Lakers had the Suns on the ropes last season before choking the series away themselves. They've got alot of guys on that team that have made significant strides since last season. The Suns ought to be very afraid of facing them this time around.
A 13 game winning streak, 11-0 since the all star break, and some of the best defense the spurs have played in years and the mavs and suns are head and shoulders above the spurs?
Makes no sense at all.
Makes a little more sense after watching them play the Bucks.
The Lakers had us on the ropes because they used their size to bully us around. With Amare and Kurt Thomas back (mainly Amare), we'll be bullying them around inside. The Lakers have made strides, but I think the Suns have made even bigger strides.
Well, I only go off what ABC and ESPN tell me - I don't really do my own research on the Lakers because I don't care that much... I'm too busy with my witch hunts, instead.
they are both very valuable to the Lakers. while they may have lost more without Walton, I'd still say that their playoff success is more dependent on having a healthy Odom, than a healthy Walton... although they MUST have both for any success.
Yeah - I agree - a 12-14 record without Odom... maybe it was just coincidence that Walton went down and they started losing more? But I still think no Odom = no 2nd round of playoffs.
Then maybe you shouldn't comment on what you don't know. It's OK for you to keep quiet.
Did you come up with that yourself? It's pretty obvious that if there's no Odom the Lakers don't make the 2nd round. Maybe you can write a column for ABC and ESPN.
Well first off you won't be bullying anybody around on the inside. Especially not the Lakers. Amare and Kurt are not your prototypical back to the basket, low post threat. While Kwame may not be good offensively, he is a very good defensive player. Bynum is a big body and even though he is young he will still give the Suns problems. They are saying Mihm might be back for the playoffs and Lamar owns Marion.
I will not make a prediction now about the Lakers, because they have been playing horrible and have only now started to get healthy. But to say you are a totally different team now that you have Amare and Kurt back is not really true. Diaw is not nearly the player he was last year (he was excellent) and Tim Thomas (who won the series for you) is gone. You are better now than you were last year, but not as much as you guys think.
I think you're overestimating the defensive capabilities of Kwame and underestimating the dominance of Amare. Dallas couldn't stop Amare from getting 41 points on 16-19 FG last night, and the Mavericks have a better frontcourt (defensively) than the Lakers.
If the Suns and Lakers do happen to meet in the playoffs this year, I don't think it'll even go to Game 6. Of course, there are still like 20 games left in the season, and the Lakers might start playing their best ball of the season before the playoffs. Until that happens, visions of Amare dominating Kwame and Bynum prevail.
You're definitely right about Odom giving Marion problems defensively, though. Odom seems to be one of the few players in the league capable of doing so.
Actually Kwame is very good defensively. Can he shut down Amare? No way. Can he give him problems and make him work? Yes. As for Dallas having a better defensive frontcourt than the Lakers, I'm not so sure about that. Dampier is a very good defensive center, but I like the combination of Kwame and Bynum better. Not to mention that Lamar is better than Dirk defensively. That was a very impressive performance from Amare the other night. But most of his points were off of pick and rolls. Nothing wrong with that at all, but Kwame is more mobile than Dampier. Now Nash against Smush is a different story. That's a total mismatch for you guys. I have a feeling the Lakers might force Bell to beat them. Barbosa is also another player that we have no answer for. But as I said before it is way too early to predict anything. Especially with all the injuries the Lakers have had. they may not even make the playoffs with the way they have been playing. Way too early to say anything.
Kwame is not good at anything... stop kidding yourself.
This coming from the guy who rips on the front office of a team that is in 5th place in the West (Rockets), while he's cheering for a pussy (Kwame Brown), accused rapist and known elbow-thrower (Kobe), bag (Luke Walton), lazy pothead (Lamar Odom), monkey (Jordan Farmar), streetballing thug (Smush Parker), crybaby foreigner (Sasha), lying foreigner (Vlad), underachiever (Brian Cook), a y, smug, self-aggrandizing piece of (Phil Jackson) ... I could go on, but I'll spare you the embarassment that is your franchise.
Like I said before don't comment on things you don't know.
Wow that's pretty good Ron that's ABC/ESPN material right there.
I don't really see how you can say the Lakers are an embarrassment of a franchise, I mean they have all those rings that say otherwise. But that's pretty good, definitely ABC and ESPN material.
Because one game defines a team.
He is one of the best, if not the best, post-up defenders in the NBA. He is, however, not a very good pick-and-roll defender, and since Stoudemire is a far more effective scorer when being spoon-fed buckets by Nash than when he has to create for himself, you could be excused for thinking that Brown is an ineffective defender in general because of simple ignorance.
Or you could be a complete homer with a massive chip on your shoulder, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Amare and Kurt Thomas are obviously far more talented....but Kwame and Bynum will outmuscle and bully the out of them.
If Lakers and Suns meet up in the playoffs, Lakers win the series. Book it.
You don't know what you're talking about. Kwame isn't great. Duh, we all know that. He's not an All-Star or an elite player. His career has been a disappointment. But to say he's not "good at anything" is just bs. He does have some skill...he's decent. Like most centers in the league.
Wow. People defending Kwame Brown... something I thought I'd never see. Haven't you noticed he has terrible hands around the basket on both ends of the floor??? There's a reason we all make fun of his "aw, shucks" hand clap whenever he makes another stupid play. This is a guy so frustrated after a Suns playoff victory that he goes and rapes a girl (allegedly) and is even more frustrated about his own inep ude that he takes a chocolate birthday cake from a guy and then throws it at him before jumping into a limo to drive away.
Oh, he was also a #1 overall draft pick, in case you forgot...
Again here is Ron with his great insight into the inner workings of Kwame Brown's mind.
Nobody is saying he has great hands. People just recognize that he is a very good post defender. You shouldn't play defense with your hands anyway. And his rebounding is not horrible, he's actually more than adequate as a rebounder.
It sure is a good thing it wasn't the Lakers that drafted him #1.Oh, he was also a #1 overall draft pick, in case you forgot...
I agree he is not a great pick and roll defender, he is much better as a post defender. But he's not as bad as many people think. He always has to cover for Smush Parker's horrible defense. If we had a decent defensive PG then he would look much better defending the pick and roll. Kwame is very mobile for his size so I believe he could become a very good pick and roll defender if he had some help from the perimeter on those plays.
Well I sure hope you're right. It would be the call of the year. But I do agree with you that Kwame and Bynum will outmuscle and bully them. I can guarantee you that if they do meet that it will not be an easy series for the Suns. And I have a feeling that the Lakers will take them. Of course they need to stay healthy and start playing like a team.
A 13 game winning streak, 11-0 since the all star break, and some of the best defense the spurs have played in years and the mavs and suns are head and shoulders above the spurs?
Makes no sense at all.
How about back-to-back losses to Milwaukee and Boston? Does that make better sense?
Fixed it up a little bit for you... I thought it was rude to call the Suns and Mavs only good "regular season" teams... wait until the 2007 playoffs have started before we pass too much judgement.
Then again, the Suns have promptly gotten blown out twice in a row, so...
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
