Lakers Thread

[Fresh8]

As soon as the Bulls start losing (which may or may not happen, depending on the trade), he'll be screaming for another trade.

Which is why he, reportedly, would veto a trade that involves Deng. Wonder how Odom feels that Kobe must think Deng would give him a better chance to win. Yep, it's not right how he is conducting himself. Although some may sau he is doing it because he is a winner... he's being really selfish and immature about it IMO.

It's also probably why Kobe won't get traded away because the Lakers won't get anything close to Kobe's value/talent back in any trade. I can't see neither the Lakers nor Kobe changing their attitudes. And I hope the Lakers don't bow down to his demand on what kinda trade he would want... can't let one man be bigger than the organisation.

[shadowgrin]

I like it better if Gordon is traded for Kobe. Hinrich and Deng should be hands-off.

[Sauru]

if the lakers would accept the deal minus deng that i jump all over it for the bulls.

[Fresh8]

If the Lakers could get Tyrus Thomas, Ben Gordon, Ben Wallace and a draft pick or two... I would probably have a think about it. I wanna see Kobe win, no matter where he goes, but I don't want us to get nothing in return.

[---]

If the Lakers could get Tyrus Thomas, Ben Gordon, Ben Wallace and a draft pick or two... I would probably have a think about it. I wanna see Kobe win, no matter where he goes, but I don't want us to get nothing in return.

I don't think LA would want Ben Gordon (good scorer, pretty good second fiddle player), Ben Wallace (an aging center who will not want to play in LA, plus huge contract), Tyrus Thomas (potential filled but shown nothing yet) and Joakim Noah (less potential than Tyrus, has barely played) for arguably the best player in the league. If they want Deng and can't have him, I'm fully expecting them to want Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and picks. I don't think Kobe would stop that trade, but I'm not sure. He probably see's it as two young bench guys, the starting SG (which he'll replace) and an ok/good starting point guard/shooting gaurd gone. If not Kirk, then definately Noc, which would probably mean more fillers.

That would leave Chicago:

C - Ben Wallace/Aaron Gray
PF - Joe Smith/Andres Nocioni
SF - Luol Deng/Adrian Griffin
SG - Kobe Bryant/Thabo Sefolosha
PG - Chris Duhon/JamesOn Curry

Is that really any better than the Lakers, apart from the fact their in the East?

Lakers:

C - Andrew Bynum/Chris Mihm
PF - Lamar Odom/Kwame Brown
SF - Luke Walton/Vladimir Radmanovic
SG - Kobe Bryant/Maurice Evans
PG - Derek Fisher/Jordan Farmar

Is that really all that better?

Sorry to drag this on, but I honetly think:

(< - <<<<< (the more "<", the bigger the gap))

Bynum << Wallace
Odom >>>> Smith
Walton <<< Deng
Bryant >>>> Gordon
Fisher >= Duhon

Mihm >>> Gray
Brown << Nocioni
Radmanovic >>> Griffin
Evans = Sefolosha
Farmar >>> Curry

I don't think Kobe will be in that much better of a situation at all, unless the Bulls basically steal him from LA.

[Indy]

Nothing is going to happen I don't think. This is really a funny situation because of Kobe's no trade clause. If the Bulls give up what LA wants, then Kobe will veto the trade, because he'll be going to the same situation. The Lakers are either going to get completely hosed, or Kobe is going to stay a Laker. Either way, things do not look good in LA.

[Phantom18]

The Lakers just KILLED the Suns and it was not a Kobe night it was a Lakers night, Kobe should stay put. This Lakers team is GOOD. Mark my word.

[J J]

What the hell? That was the most shocking game I have ever seen, the Lakers' defense was excellent, execution top-notch and everybody shared the ball, even KOBE, what the hell, it's like watching the Suns beat the crap out of the Lakers except it's the complete opposite, oh my god, I am in complete shock

[Laxation]

The Lakers just KILLED the Suns and it was not a Kobe night it was a Lakers night, Kobe should stay put. This Lakers team is GOOD. Mark my word.

How often is the bench going to score as much as they did? Way to be homertastic..

..moron

[Patr1ck]

The Lakers defense was good, but the Suns did not play very well. I give credit to the Lakers for playing as the Los Angeles Lakers and not the Hollywood Kobe's. Phoenix was fumbling around, and quite honestly, they were running their offense ok, but it looked slower and they weren't hitting those drive and kick 3's that they normally hit. Lakers turned the ball over 21 times. I don't expect the Lakers to beat Phoenix like this again when they meet up again during the season.

[shadowgrin]

Just imagine if Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, or Ben Gordon is with that Lakers team instead of Kobe. They'll be unstoppable.

Ok, I just homerized myself.

