Upcoming 2011-12 NBA Preview – Pacific Division

WESTERN CONFERENCE – PACIFIC

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

Last Season:  57-25, Division Champions, 2nd Overall in West, Lost to Dallas in Western Conf Semis

Key Losses:  Shannon Brown, Lamar Odom, Phil Jackson (head coach)

Key Additions: Jason Kapono, Josh McRoberts, Troy Murphy, Darius Morris (draft), Andrew Goudelock (draft), Mike Brown (head coach)

Main Rotation: Starters – Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum; Key Reserves – Steve Blake, Jason Kapono, Matt Barnes, Josh McRoberts, Luke Walton, Troy Murphy

How are the Lakers going to react to losing two key components to their championship runs as well as the voided trade that could’ve landed Kobe’s first ever all-star point guard Chris Paul?  Gone are Phil Jackson who retired and Lamar Odom who was traded to Dallas.  Roll out the red carpet for their replacements – new head coach Mike Brown and Josh McRoberts…or wait.. is it Troy Murphy.  Brown is an ok replacement but as far as Odom’s replacement…. wow, what a downgrade.  Odom’s versaility, size, and offense will be sorely missed by the Lakers.  Josh McRoberts wouldn’t have been that bad of a choice to fill in another bench spot but not like this.  He’s a serviceable big man but will not provide anywhere near the impact Odom brought.  For Troy Murphy, I can’t believe he’s still in the league.

2011 NBA Draft – Winners and Losers: 21-30

It’s been almost two weeks since the 2011 NBA Draft, which was nothing to get too excited about.  There was not going to be a Magic, Ewing, Shaq, Lebron, D-Rose, or a Blake Griffin coming out of this draft to make an immediate impact.  Basically, there was no jackpot, franchise turn-around type player.  Instead it was cast of potentials. There are four players that have the potential to be future all-stars in my opinion:  Two freshmen point guards, a tweener, and a European big.  Everyone knows drafts are meant to be dissected once it’s over and done with.

Who were the winners and losers of this draft?  Well, let’s take a look at who were the head-scratchers down to the winner of this draft.

2010-11 NBA Season Review: Western Conference

Alright, we just analyzed the Eastern Conference, now let’s go through the more competitive Western Conference.

2010-11 NBA Season Review: Eastern Conference

Last June the Los Angeles Lakers walked off the court as NBA Champions, and that wrapped up the 2009-10 NBA season.  Three weeks later the 2010-11 season began with the phrase:

“This fall I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.”

Scum of The Week – The L.A. Lakers

So the Lakers have done it… they were swept out of the Western Conference Semi-finals of the NBA Playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks. Needless to say everyone on that Lakers team should be ashamed of themselves. The final score was 122-86, so that qualifies as an old fashioned prison pounding, not to mention Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom were both ejected for playing like dirty turd sniffers. Odom decided to basically give Dirk Nowitzki a nice hard shouldering and Bynum thought it a good idea to forearm J.J. Barea in the ribs in mid lay-up. True scum!

Classy move Bynum

And this is not even mentioning the “Great” Kobe Bryant having a rather lackluster game. 17 points? 1 assist? Holy dog shit Kobe! So much for all of those Jordan comparisons, so much for the three-peat, so much for Phil Jackson’s last season of coaching. It turns out the guy should have just retired on a high note last year instead of this epic embarrassment!

Bottom line: These guys didn’t play like last year’s NBA Champions, they played like a bunch of sore losers who were swept out of the playoffs… which they were. But most of all, they played like SCUM!

Laker fans please comment below.