The Official 2009-2010 Lakers Thread

[Umpy9]

Nice shot by Kobe... Terrible call by the refs. Another product of a betting scandal?

[jeebus86]

Ok, I'm sure I'll get alot of flack for saying this, but here it goes anyway...

I think the Lakers are somewhat overrated, and are not as good as their record indicates. Why? Well, their overall record (20-4) is pretty darn good - but, it's a little skewed. Of their first 24 games, only 7 of them have been played on the road, and they have a 5-2 road record. So, while they are fantastic at home (15-2), they aren't great on the road - for instance, in tonight's game against the Bucks, they won on a last second shot in overtime, and were very close to losing. In my opinion, a championship-caliber team should not only be great at home, they should also be great on the road, and in my opinion, if they don't play better on the road, their record will suffer - and if they don't have a sizable lead over the other competitors in the west, they could lose home-court advantage in the second round of the playoffs, as they will have far more road games later in the season. So, my reasoning for saying they are somewhat overrated is because if they had near-even amount of home and road games, their record would most likely be worse.

Anyone else see what I'm saying?

Umm, it's still early in the season, and considering that they did have a home heavy start, I think it's natural to still have an adjustment period when you start going on the road. Once the Lakers get a few more road games under there belt, they'll be fine, no need to blow things out of proportion.

And besides, the Lakers had the best road record last season, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are still a great road team.

[JesRey]

Nice shot by Kobe... Terrible call by the refs. Another product of a betting scandal?

Really? Ridiculous because of one game? Refs aren't perfect. Doubt they would do something stupid right now

[garnett_21]

I dont see how that is overrrated... They still won those games convincingly right? Maybe like 2 or 3 were really close. Not really their fault the schedule was made this way.

Great teams win at home and win on the road. That's why they were champions last year.

Not really convincingly...if I go by what you said, that 2 or 3 were really close...well, they've only had 5 road wins...so that's basically my point...they'd only had about 2 great road games...the rest have been average, pretty much. And no, it's not their fault the schedule was this way, but every team has to work with what they're given...

garnett_21 - as a laker fan... i see what you're saying, and i agree they probably wouldn't have the same record had they had a more balanced schedule. on the other hand, i also don't think they're even close to their potential. when the starters have played well, the bench hasn't. when the bench starts playing well... kobe gets hurt. no excuses for the lakers... that's part of the game. but... as a laker fan, i can't wait til they get completely healthy (when walton gets back... people don't realize how important he is to the bench mob) and things start to click.

anyways... to answer your question... i don't think they're overrated... i just don't think they're playing to their best ability right now.

Maybe that's a better choice of words...not playing as good as they seem like they should be...I guess "overrated" is just a shorter way of saying basically the same thing...lol

Umm, it's still early in the season, and considering that they did have a home heavy start, I think it's natural to still have an adjustment period when you start going on the road. Once the Lakers get a few more road games under there belt, they'll be fine, no need to blow things out of proportion.

And besides, the Lakers had the best road record last season, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are still a great road team.

We're almost 1/3 of the way through the season...and yeah, they haven't had a huge adjustment period on the road yet, but being 1/3 of the way into the season, I'd think that a team with as much hype, and having just won the championship, as the Lakers, they'd be able to blow out, or at least win it by a few possesions in regulation, a team like the Bucks. I just think it'll be interesting to see what their road record is after another 10 road games or so...because as of right now, they could very easily have a sub-.500 road record.

[JesRey]

Not really convincingly...if I go by what you said, that 2 or 3 were really close...well, they've only had 5 road wins...so that's basically my point...they'd only had about 2 great road games...the rest have been average, pretty much. And no, it's not their fault the schedule was this way, but every team has to work with what they're given...

So your saying the Lakers should be undefeated at this point for them to not be overrated???

[jeebus86]

We're almost 1/3 of the way through the season...and yeah, they haven't had a huge adjustment period on the road yet, but being 1/3 of the way into the season, I'd think that a team with as much hype, and having just won the championship, as the Lakers, they'd be able to blow out, or at least win it by a few possesions in regulation, a team like the Bucks. I just think it'll be interesting to see what their road record is after another 10 road games or so...because as of right now, they could very easily have a sub-.500 road record.

