LA @ Phoenix - yeeeeeeeeeeeee-ouch!

[BC]

Damn...

Let me say first and foremost I'm a die-hard Suns fan. So if you wanna talk trash about da Suns yer on :D

OK, on the more serious side - LA absolutely walloped them tonight. Kobe did it on both ends on the floor and finished off with 38 in 33 mins. 3 quarters. That guy's a freak.

So my question is : are the Lakers for real? Do they need that third player to step up, or just let Shaq and Kobe dominate at both ends for 48 mins? Is that enough to get past Portland?

I know the question's been posed, so let me throw in a different angle : is Sacramento good enough to get past the Lakers (particularly in Arco Arena)?

The ball's in yer court...

[Marc]

First of all, welcome to the boards, BC! We're thrilled to have you here.

To add my comments, the Lakers are for real. Kobe and Shaq are the best two players in the game today and that deadly combination spells trouble for opponents. They've already won the championship and they have a legendary coach controlling them. If J.R. Rider could stay under control, he could be the added scoring threat they need.

[Spike]

Originally posted by BC:

I know the question's been posed, so let me throw in a different angle : is Sacramento good enough to get past the Lakers (particularly in Arco Arena)?



I think the Kings can handle the Lakers at home in Sacramento. I saw the one game played there this year between the Lakers and the Kings. The Lakers won in Overtime, but the Kings played that whole game without Chris Webber (who turned his ankle stepping on Christian Laettner's foot in a game before) and all of the 2nd half without Jason Williams and still should have won that game because the Kings forgot to put somebody on Kobe during a loose ball play and he ended up hitting a straight-on 25 foot three to tie the game and send it into Overtime. And J-Will played well that game too. He had 11 points, 7 assists and just one turnover in the 1st half he did play in before he too turned his ankle. Jason loves playing against the Lakers because besides Kobe Bryant (who in the Kings-Lakers' playoff series last May did a great job controlling Jason) the Lakers have absolutely nobody on their roster who can defend Jason. He's just too quick for anybody they have.

The real question, if the Kings played the Lakers in a playoff series again like they did last year is if they can beat the Lakers down there at the Staples Center. Sacramento's playing better defense this year than last year, but they're not quite road tested. The Kings still haven't played at Phoenix, at the Staples Center against the Lakers, at Portland, or even at Dallas this season. They're around .500 on the road so far but they haven't proven they can beat a good team on the road yet.

And by the way, welcome to these boards, BC. Glad to have you and look forward to talking hoops with you. :)

[BC]

Hey, pleased to meet you too Spike :)

Some very interesting points raised, particularly considering the emergence of Peja Stojakovic - he's a phenomenal shooter.

And as the Kings demonstrated, they can hold out and other players can step up when they're required to (no need to look further back than the game between the Kings and the Suns). Question is, can they do it consistently on the road? They've had the advantage of playing at Arco (i.e. playing at home) more in the early part of the season than a team like, say, Portland. It'll be interesting to see how they fare on the road.