This Week in Sports

Simon McCormack [ Mon Nov 24 2008 2:32 PM ]

Cram it with walnuts Kobe

Lake Show

Start bracing yourself for a Los Angeles Lakers championship. Unless injuries to key players hamper the team's progress, the Lakers will be tough to beat all year long.

The season is less than a month old, and things could change before June, (Christ the NBA season is long) but here are a few troubling signs this is the Lakers' year:

° The Lakers are a league best 11-1

° Reigning Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant is averaging less than 34 minutes a game. That means he’ll be fresh for the postseason.

° Pau Gasol has transitioned from center to the power-forward position effortlessly.

° The Lakers' depth got even stronger with star forward Lamar Odom coming off the bench

° The team is committed to defense. They force turnovers and keep offenses on their toes the whole game.

° They can win even when they're not playing their best. Yesterday, the Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings even though they committed 17 turnovers.

° The rest of the Western Conference looks worse than last year. After the Lakers at 11-1, the Nuggets, Rockets, Jazz and Suns are tied at a less than stellar 9-5.

The only team that looks capable of stopping the Lakers is the same team that dropped them in the Finals last year: The Boston Celtics. At 13-2, the Celts are picking up right where they left off last year. Still, the Lakers look better than they did last season, and the teams' chemistry is only going to improve.

Public Comments (8)

- FoxMcCloud
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Simon [ Mon Nov 24 2008 3:02 PM ]

There are much more news-worthy sports tidbits to report than the condition of your horribly overrated, overpaid Lakers. Watching the Celtics stomp that ass in consecutive years in the NBA Finals (if the Lakers even make it that far) will almost be as satisfying as watching the New York Yankees tank all of last season.
- simonm
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I don't like the Lakers [ Mon Nov 24 2008 3:10 PM ]

I'm a Suns man I'm afraid. In fact, I hate the Lakers with a passion. But they look incredible so far. Also, the Celtics should watch out for the 10-3 Cavs. Finally, the Yanks will be back with a vengeance, and not even your New England-bred bravado can stop them. The Sox are going to be wicked shitty next year.
- simonm
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Oh [ Mon Nov 24 2008 3:11 PM ]

And go Bruins! Oh wait, they suck.
- FoxMcCloud
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Hockey [ Mon Nov 24 2008 3:49 PM ]

Holds its place on my list of importance sandwiched in between Alaskan ear-pulling and tri-titted midgets. Was never a fan.
And the Yanks will be back, alright...five years down the road or more. Steinbrenner has become more of a rash, troublesome plague in recent years not very much different from the Raiders' Al Davis. Until you realize that golden boy "A-Rod" hasn't contributed a goddamn thing to the organization other than lusty-eyed adolescents and a cracked-open piggy bank will you expunge him for five lesser known, more talented players. Boston has done this, and with a great deal of success, I might add.
- Darbstar
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LAKE SHOW FOR LIFE [ Mon Nov 24 2008 3:54 PM ]

One loss in 12 games!?
Let's hope that translates to 10 or less losses all year, homecourt in the playoffs and a parade back on Figueroa where it belongs!
D*RBST*R
Hate if you want...L.A. has the best in the world
- FoxMcCloud
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There are what, [ Mon Nov 24 2008 4:06 PM ]

83+ games in the NBA regular season? A little too early to tell.
And obviously, LA doesn't have the best in the world as made evident by their defeat in the NBA Finals last year.
- simonm
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very good chance we're getting Sabathia [ Mon Nov 24 2008 4:36 PM ]

And we won't have to pay Pavano this year (thank God) so we'll have a little more cash to throw around. No one can afford A-Rod, so I think we're stuck with him. He usually bounces back from a bad year, at least in the regular season. The Red Sox needed Manny to get to the World Series and they couldn't make him happy. The Yankees know how to treat superstars.
- FoxMcCloud
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Yeah [ Tue Nov 25 2008 9:26 AM ]

Unproductive, overpaid superstars. How many titles has A-Rod won you since you've acquired him, hmmm? :)