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2008 LA Lakers Betting

The Los Angeles Lakers surprisingly won the Western Conference last season and are favored to win the West again this season. We preview the 2008 betting chances of the LA Lakers..

2008-09 Basketball Wagering – Los Angeles Lakers Preview

I know the Los Angeles Lakers (57-25 SU, 47-33-1 ATS, 40-41 O/U), surprisingly won the Western Conference last season and are favored to win the West again this season in the BetUS Sportsbook, but I’m here to warn my beloved Sportsbook NBA bettors that far too many basketball pundits are putting the cart before the horse when it comes to the Lakers!

While the Lakers recorded a stellar ATS record last season and reached the NBA Finals before falling to the Boston Celtics in six games, the Lakers had many of their flaws exposed by the superior Celtics, first and foremost – the team’s glaring lack of physicality.

Not only did the Celtics expose the Lakers’ flaws last season, which admittedly aren’t many, but they also opened the door for the multiple NBA contenders in the Western Conference to try and expose those flaws further during the course of the regular season.

The good news for Lakers backers is the fact that the team will have blossoming center Andrew Bynum back on the court after he missed the latter part of the regular season and the entire postseason and have added another player in 6-9 Chinese combo guard Sun Ye.

Los Angeles also has something of a mini-controversy on its hands with head coach Phil Jackson’s recent announcement that he make start young forward Trevor Ariza at the power forward position ahead of veteran Lamar Odom.

“Lamar has to make an adjustment,” Jackson said, speaking about Odom playing with two seven-footers in Odom and Pau Gasol.

Of course, the Lakers can always turn to the game’s most unstoppable player and league MVP, shooting guard Kobe Bryant.

Los Angeles lost bruising forward Ronny Turiaf but signed a similar player in 6-9, 240-pound forward Josh Powell and drafted 6-5 shooting guard Joe Crawford out of Kentucky, though he is a long shot to make the team and also added another shooting guard in Coby Karl, son of Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl.

The Lakers also have competent veterans in Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, starting point guard Derek Fisher an backup center Chris Mihm.

While the Lakers certainly have a roster full of talented players and ranked fourth in offense, averaging 108.6 points per game while shooting an excellent 47.6 percent from the field, (third) and 37.8 percent from three-point distance, (sixth), the team’s lack of toughness and defense could ultimately be its undoing as Los Angeles allowed opponents to average 101.3 points per game, (19th).

The Lakers are +125 to win the Western Conference title and +300 to win the NBA Championship in the BetUS Sportsbook.

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"