Can it be real?

After watching the Lakers for 25 years, through good times and bad, championships and missing the playoffs… Pat Riley and Del Harris (ugh), I find myself in a strange situation.

The Lakers have the best team we’ve had in years, since the Shaq-Kobe era… we’re young, athletic, talented and skilled. Andrew Bynum is coming along faster than anybody could have imagined and the addition of D. Fish has blessed this team with contender status… this year! Rebounds abound… assists galore!!

The bench is playing great and the top tier teams in the West seem to have fallen off a bit… a tad bit… while we have evidently progressed.

I should be overly optimistic, right? Wrong.

Last year still lingers in my mind… last year still plays games with my head and tells me that this year won’t end any better… that this year is cursed to end like the last and we’ll once again be a low tier Western Conference team!! That injuries and trade rumors will kill us and Drew will hit the wall again and our point guard play won’t stand up to the test in the end!! Again!!!!

But… something also tells me that this year is different. That this year we have a true post option and presence… that this year we are miles ahead of last years team at the Point Guard position and bench play and those were our weaknesses… our short comings.

Something tells me that we are better than last year’s team and that we will get home court advantage in the first round this year… Overtake the Sun’s in the regular season and face them and defeat them in the post season… that we will make it to the Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs and…

Can it be real???

After watching the Lakers for 25 years, through good times and bad, championships and missing the playoffs… Pat Riley and Del Harris (ugh), I find myself in a strange situation.

Can it be real???

I certainly hope so…