[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Assttodixie

Boss-

This glorious guy is going to do the same thing he does every year with the Lakers. Last year they werent supposed to make the playoffs and of course when they did the criteria for success changed. They are an improving team. They dont even have their starting big men right now. Next year, they will be out from a really bad contract and will actually have some room. And then the run begins. This year, second round.

As for the best BB player, its kobe and Lebron is coming fast. The MVP EVERY year is Shaq.

Just because I make a prediction at the beginning of the season means I have to stick with it once things get rolling. Once a season gets going, u see different things happening that u maybe didn't expect. Last year, I didn't expect for McGrady to miss 35 games and Ming to miss 25. I expected to see a Houston team closer to the one that had battled Dallas in the playoffs the year before. Instead, they didn't even make the playoffs. I didn't expect Boozer to miss 49 games. I didn't expect Minnesota to fall off the map. But those things happened. Just as if Kobe is to go down for 35 games this year, your expectations of the Lakers has to change.

In any case, my criteria for success hasn't changed. When u are the Los Angeles Lakers, your goal is not just to make the playoffs. When u pay a coach $10 million, u aren't just trying to make the playoffs. U expect that u BETTER make it and u expect to do damage.

Last year, I saw a Laker team that was probably the eighth best in the conference. I thought Sac was a better team than them at year's end. This year, I can see the Lakers being better than maybe two of the teams that were better than them last year, Denver and Memphis. That would put them at the 6th spot. But then I think u will have a return to form by Houston and great improvement by Utah. Of course, injuries notwithstanding. I think that puts the Lakers again in that same range they were in last year. I also think that New Orleans will be improved. I just don't see where the Lakers have improved themselves. The only thing could possibly be more experience but u could say that for all of the teams competing for those last three spots. Utah added Derek Fisher and gets back a healthy Boozer. Houston gets back a healthy Ming and McGrady. New Orleans added Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson. What did the Lakers do that comes anywhere close to improving themselves as much as those moves improved those three teams? Radmonovic, Evans, and Farmar?