The Laker Threat

[callo1]

I'm not worried. While they have an advantage in the front court, the Spurs bench will destroy theirs, not to mention Kobe freezing out their bigs...The Spurs are too deep for the Lakers.

[callo1]

The Lakers whooped yo asses back then even when Shaq and Kobe were feuding

Different teams...and you seem to have forgotten '03 when the Spurs beat them down in LA.

Spurs are too deep for the Lakers.

[SenorSpur]

Yes, and somebody also forgot about the Fakers most recent playoff performance - a 4-game sweep at the hands of the eventual NBA Champion Mavs.

No one in their right mind would write-off the Fakers, however let's not sit here and act like they were the near-invincible bunch from the 3-peat team of the last decade either.

[pgardn]

It's a joke that any Lakers player is called clutch, but Artest is the last one to make a big play in a meaningful way in the playoffs.

Game 7 with Celts. Artest fouls Ray Allen (he cant shoot FT's) with a little less that 2 minutes to go to get the Celts within a basket. The foul makes absolutely no sense, pure stupidity. Neither team is shooting well but they are playing decent D. Allen makes both.

Forgotten because Kobe and Gasol dominated the boards with Perkins gone. Artest single handedly in one moment of sheer idiocy keeps the Celts in the game.

Now he is insane, I will give you that.

[TD 21]

Yes, and somebody also forgot about the Fakers most recent playoff performance - a 4-game sweep at the hands of the eventual NBA Champion Mavs.

No one in their right mind would write-off the Fakers, however let's not sit here and act like they were the near-invincible bunch from the 3-peat team of the last decade either.

I wrote them off before the season began, as far as being a legit contender. There's only four teams capable of winning the championship and they're not one of them. It's not just the obvious personnel issues, it's the lack of chemistry. That team clearly doesn't like each other and clearly doesn't respect their coach. I can't think of a championship team in recent memory that you could say that about. And then there's the simple fact that they can't win easily. It's always a grind. That's another characteristic that you don't find in championship teams.

This team reminds me a lot of the '08 Spurs. They're too old to sustain anything and don't have enough depth or versatility. That team still had three of the best players in the league too, but it was obvious well in advance of the playoffs that their aura and mystique were gone and that they were not going to win the championship. And they didn't lack chemistry or have a problem with their coach. They also defended much better than this Lakers team. That's the thing, the Lakers offense isn't just anemic, but their defense, while fairly good, isn't nearly good enough to compensate for that.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The only key element to remember about this is - the Fakers are currently imploding from within. They're rebelling against Kobe's shot-happy ways and Bynum and Bryant are seemingly about to stage an internal mutiny against head coach Mike Brown. The
Fakers are not long for these playoffs.

Not to mention that they are as deep as the kiddie pool.

Long gone are the days of Odom, Farmar, Barnes and Brown coming off the bench.

Gasol has taken a step back, kobe shoots more jumpshots then ever, and Jackson is no longer around with the respect to get them all to buy in.

The new rules in terms of the cap is going to make it harder to just spend out of the ass. Better hope Sessions continues to shoot ten points above his career averages.

i get that the hype won't stop but thats all it is.