Comments on: On the NBA: Even Purple and Gold Fade

By: the_capital_t

the_capital_t — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 03:18:00 +0000

Interesting piece of writing. I fully expect Nov and Dec to be unkind to the Lakers. But I don’t believe there is enough certainty in the Western Conference to expect possible early season stumbles to leave the Lakers receding far into the pack. All 3 Texas teams should get a good leap. And Durant’s team could as well. But no one else in the West, on paper, threatens to get to Christmas with single digit losses. Even the Texas teams run the risk of stumbling a bit out of the gate.

All that said…this regular season could look a lot like the 2008-09 Western Conference race.

By: Pootytang

Pootytang — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:55:00 +0000

I agree with your assessment, so in fact this article is geared at that relatively small subsection of people who have bet their life savings that the Lakers will win the title.

By: Sir Lolsalot

Sir Lolsalot — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:33:00 +0000

I completely agree with this article. LA’s likely going to be behind the eightball come January or even the all-star break if Kobe and Bynum aren’t at least close to 90%. This team didn’t even look dominant for much of the 1st half of last season and they’ll struggle even more if they don’t have 2o of their best 3 and most important players healthy.

It’s foolish to assume with that a team with as many issues as LA is facing would somehow be a shoe in to win this year’s title after coming off of two late season appearances which only added to the fatigue that this team is naturally facing because of Kobe’s age (career-wise) and Bynum’s knees.
Can they do it? Yeah. Would it be a surprise for anyone who’s made a serious effort to analyze their situation heading into this season? Most definitely. Although the level of surprise may vary.

LA’s fans should be pulling for their team. They have a chance to do something that few teams have done before. However, they should also realize that their team may need some incredible amount of luck at some point during the season to capture the #1 seed out West or in the later rounds of the playoffs to pull it off. If you think they were pushed to the brink last season, you’re in for something special if they do pull off the 3-peat this year.

By: Pootytang

Pootytang — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:14:00 +0000

“I’m not guaranteeing failure here, just bringing up the very notion of it …”

Let me test my reading comprehension here and make an attempt to summarize:

“The Lakers might not win the title this year, don’t consider them a lock.”

Gee, thanks. Whatever fans are out there that believe the Lakers to be a lock, you are not going to convince them otherwise. For the rest of us who have a semblance of a brain and some grasp of reality, the reinforcement that nothing is set in stone is greatly appreciated.

By: Hugh Heightme

Hugh Heightme — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:06:00 +0000

I take the “havn’t” like a MAN. The others are BS, “ju-co” alum (or certificate holder).

How amusing there are still cavemen attempting to kill the messenger.

I hear Geico is holding an open audition for you and yourn.

By: Blake

Blake — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 02:36:00 +0000

*haven’t
*comma used in place of “and”
*use of ampersand
*not spelling out “third”
*”ju-co”
*”work shop”
*one sentence paragraphs

You had seven errors in a four sentence post. Perhaps you should try proof-reading your own writing.

By: Hugh Heightme

Hugh Heightme — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 02:21:00 +0000

Is this commentary an illustration of how NOT to compose comprehensive prose?

Or is it just me?

I havn’t seen this many run-on sentences, dangling & misplaced modifiers since I TURNED in my first book report in 3rd GRADE.

Either go back to ju-co for a creative writing refresher course, work shop it or RESIGN yesterday.

By: Ace

Ace — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:12:00 +0000

‘Cause it is.

By: Dude

Dude — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:32:00 +0000

Why does this just come off like the middle child craving attention?

By: Ramsey

Ramsey — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Eh, if Bynum gets hurt and Yao recovers reasonably well, I think the Rockets frontcourt will be better. (Scola + 24min Yao) > Gasol Right?

The lakers had to face kristic, fesenko and amare before they saw a team with a reasonably well built front court. And when they did, it took them 7 games and a Kendrick Perkins injury to win. I’m just not that wowed by the lakers 4-5

By: luislandry

luislandry — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:33:00 +0000

I think people assume that when you use stats you apply them like a caveman would use a club instead of like a mathematician that was intelligent enough to devise the stats in the first place. They aren’t just looking at a combined stat and making decisions. That would be the equivalent of saying “since rock beats scissor and scissor beats paper, I will choose rock to battle paper”. It’s not that simple. Just like “skill” and “heart”…their relative importance depends on the level of skill. Heart isn’t that important when the skill level is very low. You can put a number on anything, just the model will get increasingly complex if you want to combine the things you’re looking at. The smart thing to do if a perfect model isn’t available is exactly what the Rockets are doing: looking in parallel at a variety of stats, observations, conversations, etc.

By: Bob3296

Bob3296 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:45:00 +0000

The supporting cast is almost always responsible for any star’s success in anything. I totally agree with you Rahat….

As to the purple and gold fading, I agree with Jacob as well. The Lakers do not have enough young talent to offset aging athletes who comprise the Laker juggernaut. As hard as winning a championship is, I don’t think that they will accomplish it this year. Unless, of course, God is a Laker fan…..

By: Will

Will — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:32:00 +0000

It’s funny how many people forget about the San Antonio Spurs. One year the Spurs are indomitable, with a team that can beat any opponent at their own game. Then suddenly they’re trying to scrap for one last finals appearance with the same team.

Things look inevitable in hindsight, but Game 7 of the Finals was an improbable Laker win.

By: The Point Forward » Posts Court Vision: Kobe’s knee to doom Lakers? «

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:16:20 +0000

[...] worrying about Kobe Bryant‘s knee? Kobe can’t hit anything in the preseason, and one Rockets-focused blogger wonders if, between the messed-up knees of Kobe and Andrew Bynum, “too much may have already been [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:12:00 +0000

what fascinates me most about the lakers, and it was captured by jacob, is that they have the 2nd greatest sg in nba history, yet their greatest strength and true source of dominance is their frontcourt. just think about that – kobe bryant isn’t what makes the lakers so indefensible. and then on top of that, you add kobe bryant. i think bynum and gasol are really the true trump card in the kobe-lebron debate. for all of the people somehow claiming that lebron had a comparable supporting cast, kobe wasn’t even the main element that made his team so frightening.

By: ANNE

ANNE — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:03:00 +0000

Gee, I can’t help but wonder “why are some people predicting gloom and doom” for the Los angeles Lakers?. For a team that just finished back to back championships and to be declared finished, and haven’t played a regular season game yet.makes me wonder if a lot of this isn’t wishful thinking. Atleast wait until the season start, you might really get your feelings hurt……