<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Los Angeles Lakers are a very dangerous team to have to play in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. They are more than capable of sending one of the top seeds home early. Superstar Kobe Bryant is not someone that a team is going to want to see in the opening round of a best-of-seven series. If the Lakers, who finished just 34-48 last season and did not qualify for the playoffs, can draw either the Denver Nuggets or Phoenix Suns in round one, they would have to like their chances of pulling off the upset. The Lakers need to stay away from being No. 8 in the West, so they can avoid a first round matchup with the Dallas Mavericks or the defending world champion San Antonio Spurs. Bryant, who leads the NBA in scoring, is a one-man show and can win a series single-handidly. His supporting cast is not overly impressive, but it can help him do some damage in the postseason. Lamar Odom is LA's second option behind Bryant. The 6-10 forward is not the most consistent player, but if he gets hot the Lakers would have two very dangerous players that could lead them on a serious run through the playoffs. Odom, who is playing in his second season with the Lakers, has not been the scorer that they had hoped he would be. However, he seems to have accepted his role behind Bryant. The 26-year-old Odom leads the Lakers in rebounding and assists, and is second on the club in scoring. Guard Smush Parker, forwards Kwame Brown and Brian Cook and center Chris Mihm will have to come up big for the Lakers. The 6-4 Parker has surprised with his play this season, as he has proved that he can score and his athleticism has helped the Lakers be more effective in transition. Brown, Cook and Mihm are nothing spectacular, but they understand their roles and know what is required of them. They do the dirty work for the Lakers. Head coach Phil Jackson leaves the scoring to Bryant, and if the All-Star Guard needs help Odom and Parker are next in line. The 27-year-old Bryant, who is an eight-time All-Star, gives the Lakers a fighting chance against the Nuggets or Suns. The Spurs and Mavericks would be too much to handle. Bryant's ability to score in large sums is something that is going to be very hard to deal with in a seven-game series. Especially for teams that win with their offense and not their tough defense. San Antonio has a player like Bruce Bowen, who would make Bryant have to work hard for every point he would score. Denver and Phoenix don't have a defensive stopper that will be able to wear down the Lakers' stud guard.</div> link: http://www.kfoxtv.com/nba/8595885/detail.html
While I like to see someone giving the Lakers a fighting chance I don't agree with a few things he said. First off- The Lakers are 0-8 vs the Suns since Shaq left, that doesn't mean they can't beat them, that just means their track record supports the opposite of what this writer is talking about: a first round upset. Secondly- Denver does have a defender to frustrate Kobe- Ruben Patterson. He is not the Kobe stopper he used to be, but he is enough of a frustration that he'll make Kobe work for his shots. If I had to choose a team that LA could be between Denver and the Suns it would be Denver. It's a very close call but the Lakers defense would have to be almost perfect for 7 straight games for them to beat the Suns. Meanwhile they can get stops against Denver, and Denver can't turn a good game into a rout like Pheonix can since they don't have any three point shooters. If LA could only prevent Carmelo from getting shot's off in the closing seconds then I'd give them a great chance to win that series.
I love this article this should be in the Skybox. Kobe will stop at nothing until he gets another championship.
