I'm sorry but............. The Lakers are a great team and a contender when healthy

people are blinded by last season and all the injuries. coach firings. coach/player fights. locker room beef

this team got rid of the distractive players ( howard/metta )

if everyone can stay healthy. this is a great team on paper


starters

[IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/1268t4j.png[/IMG]


bench

[IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/hu3jf7.png[/IMG]




much improved athleticism at SF for the starting linup and bench with young/johnson

thats the one position you aboslutely need to have athletes to keep up with the durants/melos/lebrons of the nba

btw i left off jordan farmar cause hes a joke and won't get a lick of playing time

but other than that. this is a solid team. if clicking and happy they can easly make a run at the western confrence finals

i don't see anyone except maybe sanantonio and houston ( if howard bounces back ) as a threat to this team

okc is busted up. theyre goin in the wrong direction. all you morons thinking this is a year for LA to tank will be shocked when they win 50 games

[IMG]http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/7141/ohdamnlol.gif[/IMG]

Beautiful. But where's the defense?

Also, Farmar's great.

[QUOTE=Jameerthefear][IMG]http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/7141/ohdamnlol.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE]

nash injured all year

pau injured all year

kobe misses playoffs

you think theres any real way to tell how this team will be next year?


you guys are really undervaluing the pickups of young/kaman/johnson

those were huge signings that might have saved the season

anything is an upgrade for a cancer locker room distraction in howard. and anything is an upgrade to slow over the hill washed up ron artest. but to get a solid big man who can hit free throws and was an allstar not to long ago is more than i could ask for in kaman. and nick young who when given the shots can average a ton of points

its obvious the lakers are in better shape than people think

Im sorry but............... you are a fggt

Their recent signings seem to have been made with scoring and chemistry in mind. They're not going to win shit this year, but they'll be entertaining and sell tickets.

No they're not

[QUOTE=kennethgriffin]nash injured all year

pau injured all year

kobe misses playoffs

you think theres any real way to tell how this team will be next year?


you guys are really undervaluing the pickups of young/kaman/johnson

those were huge signings that might have saved the season

anything is an upgrade for a cancer locker room distraction in howard. and anything is an upgrade to slow over the hill washed up ron artest. but to get a solid big man who can hit free throws and was an allstar not to long ago is more than i could ask for in kaman. and nick young who when given the shots can average a ton of points

its obvious the lakers are in better shape than people think[/QUOTE]
Come on dude. Their best bet is the 7th seed, and there's a good chance Nash and Pau will miss games this year too. Plus how do we know how Kobe is going to come back, how the new players are going to fit etc. They have no chance at WCF.

I look forward to this being bumped even though it's obviously a trolling thread

OP digging his own and Kobe's legacy grave once again:lol

bookmarked

Oh shite. I just realized Kaman was an Allstar. Now that he's playing with Kobe he'll become a top 10 big man of all time lol

[QUOTE]Pau Gasol ‏@paugasol 2h

Welcome back to the team Jordan Farmar! Also welcome Wesley Johnson and @NickSwagyPYoung . Let's get ready for a great season. #LakerNation[/QUOTE]

Pau's pumped! :rockon:

[QUOTE=KyrieTheFuture]I look forward to this being bumped even though it's obviously a trolling thread[/QUOTE]
If somebody remembered this thread 6 months from now I'd probably nicely suggest they eat a bullet for breakfast

its quite possible that the lakers upgraded at 3 positions

kobe will be slightly less effective probably

but when you factor this


[B]pg - nash missed all last season. they upgraded just by nash being healthy[/B]
sg - kobe will be about the same when recovered
[B]sf - nick young at this point in his career is better than ron artest [/B]
[B]pf - pau was injured all year. they upgraded just by gasol being healthy [/B]
c - lost howard. picked up kaman.

I agree, Lakers win AT LEAST 50 games. No way Kobe's slowing down, Nash will be healthy, Pau will be healthy. Pau will play C on offense and Kaman will be shooting jumpshots as a PF. I don't expect Sacre to play much, Lakers will probably run a 3 man rotation between Pau, Kaman, and Hill. Lakers are offensively unstoppable, they just need to find some kind of defensive identity and they'll be a top team.

[QUOTE=kennethgriffin]its quite possible that the lakers upgraded at 3 positions

kobe will be slightly less effective probably

but when you factor this


[B]pg - nash missed all last season. they upgraded just by nash being healthy[/B]
sg - kobe will be about the same when recovered
[B]sf - nick young at this point in his career is better than ron artest [/B]
[B]pf - pau was injured all year. they upgraded just by gasol being healthy [/B]
c - lost howard. picked up kaman.[/QUOTE]
Why are you assuming Nash is going to be healthy? Pau is not getting any younger by the way.

