New Season Thread Made, Move on Over :)

[la kb24]

way off topic but im thinking of copping this shirt

want a kobe one too but cant find one

 

[essential1]

What I want to know is why this dirty hippie is walking barefooted

 

[mr j 858]

In Las Vegas, the Lakers are rated as best bets

Ten and 12 may be the new lucky numbers in Las Vegas.

Those are the jersey numbers of recent Lakers acquisitions Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, otherwise known as the saviors of a franchise that stumbled in the Western Conference semifinals the last two seasons.

Bettors have such robust faith in the refortified Lakers that they have placed more wagers on them to win the 2013 NBA title than any other team at nearly a dozen Las Vegas sports books.

Yes, that includes the defending champion Miami Heat and the same Oklahoma City Thunder that quickly bounced the Lakers out of the playoffs this year. The Heat has slightly more money bet on it at several sports books but lags far behind the Lakers in terms of number of bets.

"People just keep betting them," Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sports for the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, said of the Lakers, "and I can understand why."

Adding the game's best center and a soon-to-be Hall of Fame point guard to a roster already featuring Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol has made many bettors consider the Lakers a (purple and) gold ticket.

Kornegay said the Lakers have "by far the most tickets on them" to win the title at his sports book, where they have drawn more than twice the money to win the title than the Heat. The Lakers have four times as many bets placed on them at MGM Resorts than does the Heat.

This avalanche of wagers on the Lakers turned them into co-favorites to win the title this season, matching the same 9-4 odds as Miami and topping the Thunder's 4-1 odds, according to the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

The resurgent Clippers are at 30-1 title odds as they continue to distance themselves from the franchise's days as a triple-digit longshot and rank No. 7 in terms of money bet.

Part of the Lakers' allure is the proximity of what has long been the most popular NBA franchise for casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. "We have way more California visitors than we do from Florida," said Jay Rood, vice president of race and sports at MGM Resorts, which encompass 10 sports books in Las Vegas and two in Reno, Nev.

Howard and Nash have also been major selling points among bettors.

The Lakers were listed at 12-1 by the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino before Nash joined the team in July. Those title odds improved to 6-1 with the two-time most valuable player in the fold.

Once Howard was traded to the Lakers last month, their championship odds lowered again, to 3-1. They received one final bump based on the ensuing flurry of bets on them to win a third title in five seasons.

"Nash started it all, but Howard put it over the top," Kornegay said. "As of right now, the sports books of Las Vegas definitely don't need the Lakers to win the championship."

At least one NBA coach has gone on record as saying they won't.

"We're going to beat the Lakers," Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks told reporters last week. He was joking. Or so it seemed at the time.

"We never worry about other teams," he said. "We focus on what we do."

Even with Nash and Howard on board, it's not apparent the Lakers have a ready-made solution to stop the Thunder's dazzling offense with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

The Thunder didn't make any significant off-season moves besides signing 7-foot-3 free agent Hasheem Thabeet, but they still possess a few favorable matchups with the Lakers.

"Oklahoma City has an overwhelming speed and quickness advantage," ABC and ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy said, "but in the half-court, I think Howard's impact is really going to be felt."

It remains unclear whether Lamar Odom will make a difference for the Clippers considering his recent track record. The same player who was sixth man of the year with the Lakers sulked through a wasted season with the Dallas Mavericks.

Van Gundy said Odom, back with his first NBA team, could be on the verge of a career revival.

"Adding Lamar Odom, to me, is such an interesting pickup because I love the way he plays," Van Gundy said. "He's completely unselfish and hopefully he can bounce back from a really subpar year. If he can, boy, is that a huge upgrade for their team."

TNT analyst Steve Kerr said forward Blake Griffin's development will determine whether the Clippers become contenders in the Western Conference.

"He has to do what Karl Malone did after the first few years of his career," Kerr said. "He added a jump shot and started making free throws. When you could go to him on the block and get consistent scoring, it changed everything and I think that's the next step for the Clippers."

Miami wouldn't figure to need much help to defend its title after returning its Big Three, but the Heat received a boost with the signing of free agent Ray Allen as a reserve sharpshooter.

"This is not Ray Allen at 28 or 32 or even 34," Van Gundy said of the 37-year-old, "but certainly he had a very good year I thought last year. If he can stay healthy and make that adjustment [to coming off the bench], his professionalism, his offensive energy, his shooting ability will do nothing but help an already great team."

The Lakers are widely considered a juggernaut because of an unrivaled starting lineup featuring Bryant, Howard, Nash, Gasol and Metta World Peace.

