Nash is 38 and best days (especially defensively) are behind him. Kobe shows the wear and tear of so may years and playoff games. Clearly on the downside. Also, how many minutes over an 82 game season are they going to get from those two? Gasol is still good and if Howard remains healthy is the best center in the NBA. Artest's game is mostly reduced to thuggary. I mean, he's 75% the player he used to be and that's marginally OK. Add to that, they have one of the worst benches in the NBA. The coach is OK, but nothing to write home about. If they get off to a 5-10 start, they may just pack it in.
Re: Is It Possible Lakers Make The Playoffs dude... it's early. Stephen A brought up a decent point yesterday. MIA started the season 9-8 two years ago, but they went 22-1 after that. In short, the way they're playing now is not really indicative of the way they'll be playing this season. They're old, but still really good.
Re: Is It Possible Lakers Make The Playoffs It's early? Gee, I never considered that. Maybe read the post and opine. In all honesty, I think I make some pretty valid points.
Re: Is It Possible Lakers Make The Playoffs I think Kobe/Howard will get them in no matter what. They need to fire Brown and if they were smart they'd trade Nash. He doesn't fit that team at all.
Nash would actually do pretty well in the Stotts offense. I just don't think he'd want to be a backup.
I bet they don't. In fact, I bet they don't win anywhere near 65 games. They don't have the bench for it. Their starters are solid, but they're far too old to play their starters 35+ minutes per night. Nash especially looked old as fuck last night. They need a bench, and pronto.
This just feels very much like the season when they had Payton, Malone, Kobe, and Shaq. The difference is, they had a much better bench on that team and Kobe was in his prime. I think they'll be battling injuries all year, and Steve Blake might log more minutes than Nash when it's all said and done. Think about that for a minute.
Exactly, at 38 Nash might not have much of a choice when/how much he plays. Ofcourse not, but his body might want otherwise.
It annoys the shit out of me that they got Howard. The guy is an amazing talent, and he's still young. They will have a solid foundation to build around, but this team isn't nearly good enough to win a championship. Their bench is fucking terrible, and Nash is too old for this shit. Kobe and DHO will get them in the playoffs, but I don't know if they will be enough to get them out of the first round. They need to fire Brown.
I'll bet Howard will soon regret his decision. The Lakers have a 0% chance of making to the NBA Finals. He should have known better. I think at some point in time his unhappiness will show. I'd be surprised if the Lakers win more than 42 games, or 45 tops.
The thing is, he hasn't made a decision. He hasn't signed with the Lakers yet. It would be hilarious if he left after this season.
We've been saying this same exact thing about the Spurs for the past 3 or 4 seasons. The Lakers most likely won't play for the Title, but there's virtually zero chance they'll miss the playoffs.
