Are you a die hard fan like I am? Do you believe in the resurrection of Showtime? I sure do. I’ve had my back against the wall most of this season defending my Laker squad even when no one else would. Many friends, family, and associates went as far as saying that my Lakers wouldn’t make this post-season. I predicted they would.

As the season went on, the emergence of Andrew Bynum was brought to the attention of everyone I knew. I told them he would take them deep into the playoffs. This prediction changed many of the non-believers statements and they resorted to saying the Lakers wouldn’t get past the first round. My prediction still stands. The Lakers will triumph in the first. Now the non-believers after witnessing the Pau Gasol trade, again made revisions to their “Predictions”. They simply say that my Lakers wont make the finals. I believe they will.

The truth of the matter is, this is the best Laker team assembled since the days of Shaq and Kobe. One could even argue that this team is even better than the three time defending champions.

Why do I say this? First of all, we still have the greatest coach in history in Phil Jackson. We still have .04 in Derek Fisher. We still have the best player in the league in Kobe Bryant and an all star center/forward to compliment Kobe in Pau Gasol.

The difference with this years team in comparison to the Kobe/Shaq era is definitely our larger frontline and our talented and fairly deep bench. Our healthy frontline is formidable. I predict a lineup featuring Odom at the 3, Bynum at Center, and Gasol playing the 4. Can you imagine? With that lineup the smallest guy (Odom) is towering at 6′11. Both Odom and Gasol have a great post game, can run the floor, and have a nice midrange jumper. They are also capable of hitting crucial free throws. Bynum with his length and strength will clean up the boards, play enforcer in the middle, and control the paint. This alone makes the team deadly. But we are not done yet.

We all know who the most complete player in the game is today. Kobe Bryant always brings his A game and intensity and with the ball in his hands, he commands the double team or you can expect to get torched. This opens up huge opportunities for our bigmen to score easy buckets in the middle, and will give our sharpshooters open looks all day long. Sasha Vujacic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton, and Ronny Turaif all provide an instant offense as well as defense off the bench, and I can guarantee that we’ll see much more of them come playoff time.

With this Lakers team winning eight in a row as of today, making history going 7-2 on a recent nine game road trip, and having the confidence of a team who knows that they can win it all, I really expect nothing less than a trip to the Finals. I figure that as long as there are no serious injuries, and the team doesn’t get careless, there is no reason why they won’t make it to the big show.

You better believe its On! All Lakers Baby! All Lakers!

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