Garbage Time: Vince and the West Coasters

Langston: The Los Angeles Lakers recently finished their longest road trip of the season, the Grammy trip had them away from the City of Angels for the past two and a half weeks for eight games. They were able to come out of the road trip relatively unscathed going 5-3, including a big win over the Celtics on Sunday. The longest road trip of a season is typically seen as the most telling for a teams playoff hopes, but I believe the next six days will be a much better barometer for their ability to repeat as champions. 6 days, 4 games, all at Staples where they have the best home record in the NBA (23-3)....

The opponents include the Bobcats (tonight), the Nuggets (Friday on ESPN @ 10:30), Blazers (Saturday), and the Spurs (Monday on TNT @ 10:30). All of them are currently playoff teams that give the Lakers match-up problems. The Bobcats have won three straight at Staples, the Nuggets gave the Lakers their biggest test en route to the title in 2009 (and they have only gotten better since), the Blazers have already beaten them this year, and the Spurs have Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Couple that with the fact that the defending champions always get the best from their opponents, they are just as likely to lose all four as they are to win. After this four games stretch, the Lakers could retain their reputation as one of the top two teams in the league or they could join the long list of teams staring up at King James and the Cavaliers.


Teach: First, I'm going to do a self plug and link my article over at The Faster Times on the Atlanta Hawks. Sorry, I had to get that out of my system.

-Second, my only thoughts on the UNC-UVA game are to repeat my father: "Carolina just needs to work on passing drills all practice every practice."

-Third, because I love to bruise my Carolina blue spirit, I read this article over at TrueHoop, which is driven by the phrase "VINCE CARTER SUCKS." I never liked the idea of Vince to the Magic, but this article made me sad about it. Vince Carter's career frustrates me in the same manner that Walt's disappearance from Lost frustrates me; every year his greatness and prodigious exploits fade further and further from relevancy. A time will come when we all forget he was completely intertwined with the finding of the Next Jordan and potential rivals to Kobe Bryant: maybe we already have.

-This Denver team seems so much more focused than any other year. At this point, I think it would be too simple to give all the credit to Billups' leadership or Melo's development and maturity or Karl's patience. No, this team went through the playoff crucible last year and came out all the stronger for it. Whether or not the Lakers are healthy, the Nuggets should give them as much as they can handle, if not more. If you want to preview this likely Western Conference Finals, then make sure to watch the Nuggets take on the Lakers this Friday.

-Rob Mahoney of the Dallas Mavericks blog The Two Man Game analyzes the Mavs' defense and how it will affect their playoff hopes while also giving props to Blazers point guard Andre Miller, who's always had one of my favorite league photos.