Author Topic: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?  (Read 7786 times)

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Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« on: July 02, 2010, 03:23:49 PM »

Offline Bankshot

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It's ticking me off the the only teams with cap space are in the East and it seems like all the big free agents are going to land in the East, making it that much more difficult for us and another cakewalk year for the Lakers. >:(  I wish Lebron would sign with the Clippers.

Sick of the Lakers having such easy seasons! >:(
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Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2010, 03:29:44 PM »

Offline Who

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Portland are my favourite in the West. Lakers in second place.

The Rockets and Mavericks may still acquire another star player. That would put them in the mix too.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2010, 03:30:41 PM »

Offline Prof. Clutch

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To be fair I wouldn't say the Lakers paths to the finals have been easy.  They've had to go through a bunch of injuries themselves and there are a lot of tough talented teams out in the west.

Celtics have had a more difficult path for sure, but I don't think it's been a cake walk for the Lakers either.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2010, 03:34:09 PM »

Offline ScoobyDoo

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But it's kind of like the 80's again. WE go through the wars back east and the lakers are rested and waiting...

I'd argue that the Cavs and Magic were exponentially tougher match ups than a depleted Utah who has never won a game on the road ( exaggeration, but you get the point) and a bunch of mini mice from Phoenix....

I'd love to see Portland pull a deal for Chris Paul..

Chris Paul, on that team, with a healthy Oden...crush the lakers.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2010, 03:36:38 PM »

Offline boscel33

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don't count out the thunder.  they have a pretty decent team and have done a good job in the off season.
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Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2010, 03:44:05 PM »

Offline JSD

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Portland are my favourite in the West. Lakers in second place.

The Rockets and Mavericks may still acquire another star player. That would put them in the mix too.

I'm with you here. Portland would have done some damage if they were healthy last season. This year they're going in with a team that matches up well against the Fakes.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2010, 03:58:35 PM »

Offline Mike-Dub

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Everyone is forgetting OKC!  I really like what they did in the draft getting Aldridge and with the experience they get last year in the playoffs against the Lakers I feel that they are the best bet to knock off LA at this moment.

 You never know though because the trading deadline can change a lot.  But right now I think OKC is the Lakers biggest challenge out West.

boscel33 TP to you! Didn't notice your reply.
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Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #7 on: July 02, 2010, 04:03:24 PM »

Offline Rashi

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Everyone is forgetting OKC!  I really like what they did in the draft getting Aldridge and with the experience they get last year in the playoffs against the Lakers I feel that they are the best bet to knock off LA at this moment.

 You never know though because the trading deadline can change a lot.  But right now I think OKC is the Lakers biggest challenge out West.


This.

OKC prob is the biggest threat to the Lakers, but honestly I can't see them beating the Lakers in the postseason to stop em from reaching the finals. Hopefully some team in the west ends up pulling an amazing trade to stop the Lakers from going to the finals for the 4th straight time.


Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #8 on: July 02, 2010, 04:20:07 PM »

Offline GreenFaith1819

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Everyone is forgetting OKC!  I really like what they did in the draft getting Aldridge and with the experience they get last year in the playoffs against the Lakers I feel that they are the best bet to knock off LA at this moment.

 You never know though because the trading deadline can change a lot.  But right now I think OKC is the Lakers biggest challenge out West.


This.

OKC prob is the biggest threat to the Lakers, but honestly I can't see them beating the Lakers in the postseason to stop em from reaching the finals. Hopefully some team in the west ends up pulling an amazing trade to stop the Lakers from going to the finals for the 4th straight time.



Good Point - OKC needs one more quality Big to confront LA...hopefully they can get Boozer or someone of that caliber.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2010, 04:23:26 PM »

Offline GreenFaith1819

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Plus, I don't think Kobe's finger is going to get any better...see article below:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Kobe-Bryant-has-the-index-finger-of-an-83-year-o?urn=nba,252528

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2010, 04:30:15 PM »

Offline guava_wrench

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It's ticking me off the the only teams with cap space are in the East and it seems like all the big free agents are going to land in the East, making it that much more difficult for us and another cakewalk year for the Lakers. >:(  I wish Lebron would sign with the Clippers.

Sick of the Lakers having such easy seasons! >:(
How many of the FAs are from the east? The top 3 are. Clev will likely no longer be a threat, though Chi or Mia could be much improved.

Utah and Phx look like they will be far inferior. Clips will be better already with Griffin, but without grabbing a good FA i don't take them to seriously. Oden returning is always big for Portland and OKC could be improved by aging (or they could regress to the mean). San Ant is like a bit of a wildcard like us, except they have more people under contract. I wouldn't overemphasize San Ant's elimination last season -- bad matchup for them against Phx.

Denver will continue to worry about K-Mart and Nene getting injured and their coach disappearing. Only Utah and Phx look to be hurt by losing top free agents. I expect this to hurt Phx more than Utah since health would help Utah more than Boozer. Milsap needs to come to play though.

If someone like Amare goes to the Knicks, will that make much of a difference? Mia had a better player in Wade last year, but they were still only mediocre. I don't expect the Knicks to be any better than last year's Miami unless they get 2 great players.

I also feel like Kobe will continue to have more health issues every year. He is definitely a warrior, but not having Kobe at a transcendent level really dilutes the Laker lineup.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2010, 04:32:12 PM »

Offline guava_wrench

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Plus, I don't think Kobe's finger is going to get any better...see article below:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Kobe-Bryant-has-the-index-finger-of-an-83-year-o?urn=nba,252528

I was fully expecting an arthritic finger.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2010, 04:39:21 PM »

Offline JSD

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It's funny how everyone talks about KG and Paul "getting too old" when Kobe is right there in age.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #13 on: July 02, 2010, 04:39:42 PM »

Offline GreenFaith1819

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Well, another reason for me to love Doc Rivers. He insists on our players sitting out for injuries, especially ones that could hurt them down the road later on in their careers.

I don't think Phil insisted on Kobe playing through this, but knowing Kobe he blew it off.

Now, I think this will come back and bite Kobe in the keester. He is a Great Player, but one can only compensate for this but so long.

Re: Another Cakewalk for the Lakers?
« Reply #14 on: July 02, 2010, 04:40:34 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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It's funny how everyone talks about KG and Paul "getting too old" when Kobe is right there in age.

yes, age and number of years in the league. Kobe's on the decline. Lakers fans and the media just don't want to admit it.