SI.com Roundtable: Lakers: 70 Wins A Possibility?

[JoeTait75]

and for that article that lakeshow posted...

There have been a plethora of teams with more OFFENSIVE talent than the 96 Bulls (which is exactly what these Lakers have). Doesn't mean anything. What made them special was their gritty versatile defense and rebounding, smart offensive desicion making, and an unsurpassed mental toughness (none of which this Lakers team come remotely close to the Bulls in having, ESPECIALLY the defense, rebounding and mental toughness). Not to mention having the greatest player in NBA history, Michael Jordan (which there are also other players more offensively talented and gifted than him, such as Kobe, Lebron, and T-Mac, but it likewise doesn't mean crap). The small intangibles that Jordan and those 96 Bulls had were greater than any player and team in NBA history, which is why they are the greatest team ever.

Yep.

[stretch]

Yes, you're right there, Lakers are #1 in offense

Yes, they are #1 in PPG, and top 10 in FG% and 3pt%. They have looked pretty good on offense.

Lakers are #1 in Defense as of right now

Where the do you get your stats from?

They are not #1 in any major defensive category except steals and turnovers, which actually goes perfectly in hand with my issues about their defense... it relies more on steals and turnovers than it does on actually locking teams up defensively. Also, they can be outsmarted easily, as they allow the 4th most APG. Take a look at other teams that allow that many assists... Golden State, Sacramento, Washington... all pathetically porus defenses. Not saying that the Lakers are that bad, but they definitely can be outsmarted, and rely a lot on turnovers.

To say they are the #1 defensive team (or even close) is incredibly asinine.

and mental toughness.
The Lakers are off to a better start than Jordan's Bulls/Dirk's Mavs through 13 games. Their 14 point win margin is 1/3 higher than Jordan's Bulls and almost double the Celtics win Margin in last year's 66 win season.

That has absolutely nothing to do with mental toughness at all. Mavs won 67 and had the greatest 55 game stretch in sports history or something like that, but that didn't make them mentally strong. The "we're on a mission" bull doesn't mean anything either, as the Mavs were on a mission as well, and really had more of a reason to be as they had partly been cheated out of an NBA le.

It's not about the start. Mental toughness is not measured in the beginning of the season. It's measured in April, May, and June.

Lakers right now are #1 in offense AND defense

Offense, sure. Defense not at all.

I ain't getting into that debate again.

Please don't. You've done nothing here but prove that you're a ing re to try to compare them to Jordan's Bulls and to be talking about 70 wins a mere 13 games into the season.

[sook]

yea allanon i gotta admit that even though most of your posts are true, saying the Lakers are #1 in defense is a long shot from the truth.

[Allanon]

Where the do you get your stats from?

blah blah

To say they are the #1 defensive team (or even close) is incredibly asinine.

Let's forget for a moment that you dismiss the Lakers being #1 in forcing turnovers and steals as being no big deal.

You have to remember that the Lakers play at a very high tempo so you can't go by PPG. But remove the Lakers fast pace tempo and all of a sudden, voila! Lakers are #1 and Celtics are #2 in Defensive Efficiciency.

That has absolutely nothing to do with mental toughness at all. Mavs won 67 and had the greatest 55 game stretch in sports history or something like that, but that didn't make them mentally strong. The "we're on a mission" bull doesn't mean anything either, as the Mavs were on a mission as well, and really had more of a reason to be as they had partly been cheated out of an NBA le.

It's not about the start. Mental toughness is not measured in the beginning of the season. It's measured in April, May, and June.

I think blowing out teams by an average of 14 points is a very good sign of mental toughness. You don't. We shall see.

Offense, sure. Defense not at all.

#1 defensively in defensive efficiency.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...rprises-081120

Please don't. You've done nothing here but prove that you're a ing re to try to compare them to Jordan's Bulls and to be talking about 70 wins a mere 13 games into the season.

And all that you've proven is that your ing pea-sized brain has been shrunken even smaller by your Laker hate.

[Pistonfan1]

They could very well win 70 games. The thing is it wont mean come playoff time. The Lakers have a very good team, but my god does their bench and overall team get so overrated. Gasol is a soft player. Sasha/Vladamir are soft players. Odom is a solid 6th man but he is no more than a 3rd-4th option that is inconsistent. Bynum is a solid big on the rise but with Gasol wimping out when the going gets tough and Odom literally not a 2nd option, Bynum has to step up his game dramatically. Even if Bynum is able to pick up the slack for Odom's random ineffectiveness and Gasol's softness, it wouldnt be enough. The Lakers backup bigmen are scrubs. Chris Mihm and Josh Powell are worthless pieces of . Lack of bigman depth is a weakness the Lakers have to go with a handful of soft players. When it is all said and done come postseason time, the Lack of bigman depth, mentally tough players and lack of a clutch D are going to do the Lakers in.

[Brazil]

I knew it...

[DrHouse]

What should scare the rest of the league is that this Laker team is nowhere near their potential.......and they are straight dominating teams. Bynum is getting back on track and should he avoid injury will be a vastly improved player by the end of the season compared to now. Bad teams simply don't have a chance, and good teams need to bring their 'A' game to even have a chance at beating LA @ Staples.

Let's take a direct look at their compe ion, Boston. Boston is holding teams to an impressive 89.9 ppg while scoring 97.2 ppg, slightly down from their averages last year. The Lakers, OTOH, are holding teams to 92.7 ppg while scoring an incredible 107 ppg. Basically they are giving up around 2-3 pts more than BOS per game while scoring an incredible 10 more ppg. The average win point differential is a whopping 14.3 pts.

You can say whatever you want about LA not winning the le. But stop ing ignoring reality, by any statistic you want to go by the Lakers are ing dominant on both offense and defense.

[DrHouse]

Credit to LakerSanity over on LG:

Team Accolades

Points Scored - 1st (107.0)
Points Allowed - 6th (92.7)
Scoring Differential - 1st (+14.3)

Pace - 3rd (98.8)

Field Goal % - 7th (46.1%)
Filed Goal % Allowed - 3rd (42.3%)
3pt Shooting % - 5th (39%)
3pt Shooting % Allowed - 3rd (31%)

Rebounding Differential - 3rd (+5.0)
Rebounding Rate - 3rd (52.8)

Assists - 5th (22.4)
Turnovers - 10th (13.6)

Steals - 1st (10.4)
Turnovers Forced - 1st (17.5)

Turnover Differential - 2nd (-3.9)

Blocks - 6th (6.2)

Offensive Efficiency - 3rd (108.4)
Defensive Efficiency - 1st (93.9)

[YellowFever]

Not likely to happen.

I still have some questions regarding the mental toughness of this team to say they will win 70 games, much less win the championship.

But they do look good right now and Im just going to enojy their success and think about the other crap when April and May gets here.