[Hacksaw]

Bump for superior Lakers play. They crushed NO the other evening by 29. Never really in question. The addition of Chandler made a huge difference. McGee and Stevenson are looking solid and elBJ is a beast. Ball was even looking good with his triple double.

Playoffs?

[Hacksaw]

Dodged a bullet with elBJ. Thought he heard a 'pop'.

The 'show' is coming around. Nice national TV thump job on the defending champs. w/o elBJ half the game. Are you kidding me?
And w/o McGee.

The D looked long and active.
Zub's is finally growing hair and is taller than he looks.
Ingram need to eat more.
Diggin Chandler, ,always liked his game, although the Duck Dynasty beard could go.

We need another big and some shooters but great Christmas day showing. Let's hope elBJ does his recruiting thing successfully. I bet we see a trade before the deadline. Perhaps Hart + a pick + $ for - - - - - ?

It's happening faster than I thought, , , but a long way to go.

[snackdaddy]

LBJ sure makes the difference. They look good when he goes out against the Warriors, blowing them out in the 4th quarter. But they lost the next two. Not much distance from the 4th seed to the 10th. They just have to hold on till he comes back. They seem a little rudderless without him. Kinda like when Kobe was playing with the previous bunch.

I still think as is they are a mid seed playoff team who may or may not advance past the first round but wouldn't likely go past the 2nd.

[Hacksaw]

LBJ sure makes the difference. They look good when he goes out against the Warriors, blowing them out in the 4th quarter. But they lost the next two. Not much distance from the 4th seed to the 10th. They just have to hold on till he comes back. They seem a little rudderless without him. Kinda like when Kobe was playing with the previous bunch.

I still think they are a mid seed playoff team who may or may not advance past the first round but wouldn't likely go past the 2nd.

Probably, which is a far cry from where we were . That next game we lost by 1.
Still, if we make a trade and / or elBJ starts to rub off the youngin's and they get better anything can happen.

It's a fun time to be a Lakers fan again. Rams too.

[snackdaddy]

Probably, which is a far cry from where we were . That next game we lost by 1.
Still, if we make a trade and / or elBJ starts to rub off the youngin's and they get better anything can happen.

It's a fun time to be a Lakers fan again. Rams too.

Yup, our teams have done well in 2018. Dodgers made it to the World Series for the second year in a row. Rams finish the regular season 13-3. Lakers finish the year with a winning record which hasn't happened in 5 years. 2019 is shaping up to look like more of the same.

[snackdaddy]

Man, things have sure changed for the Lakers since Lebron's injury. He's back but they can't seem to find the mojo they had before he went down. I think this could be the first time in his career he misses the playoffs.

Magic's gotta consider any and all options for the offseason. Lebron should be the only one who's not on the table for possible trades. If the team is this bad when he's out, everyone is replaceable.

I gotta think Walton is done. I haven't watched a lot of Laker games this season but there is one thing that stands out when I do watch them. The defense. Seems like the other team gets too many good looks at the basket. The only way they Lakers win is if they put up a lot of points. Because they sure give up a lot. Most times 110 points isn't enough. That is usually a coaching problem.

[dieterbrock]

Man, things have sure changed for the Lakers since Lebron's injury. He's back but they can't seem to find the mojo they had before he went down. I think this could be the first time in his career he misses the playoffs.

He didn't make the playoffs in his first 2 seasons with the Cavs, but every year since.
And his current run of 8 consecutive NBA Finals is surely at risk

[snackdaddy]

He didn't make the playoffs in his first 2 seasons with the Cavs, but every year since.
And his current run of 8 consecutive NBA Finals is surely at risk

For some reason I thought they made the playoffs as soon as he joined them. Probably because he was only about 20 years old in his 3rd season. I remember that playoff game against the Pistons where he scores something like 25 points in the 4th quarter. That was when I really thought he grew up as an elite player. I believe they went to the finals that season and lost to the Spurs.

His finals streak will surely end. His playoff streak looks in jeopardy too. They're currently 29-31. Realistically they need around 43 or 44 wins to get in. Maybe even 45. With 22 games left they probably need to go 15-7 the rest of the way. Possibly 16-6. I don't see that happening unless the teams in front them falter and they go something like 13-9 for a 42-40 season. It doesn't look good for them right now.

[snackdaddy]

So the Lakers miss out on Kawhi Leonard. This sure changes the landscape of the NBA in Los Angeles. Both teams are legit contenders for the finals. Some people think missing out on Leonard might be a blessing in disguise. Signing him surely woulda make them look like the big 3 in Miami. But they woulda been limited trying to fill out the rest of the roster.

Signing Cousins really gives them bench strength and other options. Danny Green isn't an all star but he's a solid role player who's been on championship caliber teams. You can't understate what that kind of veteran presence brings. Rondo is a nice compliment too. Not a big scorer but knows how to run an offense and plays solid defense. Probably another bench guy at this stage of his career. But you can't have enough quality bench players. Caldwell-Pope coming back helps the perimeter game. They were in need of perimeter shooters. They picked up a decent one in Jared Dudley. He's strictly a bench guy who will be shooting from the perimeter. Having another threat helps with the high/low game they will try to play.

Right now the starting lineup is looking like Davis/Kuzma/LBJ/Green and either Pope or Rondo. Its possible they use Cousins and Davis as center/power forward. But I think Cousins will be coming off the bench. We'll see them both on the floor together sometimes depending on the flow of the game. When Rondo isn't in they don't have a true point guard. But they don't really need one because the offense will likely flow through Lebron. He can be more of a distributor with the presence of Davis and/or Cousins.

[Elvis]

Lakers just signed Avery Bradley: