Seriously guys, the lakers are the deepest team in the league with the bench of Bynum, Brown, Blake and Barnes. They have the best one-two punch(kobe and Gasol) in the league and versatile player in Odom and defensive stopper in Artest. Their only weakness probably is Fisher but this guy is world class flopper and veteran player who knows how to frustrate his opponents. Question now is do you guys think these lakers break the Bulls 72-10 record? They have the talents to break it barring the injuries to Kobe or Gasol. Defensively they are not as good as the 96 Bulls but their offense are much better than the bulls plus the Lakers' size and length are something no teams(except the Celtics) can match up with. So personally I think they have high chance to break the record!
No, they have a fairly easy schedule early on. Their tougher games don't come until February and March.. in which they'll probably have Bynum back in the line up. Also... they have quite a few home games. It's a nice start of them, but I don't see them winning more than 65 games.
their schedule is arguably the easiest to start a season. however, they are deep. and pau gasol is playing out of his mind right now. gasol is playing like a top 5-6 player right now. he's getting more comfortable in the triangle.
the lakers only have faced 1 team (GS) in the top 8 of the western conf. right now its too soon to tell they will win 70+ games.
I'd say the only games they might lose are at the end of the season when they're going to rest most of their starters since they'll be so high up in the standings it won't even matter...
You forgot that this team has Phil Jackson probably coaching his last time around. Why in the world would he push his team to win (around) 72 games when it probably means wearing out and risking injury to his players at the cost of performing badly in the playoffs? Another three-peat >>>>>>>>>>> winning more than 72 games
Doubt it, but barring injury they're gonna get #1 seed in West easily, and depending on their play against the lottery fodder, they may get 65+ which could be enough for HCA.
I don't think they'll win more than 58 games maybe 60 but thats the tops, the league isn't watered down like that season the bulls got the 72 wins
Let us ask Phil Jackson. As far as I can remember he coached the team that got 72 wins. Personally, I think the odds are not there for these Lakers. It would take a so called "Perfect storm" for them to even have a chance.
Can they? Definitely Will they? Maybe....depends on how many games the Heat win. Jackson has stated that home court advantage is a priority. Kobe is reinventing himself so far this season. The other night he had 23 on 12 shots. Odom is a new man finally unleashing all his gifts on a consistent basis, same goes for Shannon Brown. Bynum is still out of the lineup, when he comes back there will be a drastic improvement in the Laker defense simply because having another body will allow the other bigs to play more aggressively. Not to mention he's the anchor and if he becomes a bench player the Lakers will essentially have two starting lineups. Bynum, Blake and Barnes were legit starters last season and with the way Brown is playing most teams would like to have him in their starting 5. In a word: Yes
