Lakers Rebound from an 0-3 Road Trip

Yeah, that’s right, LA is back in the win column. Real impressive. A Kobe Bryant buzzer-beating home win against a barely over .500 middle-of-the-pack Eastern Conference mediocrity, the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are now 32-30 in the much, much weaker East, visiting arguably the most talented team in the NBA at arguably one of the most difficult places to win in the NBA. This game should have been a 15+ point Laker victory. Yes, I understand Kobe’s Boys see the best game from everyone every night, but this was supposed to be a “statement game” after such the enduring worst Laker losing streak in over 2 years. LA is going to get everyone’s best game all the way through the playoffs, so they need to get used to it. Like I’ve said before, I’m not too concerned about the regular season, it doesn’t mean much. But I’m starting to get concerned about the playoffs.

With the talent in place and the team in position, there’s only one thing stopping the Lakers from closing out a repeat: attitude. They need more of it. We’ve all seen glimpses of it. The aggressive game against Denver last week and even going back Derek Fisher’s obliteration of Luis Scola (aka: The Neanderthal) in last year’s playoffs. The most obvious place where this will be seen is in a more consistent defense, and Kobe knows it. USA Today’s game recap article covers Kobe’s post-game press conference comments on his final shot and the overall game. "They didn't come early at me and I got the shot off. That's part of my responsibility, to close teams out. Our defense tonight was garbage. We have to focus on execution." Amen brother. Simply put, Bynum needs to get big, Gasol needs to get bloody, and if there’s a ball on the floor or in the air, there’d better be five men in purple and gold saying “that ball’s mine.”

As far as getting to the Finals is concerned, I still think it’d take a disaster of epic proportions (or a miracle, depending on you point of view) to keep the Lakers from getting there, even though their lead in the West is now only down to 3 over the Dallas Mavericks. Last year I predicted that that it would be a Laker/Celtic final. I think it’s pretty apparent that that’s not going to happen. Boston is on their last leg with these current players. Unfortunately, 36 is like 90 in NBA years, and there’s no way the green machine has enough gas left to make a final push, even if they’re playing possum now. It’ll be Cleveland, Orlando, or even possibly Atlanta (but they’re a bit of a long-shot) to face the champs, and now any final series would look like a 6-7 gamer. It’s going to be a great June. In order to defend the Championship and try and get Coach Phil Jackson’s fourth three-peat, the Lakers need to put all of their instruments together and get comfortable playing them.

The Lakers have got to get hungry like they were last year after being embarrassed by Boston in game 6 in the 2008 Finals. It’s impossible to try and recreate the intensity from last year. Not just because they looked like they would’ve run through a brick wall to get the ring, but because it’s impossible to try and regenerate something that happened naturally before. It’s not real. They have to find something new to get mad at, and start playing like they aren’t just going to sit on their rings with contentment. They don’t necessarily need to have it all figured out by tomorrow, but time is running out to flip the switch and the playoffs won’t wait.

NBA Finals 2010: Real Predictions and Excuses for Making Wrong Ones. (Part I)

As a forewarning, go grab a pen and paper. Write down the date, where you are standing, and what’s going on in your life right now so you can tell your grandchildren where you were when you read this blog, because this is going to be epic. The NBA Draft is this Thursday. If what we all expect the first pick happens, Blake Griffin will be going to the Los Angeles Clippers. Here it is kids, the prediction… … is the anticipation killing you? … Clippers & Bucks in the NBA FINALS! Ha ha, I’m SO funny right? A joke about bad teams. I should be making a joke about bad bloggers, but what would I know about that right?

Real Prediction:
NBA Finals 2010. Lakers vs. Celtics. Lakers win 62 games in the regular season and have home court advantage over Boston in the finals. Lakers win the 2010 Finals at Staples in Game 6. Parade down Figueroa. Looting in the streets. Police cars vandalized. Cats & dogs living together. Mass hysteria.

Real Excuses:
First real excuse: There is of course no real way to know what’s going to happen. For the record, this next section will be me covering my bases and pointing out problems with the teams I expect to make it, and reasons why the teams I don't expect to make it might get there. All aboard the Excuse Train!

Second real excuse: I started writing out the reasons why the favored teams might not make it to the finals, and I realized there is way too much to say about everyone. So I’m making it a two-part whine festival. Check back tomorrow for the cheese and the East. Here’s the West.

THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS were and still are the most talented team in the NBA, proven so by the fancy trophy and new banner hanging up in Staples Center. This makes it pretty hard to point out flaws, but there are some. One in particular: HEART. They finally got around to having some in the last two games against Denver and the Finals, but they constantly rely on their talent during the regular season and occasionally during the post, which is really dangerous. They did it last year against Boston and got walloped in game 6. They did it this year in Game 1, 4, and 6 against Houston. The Lakers can score a lot of points, but someone else besides Kobe Bryant, Trevor Ariza, and Derek Fisher needs to get some attitude on the other side of the court. Which brings me to my next point; there are also some pretty big questions as to who will be back. The big talk now is whether or not the Buss family can afford (or will choose to blow out the windows on the luxury tax) to bring back both Lamar Odom AND Trevor Ariza. In my opinion, if you can only keep one, you’ve got to bring back Ariza (keep your eye out for a later post from me on this issue). Shannon Brown, the new rising star may also not be there. All of these are reasons the Lakers may not make it back, but if they stay healthy, keep everyone, and make the decision that one ring just isn’t enough, they’ll be back.

THE DENVER NUGGETS started to cement themselves as the number 2 team in the west this last season. Will they stay there? It’s possible. Will they stay there for the next 5 years? Not likely. If the Nuggets play with the intensity they had this year, they’re pretty much a shoe in to make it through the first round next May. For a while they’ve been the “Bizarro” Lakers. In the past, their star in Carmello Anthony hasn’t had the “do whatever it takes,” attitude while the rest of his team will fight and claw for every inch, taking Allen Iverson out of the equation of course. Without a doubt in my mind, the Iverson/Billups trade was the best trade of the ‘08-‘09 season. That team needed a leader, and Billups gives them that veteran influence. The understandably nick-named “Thuggets,” play a rough brand of ball that got them all the way to the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers should be writing them a "Thank You Card," because the Nuggets bigs certainly toughened up the Lakers inside players. If Denver continues to play to their strengths, which is their actual physical strength, they’ve got a decent shot to make it back to the Conference Finals. What we have to remember though, is that in the west, it’s the Lakers and everyone else.

THE HOUSTON ROCKETS looked a lot better against the Lakers than they should have. Minus Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, they play a much more rag tag game which created the perfect storm for the Lakers. Houston would probably be better off benching Yao and McGrady if they get to a 7 game series with LA next year. Well, maybe not Yao. It’s hard to bench a guy who’s 7’6” who shoots 86% from the charity stripe. Oh yeah, Aaron Brooks is really fast.

THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS has the best collection of players past their prime. Duncan will go down as one of the all-time greats, but the Spurs era is over. Who knows though, maybe they’ve got one more in them.

EVERYONE ELSE. Portand, New Orleans, Dallas, and Utah. Nope, nope, nope, and nope. Although all are great. Just not quite in the top tier yet. Although Portland seems to give the Lakers problems… in February. I also like the Jazz, but that may be because I played high school basketball with Ronnie Brewer.

Check back tomorrow for the East.