The "dreaded" 9-game Road Trip

So we play 9 straight games on the road - out East - Big Deal. So we're without Drew, Trevor and Chris - out East - Big Deal. So Kobe's a ballhog these days - Big Deal. As a concerned true fan of the game, I tell you - there is no reason for concern. I'll tell you why. For the record, I'll simply call this "Our February Schedule". Just about everyone is talking about this 9-game road trip. It starts on Jan 31st @ Detroit (but that's Feb 1 in the Philippines) so it counts for February - technically. @ DET @ TOR @ WAS @ NJN @ ATL @ ORL @ MIA @ CHA @ MIN vs ATL @ PHX @ LAC @ SEA vs POR vs MIA @ POR 16 games scheduled - 13 road games and 12 to be played away from the Staples seems like a tall order. But how many of these teams are .500? How many are played back-to-back and how many will we win? [place your prediction here] Here's mine: We play mbig vs. Detroit. Its inevitable because that's a huge and solid team. Not having Drew for this game sucks but who cares - we have DJ Mbenga who can play mbetter defense than Kwame and does not mind that we will be playing the mbad mboys Pistons. This will be a tough one to call but I can see Kobe playing well against Rip. Verdict: undecided, probable loss. 0-1 / 29-15 The night after, we travel to Canada to play a well-organized Toronto team. Its hard to tell how we will come out with all the cold but I can still see us winning it. I therefore call this one a win - despite it being the tail-end of a back-to-back on the road. 1-1 / 30-15 A day of rest and we travel to the Nation's capital where we had a tour around the last....

7-2.

wow you have made a very good point and now I'm not concerned. 6-3 is very possible and 7-2 is realistic as well.

hmm...i'd say 6-3 is a very fair estimate.

To be safe... I will go 6-3 but I wouldn't mind if they just went 9-0.

Not gonna happen. I think that what the Lakers do is that they are well focused on games that are against elite teams, but they often tend to stick around with teams that suck instead of blowing them out. That's the problem with this road trip.

Lots of easy teams = too much confidence = loss. Don't make it happen.

Yea, I know it is pretty much not going to happen but I was saying, if the Lakers were to suprise everyone and do it, I wouldn't mind. Actaully I would be very, very happy but I know it is a long shot from happening.

I pretty much agree with warren but i still have some concerns. Without Drew these teams can take advantage of us on the denfensive end. They don't have to worry about a 7 ft beast that will not be stopped. They only have to worry about Kwame Brown, which isn't that big a deal. I would be careful against Toronto, this is a good team and, i think, are underrated. Also watchout for Washington. This team has been balling lately and they beat Boston twice, in consecutive games.

I think Lakers will go 7-2 on this trip because we can beat all those teams with a healthy squad but with Drew and Ariza out i think that Orlando and Detroit are going to be problems with Howard and Sheed respectively. If we had a healthy squad we could quite possibly go 9-0 but i will be realistic for now. When Drew gets back i can start thinking of Finals and Dynastys again.