| 15 January 2010
Pau Gasol's injured. Ron Artest is coming back from a concussion. Luke Walton's just come back from injury. Kobe's playing through his own laundry-list of injuries. The Lakers have been soundly beaten a couple of times in the past few weeks. Commentators declare that the gap between LA and the rest is at the very best (at least from my perspective) close to being bridged.Yes, LA are struggling.
But unlike many of my Laker-fan brethren, I'm going to hold off on my cries of "THE SKY IS FALLING!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!!" just yet. LA went through a similar period last season, where a fall from grace seemed imminent. Quite a few times when live-blogging with the crew from TLN I remember fighting off comments from Laker fans despairing over Andrew Bynum, over the bench, over the feeling that LA could not win the championship... with only fido (co-host) to help me calm the desperate hordes.
Well... come crunch time, LA looked ok, then competent, then good, then nigh-on unbeatable.
My message? All's well. Even despite a slump of sorts, LA are finding ways to win. It may not be pretty... but they're still doing pretty damn well. Have a look around the league: other teams considered elite are struggling at times too.
Best record in the league? LA.
Rest assured panicked LA-fan, all will be well.
Pau will return. Ron won't go crazy (well... ok: "crazier"), Drew'll be healthy, and Kobe will be... well, Kobe. Which is to say find ways to win. And win. And win. It's often said that there are "no guarantees". Well, I can pretty much guarantee you that come the business end of the season, LA will be right up at the top, ready to do what they need to do.
Have faith.
I do.
