SI.com: Roundtable: Who can win it all? (McCallum still believes)

[LakeShow]

Lakers are screwed. They aren't winning anything this season, unless Kobe gets injured for the rest of the season

I think the Nuggets will become unstable in a lakers/nuggets series worst than last season.

Ron can't deal with Carmelo now but in the playoffs when contact, holding and physical play is allowed. He'll f with Carmelo. Carmelo doesn't react wisely to physical play, nor does he play well. He'll probably punch artest and run and be suspended.

[Mr.Robinson]

Don't have hunger? The Lakers are the best playoff team in the history of the game. Nobody is hungrier. KB will be sure to have the Lakers driven and focused in the playoffs.

Denver is good and a very good matchup for the Lakers. The Lakers are proven, battle tested champions and they will bring it in the P.O.

Lakers in 6

Agreed. Plus, they also have the league on their side.

[SouthTexasRancher]

What the is Jack McCallum smoking? The guy is totally delusional. The Spurs are going for a good draft pick and will bypass this season's playoffs. They do not need a 3rd year in a row of making fools out of themselves in the playoffs. It is time to rebuild with youth but, Pop will continue his idiotic ways and go with guys drafted from an old folks home.

[Danny.Zhu]

That's because McCallum is stupid.

[FeZZy]

[taps]

I felt the very same way about the 2002 WCF. Even with the Kings up 3-2 Adlemen was still their head coach. George Karl fits the bill of a coach who can't take down the great coaches especially Phil Jackson.

Funny, reminds me of Phil's quote b4 game one of the 92 finals, "This Portland team plays in spurts, ultimately they tend to self-destruct." and Magic's analysis of the 1991 WCF, "we always felt as long as we kept it close they would turn the ball over or make some mistake that we could exploit to beat them."

Denver typified this last year with two bad inbound passes that lost two games in a 6 game series. Ouch. It will be up to I guess to artest to fill that void ariza left and cash in on those mistakes.

Even still i must say the lakers teetered many times on the western leg of their 09 finals run and as a Spurs fan I'm definitely rooting for my ABA bretheren over the feckin lakers

[TD 21]

Ya that's true, but generally when the favorites don't win, another contender does..

The Spurs aren't contenders..

West: LA, Denver..
East: Cleveland, Orlando..

I'd be absolutely shocked if another team won the le..

Couldn't agree more.

The Celtics are the '08 Spurs, which is to say, they're done. They'll still be a tough out this season, but they're no longer a contender.

Hawks, Jazz and Mavs are all a cut below. Of the three, I'd go Mavs one, Hawks two, Jazz three, but none of them are legit contenders. They're all typical second round fodder.

The Spurs fit in a group a cut below that group, along with the Thunder, Suns and Trail Blazers. If the Spurs are to "turn the corner", they'll likely only go up to the Hawks, Jazz and Mavs level.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Jack McCallum: See, almost every week I'm forced into either continuing my preseason position that the Spurs are going to win the NBA championship, or jumping off the bus. It's not March yet, so I'm going to stick with the seventh-place Spurs as having a chance.

McCallum clearly states that he's just hanging on to his pre-season pick, and then cites SPAM as his last hope.

Good luck with that, Jack! (Time to get off that bu I'm afraid... )

[mountainballer]

West: LA, Denver..
East: Cleveland, Orlando..

I'd be absolutely shocked if another team won the le..

I hate to say it, but I don't think we can not NOT include Dallas.
Haywood already showed his value for them and once Butler starts hitting his shots they will be very dangerous. and they are the only team that can match the Laker's size.

[Tradition]

You forget the Celtics won with Doc Rivers as their coach, who is extremely ty. George Karl is a much better coach than ty Doc Rivers. And ty Doc Rivers with HUNGRY-ASS players DESTROYED Phil Jackson's pathetic Lakers team that year.

The Lakers cannot stop the Nuggets. They'll be victimized.

Billups did not have a full year with the team last year. The team looks very different now. They're PISSED OFF they lost to the Lakers last year. They're locked in.

Lakers don't have that hunger.

They don't. They may think they can turn it on in the last weeks, but Denver has been SEETHING for almost a year now.

QED You're wrong.

[Bender]

lakers in the west, for the east I don't know if cavs are in a such good position, I can smell an upset for them before the ECF.

good call

[Tradition]

You forget the Celtics won with Doc Rivers as their coach, who is extremely ty. George Karl is a much better coach than ty Doc Rivers. And ty Doc Rivers with HUNGRY-ASS players DESTROYED Phil Jackson's pathetic Lakers team that year.

The Lakers cannot stop the Nuggets. They'll be victimized.

Billups did not have a full year with the team last year. The team looks very different now. They're PISSED OFF they lost to the Lakers last year. They're locked in.

Lakers don't have that hunger.

They don't. They may think they can turn it on in the last weeks, but Denver has been SEETHING for almost a year now.

QED You're wrong.

Again!