4-17 when I logged in 12-27 Lakers losing now
  This guarantees a Laker win today and then one more for the series. I had to get this in before the Lakers came back and made my prediction moot. Yes the kRockets are without Yau Ming, but they are ahead by 15 so I just had to say something since I'm sure this will wake up the normally complacent Lakers. I was pretty sure they would come into this game without that edge. Since Yau was out "remember they play down to the competition. But once they got behind early in the game they have too much time to recover and they will.
GymAlien

 The Lakers have won the first two games against Utah at home but now the road games are at hand and I see weakness. Tonite in about an hour the Lakers will play Utah in Utah and given the Lakers trouble keeping a lead at home I can see the possibility of a loss here tonite.
    The Jazz are especially good at home and especially bad on the road. I think that has a lot to do with the officiating being given the green light to give the home team the benifit of the doubt on all calls. You see, it's good for the league to have the home team win. More home wins; more attendence. And so the league bosses are ok with the uncertain calls being given to the home team.
    But that's not all; the home team is much more familliar with the surroundings of their own court. And that is a very big advantage. You see, as a jump shot guru I know just how important familliar surroundings are to shooting the basketball. The background, acoustics, and general feel of the areana are all factors to a shooters touch. So I'd expect the Lakers to shoot poorly especially on three pointers.  And similarly I'd expect the Jazz to shoot much better especially on three pointers. When you couple better shooting with getting many more "calls". I can see the Jazz winning tonite.
    With all that said, I could also see the Lakers just being too good for the Jazz (and I hope so too). The Lakers deapth with Bynum back is just too good for the Jazz to really have a chance of winning the series.
 
   So, Ill get back to ya soon.  ANY COMMENTS???
       Happy Hooping,   GymAlien.net

     You might be surprised just how good the Lakers will be with even a 50% Bynum on the team.
     Now that Mbenga is the back up center you may have noticed just how far the drop is in talent and team work is when the back up center comes in for Gasol. So don't be surprised when Bynum gets back and the team is virtually unbeatable.
      It may not be noticeable right from the first game but you just watch how that one center adds just the right ingredient to create a  formula for success!
     I've been predicting correctly all season; and although I didn't mention it I expected the Atlanta loss due to a short time between games from friday to sunday morning and their good point guard and young athletic bucks. So when I tell you with Bynum back it's "lights out" you better beleive it.
  Lakers all the way baby Lakers in 5 or 6 against the Cavaliers (expected) or Celtics.
   
    GymAlien.net

    Well I did say in the short term they could be a bit better without Bynum. It would shorten the rotation and add to the cohesiveness, and so it did. But now comes the other side and that's tired players. You saw it in the back to back losses and you will likely see it again in the long road trip ahead (7 games). And now, they gave away Chris Mimm as well; further diminishing the depth of big men. Sorry Laker fans Mbenga still is no Chris Mimm.
    I fully expect "us" to falter and lose the best record in the league shortly. But, just like with the Utah prediction I'll hate to be right.
    Did anybody but me see those things on Pau Gasols arms. Yeah, I'm talking about Muscles! It's sure grat to see He's using all God gave him now. And, if "we're" lucky It could keep him from getting too tired here in the late stages of the season.
     I'm still worried that Pau and Kobe played nearly all summer, last season and this one without much of a break. We really need Andrew Bynum to come back with several weeks left in the season to ease the lack of big man depth, and long minutes of the starters.

      I regreted not blogging about my concerns about possible losses earlier in the season so here goes. 

     I'm thinking if Utah is healthy there is a good chance the Lakers will lose tomorrow. 2-10-09 But, I'm glad they won tonite against the Okies...

    Ok, that just sounds crazy right?  I was just thinking about all these road games and how well the team played last year without Bynum. 
    So, I'm thinking that it could actually work in the Lakers favor to have the big guy out for a while. I think he's a little weak and inconsistent on the road.  So, again like the trade it could tighten up the rotation and make for better cohesion on the team (temporarily).
   Especially on defense, the constant influx of new players onto the court causes breaks in continuity and results in missed asignments on a regular basis (exept when Ariza comes in of course).
    Plus now that Jordan Farmar is back playing well, the team that great one two punch ,(again) of set up offense and then running game that worked so well in the early season.
    And one last thing is that Luke Walton is developing his 3 pointer quite well and needs time to get comfotable on the court and make it a consistant threat. I can tell that the young man seriously works on his game unlike some folks (big fat guy in Arizona).  Let's just hope Luke works as hard on his defensive game and quickness. Ariza is hitting some big three's too lately huh. It's a pretty smooth flowing shot he's developing.  Is Hodges still around giving shooting tips? Looks like it.

