No Denying It...

Their probably the largest obstacle between my team and banner 17, right now. As much as I'd like to see them dispatched, the Los Angeles Lakers are playing like the NBA champions they are...finding a way to win, even on their off nights. Barring some unforeseen event (injury), they simply aren't going away soon. The more I see this team, the more difficult it looks to me to unseat them...DANG!

Watched last night's game. refs made terrible call near end of regulation. Kobe travels and commits offensive foul and thows the ball in and they call a foul against the Bucks.. results in a 3 pt play.

LA is very good but I think Boston is better.

dboss

Lacelt


Oddly enough the more I see the Lakes the better I like our chances. Kobe has reverted back to shooting 28 times to the detriment of his team and they have no bench.

Kobe and Pau mainly but Artest too are playing very heavy minutes in any game closer than ten points. They remind me of us last year before KG went down.

We will slowly tighten the vise on them with depth and balance in a seven game series.

They have a great starting 5 but if Kobe is off they lack shooters. They are very tall but struggle against teams they cant shoot over. They have Odom and Brown off the bench and that it. Odom is rebounding but in a bad funk on O. For whatever reason Jackson wont use Brown more than 12 minutes a night.

But like PP against Orlando last year Kobe as good as he is and even with the shape he keeps himself in will run out of gas deep in the playoffs...much like 08 I think if things keep up the way they are.

Jeb

I'm not sure winning by 1 in OT on a buzzerbeater by a player who had to:

1. play 50 out of 53 minutes.
2. took 35% of all fga by his team.
3. had 4 assists and 7 turnovers.
4. was only +2 on the night (I know that's a misleading stat, but when you're on the floor all the time and take that many shots, you are, in essence, the team regardless of who else is on the floor with you. That stat becomes a bit more meaningful since there was almost no lineup that DID NOT include Kobe).

is necessarily a good thing. Especially against a mediocre team like Milwaukee. Their record was 11-11 going into last night, but 7 of those 11 wins were against bottom-feeders. The Portland and Denver wins were good wins, but they split their series with Detroit (11-14) and Chicago (8-15). Not exactly powerhouses and they're .500 with them.

I didn't see the game, but there's been a ton of talk about how Kobe got away with a travel and an offensive foul towards the end of OT too.

A thrilling win for the Lakers, but not particularly impressive. God help them if Kobe sprains an ankle or a knee or something he can't just play through. They've probably forgotten how to play basketball him.

bob

I think the Lakers are a very good team, but I think their record is better than they are, if that makes any sense. I do think Boston is better. Call me biased, but the numbers back me up. Boston is 5th in the NBA in offensive efficiency (Lakers are 13th) and 1st in the NBA in defensive efficiency (Lakers 2nd).

LACELT,

I agree with you that the Lakers are the most significant challenge to the Celtics winning the title. They are tied at the moment for the best record in the league, so I don't suppose it takes a genius to figure that these are the two best teams at this point, but I do agree with your reasoning. A team gains a calmness and confidence when they win the title, and that is something the Lakers now have. And you can talk refs and luck and whatever else, but I agree that champions find ways to win a lot of those ugly games.

But my conclusion is different. Rather than "Dang," I'm going, "Oh boy!" Like a lot of people, I'd really like to see the Celtics and Lakers in the finals with both teams at full strength. I think both teams are much better than in 2008, and I'd hope for a great seven-game series that goes into overtime in game 7. If both teams rise to the occasion, it could be an epic series between the two most accomplished franchises in the history of the league. I am looking forward to this MUCH more because they seem evenly matched.

But I'm also mindful of the other teams out there. There are significant challenges for both the Celtics and Lakers in their own conferences. In the East, Orlando certainly, but also Atlanta and Cleveland. (Miami is the only other team above .500, so the postseason will really begin in round 2.)

In the West, Denver looks very, very good to me and a significant threat to the Lakers. Dallas is sneaking around under the radar (they have the same 19-7 record as Denver), and I don't know if I'll ever count out San Antonio with Popovich there. Plus you've got Phoenix and a bunch of other teams who will win 50 games. Both conferences have a solid group of elite teams, but the West is much tougher top to bottom. Getting out of the West will be brutal this year.

The thing is, yes, I'm hopeful for a Boston-LA series and I think that's most likely, but there are so many other good teams out there this year that I think this could be a really great year for the league. It's going to be a great ride.

Outside

Outside, I particularly agree with your last sentance: "It's going to be a great ride."

There was a poll (I can't remember where) that was asking what people thought of the NBA regular season. The options were something like 1) love it, 2) hate it, or 3) it's a necessary evil to get to the playoffs. The majority went with # 3 and it had me wondering what people were smoking! The journey to the playoffs is just as great as actually getting there, IMO. October through (hopefully) June is my favorite time of year!

Outside wrote:LACELT,

I agree with you that the Lakers are the most significant challenge to the Celtics winning the title. They are tied at the moment for the best record in the league, so I don't suppose it takes a genius to figure that these are the two best teams at this point, but I do agree with your reasoning. A team gains a calmness and confidence when they win the title, and that is something the Lakers now have. And you can talk refs and luck and whatever else, but I agree that champions find ways to win a lot of those ugly games.

But my conclusion is different. Rather than "Dang," I'm going, "Oh boy!" Like a lot of people, I'd really like to see the Celtics and Lakers in the finals with both teams at full strength. I think both teams are much better than in 2008, and I'd hope for a great seven-game series that goes into overtime in game 7. If both teams rise to the occasion, it could be an epic series between the two most accomplished franchises in the history of the league. I am looking forward to this MUCH more because they seem evenly matched.

But I'm also mindful of the other teams out there. There are significant challenges for both the Celtics and Lakers in their own conferences. In the East, Orlando certainly, but also Atlanta and Cleveland. (Miami is the only other team above .500, so the postseason will really begin in round 2.)

In the West, Denver looks very, very good to me and a significant threat to the Lakers. Dallas is sneaking around under the radar (they have the same 19-7 record as Denver), and I don't know if I'll ever count out San Antonio with Popovich there. Plus you've got Phoenix and a bunch of other teams who will win 50 games. Both conferences have a solid group of elite teams, but the West is much tougher top to bottom. Getting out of the West will be brutal this year.

The thing is, yes, I'm hopeful for a Boston-LA series and I think that's most likely, but there are so many other good teams out there this year that I think this could be a really great year for the league. It's going to be a great ride.

Outside

Actually, I didn't mean to ignore Orlando, or even Cleveland or Atlanta...I just think that the biggest obstacle will be the Lakers. I think that they are struggling a bit on the road right now and what's impressive is that they are still finding a way to win. This is the mark of a very good team. I agree with pretty much everything you say with the exception of getting out of the west. I don't see anyone else emerging from the west unless the Lakers suffer injuries. They are heads and shoulders above everyone else..As for the east, I'm still not convinced that the C's can beat either Orlando or Atlanta in a series. If Glen comes back strong it actually could make a difference.