Right now things are progressing great in Lakerland but most fans are still weary of another collapse. Last season the Lakers got off to a blazing 24-12 spot before limping into the playoffs in the 7 seed. Obviously this team is a lot different than last years team but just how good are they? Right now the lakers are one game back of dallas (two half games) for the third seed, and own the 4th best record in the western conference. Well the players seem to think that they have turned a corner Kobe Bryant has continually praised his bench and young teammates Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar. After the win against the Bulls Kobe said that everyone has seen what Andrew can do offensively but his biggest contributions have come defensively where he has 10 blocks in the past two games and is seemingly changing shots almost every possession. Phil Jackson has said that Andrew is doing a much better job of getting up the floor and owning rebounds this season and has shown much more consistency and heart. The bench has been huge for the Lakers this season and the starting point guard position has also been upgraded with fish coming in for smush. Sasha Vujacic has been hot of late and many scouts and GMS have been saying Jordan Farmar is starting to look like a young Tony Parker. All of this success and still you'd be hard pressed to find content Laker fans in L.A. While there is a lot of clamoring for a second true scorer to back up Kobe, this team has very quietly put up 107 points per game the third highest to only Phoenix and Golden State. While averaging a decent 101 points against, the biggest difference has truly been the tempo and defense. This Laker squad is a lot more athletic and looking to break out a lot more and that comes in large part to better rebounding, an increase in steals and an all around better effort defensively. I personally am excited about the future of this Laker team as there young players are starting to develop and excel with the emergence of Farmar and Bynum and the promise and athleticism shown by Javaris Crittenton and heart shown by Ronny Turiaf. The Euros seem much more comfortable out there in their roles and Walton is starting to find the form he was in before injuries plagued him last season.
Laker fans dont forget that Kwame Browns contract comes off the books at the end of the season and the Lakers should have around 14 million to spend on free-agents in a crop that could include.... Ron Artest, Luol Deng, Shawn Marion, and of course Elton Brand.....
The lakers are on their way, Kobe is the wild card of course....for the future that is, we are talking about the greatest player in the last 15 years and maybe longer. The lakers need to add one really good player to go along with Kobe and not Odum he's a loser..Kwame being gone helps for sure, good things for the boys down south, good post!!
For those of you new to this blogsite, please check out my blogs (all I write about are the LAKERS) that go back over a year.
When we started 26-13 last season and as I analyzed all the games, I became a believer right away (although we still had SMUSH and we all knew he had to go) because I knew we had some of the pieces of a championship team in KOBE, BYNUM, FARMAR, WALTON, and TURIAF.
I pumped up the team like no other last year only to be severely criticized and called an EXTREME HOMER.
I believed in the LAKERS, although I had my own criticisms and frustrations with guys like ODOM, KUPCHAK.
Then we added FISHER this year and BYNUM finally woke up, matured, and worked out and worked hard on his craft (something SHAQ couldn't do to EARN his keep).
That's when I knew that we weren't going to trade KOBE and that this team was SERIOUS about winning it all.
This is just the beginning, LAKERS FANS. It won't be too long before we start putting up 10+ game winning streaks with regularity.
Of course, we have to stay healthy and that's number one. Number two, we have to maintain the PASSION for winning, the FIRE, the EFFORT, and the CAMARADERIE. These are the qualities that GREAT DEFENSIVE CONSISTENCY are tied to.
With KOBE along for the ride, it won't be hard (believe it or not) for the LAKERS to maintain this because KOBE is the BIGGEST WINNER (Duncan too, but Bryant is on a whole other level) and MOST COMPETITIVE PLAYER since JORDAN.
And finally, this is just the beginning for PHX fans because it won't be long before their fate is sealed and doomed fo
Last edited by J-DIZZLE on December 19th at 5:35 PM.
The LAKERS are 3 games out of first in the WEST and climbing. DANGEROUS for the rest of the West indeed. And I know they are all PAYING ATTENTION now.
In my last blog, I offered a new nickname for this new nucleus since The LAKE SHOW was originally coined after the Van Exel-Ceballos-Eddie Jones-Anthony Peeler-Doug Christie-Vlade Divac group.
I called them THE YOUNG GUNS and a day later, Jerry Crowe of the LA TIMES had a caption under a picture of Andrew Bynum in page two of the sports page that read 'Young Gun.'
THE LAKERS ASSAULT CONTINUES. Better believe it.
Last edited by J-DIZZLE on December 19th at 6:30 PM.
ur a fa g bit(h oh I luv the west the west is the best the second u start losing u make excuse f u lil bit(h stay the f off other teams sites u bandwagon di (k
Die hard passionate fan who loves the Dodgers, Lakers, Kings, Raiders and Bruins. I call home the beautiful city of long beach, where i can surf snowboard and swim all I want. I lifeguard in the summertime and currently go to school to be a firefighter. Other than sports my second passion is cars I love to purchase old beat up cars and double there value with a little elbow grease. Dad and i worked on a 66 el camino as a kid and now im hooked.
