Interesting Lakers poll

[IrishHand]

These are the current results of an ongoing ESPN.com poll regarding the plight of the Lakers.

1) The Lakers are on pace to win 29 games. To beat the Suns and Sonics in the race for the last playoff spot, the Lakers would need to win 60 percent of their remaining 62 games. Where will they finish the season in the Western Conference standings?

1.5% Top seed
2.1% 2nd seed
7.7% 3rd seed
18.4% 4th seed
16.5% 5th seed
19.2% 6th seed
12.1% 7th seed
7.9% 8th seed
14.8% Out of the playoffs

3) Who will win the Western Conference championship?
32.1% Kings
34.9% Lakers
30.7% Mavericks
1.1% Rockets
1.2% Spurs

4) Who will win the NBA championship?
2.3% Celtics
0.5% Hornets
26.1% Kings
42.2% Lakers
19.0% Mavericks
1.1% Nets
3.1% Pacers
3.7% 76ers
0.9% Rockets
1.2% Spurs

I think it's hilarous that 15% of respondents think the Lakers will miss the playoffs. It's also kind of mind-boggling that 35% of people think the Lakers will win the Western Conference, but then 42% of people have them winning the NBA title. I assume the 7% are thinking they'll make it to the Finals as a wild card team.

More to the point - it continually amazes me how excited the media gets about events which aren't that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. The Lakers could decide to turn around tomorrow and win 10 in a row and barely break a sweat. What would happen to these polls and the endless "what's wrong with the Lakers" articles? Bye bye...onto more "Phil is a genius" and "the Lakers are unbeatable" articles.

Irish

[M2d]

7% are gamblers who can't help but hedge even in a meaningless opinion poll.