To qoute T.J. Simers from latimes.com:
"Lakers, Lakers, Lakers, Lakers" and "Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe." Throw in some, "Gasol, Gasol, Gasol, Gasol." Add them all up and we're just beginning the month of March.
The schedule for this month looks something like this: the march to madness is on, daylights saving starts on the ninth, no holidays this month, and the NBA playoffs do not start for another month and a half.
To quote my friend, we "gotta stop smoking that Laker crack."
It's true Laker fans, it is way to early in the season to be this high on the "Laker crack."
In case people have forgotten, the Lakers have yet to make it out of the first round of the playoffs since O'neal left.
The "deep" Lakers bench is composed of players in their early to mid-twenties. Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, and Ronnie Turiaf, to name a few, have yet to be tested in the playoffs.
Yes, these players have played playoffs games. However, none of the players on the Lakers' roster, except Kobe Bryant, and Derek Fisher, know what it's like to play in a true playoff game. Pau Gasol was not expected to lead the Grizzles to a deep playoff run, so the Lakers' second option does not have playoff experience either.
True playoff games are games in which you are expected to win. The last two years that Kobe Bryant dragged the Lakers in the post-season, the Lakers were not expected to beat the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers' players were not expected to perform, and as a result there was no pressure.
This year the Lakers' young players are expected to produce. I'm not saying that the Lakers' bench players will choke, all I'm saying is that no one is going to be shocked if they do.
Second, Andrew Bynum is still only twenty years old. Bynum has indeed improved beyond recognition this year.
The problem is that he only has a little over three weeks to be reintegrated into the offense. If people forget, Andrew has not played in a single meaningful playoff game. It was a player by the name of Kwame Brown that got the minutes.
There is something that's quite not right when the guy that's supposed to push your team over the top, is an untested twenty-year old center, that's still learning to play the game. And the fact that, if he returns at all, he's returning from injury, and that doesn't help at all.
Third, the ten-game win-streak is not a very impressive one. When your team has Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom on it, then winning should not have been a problem.
The teams that the Lakers beat were the Raptors, a depleted Wizards, Nets, Magic, Heat, Bobcats, Timberwolves, Hawks, post-Oneal Suns, Clippers, Sonics, a Brandon Roy-less Blazers, and the Heat again.
No disrespect to the teams mentioned above, but those teams are below par teams with the exception of Phoenix and Orlando. The Lakers actually also lost to the Hawks and to the Portland yesterday.
As much of a Lakers fan that I am, I'm not convinced yet.
I want to actually see Andrew Bynum on the floor with Pau Gasol.
I want to see the Lakers get out of the first round. Two years ago, the Lakers looked like they were going to beat the Suns being up 3-1, and they choked. I won't even mention last year.
Yes, the Lakers are having a great season. Yes, the Lakers are a top five team, and second in the west. The win-streak was good to see. Let's just not get ahead of ourselves.
Do what the players are saying, and take it game by game. I'm looking forward to the playoffs for once, and hey, we might be able to "smoke the Lakers crack" in the playoffs as well as the regular season.
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7 months ago
damn dude. you suck at spelling and grammar. and your bball knowledge doesn't even measure up to your written intelligence.
stop calling yourself a lakers fan and buy a maggette jersey already...
7 months ago
this article is rubbish. It more resembles a crappy forum post than a sports article. Spelling, grammar, sentence construction, idea flow and content matter are all lame. I'm all for people trying new things, maybe those writers-to-be getting a chance to try their hands (one would hope heads too) at a column that actually has readers; but you don't have it, and you obviously don't like writing. The negative whiny tone is abrasive to my spirit and the unintelligent manner you have makes it obvious that you do not read and ought not be producing for others to be.
7 months ago
There is something that's quite not right when the guy that's supposed to push your team over the top, is an untested twenty-year old center, that's still learning to play the game. And the fact that, if he returns at all, he's returning from injury, and that doesn't help at all.
worst grammatic paragraph ever
7 months ago
worst grammatic paragraph ever?! are you a grammar teacher? please list all the "grammatic errors" that you saw
7 months ago
and oh! the lakers will will not get out of the first round. it's a tradition. live with it
from 7 months ago
Losing in the first round two years in a row makes a tradition? Please tell me what team in any sport has had the type of tradition the Lakers have had over the last 30 years? I'd love to hear what sorry-ass franchise you're a fan of. 13 Finals appearances and 8 rings since 1980. That's the tradition.
