Mojo, i don't remember seeing anyone here saying Vlade made the Lakers a shoe-in. why even make that comment? but adding Vlade does give them a better chance. he's one of the better passing center's in the league great with pick and rolls and high posts drawing out the defense. plus, he can flop
anyways, i don't know if you were referring to my last post or not, since i did mention Vlade. if you were, re-read it. if you're talkin about Hal's posts, hell, to me he's just trying to be upbeat and behind his team which any real fan would do, albeit a little cocky, but that's just Hal, heh.
besides anything in these threads is all speculation and assumption. you can argue it to death, but no one knows what will happen until the season gets underway. i'm sure we'll have some people saying i told you so..... blah blah, hindsight is always 20/20.
i always like hearing what other people think, but no one really knows shit. speculation about what will happen next season is just that. can you really tell me you picked Detroit to win the finals before the start of last season? (besides the obvious Detroit fans) don't think anyone did. seemed to me everyone was picking the lakers before all the crap with Kobe and the injuries happened.