Records: Lakers: 30-18 (3rd in West), Grizzlies: 25-21 (6th in West) Offensive ratings: Lakers: 104.7 (15th in NBA), Grizzlies: 102.8 (21st in NBA) Defensive ratings: Lakers: 101.8 (10th in NBA), Grizzlies: 101.5 (8th in NBA) Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Ramon Sessions, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum Grizzlies: Mike Conley, Tony Allen, […]
Western Conference
Preview and Chat: The Oklahoma City Thunder
Records: Lakers 20-13 (5th in West), Thunder 26-7 (1st in West) Offensive ratings: Lakers 103.3 (15th in NBA), Thunder 108.9 (2nd in NBA) Defensive ratings: Lakers 100.7 (11th in NBA), Thunder 102.4 (14th in NBA) Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum Thunder: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, […]
Dictating On Defense II: Potential Playoff Opponents
Matt Scribbins provides insight and analysis throughout ESPN’s TrueHoop Network, including at HoopData and Magic Basketball. He graduated with distinction from Iowa State University last spring, where he was also a member of the Cyclone football team. In the fall, Matt is part of Football Outsiders’ Game Charting Project. You can also find him on twitter: @mattscribbins […]
More Mailbag!
It’s time for another installment of the FB&G mailbag. If you’d like to submit a question, click here and fire away. Thanks again to everyone that has sent in questions. Here we go… When Phil Jackson retires, does that mean the end of the Lakers’ championship window? After all, the all-powerful team has been struck […]
What Would Tex Say?
[picappgallerysingle id=”7945538″] All basketball fans have been heartened over the news over the last 6 months or so that Tex Winter is doing so much better. Since he is doing better and presumeably watching Phil Jackson’s team, we can guess that Phil and Tex have spoken recently about the problems Phoenix’s zone defense has posed […]
Behind Enemy Lines: FB&G Talks With Valley Of The Suns
[picappgallerysingle id=”8591019″] Over the past week we’ve tried to give as much insight as we could on the upcoming WCF match up with the Suns. But, in order to get more of an insider’s perspective I exchanged emails with Michael Schwartz of the excellent Suns blog Valley of the Suns. Michael was kind enough to […]
It Could Be an Interesting Road For The Lakers
With the finale of the very last game of the season, Phoenix/Utah, the Western Conference playoff bracket was finally set. With the Suns win over Utah, it moves them into the number 3 slot, creating an interesting road for the Lakers to the Finals – something that I was ultimately hoping for. In the Lakers […]
Can Anyone In the West Challenge?
[picappgallerysingle id=”3844925″] Watching the Lakers play the best of their non-Gasol games last night, the question going through my head became: Can any of the teams in the West really challenge the Lakers? Can any of them keep the Lakers out of the Finals? (Of course, we are assuming a relatively healthy Lakers team in […]
Shaking Out The West
I’m a little late to the Greg Oden “woe is us†party, but I genuinely feel bad for the guy. Really, is there any basketball fan that didn’t feel saddened by the news that Greg Oden will be out for next season? Even those who wrote hubris-filled “I told you so†columns felt bad. Anyone […]
I Beg To Differential
Rankings, Rankings, Rankings The NBA is far enough into the season that rankings such as Stein, Hollinger, Sagarin and FOTS (Friend of the Site) Knickerblogger generate heated debate. We the fans often go with our gut in response to outsiders ranking our team. “Come on, Hollinger! The Lakers aren’t even in the top ten. They’re […]