January is going to be a rough month for us, and without Odom or Kwame available, tough times are ahead for the Lakers. The Lakers have 7 home games and 8 road games for the month of January. Jan 4th - @ SAC Jan 5th - DEN Jan 7th - DAL ----------------- Week 1 Jan 9th - @ MEM Jan 10th - @ HOU (2nd of back to back) Jan 12th - ORL ----------------- Week 2 Jan 15th - MIA (Shaq's expected return) Jan 17th - @ SA Jan 18th - @ DAL (2nd of back to back) Jan 20th - @ NOK ----------------- Week 3 Jan 22nd - GSW Jan 26th - CHA Jan 28th - SA ----------------- Week 4 Jan 30th - @NYK Jan 31st - @ BOS (2nd of back to back)
Yeah, our upcoming schedule is definetly going to be hard, especially without Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown. Kwame couldn't have picked a better time to get injured (sarcasm) since we could really use his defense in some of our upcoming games. If we were healthy at this point, or at least had our key players healthy, our upcoming schedule could have really well been a great measuring stick as to how good our team can be. Anyways, here's my predictions: Jan 4th - @ SAC win Jan 5th - DEN lose (Iverson and Boykins will absolutely destroy us since Smush Parker can't play defense to save his life) Jan 7th - DAL lose (we lost without Odom in our last match, now we will be without both Odom and Kwame) ----------------- Week 1 Jan 9th - @ MEM win Jan 10th - @ HOU (2nd of back to back) win (close game, but if the Rockets are without Yao we should take them) Jan 12th - ORL win (close game but we should come out on top) ----------------- Week 2 Jan 15th - MIA (Shaq's expected return) lose Jan 17th - @ SA lose (the Tim Duncan stopper may be out) Jan 18th - @ DAL (2nd of back to back) lose Jan 20th - @ NOK win ----------------- Week 3 Jan 22nd - GSW win Jan 26th - CHA win (Lakers will seek revenge after the 3OT loss) Jan 28th - SA lose ----------------- Week 4 Jan 30th - @NYK win Jan 31st - @ BOS (2nd of back to back) win Based on my predictions, I actually see us going 9-6, which actually isn't as bad as I thought. Now obviously this is counting on the fact that we will win the games we should win, which is something the Lakers have not done very well at all this season. Let's just hope we can pull off some upsets
You're certainly more optimistic about this stretch of games than I am. I'd be more than happy with a 7-8 record for January, but I could easily see us going 5-10.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You're certainly more optimistic about this stretch of games than I am. I'd be more than happy with a 7-8 record for January, but I could easily see us going 5-10.</div> Well, on first look I thought it was going to be a tough stretch of games as well, but when I actually broke down each and every game, there are actually a lot of very winnable games on the schedule. It's just that the tough opponents sort of scare you on first sight. Maybe you should break it down as well, and give us the win/lose predictions of each game?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jan 4th - @ SAC -- LOSE Jan 5th - DEN -- WIN Jan 7th - DAL -- LOSE ----------------- Week 1 Jan 9th - @ MEM -- WIN Jan 10th - @ HOU (2nd of back to back) -- LOSE Jan 12th - ORL -- LOSE ----------------- Week 2 Jan 15th - MIA (Shaq's expected return) -- LOSE Jan 17th - @ SA -- LOSE Jan 18th - @ DAL (2nd of back to back) -- LOSE Jan 20th - @ NOK -- WIN ----------------- Week 3 Jan 22nd - GSW -- LOSE Jan 26th - CHA -- WIN Jan 28th - SA -- LOSE ----------------- Week 4 Jan 30th - @ NYK -- WIN Jan 31st - @ BOS (2nd of back to back) -- WIN</div> I have us going 6-9 in January. The Denver and Golden State games can go either way.
Well, I picked us to win against Sacramento, and you picked us to win against Denver, so I guess that cancels each other out. Personally, I'm not at all scared of a Yao-less Rockets team. Sure, McGrady is back, but his offensive game now pretty much only consists of jump shots, so if we can somehow frustrate him early, I see us taking the victory. Orlando has been struggling as of late, and so has Dwight Howard, so I see us beating the Magic as well. Golden State isn't really that great of a team, and they may be without Jason Richardson, so I see us snatching another victory. Obviously my predictions may be a bit optimistic, but I think if we come and play hard each and everynight, we have the opportunity to go 9-6
I would rather take it a game at a time, beacuse the Lakers lose to the crapy teams and win against teams like the Spurs, so the Lakers are very unpredictable, but that trip is going to be hard without Odom. I'm hoping they start of with a win of sacromento.
The Rockets are a tough matchup for us, because Kobe Bryant isn't shutting anyone down this year. Unfortunately, Kobe has to score on Battier, and then turnaround and defend TMac. He's going to exert a lot of energy doing both and it's the second game of a back to back. We always tend to suck at those. They might not have Yao, but they still have Mutombo anchoring the interior defense, and the Rockets do a good job of limiting teams to on the offensive glass. The Warriors are also plagued with injuries, but they have an explosive offense, we can't handle right now. This team is streaky so it's hard to predict which Warriors actually show up. If their jumpshots are dropping we lose, if not we win. Orlando has been struggling of late because of injuries, but they are getting healthy again. Hopefully Odom can comeback earlier than expected, ideally around the 20th, to lock up those games near the end of the month.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The Rockets are a tough matchup for us, because Kobe Bryant isn't shutting anyone down this year. Unfortunately, Kobe has to score on Battier, and then turnaround and defend TMac. He's going to exert a lot of energy doing both and it's the second game of a back to back. We always tend to suck at those. They might not have Yao, but they still have Mutombo anchoring the interior defense, and the Rockets do a good job of limiting teams to on the offensive glass. The Warriors are also plagued with injuries, but they have an explosive offense, we can't handle right now. This team is streaky so it's hard to predict which Warriors actually show up. If their jumpshots are dropping we lose, if not we win. Orlando has been struggling of late because of injuries, but they are getting healthy again. Hopefully Odom can comeback earlier than expected, ideally around the 20th, to lock up those games near the end of the month.</div> Im praying lol
Jan 4th - @ SAC - L Jan 5th - DEN - L Jan 7th - DAL - L Jan 9th - @ MEM - W Jan 10th - @ HOU - L Jan 12th - ORL - W Jan 15th - MIA - L Jan 17th - @ SA - L Jan 18th - @ DAL - L Jan 20th - @ NOK - W Jan 22nd - GSW - W Jan 26th - CHA - W Jan 28th - SA - L Jan 30th - @NYK - L Jan 31st - @ BOS - W I see LA going 6-9 for January.
My unbiased anaylsis. Jan 4th - @ SAC - W Jan 5th - DEN - W Jan 7th - DAL - W Jan 9th - @ MEM - W Jan 10th - @ HOU - W Jan 12th - ORL - W Jan 15th - MIA - W Jan 17th - @ SA - W Jan 18th - @ DAL - W Jan 20th - @ NOK - W Jan 22nd - GSW - W Jan 26th - CHA - W Jan 28th - SA - W Jan 30th - @NYK - W Jan 31st - @ BOS - W