But can the star-studded roster pass a chemistry test in its first season together?

"I think it will happen quickly because they have guys who are really smart players between Kobe and Nash and Gasol in particular," Kerr said. "Those three guys are basketball savants and they're also all at the stage where they have nothing to prove individually, so all their efforts will go into trying to make this thing work."

A legion of Las Vegas bettors would seem to agree.

Link:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...lakers-nba-odds-20120925,0,5006016,full.story

Vegas knows what's up.They also predicted the odds this past June when all the rumors & doubst was going if Dwight would get traded to the Lakers.

 

[mr j 858]

Honestly Darius Morris I wasn't impressed with him at all last season and really thought he belonged in the NBDL.

I hope dude has a good training camp and good pre season and learns & improves a lot with Steve Nash around him.

Either way though I can't see dude ever being a starting PG for any NBA team in his career.

It's sort of like how when Jordan Farmar was here.Farmar was a late 1st round pick and played his high school, and college career here in socal & LA.Problem with Farmar was that dude got a big head on and off the court as his time went by with the Lakers and then like a lot of traditional PG's who played in Phil's triangle offense ended up hating the offense and he wanted out of LA & the Lakers.

And yes trust me when I say Farmar had a big head off the court.I remember when dude was here he seriously thought he was a celeb and would host & promote club parties all over LA & Socal and nobody or hardly anyone would show up

 

[mr j 858]

This is simply to dope.The end of the mix seriously had me:



Check it out guys.

 

[goldmember]

Kerr knows

 

[noblekane]

What I want to know is why this dirty hippie is walking barefooted

son already looked like a homeless man. it was only right he would be walking barefoot in the streets...

 

[flyerthandelta]

Are the lakers still talking about Barbosa?

 

[mrdieselfuel09]

Probably wearing the shoes on that pic

 

[fudgemoney24]

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Are the lakers still talking about Barbosa?

That would be a great pickup.

 

[CP1708]

I've had enough of wondering, offseason, talking heads, will he, won't he, **** all that.

Roll the ball out there and leggo.

 

[mr j 858]

Just copped my 2 tickets in section 316 row 7 for the November 16th game against Phoenix the same night the Lakers unveil Kareem's statue outside staples.

Went through a broker website and got them for $74 each after shipping which was another $15 bucks.

Would rather get tickets off a ticket broker or off Lakers ticketmaster exchange website instead of dealing with ticketmaster BS on the pre sale where NTers and people on LG & Club Lakers were saying they couldn't even find 2 seats together in the 300 level seats during the ticket pre sale and the day later when tickets went on sale to the public on ticketmaster.

 

[Trillmatic90]

Skip needs to stop man...

Dwight is gonna make us miss Bynum? Bynum is gonna be better on defense than Dwight ever wished?

First Take is troll central. I guess whatever it takes to get them viewers though.

 

[CHAOSE57]

spurs even better than the lakers?

 

[pmatic]

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs finished the with a better regular season record than the Lakers.

 

[fudgemoney24]

^ No way man. Who did they pick up this off season? They're slowly on the decline. Their core is ancient. I think the West will be OKC 1, Lakers 2, Clippers 3, Spurs 4

 

[Trillmatic90]

People have been saying the Spurs roster is ancient for years now and they always come back looking strong (in the regular season).

I agree with your lineup except I think the Spurs will be 3 and Clippers will be 4.

 

[antidope]

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs finished the with a better regular season record than the Lakers.

Its going to happen, no doubt about it, and the kinks have been tuned out and I expect a playoff run that is very similar to last years, if not better. 

 

[pmatic]

^ No way man. Who did they pick up this off season? They're slowly on the decline. Their core is ancient. I think the West will be OKC 1, Lakers 2, Clippers 3, Spurs 4

While the core is old(er), they are still effective, not to mention the system allows the role players to excel.

They were the best team from mid-February to the WCFs for a reason. Now with that said, I could see the Spurs "falling" to a three seed, maybe four seed.

 

[fudgemoney24]

Either way, I think we would own them in the playoffs.

 

[mr j 858]

Heads up !

I haven't and normally wouldn't watch this show but Dwight will be on the Ellen show on Thursday.Kobe is on the same show on Friday.

 

[pmatic]

Either way, I think we would own them in the playoffs.

I'll allow it.

 

[la kb24]

Heads up !
I haven't and normally wouldn't watch this show but Dwight will be on the Ellen show on Thursday.Kobe is on the same show on Friday.

going to have to watch

 

[hybridsoldier23]

Either way, I think we would own them in the playoffs.

I'll allow it.