[J J]

I'm very pleased with their last game, I hope this style of playing will continue even if it means cutting down on Kobe's averages, which I know he will not be too pleased about.

[Kbryant8]

I'm very pleased with their last game, I hope this style of playing will continue even if it means cutting down on Kobe's averages, which I know he will not be too pleased about.

Kobe doesn`t care how much points he will score.
He cares about winning games, and if he`s team can score and win then it`s fine for him.
He is still the best player in the league, he can score when ever he wants or he can play a team game when ever he wants. He can pass, rebound, score.
And LOL, Lakers can beat suns again if they use the same combination.
Amare is a guy who picks up fouls like flowers, he is totally off the ballance. Bynum will own him again and the win is ours.

[Dro]

Amare is a guy who picks up fouls like flowers

Dumbass...

Suns showed a lack of effort and energy. They exemplified the term "half-assing" it. If you're going to crown the Lakers and rule out the Suns after the second game of the season, then you know nothing.

[Kbryant8]

Amare is a guy who picks up fouls like flowers

Dumbass...

Suns showed a lack of effort and energy. They exemplified the term "half-assing" it. If you're going to crown the Lakers and rule out the Suns after the second game of the season, then you know nothing.

Dumbass?

It has been an issue for amare, the foul thing i mean, read some more stuf and watch games.
phh childish.
And all i sayd was that the lakers can win suns again, it`s not impossible for them.

[hova-]

Kbryant8, not a dumbass, but a fanboy .....

There are nights when Kobe just doesnt share the ball and shoots under .400 ....
I think the Suns were a bit tired .. three games in three days is always hard to keep it going.
And in no way will Bynum own Amare .... Amare can put Bynum on a poster everytime he wants .... not to talk about scoring on him.

[Fresh8]

It's only the second game of the season, Phoenix played their second back-to-back game, and the Lakers' shots were dropping... a win is a win but I dont get why some are suddenly going crazy about this win. I was happy about it and excited but we still got 80 games left. And funny how people come out to say they played good when I been saying all along that if we had everyone healthy, we would be good...

[sucram]

Make that back to back good games for the team. Kobe put up a quiet 33, everyone who got on the floor played pretty well. Can someone confirm who started tonight, Bynum or Kwame?

[Kbryant8]

Bynum did hes job again.
Kirilenko got blocked by kobe, that was a huge block for sure

[TheMC5]

Kwame started. NBA.com is your friend.

[Fresh8]

Kwame started but I think he picked up 2 quick fouls and Bynum just played good off the bench. D Fish scored 19 Oh yeah! And Kobe had 33. Good effort and I hope that when Lamar comes back in a week or two, we will just look better.

5th in the West is possible for this team IMO but i'm leaning more to the 6th seed.

[J J]

I hope we get the 5th seed so we'd prolly face Utah/Denver...or judging from the previous Suns game, well, the Suns!

[TheMC5]

I hope we get the 5th seed so we'd prolly face Utah/Denver...or judging from the previous Suns game, well, the Suns!

Ummm, are you forgetting the last 2 playoff series? Phoenix has LA's number. And the 5th seed is insanely optimistic. Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix, and Utah (in NO particular order) are veritable locks for the top 5 seeds, with Denver possibly in the mix, too. Realistically, the Lakers are battling for spots 7 & 8.

Edit: damn omitted words changing the meaning of a sentence!

[dada]

Nice result from the Lakers tonight with an especially good effort coming off the bench. Andrew Bynum has really impressed me this season and in some ways I wish he was getting 30-38 minutes every game. The kid is basically averaging 10 pts and 10 rbs in about 24 minutes (granted he does foul a bit) and I'd just love to see what kind of productivity we could get out of him with more time on the court.

Kobe didnt have a great night again which is kind of a good sign considering the blowout. Just shows me we are capable of potentially being the sort of team to get through the odd game when he is off. I think the fact a few of these players have been together a fair amount of time is great and the benefits are showing in certain instances. Farmar for one has been great this year and is really making use of the minutes he is getting. We have a good mix of players I feel and if Kobe sticks around and we dont run into an injury crisis we could put together a very solid season.

[Fresh8]

Good stretch for the Lakers right now. Wins over Houston, Detroit and Chicago. Since the Spurs-Lakers game, I have told X and my mate that I have been impressed with Jordan Farmar's play. The bench is really stepping up and Kobe, seems to be having a few off-games, has seemingly been coasting through them. He only steps up when he is needed.

As I've said for the past two years... if this team is healthy, I think we can go a long ways. Second round is a possibility. I wouldn't write us off as first round losers. This team is capable of an upset... as long as it's not against the Suns. If we get to play Dallas in the first round, I think we can make the second for sure. But that's looking too far ahead... looking at the short run, I think we will keep on winning games. Nothing suggests to me that we won't.