When Kobe wins without Phil get back to me.

old players get injured alot

its not bad luck, if you have a team full of thirty year olds, and they are always hurt.

its something you have to account for when building a team

[QUOTE=kennethgriffin]its quite possible that the lakers upgraded at 3 positions

kobe will be slightly less effective probably

but when you factor this


[B]pg - nash missed all last season. they upgraded just by nash being healthy[/B]
sg - kobe will be about the same when recovered
[B]sf - nick young at this point in his career is better than ron artest [/B]
[B]pf - pau was injured all year. they upgraded just by gasol being healthy [/B]
c - lost howard. picked up kaman.[/QUOTE]
The lakers, if healthy, can be a solid team. I'd say if Kobe comes back ready to go I don't think a 50-32 record would be out of the question. They could put up a fight in the first rd and maybe even pull an upset with the right matchup. But they are not a contender for the nba title. You've gotta play defense to contend for the Larry O'Brien

[QUOTE=OJ SIMPSON 2.0]I agree, Lakers win AT LEAST 50 games. No way Kobe's slowing down, Nash will be healthy, Pau will be healthy. Pau will play C on offense and Kaman will be shooting jumpshots as a PF. I don't expect Sacre to play much, Lakers will probably run a 3 man rotation between Pau, Kaman, and Hill. Lakers are offensively unstoppable, they just need to find some kind of defensive identity and they'll be a top team.[/QUOTE]


also get a load of this

with metta and howard gone

every single guy on the team is unselfish and doesnt mind passing up a shot to get a better look

except for their absolute best player ofcourse kobe bean bryant

thats the making of a winner

when you have multiple guys who wanna take every shot when they touch the ball... its never a good thing. when 3 of them are in the starting linup. its a recipe for disaster

lakers got allllllllot better this year

[QUOTE=chips93]old players get injured alot

its not bad luck, if you have a team full of thirty year olds, and they are always hurt.

its something you have to account for when building a team[/QUOTE]
Yup

And unfortunately the Laker homer in me and the rest of SoCal conviently forgot about that part before last season lol

[QUOTE=Xiao Yao You]When Kobe wins without Phil get back to me.[/QUOTE]
When Kobe wins without wearing shoes, you let me know

Haven't seen a Lakers team this stacked in years...

[QUOTE=kennethgriffin]also get a load of this

with metta and howard gone

every single guy on the team is unselfish and doesnt mind passing up a shot to get a better look

except for their absolute best player ofcourse kobe bean bryant

thats the making of a winner

when you have multiple guys who wanna take every shot when they touch the ball... its never a good thing. when 3 of them are in the starting linup. its a recipe for disaster

lakers got allllllllot better this year[/QUOTE]
Without Dwight I do believe there will be a much better, consistent flow to the offense. The problem is, last year the offense wasn't the problem. They were awful, terrible defensively

[QUOTE=Lakers2877]If somebody remembered this thread 6 months from now I'd probably nicely suggest they eat a bullet for breakfast[/QUOTE]
People have bumped far less memorable threads and you know this. People ****ing bookmark threads to be bumped later for whatever weird reason. Also, to be on topic, being a year older does not make it more likely you'll be healthy this season

:oldlol:

I'm not going to lie, I also feel like the Lakers have the potential to be a good team next season.

It could be the Nash-homer in me, but I think this team is currently underrated, and has the potential to surprise us all.

This summer kind of reminds me of that 07' Lakers offseason. If I remember correctly, Kobe had demanded to be traded, and no one, and I mean NO ONE, had any hopes for the Lakers that upcoming season. Many believed (including myself) that even if they managed [U]not[/U] to give in to Kobe's trade demands, they would be a first round exit, at best. Then these dudes came out of no where, winning games left and right (even before the Gasol trade), and the rest is history.

Here's to hoping history repeats itself...

:cheers:

[QUOTE=Xiao Yao You]When Kobe wins without Phil get back to me.[/QUOTE]


kobes never had his own team/ fully healthy roster and no phil before

1996 - shaqs team ( del harris )
1997 - shaqs team ( del harris )
1998 - shaqs team ( del harris )
1999 - shaqs team ( kurt rambis )
2000 - shaqs team ( phil jackson )
2001 - kobe and shaqs team ( phil jackson )
2002 - kobe and shaqs team ( phil jackson )
2003 - kobe and shaqs team ( phil jackson )
2004 - kobe and shaqs team ( phil jackson )
2005 - kobes team ( rudy T / frank hamblin ) * fully injured roster ( kobe/odom)
2006 - kobes team ( phil jackson )
2007 - kobes team ( phil jackson )
2008 - kobes team ( phil jackson )
2009 - kobes team ( phil jackson )
2010 - kobes team ( phil jackson )
2011 - kobes team ( phil jackson )
2012 - kobes team ( mike brown ) * fully injured roster ( kobe/pau )
2013 - kobes team ( mike d'antoni ) * fully injured roster ( nash/kobe/pau/howard )



so kobes only had his own team without phil for 3 out of 17 years. all of them in rebuilding years with injuries


big deal.

Not a contender, but they'll be better than they were last year.

