The Season Hasn't Even Started And "Experts" Are Dismissing The C's

[PerkinsERA43]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=NBAChamps-080911


Just what is wrong with these people? Who in their right mind would pick the Lakers? I have New Orleans making it out of the west as it is, so the idea of LA even winning the west seems strange to me.

And honestly, when are we gonna get respect? Last year it was because we didn't have any time to gel. Now its because we're gonna get complacent and not have the motivation to win another championship?

The other 2 reasons they give for the C's falling off are 1) age of the big 3 (NOT going to be an issue) and 2) the loss of Posey (not as big a deal as it is being played off to be).

What is the deal here? Its like the writers at ESPN have already forgotten that they ALL predicted Lakers in 4,5, or 6, and were proved shamefully wrong. Its a month and a half before the season starts, and they've already hopped back on the media-capital bandwagon.


ERA/

[Donoghus]

I don't think its out of the question that someone would pick the Lakers to come out of the West.  After all, they ARE the defending Western Conference Champions and many see the addition of Bynum to that lineup making them even stronger. 

Personally, I think you can make a legitimate argument for 3 or 4 teams in the Western Conference right now. 

I really don't see anything wrong if someone is picking the Lakers to come out of the West again.

[Roy Hobbs]

Time will tell is Bynum is single-handedly able to make up for the Lakers' softness. 

If not, I can still see the Lakers coming out of the West, but there's no way they get by Boston, Detroit, or Cleveland in the Finals.

[NoBlarney]

I think its great they aren't picking the Celts to repeat.  First, it takes off a small bit of pressure and secondly the lack of respect can really be used as a great motivational tool.  We all saw how the espn pajama party did with their picks right before the finals.  This early in the pre-preseason kinda makes any prediction laughable.

[Chris]

Time will tell is Bynum is single-handedly able to make up for the Lakers' softness. 

If not, I can still see the Lakers coming out of the West, but there's no way they get by Boston, Detroit, or Cleveland in the Finals.

Yeah, I see the Lakers having much more trouble against the East than the West, unless they magically become tougher. 

I do see them as the favorites of the West though.  The only real competition I see is the Spurs (now people are really sleeping on them), the Hornets (I actually think they will be taking a step back...but any team with Chris Paul, you need to take seriously), and the Rockets (It's not likely, but they have the talent to compete, if they can put it together).

[TitleMaster]

Nobody will want to hear it but I'll say it again... Paul Pierce is underrated!

That's why the media is trying to turn him into a has-been when he's just entered his prime. All and all, PP has one notch left to go and that's towards Oscar Robertson's level of team play and I believe he'll do that this coming year.

I'd never seen such a great player get denigrated for his whole career. The guy was coached by non-entities and surrounded by clowns, like Mark Blount/Gin Baker, for most of his career whereas the great, can't-do-any-harm Kobe has had both the Diesel, as a co-all star, and coach Jackson giving him "pearls of wisdom" for all of his career nevermind Fisher, George, and the rest at his beckoned call. All and all, Kobe is a me-first type of player whereas Paul was forced to carry that label because his organization around him was a joke for years.

Now, finally, the Truth is about to be set free and that's the complete package. When Kobe tells his team to allow him to initiate the play, what he really says is... "I'm the only REAL playmaker here". When Paul does it, it's because Rondo's tired and needs a little help, here and there, to get things going. That's the difference between the Truth and the Showman. And Shaq, being Kobe's former teammate, knows it which is why he's Paul's greatest fan. When Paul drops a Big 'O' season, next year, what will the press say?... "Oh, PP's now thinks he's LeBron?"

[Mr October]

Time will tell is Bynum is single-handedly able to make up for the Lakers' softness. 

If not, I can still see the Lakers coming out of the West, but there's no way they get by Boston, Detroit, or Cleveland in the Finals.

Yeah, I see the Lakers having much more trouble against the East than the West, unless they magically become tougher. 

I do see them as the favorites of the West though.  The only real competition I see is the Spurs (now people are really sleeping on them), the Hornets (I actually think they will be taking a step back...but any team with Chris Paul, you need to take seriously), and the Rockets (It's not likely, but they have the talent to compete, if they can put it together).

Right. The Spurs seam to get nipped by injuries or complacency every other year. In between those years they pound the NBA and hoist trophies.

Celtics vs. Spurs in 2008!!! It's gonna be fun!

