<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">1. WHO DO YOU LOVE? The Lakers and the Kings are rivals not only in the Pacific Division of the NBA's Western Conference, but also in the hearts and minds of pro basketball fans in Las Vegas. They are the teams most closely associated with Las Vegas -- L.A. for its geographic proximity, Sacramento because the Maloof family owns both the Kings and the Palms hotel. "Las Vegas is still very much a Laker city, but the Kings have a really good fan base here, too," Joe Maloof said. 2. CLOSING THE GAP Five years ago when the Lakers and Kings met in a preseason game at the Thomas & Mack Center, about 75 percent of the crowd was cheering for L.A., Maloof said. A couple of years later, perhaps two-thirds of the crowd was backing the Lakers. Maloof would like to see the gap narrowed to a 50-50 split. "I think it keeps getting a little closer every year as far as the fans' ovations," Maloof said. 3. NEW LOOK After years of stability, the Kings shook up their lineup this off-season, signing free agent Shareef Abdur-Rahim to start at power forward and acquiring shooting guard Bonzi Wells in a trade from the Memphis Grizzlies. They'll join center Brad Miller, forward Peja Stojakovic and point guard Mike Bibby as starters under eighth-year coach Rick Adelman. "It's a brand new look for us," Maloof said. "It remains to be seen how they jell, but we're very excited about this season." 4. L.A.'S STORY Having lured coach Phil Jackson out of temporary retirement and having added former No. 1 draft pick Kwame Brown in a trade with the Washington Wizards, the Lakers are aiming to rebound from their 34-48 record last season and rejoin the NBA's elite. The big question is how Kobe Bryant, Jackson's old nemesis, will mesh with Brown and enigmatic guard Lamar Odom in L.A.'s triangle offense. Other key players are center Chris Mihm and forward Luke Walton. 5. NORTH AND SOUTH The Kings are one of only three NBA teams to have won at least 50 games in each of the past five seasons, although they have repeatedly come up short in their efforts to reach the finals. A resurgence by the Lakers could serve to light a fire under Sacramento, Maloof said. "It's a natural, built-in rivalry -- Northern California against Southern California," Maloof said. "We want to see it get heated up again. We want to see the Lakers come back and do well -- just not as well as us."</div> Las Vegas Sun <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We want to see the Lakers come back and do well -- just not as well as us."</div> I got to agree with him on this one. It would be great to see the Lakers and Kings be the number one and two team in the NBA going at each other like the good old day's. Of course the results will always be the same as the good old day's.
Of course the results will be the same. When Maloof mentoine the fact that Las Vegas is getting a big Kings fan base, is VERY good evidence supporting their move to Las Vegas. Yeah, yeah they said they have no plans on moving there, but the Maloofs are crooks and they'll probably end up robbing Sacramento of the only thing they have, besides professional wrestling when it comes around. Oh and about the game tonite, if the Lakers win this one, it will mean LA has a better overall team than Sac, because Sac plays preseason like it's the playoffs..... err bad example, regular season then.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting YourNewChef:</div><div class="quote_post">Oh and about the game tonite, if the Lakers win this one, it will mean LA has a better overall team than Sac, because Sac plays preseason like it's the playoffs..... err bad example, regular season then.</div> I think we definatly have a good chance of winning. So far we are 4-1 in the preseason. Sure we haven't played any real playoff teams but we are doing better than I expected. It's only the preseason, but if we can beat the Kings, it will prove that we do have the ability to make the playoffs. The only thing that worries me is our inconsitent play. The same as last season, where we had trouble putting up 3 wins in a row. This season, it has already been proven that we can come out one night and play well and the next night play like pathetic high school players(vs Golden State). We played really well defensively and fairly good offensively the other night against Utah. My only concern is that we play poorly once again today. If we do, it shows that nothing much has really changed from last season and we should expect pretty much the same with a slight improvement by a few games from last season. If we do get beaten, but we still have our respect(i.e, a close result), expect a playoff season, if we get beaten badly, expect another trip to the lottery.
I think one main thing to give the Lakers a successful season is to have a record like 4-1. Starting off above .500 will give them a confidence boost.
The Laker bench is just tearing Sac a new one out there in the second quarter. LA is doing well given the fact Kobe is benching til halftime with 3 fouls in 1st quarter.
I wish I could see the game! I will only be able to catch 2 Laker game's up until January! We finished the pre season with a 4 game winning streak and a 5-1 record. Not bad at all, sure we didn't have any real tests with teams, apart from the Queen's, but it's good to see us winning, even against pathetic teams, unlike last season.
