By CURTIS ZUPKE
The Orange County Register
EL SEGUNDO - Is the hype around the Lakers getting too big? Is it realistic to expect an NBA title from a team with little playoff experience outside of Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher?
The buzz around the club got even louder after Sunday’s victory against Dallas as media pundits practically rubber-stamped them as the team to beat. But co-captains Bryant and Fisher aren’t worried about their younger teammates thinking ahead.
“We’ve been able to build momentum after the All-Star break because our entire team has an uncanny ability to forget about yesterday and not stress over tomorrow,” Fisher said.
“I think that’s been the mark of our team. We’ve responded well. We’ve won games in all sorts of situations - front ends, back-to-backs, fifth game in seven nights - whatever we’ve been asked to do, we’ve figured out a way to do it.”
Bryant and Fisher are the only players remaining from the last championship team. Luke Walton was on the 2003-04 Finals squad, but no other player has made it out of the second round.
“I’m not worried at all,” Bryant said.
While I do like the confidence the Lakers are showing, all the media hype is very unsettling. Those goons are going to jinx it for us. On the other hand, I am glad Phil is always there to remind everyone that they haven’t achieved anything and that they should not get too far ahead of themselves.
The Hype is too big. It can be said with candor that the Lakers have become a very competitive team and have a shot at winning the division. The same thing can be said for San Antonio, Phoenix, New Orleans, Houston and Utah. The fact that the Lakers can compete is such a far cry from last season that the media has turned up the hype to championship level, when the truth is, anyone of at least four teams can win the West. Boston and Detroit also have something to say about who will reign as champion. We are being treated to the most spectacular competition for the western division in the history of basketball. Every game counts and every game is hotly contested. It is way too soon to predict who the champion of the west will be let alone who will be NBA champion this year. As good as the Lakers seem to be right now, they will not win the west or the championship unless they get better defense and more consistancy from Odem, Farmar, Fischer and Walton.
I think they desverve some hype,but i do think there going a little overboard with it calling them the NBA champs already. The test will come when we play the Spurs in the playoffs.
The games won’t be high scoring like when LA plays Phoenix, Dallas or Portland. The scores will be in the 90’s and sometimes in the 80’s. Spurs are a defensive minded team that executes very well in halfcourt sets and in the 4th quarter.