But I do appreciate you continuing the tradition of Anonymous posters who bring nothing to the table but mindless drivel and a hunger for male genitalia.
7 months ago
I think y ou're all full of it. What's wrong with giving credit where credit is due. All of you are thinking negative. Try a little positive thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7 months ago
Hahahaha, Laker's Crack? Nice
7 months ago
Andrew, if you spent as much time watching other sports as you did posing for your profile pic you might actually be qualified to say something like 'what team in any sport has had the type of tradition the Lakers have had over the last 30 years?'. BTW - it's past 30 years, not last 30 years...unless we have Armageddon soon.
If you want to try and bolster the Lakers' rep by comparing them to other famous teams, do go to the trouble of actually looking into other teams. You might just figure out that although ok in their own patch, the Lakers don't stack up as particularly great against the best sports teams from around the world. If you like, shoot your mouth off and ask me to list better ones.
from 7 months ago
You think that's me in the photo? That's Abe Vigoda, genius.
Is this considered shooting my mouth off? Because I'd love to hear you list any team with a better history over the past 30 years. Please list sports that are relevant. I don't need to hear about some Pakistani cricket team, some English soccer team or Cuba's best jai alai team. I'm talking about the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB.
Nice attempt at changing the conversation, dumb-dumb. You still didn't answer my question.
The floor is yours...
7 months ago
Gotta say you better lay off the crack before you hit your computer to write an article. The lakers have young talent, but they are playing at a very high level. But really, outside of Farmar, Turiaf and Bynum the Lakers have enough NBA experience in the starters Fisher, Kobe, Gasol and Lamar plus Sacha, VladRad, Ariza & Walton all have at least 4 years each in the league. Factor in the most experienced coaching staff by far in the NBA, Laker tradition and home crowds that knows just how to get the home team ramped up during a game along with a very knowledgeable fan base that is savvy enough to see the promise in this team and you really seem to be exposing yourself as a laka-hata or at least an envious fan from some opposing team.
Calling Laker fanatics to 'layoff the crack' is actually going to have the opposite effect, and you know it. Many Laker fans have been following the NBA for about 30 years now and are for the most part a lot more knowledgeabe than average fans. But writing these bitter, hating articles only will get Laker fans to dog you, we are all too knowledgeable to fall for 'inexperienced players' garbage you're writing as EVERY great team at some point will get to that break-thru point in the playoffs (remember Kobe air-balling those 3-pt's against the Jazz in the '90's?) but it seems like you are trying to undercut what the Lakers are doing because YOU REALIZE WHAT DIRECTION THE LAKERS ARE HEADED AND DON'T LIKE IT!!! I guess that would make you a laka-hata Mr. J. Lee...
7 months ago
Oh sorry, Andrew, I didn't realise that you were a narrow-minded, ethnocentric. See, when you said "Please tell me what team in any sport has had the type of tradition the Lakers have had over the last 30 years?", I assumed you really meant "any" team. I didn't realise that you'd turn around and slap an arbitrary condition on it.
Well done though, you're a real sparkling advertisement for America's global perspective. Nice use of 'dumb'dumb' too. You're a clever one.
from 7 months ago
Okay, I'll include the whole world. It'll make you look like even more of a douche than you already appear.
I'm narrow-minded and ethnocentric because I only wanna include the teams that any of us has ever heard of?
Instead of trying to change the subject, please answer the question.
How do you like my use of douche? I would remain anonymous too if I were about to tout the success of the Sydney Swans, Ajax United and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
7 months ago
HAHAHAHA Andrew is the clear winner here, Lakers are by far the most winning-ist franchise in history, there are only two athletes that can compare to the domination of the lakers, Michael shumacher, and Tiger Woods, they aren't teams either. No teams are usually as successful as the lakers, look at the boston celtics, wait they disappeared for a decade and a half, nevermind...
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