Game Countdown: Beating Bad Teams Isn’t Impressive – Hornets @ Lakers

Apparently Laker fans are supposed to be very excited about the Lakers’ recent string of blowout victories.  Yes, it is true, the Lakers have been handing out ass kickings like it is going out of style, but they are doing so against crappy competition and everyone knows it.  This is still somehow a tremendously positive development?  I’m confused.

Beating up on bumbling opponents is nothing to celebrate.  Laugh at or mock the opponents, sure, but don’t celebrate.

Last time I checked, defending champs were supposed to beat up on clearly inferior opponents, right?  What is so impressive about kicking the snot out of the Warriors and Nets.  They stink, the Lakers are awesome, a lopsided victory is just the law of nature in such a match-up and nothing more.  I know that in season’ past the Lakers have had a bad habit of playing down to their competition and that is where this misplaced optimism is coming from, but it is high time everyone grew up.

The Lakers are champs now, should they not be held to a higher standard than in seasons past?  Lauding a team for doing what they are supposed to do is a quick way to make sure that this team becomes complacent and disinterested.  So when the Lakers wax the sub-.500 Hornets tonight, don’t jump up and down, just yawn and go to bed knowing that the natural order of the basketball universe remains intact and nothing more.

New Orleans Hornets (7-10) @ Los Angeles Lakers (13-3)

Game Info: 7:30 PM PT TV-Fox Sports West  Radio-710 AM, 1330 AM

THREE Questions:

• Can Jordan Farmar stay on his recent hot streak?
• The Lakers destroyed the Hornets when they played them early in the season but now NOLA is without Chris Paul and the Lakers have Pau Gasol back, so does New Orleans even stand a chance in this game?
• Now that New Orleans is playing much better basketball since firing Byron Scott (and largely without Chris Paul) can we finally put to bed all the talk of Byron Scott being named Phil Jackson’s successor?

TWO Predictions:

• Lamar Odom will break out of his scoring slump and score double-digits for the first time in five games.
• Phil Jackson gives Sasha Vujacic a chance to back up his complaints about only playing in garbage time but the Machine responds by bricking four shots in five minutes and is never heard from again.

ONE Wish:

• I wish that Phil Jackson would start experimenting more with Lamar Odom at small forward.  The Lakers are struggling a bit by having to sometimes go a bit small with a backcourt of Brown and Farmar with Kobe at the 3.  If LO can moonlight at the 3 a few minutes each game, Bryant can stay at the 2 and the Lakers can start using Josh Powell (arguably the best bench player during Pau’s absence) more.

ZERO Tolerance for… the promised Matt Dillon interview during tonight’s telecast.  Why the hell are we being subjected to some B-list actor interrupting a Laker game to talk about the undoubtedly awful movie he is starring in?  I mean, could we at least get a real star from a real movie instead of the second lead in Armored?  Save that trash for the Clippers.

Leave your own questions, answers, predictions or wishes as a comment or just hang out with us during the game or hit us up on Twitter @LakersOfFire.

Tags: Byron Scott, Chris Paul, Game Countdown, Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, New Orleans Hornets, Pau Gasol, Phil Jackson, Sasha Vujacic, Shannon Brown