It might be a boring playoff season

I didn't get the chance to watch this afternoon's Spurs vs Lakers. But to me, Kobe was the reason that LA is in playoffs now, how would you expect them to be "blackhorse" without Kobe? This Lakers team has so many problems to be expected to make any kind of noise in the post season. The whole team is banged up - Nash, Pau, MWP, and DH12. Yes, they all came back to play, but the difference is just how close to 80 percent. D'Antoni is better than Mike-just-give-the-ball-to-LeBron-oops-Kobe-Brown, but he needs a healthy and effective Steve Nash, and doesn't know how to use DH12. So he closed the season with the only strategy "give the ball to Kobe". Stan Van Gundy used Howard the best way: dead-eye 3-pointer shooters bomb away, DH12 collects rebound and putbacks, plus occasional alley-oops. Lakers doesn't have those shooters.



Kobe is out, now what? No offense to 3peat, but post game/entry is not easy, you can't just turn it on during playoffs. You need Howard to go deep in the paint, and someone like MWP to make the post entry pass from the side, for instance. Well, RonRon is probably just going to launch a 3, be it at the elbow or corner, and Howard isn't any good at posting up. Give the ball to Howard 18 feet away from the basket? He doesn't know what to do with it, when his life is dependent on it. Is Pau healthy at all? Nash, as professional and as tough as he is, he's not in game shape, not to mention playoff shape.



I don't get all the hype about "黑七", yes, Spurs isn't the Spurs we know. No offense to 板凳, they are no longer a deep playoff team, but more like a regular season team, unless TD and Manu can turn the clock back. But still, GDP may be banged up as well, without Kobe, current Lakers is no match to them. To me, neither team would really challenge OKC, if they are lucky to pass Denver (not very likely). Those old bodies can't handle the intense playoffs, while younger ones on their teams are not prime time ready.



I said 3 years ago, it was the best time for someone to steal one from the Heat, and Mavs did take that opportunity. This year, Heat is clearly above everyone else in its own class, after taking a noticeable step forward. There are teams improved this year, like Rockets, Pacers, and Clippers, but they are not ready to be contenders. Last year's contenders all took a step back, be it roster change or age/injury impacted. So, there really isn't anyone who can challenge Heat this year.



If it's a cake walk for the Heat (except for Pacers making 2-3 games more interesting), it could be a boring playoff season.