[Nerf DPOY]

" The Champs become complacent after winning their rings" listed as a possible reason for a C's collapse.

 Who on this team do they see becoming complacent? Powe? KG?

In other news, scientists have recently discovered a possible link between defense and Championships...............

[jojowhite10]

I see the West as being a three team race with the Lakers leading te way and the Hornets and Spurs close behind. It's definitely not out of the question to consider the Lakers, now with a top ten center, to be the number one contender to win this year's championship.

[JR Giddens]

It's all because of the Andrew Bynum factor. But what many experts dont know is that Bynum sucked against the Celtics!

Some experts are still convinced that Kobe is the best player in the league even though Lebron has passed him. Just because Kobe has a better skillset it doesn't mean he's better. Kobe doesn't know how to use his skills at the same time where Lebron has an agenda to rip the glass off the backboard everytime.

[JR Giddens]

Nobody will want to hear it but I'll say it again... Paul Pierce is underrated!

That's why the media is trying to turn him into a has-been when he's just entered his prime. All and all, PP has one notch left to go and that's towards Oscar Robertson's level of team play and I believe he'll do that this coming year.

I'd never seen such a great player get denigrated for his whole career. The guy was coached by non-entities and surrounded by clowns, like Mark Blount/Gin Baker, for most of his career whereas the great, can't-do-any-harm Kobe has had both the Diesel, as a co-all star, and coach Jackson giving him "pearls of wisdom" for all of his career nevermind Fisher, George, and the rest at his beckoned call. All and all, Kobe is a me-first type of player whereas Paul was forced to carry that label because his organization around him was a joke for years.

Now, finally, the Truth is about to be set free and that's the complete package. When Kobe tells his team to allow him to initiate the play, what he really says is... "I'm the only REAL playmaker here". When Paul does it, it's because Rondo's tired and needs a little help, here and there, to get things going. That's the difference between the Truth and the Showman. And Shaq, being Kobe's former teammate, knows it which is why he's Paul's greatest fan. When Paul drops a Big 'O' season, next year, what will the press say?... "Oh, PP's now thinks he's LeBron?"

Yeah I hope your right. Only time will tell tho. If they win the ship next year they have to give Paul Pierce his credit. But to be fair their are a lot of players like Paul(was) who are on bad teams and never had a chance to showcase their leadership and all-around game. If it wasn't for KG maybe Paul Pierce would never be a hall of famer. Kind of like Kobe wouldn't have one championship without a dominant big man who gave him wide open shots

[SportsCapNative]

Honestly, I don't see the match-up problems with the Lakers that everyone else sees. Supposedly, Bynum and Gasol together (the "Twin Towers") is going to create this unstoppable force (how they come up with this, I have no idea). Well, what would really change? Perkins on Bynum, Garnett on Gasol, aren't these two match-ups that we've already seen work in Celtics favor? Personally, I find myself much more concerned with Bynum than either of those two, because with them in the game, Peirce is probably going to have to guard Odom meaning Allen will have to guard Bryant, I thought Paul did a much better job with that task in the Finals.

Regardless, this is all just meaningless speculation. ESPN, being as popularity driven as they are, would be hard-pressed to not pick the Lakers to win the championship. But if the Rockets jump out to a quick 18-0 start, they will suddenly pick them as the favorites, so I wouldn't take their premature predictions too seriously.

[JR Giddens]

O yeah ESPN also gave Lebron 12 votes for MVP and Kobe only got 3 votes for MVP and Lebron isn't on a 50-win teams so ESPN doesn't like Kobe if you look at it this way too!

[Nerf DPOY]

Two out of twenty five voters picked Houston. That's only two less than the Celtics. What are the chances that McGrady's back, Yao's legs/feet, and Artest's brain hold up through the season? 8%? Seriously, how can you pick them?

And how come Stephen A. and Skip Bayless were left out of the voting? I'd have liked to have seen the Knicks get a vote.

[Steve Weinman]

It's all because of the Andrew Bynum factor. But what many experts dont know is that Bynum sucked against the Celtics!

Whether they know that or not is up for debate.  What they likely *do* know, however, is the meaning of the concept of 'sample size.'  Bynum played a total of 49 minutes in two regular season games against the Celtics last season - and a total of 105 minutes in five games against them for his career.  Label me a bit short of ready to say that the guy can't play against the green.

-sw