                                   GymAlien

      Well there you go.  Now we know who gets the minutes at small forward.  Radmanovich got traded for Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown.  Although Vlade played pretty well at times,  I'm happy to see that Walton and Trevor are getting the minutes. The new guys will almost certainly be riding the pine for the most part, trying to learn the triangle.  So, that tightens up the rotation and could work in the Lakers favor.
                          GymAlien

 So, here we are at the top of the league standings with Cleveland and Boston. I couldn't say I was expecting Cleveland but after they filled in the bench and got that defensive presence in the paint from Chicago I knew they were good enough.
    But, this is about the Lakers. They still have the bad habit of playing down to the level of the bad teams. But, unlike the recent years, they play above the level of the good teams quite often (which is a good sign!). And, when Bynum plays well there is no team in the league that has a better group of talent one through twelve. Barring injuries this is definitely a very good year for a Laker Championship.
    Which brings me to Andrew Bynum who again hurt a knee from a freak accident a couple days ago. So sad to see the young man get hurt almost every year just when he seems to be really progressing. They say he'll be out about 2 months if all goes well with his rehab (torn MCL). That could bring him back just before the playoffs. Which I will say is probably too late for him to get back to his recent level of play. It just might cost the Lakers the championship again this year. But,Let's hope for the best.
                                       GymAlien

Three games into the season and everyone has already anointed the Lakers as likely NBA champions? Wow, I don't blame them but come on it's way to early.
    Just look at New Orleans and Houston! There is some serious competition out there this year. With Artest in Houston They may have the best starting five in the league right now.  It's true that the Lakers have the best depth, but when the playoffs come around that advantage will likely be minimized.
    With Pau and Kobe both playing through the entire playoffs and entire Olympics, they are going to be feeling pretty tired come next April if you ask me. Let's hope they get a lot of rest on the bench with that great second team running circles around the average and lesser opposing teams second units.
     Which brings me to my next point. These early blow-outs are somewhat missleading.  In that, the Lakers have so much talent that when the other team's starters take a rest the Lakers stretch the lead even more on the weak teams.  But against strong teams we likely won't see blowouts (see Nuggets game). And a few losses to those good teams won't suprise me a bit.
      On the other hand, the Laker Youth has the ability to learn and improve greatly as the season progresses. I can see them gelling sometime down the road and winning against those elite teams even on the road.  So, don't hate me for being a wet blanket. It's just that I don't think they're "that good" just yet. Give them some more time. Let's see them prove their mental toughness against the best of the league, and on the road, first.

      If you could trade Kobe for Lebron straight up, would you do it?
Well first thing just let me say I am a die hard Laker fan and I Love the Lakers!  But, I have never been really all that sold on Kobe (sorry). I loved the way Magic put everyone on the team ahead of himself even if he couldn't guard a crosswalk. I loved the way Cap (Kareem) would almost always come up with the clutch hook or even freethrow to win the game, Worthy was too quick and controlled for anybody to guard him at the end of a game, Jerry West (Mr.Clutch) even became a league leader in assists in that Championship year, and won finals MVP from a losing team! (?).
        But, I just can't stand it when Kobe thinks it's alright to throw up a 30 footer when the game's on the line.   Yeh, sometimes he gets hot and sometimes he will make that shot; but it's not often enough for me. In fact it's just plain stupid if you ask me, to take that shot. And He'll often make it a fall away (crazy gunner) It just burns me up.... He's certainly no Larry Bird !  He should stick to taking it to the basket and/or pulling up at about 15 feet. But, hey what do I know?
   That being said, the first time I heard that trade rumor, Kobe for Lebron, a few years ago I though to myself  "Oh Yea, In a Heart Beat" I'd make that trade yesterday.  I take offense to some of the Kobe bashing but I'd make that trade starting in Lebrons' second year. And, now it's almost a no brainer. Of course you would have to do it with all the years Lebron has left.
     What do you think we could get for an NBA MVP in trade? Lebron really is just about the only person I'd trade straight up for him though. Wade plus somebody, Chris Paul plus somebody....Oh well I guess "we'll" be OK with him on the Lakers.  (LOL)
                                                    GymAlien