spoken like a true champion.. you can always get better.. i just think that the bynum injury is hurting the lakers play more than people think..

They will be fine but the Blazers seem to have their numbers. The Blazers were angrier, hungrier, and they want it more last night. BRoy didn't like the way he got hammered before and the way Rudy went down so they took it to the Lakers.

Back to the story, Tex Winters is right. The Lakers don't have the same mentality lately on the road. Losing to Phoenix and Portland didn't look good and they showed some sign of weakness.

The Lakers don't play enough defense. They rely on outscoring the opposition because their offense is so good. They're going to fall behind in the race for homecourt advantage. They have lots of road games left. Cleveland has lots of home games left. Whoever has homecourt advantage is going to win the NBA championship.

Why in the world would Kobe even talk to that hack Bill O'Reilly, let alone permit his picture to be taken with him? Perhaps they're sharing sexual harrassment stories.

Yeah the game seems although it was an aggressive one so the Blazers fought back.. they are young and hungry and have something to prove to everyone that says 'They are too young to make any noise in the West'.

I certainly wouldn't want to play Portland in a best of 7 series.. or any team that's in the Western playoffs. Each team from 1 to 8 has the ability to defeat one another.. so the higher seeds better not get cocky or arrogant.

p.s. Bill O'Reilly is an idiot.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 08:37 AM ET  03.10 by bigdog1002

The Lakers don't play enough defense. They rely on outscoring the opposition because their offense is so good. They're going to fall behind in the race for homecourt advantage. They have lots of road games left. Cleveland has lots of home games left. Whoever has homecourt advantage is going to win the NBA championship.

It is extremely hard to play perfect basketball for an 82 game regular season that means NOTHING other than home court. The Lakers have basically locked up western Home court & they simply will be coasting towards the playoffs
There is NO POINT in going balls out now.
It is much ore improtant to get their work in and REST for the playoff run

Why do they talk about Tex Winter, but show a pic of Bill O'Reilly?

Latest Rumour: Bill Oreally is going to write a book about Conservative Basketball.

QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 09:21 AM ET  03.10 by cruse1

Why do they talk about Tex Winter, but show a pic of Bill O'Reilly?

My first thought was that Tex Winter looks just like Bill Orally.

Why do they show a pic of Bill O'Reilly and a **** bag?

Would love to see Magic vs Lakers in the finals.
Push them to the limit and see who is the better team.

Would love to see Magic vs Lakers in the finals.
Push them to the limit and see who is the better team.

I love my LAKERS, but I don't feel good about the team's toughness down low. I really wa ted them to pick up somebody to help in th elow post from a toughness standpoint. I'll do a wait and see.

It comes down to Bynum. Lamar is same as always, falling back to earth, astounding one night and depressingly passive on others.

With Bynum, they look like a championship team on both ends of the court. Without him, they look like a very good but defensively vulnerable team that might steal a championship if they get the bounces. The upshot is that at this time last year everyone knew he wasn't coming back and his return looks promising.

Then the question becomes how they handle his return mentally, will they have a renewed sense of passion, and will they build off this stretch or will his return be clunky and awkward? Even if Lakers are potentially better, come playoffs Celtics are still the measuring stick.

Did somebody tell arejaydub about this? You mean "lovely in Lakerland" is just a myth?

QUOTE(#16):

Originally posted 10:43 AM ET  03.10 by dynamic

It comes down to Bynum. Lamar is same as always, falling back to earth, astounding one night and depressingly passive on others. With Bynum, they look like a championship team on both ends of the court. Without him, they look like a very good but defensively vulnerable team that might steal a championship if they get the bounces. The upshot is that at this time last year everyone knew he wasn't coming back and his return looks promising.Then the question becomes how they handle his return mentally, will they have a renewed sense of passion, and will they build off this stretch or will his return be clunky and awkward? Even if Lakers are potentially better, come playoffs Celtics are still the measuring stick.

um- the Lakers have lost 13 games all year .....
Bynum is a big body- but he ain't kareem abdul jabbar

Celtics may be some kind of measuring sticks, but I don't think we'll see them in the finals again.

QUOTE(#18):

Originally posted 10:52 AM ET  03.10 by jgb

um- the Lakers have lost 13 games all year .....Bynum is a big body- but he ain't kareem abdul jabbar

I think you are missing the meat. Bynum is not just a "big body" although he is certainly not Kareem lol! He is not the cake, probably not the icing...just the cherry on top of a legit championship pastry.

If he weren't injured all the time he is potentially the the sixth or seventh best true center in the league - after Shaq, Howard, Yao, Jefferson...Camby maybe? He is a true post scorer on a team that doesn't have one. He let's Gasol slide over to the 4 where he plays more efficiently on both ends. He adds a whole new demension to their defense with shot blcoking.

Lakers without Bynum are a very good team, but incomplete.