As I sat and watched the many interviews offered by the Lakers website, I realized that the playoffs were closer than I thought.

Question after question the reports asked Phil Jackon, Pau Gasol, and Kobe Bryant whether it was time to start preparing for the playoffs. All three responded the same way, “there are still plenty of games left until we get to the playoffs.”

Of course when you watch Phil Jackson answer any question posed to him by the media, you know there is more to his response than what is apparent at first. We know the Lakers are focusing more on tonights game and the game after that, but the playoffs are only about a month and a half away and the thought of potential match ups has to be on their minds.

The Lakers are currently sitting atop the Western Conference half a game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs. As daylights savings time has made this Sunday afternoon shorter than I was hoping for, I am forced to use the little time that I do have to watch the Suns escape another three game losing streak. There is a bright side though, the Lakers will now sit a full game ahead of the Spurs and will be the only team in the West with less than 19 losses.

Fun fact of the day: ESPN has reported this week that the Lakers have the easiest remaining schedule in the Western Conference. All you Lakers fans have to be proud of the fact that your team has the best record in the West while playing the hardest schedule of all to do it.

Anyways, back to the topic. With the playoffs just around the corner, the Lakers coaching staff has to be wondering who they will be playing and how they will matchup against this team. There are a few options that the Lakers can consider to prepare for what will be an exciting adventure deep into the Summer.

The current injury reports have made it clear that Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza are both behind schedule. Bynum is set to return in approximately a month with, if we are lucky, a few games of the regular season remaining. Ariza will definitely not return until the playoffs and may even miss a round or two. Chris Mihm has had what seems to be his final procedure and will be making his appearance on the court in the near future. Phil Jackson stated in his interview that they are “very optimistic” with Chris Mihm’s return because he could potentially add to the depth of the bench. Also, the addition of another seven footer, who just two years ago was the starter on the same team, is quite exciting.

With the return of Andrew Bynum eventually happening, a topic for discussion is to how Pau will react to having to move back to the power forward position yet once again. he has played the PF position his entire career and is more confident with it, but after learning the Lakers offense from the perspective of a center, you have to wonder if he can make the necessary adjustments. One thought comes to mind for me, why not move Pau to the power forward position now and start preparing him for the changes that are to come. Why not move Radman to the bench, Odom to small forward, and start Ronny at center next to Pau. Yes, I know, Ronny is shorter than Pau, but he is capable of playing the center position and the key will be for Pau to learn how to share the paint with another large man. After Chris Mihm returns, which will hopefully be soon, perhaps the training of this tactic will be better. Chris Mihm is obviously closer to a conventional center than anyone else we have, besides Bynum of course.

The Western conference currently is still wide open and the Suns are 3 1/2 games behind the Lakers for the Division title. It feels great to finally take over that title again!! The strange part, is that the competitiveness of the Western conference started off being very different in the beginning of the season. During the preseason, San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix were the only real contenders. Houston had an outside shot at being the real deal but teams like Denver, Golden State, the Lakers, the Blazers, the Hornets, and Utah didn’t really get the recognition that they deserved. Strangely enough, the teams that weren’t considered contenders in the beginning are now stronger than 2 of the 3 that were expected to be big.

Fun fact #2: Denver, Golden State, New Orleans, Portland, and Utah (with the exception of Kyle Korver) didn’t make any big time trades. Phoenix and Dallas, the two teams that made the biggest experimental trades, have dropped in the rankings and have essentially lost any chance of a home court advantage.

The playoffs this year are going to be extremely exciting because there are so many teams that have an opportunity to do some damage. The Lakers are obviously the favorites at this point (as a team, not as Kobe), and I strongly believe that the coaching staff needs to start taking a look at the competition approaching them in the playoffs. While it is true that without winning plenty more games during the regular season, we may not be around for the playoffs, this team has proven its strength in overcoming obstacles simply based on their experience and chemistry. The coaching staff doesn’t need to call a timeout for them to get things going and take over a game (a la Sacramento last Tuesday).

There is a quick four game road trip coming up next week with stops in New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, and then Utah. This will be the toughest road trip of the season, although it’s shorter than the ridiculous 9 game trip they had in February. The competition is great but there is a big upside; None of these games are back to backs and the Lakers will have a full day in between each team to prepare.

To summarize the general idea: The Lakers are a very strong team and are very prepared to dominate the playoffs. They are definitely the favorites to win the Western conference and the NBA finals will be extremely fun as well. I’m going to assume that the Celtics and the Pistons are the only two teams that truly have a chance to come out of the East with the Celtics gaining a little edge with the signing of Sam Cassell. The Lakers have lost both games to the Celtics but the addition of Pau Gasol will help in fighting the dominance of Kevin Garnett in the past two games. Garnett has allowed for Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to have plenty of room to work and now we finally have someone that can play one-on-one with him. No more double teams against the Celtics, man to man defense will take the Lakers a long way against them.

A toast, a toast to the Lakers successful run through the playoffs and the beginning of a new dynasty in Los Angeles!!