Throwdowns > In Progress

Rudedog: 3-Peat? said 03/15, 02:14 AM
Basically, this TD is who is going to make it out of the West. I know cbook will say Spurs and I will say Lakers.

Now, before we start, take a deep breath. The Spurs dissing is about to come

About a month ago to the date, the Lakers had just lost to the Cavs and everyone wrote them off. They were old, not good, and finished.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Spurs were flying high in the West. They had significant leads over the Lakers and Mavs and looked to be running away.

But I warned everyone of what was to come.

The Lakers have reeled off 11 of 12 since the All-Star break and the Spurs have lost their last two "big" games and haven't won by more than 8 in their last 3 wins at home Detroit and Sacramento, and at Houston.

The Lake Show is playing their best basketball this year and Bynum is just dominating games. He's pulling down boards a staggering pace, averaging 15.8 the last 6 games. He's also blocking 2.8 shots a game over the same period.

Right now, I don't see the Spurs beating the Lakers 4 times in 7 games. They are too deep and too talented to lose that many times.

Rudedog: 3-Peat? said 03/16, 01:43 AM
Actually, if the playoffs started today, LA has the 2 seed by 1/2 a game. And LA is 9-1 in their last 9 games while Dallas is 7-3.

STRIKE ONE!!!

Secondly, the results of the regular season games don't matter. It's what happens during those games. You can learn about the other team, your own team, and build momentum. The games themselves don't matter, but what happens throughout is important.

Now, homecourt obviously means a lot, but for a veteran team like LA, it's pretty pointless to have to be on the road. This same Lakers team won in Boston last year. You think SA is that much different.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't LA when by almost 20 in SA less than a month ago?

STRIKE TWO!!!!

And Bynum's knees aren't going to be carrying us to the Finals, but he's going to be shouldering some of the load. With a healthy Bynum, this Lakers team is second-to-none. I just can't see any team in the league beating the Lakers 4 times out of 7 games with Bynum playing like he is right now.

STRIKE THREE!!!
YOUR OUT!!!

That should give you something to cringe about

Rudedog: 3-Peat? said 03/17, 11:29 AM
RIght now, there is such thing as a healthy Bynum.

I will admit this team hasn't been impressive. They've been in cruise control this year. But what they have shown is they can flip that switch and be competitive against the top teams. They routed SA. They competed at Miami in an absolute must-win game by the Heat. They beat Dallas at Dallas without Kobe for segments of the game.

The Lakers are starting to peak at the right time. SA? They aren't winning big games anymore. The lost their last game to Miami, LA, Chicago. They are benefitting from an easy end to the schedule.

Fact is, SA is 26-1 in games against teams under .500. They are certainly winning the games they should. But in games against teams over .500, they are 28-12, compared to LA being 26-14. The Spurs are beating up the bad teams, but aren't more impressive than the Lakers have been against good teams.

In the end, this comes to who is hotter (LA), who is battle-tested (LA), and who has been here before (LA). The Lakers unit won a title the last 2 years for a reason. They'll have their shot in the Finals again this year