Playoff Fever: The Lakers road to the Finals and other Sports

The 2002-2003 Los Angeles Lakers did not have the best record in the league, The Spurs did. The Lakers didn't have the MVP of the League, the Spurs did. After 30 games of the season the Lakers did not have the best record in LA, the Clippers did. These are usually not good signs for a team that will win the championship, but these are the 3-time Defending Champions. The Lakers have the two best players in the world right now with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and the best coach in the world Phil Jackson. I never lost faith in them and they are now showing the heart of a champion. Through the last 52 games of the season they won at nearly an .750 clip..This has been their hardest season to date with these cast of characters. The GM of the Lakers failed to improve the team much and this team is basically the same that won the title last year.

He wanted to give this team another season to see if they could defend their title. However, this resulted in the Lakers showing many weaknesses and have had a harder time than previous seasons. This is more evident now in the playoffs where the Lakers are tied with the Spurs 2-2 in the Western Conference Semifinals. Their lack of a bench and the age of their role players have really come to a spotlight in this series. They lost Rick Fox in the First Round against Minnesota with a torn tendon in his ankle. So far they have been able to survive without him because of Devean George stepping up into the starting rotation and showing true grit and determination when he himself went down with an injury in Game 1 of this series and came back in Game 3 when LA was on the edge of going down 3-0 and they have won the last 2 games. Without George they had to push Shaw to the starting lineup and the lack of bench was obvious as LA used a rotation of basically 6 guys that they could rely on.

Robert Horry has not shown up yet this season. His shot has been off and his confidence has been low. The Lakers will need him to show up sometime soon if they expect to win the Championship again. Shaq and Kobe may score but they need help to win.. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks have caught the magic that the Angels had and have become the cinderella of the Hockey playoffs They beat the defending Cup Champs in the first round. They beat the top seed in the second round and now they hold a 1-0 lead against Minnesota in the Western Finals. The Ducks are riding the hot glove of Goaltender Jean-Sabastian Gigure as he is on pace to break the record for shutout minutes in overtime with well over 160 min so far. If this isn't fate maybe it's more irony because it looks like the Ducks are following the exact same path as the Angels as they face the Minnesota Wild in the Western Finals just as the Angels faced the Minnesota Twins in the American League Finals...I think the Ducks have a good chance to win it all Good luck Anaheim and man what the hell is in that Orange County water and can the Dodgers take a sip...

Even the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League have the best record in the franchises history and have a shot at the top seed in the playoffs this year. I haven't watched much of the AFL but I must say that the Avengers look good and have a good chance to bring home the title...

Playoff fever is going wild here is Southern California and lets see if we can bring some championships home... Peace.