakers or some team would have picked him up.

I like your idea of the Star Trek treatment. Kind of prophetic since I have been watching the old Star Trek movies the last couple of nights. One of the benefits of being as old as I am and having watched literally almost every watchable movie released is that you forget them easily. It’s not like never having seen the movie before but it’s not like watching a rerun because most of it is new. I am introducing my grandson to Star Trek since he has recently become a big Star Wars fan. It’s really amazing watching his face during parts of the movies and remembering being just as entranced by it. Long time SciFi fan. Enjoy the weekend, h. Thanks for the great post.

Tom

humanomaly,

>>>>> Ditto....on Yue over Livingston....

Great stuff tonight, h. In some ways, Mitch’s injury cost the Lakers as much as Bias’ death cost the Celtics as far as continuing each team’s dynastic aspirations. Both were major events that hurt the respective franchises. Loved your recounting of Mitch’s brief career with the Lakers. I remember the newspapers talking about how bad his knee injury was and the thinking was that he was through. And you are right that Mitch is exactly what the Lakers were trying to find. He reminded me of Rudy LaRusso. I thought Garbo would have been perfect. Maybe Josh Powell will pan out. Hopefully, we won’t need him.

I also agree 100% with your comments regarding Sun Yue’s potential. I probably didn’t like Livingston because he was a Clipper and I got sick of AK always pimping him (JK, Andy) but Livingston was only 6-7 and while a good defender, ball handler, and passer, he was another Rajon Rondo, a guy who couldn’t shoot his way out of a paper bag. Sun Yue is a genuine 6-9 with long arms, excellent speed, athleticism, ball handling, passing, and a much better stroke than Livingston. He appears to have excellent shot blocking timing and skills. And he has not had a devastating and probably career-ending injury. Otherwise, the Clippers would have never cut the ties and the Lakers or some team would have picked him up.

I like your idea of the Star Trek treatment. Kind of prophetic since I have been watching the old Star Trek movies the last couple of nights. One of the benefits of being as old as I am and having watched literally almost every watchable movie released is that you forget them easily. It’s not like never having seen the movie before but it’s not like watching a rerun because most of it is new. I am introducing my grandson to Star Trek since he has recently become a big Star Wars fan. It’s really amazing watching his face during parts of the movies and remembering being just as entranced by it. Long time SciFi fan. Enjoy the weekend, h. Thanks for the great post.

Tom

Question for Mike T:
Has there ever been a "great defensive Phoenix Suns team?"

humanomaly,

>>>>> Ditto....on Yue over Livingston....

Great stuff tonight, h. In some ways, Mitch’s injury cost the Lakers as much as Bias’ death cost the Celtics as far as continuing each team’s dynastic aspirations. Both were major events that hurt the respective franchises. Loved your recounting of Mitch’s brief career with the Lakers. I remember the newspapers talking about how bad his knee injury was and the thinking was that he was through. And you are right that Mitch is exactly what the Lakers were trying to find. He reminded me of Rudy LaRusso. I thought Garbo would have been perfect. Maybe Josh Powell will pan out. Hopefully, we won’t need him.

I also agree 100% with your comments regarding Sun Yue’s potential. I probably didn’t like Livingston because he was a Clipper and I got sick of AK always pimping him (JK, Andy) but Livingston was only 6-7 and while a good defender, ball handler, and passer, he was another Rajon Rondo, a guy who couldn’t shoot his way out of a paper bag. Sun Yue is a genuine 6-9 with long arms, excellent speed, athleticism, ball handling, passing, and a much better stroke than Livingston. He appears to have excellent shot blocking timing and skills. And he has not had a devastating and probably career-ending injury. Otherwise, the Clippers would have never cut the ties and the Lakers or some team would have picked him up.

I like your idea of the Star Trek treatment. Kind of prophetic since I have been watching the old Star Trek movies the last couple of nights. One of the benefits of being as old as I am and having watched literally almost every watchable movie released is that you forget them easily. It’s not like never having seen the movie before but it’s not like watching a rerun because most of it is new. I am introducing my grandson to Star Trek since he has recently become a big Star Wars fan. It’s really amazing watching his face during parts of the movies and remembering being just as entranced by it. Long time SciFi fan. Enjoy the weekend, h. Thanks for the great post.

Tom

Glenn,

"Has there ever been a "great defensive Phoenix Suns team?"

Don't hold Phoenix's past against them. This is a new era for them in terms of playing differently. Granted is has to come together pretty quickly because of Shaq's and Nash's age. But Shaq, if anything, is going to be close to a double/double and Nash is just too damn smart not to succeed. They could win it all this season and go into the sunset the next.

mike t.