THIS Lakers Team Could Win Something

Does Bynum have what it takes to keep Laker fans happy? (AP Photo/Yahoo)

This team. The one that played last night against the Clippers. A lot of the east-coasters missed out on a good game here in the west.

I love the rivalry that's brewing between the Lakers and Clippers. A friend of mine described the NBA best by saying so many of the games 'feel like the playoffs'. I think he hit a key point right on the head, the atmosphere of the games seems completely different. There is more emotion in these games, more emotion than we fans are accustomed to seeing in the regular season.

This emotion is allowing for a lot of new rivalries to sprout up, we saw last night that the Pacers and Bulls could have something brewing, the Lakers and Clippers are starting to butt heads, and the Thunder are just pissing everyone off.


I really haven't gotten to my point yet, but I'm sure from reading the title, you know what I'm going to say. I think the way the Lakers played last night, is the way they would need to play in order to contend for an NBA title. I put emphasis on contend, because at this point, I think there are quite a few teams that could possibly raise the championship trophy come seasons' end.

I continue to flip-flop on whether or not I want the Lakers to trade Andrew Bynum for Dwight Howard. Part of me screams yes, the other questions whether I'm jumping the gun and just being greedy. Maybe we Laker fans need to have patience, do the Lakers really have to be the title favorite year in and year out? Maybe they would be better served being an underdog, forcing them to claw and fight for what they really want (see: 2009 Lakers title run).

I find myself rooting for this group of guys to pull it together and fight for what they want. It would be disappointing for them to roll over and accept that a flaming-hot Dallas Mavericks team was that much better than they were. They need to be playing with the same chip on their shoulder that they had after losing to Boston in 2008, but instead, they have taken the approach that 'it was bound to happen'.

I want to see the kind of fight that they showed last night every night. There is no reason it shouldn't happen. MWP (formerly: Artest) has shown time and time again, that when he wants to, he can still play some of the absolute best defense in the league. It took some words with Blake Griffin and a physical altercation or two to get him emotionally invested, but once he was engaged, he was a pivotal piece to the Lakers triumphing late-game run.

This Lakers team has the pieces (including that trade exception they got for giving Lamar away, which they should use to bolster this squad) to compete. When they play like this, I have absolutely no problem backing them all the way to the hardware. Tweet