kobe and the lakers

[jackulator]

I'm a huge lakers fan -- and when Kobe Bryant tore his achilles tendon the other night (out for the season)  after hyperextending BOTH knees I might add -- I felt like it was a pretty safe bet the Lakers weren't going to make the playoffs

their last two games were against San Antonio (the #2 team in the western conference) and Houston, the highest scoring team in the NBA...

but I knew they COULD do it if they played with some heart and energy and played like a team

so yeah -- I just watched them beat San Antonio -- in one of the most exhausting and exhilarating games I've ever seen 

so now, if the Lakers beat Houston they'll enter the playoffs as the 7th seed and face San Antonio in the first round

if they lose against Houston and the Utah Jazz lose THEIR last game then the Lakers will still make the playoffs, but enter as the 8th seed and play the Oklahoma City Thunder (a very tough team)

the only way the Lakers can MISS the playoffs is if they lose to Houston AND Utah beats the Memphis Grizzlies on their home court. which is not an easy task (Memphis = #4 team in the west)

and according to Hollinger (odds-maker) LA has an 87% chance of making the playoffs... http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds

what a fucking season... just injury after injury. which isn't helped by the coach refusing to go any deeper than an 8-man rotation...

they've showed a lot of heart to get this far. if they go any further it'll be fucking amazing to watch.

that was an incredible game. 

[jackulator]

so yeah... they made it into the playoffs 

now they have to beat San Antonio. they lost the first game (best of seven series) Sunday, but they're playing tonight, and I think they've got Jordan Hill back, which should be a shot in the arm. fingers crossed 

come on guys -- win one for ol' Jackie 

[jackulator]

and --- they lost. 

is it too much to ask for people to have better games than they usually do in the playoffs?

sometimes I wonder about these guys. it's as if every game they won in the regular season was more due to their opponent fucking up than anything the Lakers did.