[QUOTE=NASH = BEST]:oldlol:

I'm not going to lie, I also feel like the Lakers have the potential to be a good team next season.

[B]It could be the Nash-homer in me, but I think this team is currently underrated, and has the potential to surprise us all.[/B]

This summer kind of reminds me of that 07' Lakers offseason. If I remember correctly, Kobe had demanded to be traded, and no one, and I mean NO ONE, had any hopes for the Lakers that upcoming season. Many believed (including myself) that even if they managed [U]not[/U] to give in to Kobe's trade demands, they would be a first round exit, at best. Then these dudes came out of no where, winning games left and right (even before the Gasol trade), and the rest is history.

Here's to hoping history repeats itself...

:cheers:[/QUOTE]

thats what i though last year, that despite there being a lot of guys who were all gonna wanna shoot a lot, nash would be able to make it work. that hes one of the smartest, most unselfish players in the league, and he would figure it out, but he/they never quite did

so im not sure what is gonna be any different next year.

[QUOTE=red1]Im sorry but............... you are a fggt[/QUOTE]
You got some nerve.

I figured out how to be a common bad Lakers fan:

Player X goes to Lakers, treat him like he's going to put the Lakers over the top
Player X doesn't do so well, demand his blood and his first born
If Player X stays in the next season, Player X's image is salvaged and you tell yourself that he will be solid, but you ignore all other possibilities
If Player X leaves in the next season, bash him and call him a scrub

[QUOTE=Lakers2877]Without Dwight I do believe there will be a much better, consistent flow to the offense. The problem is, last year the offense wasn't the problem. They were awful, terrible defensively[/QUOTE]

they were the worst free throw shooting team in the league with guys like metta/howard on the team. and they were contagious

now all skilled sharp shooters even at the center and power forward spots. theyel go from dead last to maybe top 10 in free throw shooting


that and 2 of the 3 best free throw shooters on this team ( nash/blake ) will finally be playing

the line hurt us more than most people know. the field goal percentages/fast pace ppg disguised it

[QUOTE=NASH = BEST]:oldlol:

I'm not going to lie, I also feel like the Lakers have the potential to be a good team next season.

It could be the Nash-homer in me, but I think this team is currently underrated, and has the potential to surprise us all.

This summer kind of reminds me of that 07' Lakers offseason. If I remember correctly, Kobe had demanded to be traded, and no one, and I mean NO ONE, had any hopes for the Lakers that upcoming season. Many believed (including myself) that even if they managed [U]not[/U] to give in to Kobe's trade demands, they would be a first round exit, at best. Then these dudes came out of no where, winning games left and right (even before the Gasol trade), and the rest is history.

Here's to hoping history repeats itself...

:cheers:[/QUOTE]
I like your optimism but that was '08

young sushi gonna drop 20 ppg this year yall just watch:pimp:

[QUOTE=Heavincent]Not a contender, but they'll be better than they were last year.[/QUOTE]
You know they were a 7th seed playoff team last season in spite of all their struggles. If they'll be better than last year like you say they are then they'll be at least #5 or #6 seed team? :oldlol:

They'd be lucky as fk to make it in the playoffs this upcoming season.

[QUOTE=ballup]I figured out how to be a common bad Lakers fan:

Player X goes to Lakers, treat him like he's going to put the Lakers over the top
Player X doesn't do so well, demand his blood and his first born
If Player X stays in the next season, Player X's image is salvaged and you tell yourself that he will be solid, but you ignore all other possibilities
If Player X leaves in the next season, bash him and call him a scrub[/QUOTE]
And that's different from the majority of succesful franchises in sports how exactly?

[QUOTE=chips93]thats what i though last year, that despite there being a lot of guys who were all gonna wanna shoot a lot, nash would be able to make it work. that hes one of the smartest, most unselfish players in the league, and he would figure it out, but he/they never quite did

so im not sure what is gonna be any different next year.[/QUOTE]

Injuries :confusedshrug:

Not sure what the stat was last season, but the starting line up never logged in heavy minutes together. Due to injuries, the team never had a good chance to build good chemistry. There were moments where it seemed like things were getting better, and then a new injury would occur.

The whole Howard situation was a major distraction also. When Dwight was out, and Pau was starting at center, the team seemed to be getting on a roll. When Pau went out, I was like "Sh!t, this team is snake-bitten!". I think there a better team next season with Pau instead of Howard.

Ultimately, I agree with the premise of OP.

IF healthy, the Lakers have potential to be contenders.

[QUOTE=DMV2]You know they were a 7th seed playoff team last season in spite of all their struggles. If they'll be better than last year like you say they are then they'll be at least #5 or #6 seed team? :oldlol:

They'd be lucky as fk to make it in the playoffs this upcoming season.[/QUOTE]
Lucky to make the playoffs? That's kind of silly. Last year they were completely ravaged by injuries

I agree. No excuses for Kobe this year

[IMG]http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/MorganFreeman-bobbing.gif[/IMG]