I don't think a team necessarily needs to blow out another team just to prove how great they are. In fact I think you learn more about a team when they win close games, then in blowouts.

Listen man, I'm guessing that you're basing your opinion off of stats and not off the actual games. If you actually watch the Lakers games on a daily basis year after year, like most Laker fans and I do, you understand how the Lakers like to pace themselves throughout the season. It's very well known that sometimes they don't bring there "A" game every night. This is frustrating at times, but the Lakers understand that the NBA season is an endurance race to the playoffs and finals, it's not a sprint.

The Lakers already know that they are going to make it to the playoffs and have a very good record, so they understand that it's pointless to use up so much energy trying to blow out teams early in the season, when they need to preserve that energy later on in the playoffs.

Just look at our 3-peat era, we didn't have the best record the two seasons following our 1st championship, but we still ended up with the Championship in the end.

So again, just understand, the Lakers don't bring their best game every night, but when they need to and when they do, watch out, because they are unstoppable.

[garnett_21]

Jesse - no, not at all...I just don't think that a team as good as the Lakers should struggle against teams like the Bucks and Timberwolves (yes, it was a game in LA...even more of a reason why I mention them...and yes, I know Kobe broke his finger in this game)...I understand teams have goof-ups here and there...just seems like something isn't fully there for them, I guess...

Jesus - true, but like I said above, struggling against not-so-great teams also says something about a team...and while I do understand that teams need to pace themselves, I just don't think a one-point win over the Bucks is impressive...or a 3-point win over the Thunder...or a 1-point win over Houston...nor is a 26-point loss to the Nuggets...I'm not trying to take anything away from them, because they are a great team...I just think they are a bit overhyped right now, considering their road record.

[nadeau01_johnson48]

I think it's ridiculous to say the Lakers are overrated because they aren't blowing out teams they 'should' blowout.

When your at home, and your playing a team like the Wolves, Nets, etc. and your as good as the Lakers, Celtics, Cavs, etc. it's tough to get amped to play a team like that in the regular season. These teams (there's about 5-6 of them in the NBA) start the season already getting ready for the Playoffs....their focus isn't going to be all there during regular season games against scrub teams. Should they blow them out? Sure....but when they don't, you can't base how good a team is off of that outcome.

Hell, the Cavs play down to their opponents more than not....but since it's the regular season, I really couldn't care less. (Plus, taking the scrub team +16 every night is pretty much guaranteed money in my pocket, lol.)

I've watched quite a few Lakers games this year (yes, Jesse, because I secretly love them), and I see the same stuff I see with the Cavs...less energy against the scrub teams because they understand what the big picture is--and it's not blowing out the Nets in December by 30.

[JesRey]

Jeremy - The Lakers just suck.. Say it

[eman61994]

Ok, I'm sure I'll get alot of flack for saying this, but here it goes anyway...

I think the Lakers are somewhat overrated, and are not as good as their record indicates. Why? Well, their overall record (20-4) is pretty darn good - but, it's a little skewed. Of their first 24 games, only 7 of them have been played on the road, and they have a 5-2 road record. So, while they are fantastic at home (15-2), they aren't great on the road - for instance, in tonight's game against the Bucks, they won on a last second shot in overtime, and were very close to losing. In my opinion, a championship-caliber team should not only be great at home, they should also be great on the road, and in my opinion, if they don't play better on the road, their record will suffer - and if they don't have a sizable lead over the other competitors in the west, they could lose home-court advantage in the second round of the playoffs, as they will have far more road games later in the season. So, my reasoning for saying they are somewhat overrated is because if they had near-even amount of home and road games, their record would most likely be worse.

Anyone else see what I'm saying?

Just thought you shoud know that the Lakers 2 road losses were each on the second night of a back to back and so was the one they pulled out against the bucks.