What Happened to the Lakers' Defense?

The Los Angeles Lakers have been winning, but are they defending?

In the Lakers' first five games, they have held their opponents to 84 points a game, with all victories. But in their last five games, they have let their opponents score an average of 98 points! That's giving up fourteen more points! By NBA standards, letting your opponent score 100 points is an indicator of poor team defense.

My assessment is that the Lakers have a tendency to give too much points in the first half of their games. In the games against the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers let their opponents score more than 50 points all but once (they let the Nuggets score 47). The Lakers seem to be able to turn it around in the second half, and getting the win in the process.

Good example: in the game against the Mavericks, the Lakers let them score 57 points in the first half then put the clamps on them on the 3rd quarter and were able to get out of a 12-point hole in the process. They won that game 114-107.

One final thought: The Lakers seem to have reverted back to their offense oriented selves. In their last five games? They have scored an average of 112 points. The league's median is 98 points.


Tags: Los Angeles Lakers

Who will lose first? The Celtics or the Lakers?

If you're talking about the top two teams in the NBA right now, you have to start and end your discussion with the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers have been rolling in their last five games, beating the Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings and the New Jersey Nets. The Celtics have trumped the Milwauke Bucks, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Toronto Raptors.

Both teams have dominated their foes in their respective stretches-- the Lakers beat their opponents by a margin of 14 points, the Celtics beat their opponents by an average of 12 points.

Now the big question: Who will lose first? Whose winning streak will be snapped first?

The Lakers will be facing these opponents in the next 5 games: Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors, @Indiana Pacers, @Philadephia 76ers and @Washington Wizards.

The Celtics have this list: Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, @Charlotte Bobcats, Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers.

What do you think? I think the Lakers have the tougher next five games, but the Celtics will lose first.


Tags: Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers Are Rolling

After a dozen games into the NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers are rolling over the competition with winning all but one game.

In their last three games where they faced the Phoenix Suns, the new-look Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings (the Suns and the Nuggets have winning records), the Lakers beat them by at least 10 points and with different ways. They downed the Suns with outside shooting, led by Vladimir Radmanovic's 100% shooting from beyond the arc. The Lakers finished with 10 treys for that game.

In the game against the Nuggets, the Lakers used suffocating defense to shackle the Nuggets. The Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony was held to only 10 points (he was averaging 20 prior to that game) and 5 for 19 shooting. The Lakers had 12 steals and 9 blocks as a team. The game was so lopsided that no Laker starter spent more than 30 minutes on the floor.

When the defense wasn't working, the Lakers turned to team offense to beat the Kings. The Lakers were utterly sloppy on the defensive end at the home game, where they let the Kings' transition game keep the game closer than it should have been. But thanks to good shooting and offensive execution, EIGHT Lakers scored in double figures. I would have preferred a lockdown game against a lower rung team like the Kings, maybe the Lakers are a bit tired after playing three games in four nights.

The Lakers are looking strong early on, and may finish the month with only one loss, with upcoming games against the New Jersey Nets, the resurgent Dallas Mavericks, and the suddenly struggling Toronto Raptors.

--

After shooting 80% from the three-point area in the Sacramento game, I'm theorizing that the red-colored visors that Vladimir Radmanovic wore had some hi-tech targeting system... something the ships in Star Wars had.


Tags: Los Angeles Lakers

So much for LeBron James to the Lakers...

As impossible at it may sound, people were hoping that the Los Angeles Lakers would be clearing cap space to join the bumper crop of free-agents for the 2010 sweepstakes. We're looking at a group of impending free agents that include LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, and Tony Parker. Even Lakers Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, and Sasha Vujacic will be unrestricted free agents by then. (Thanks to RealGM for this free agent list)

The consensus is that LeBron James is the grand prize of that lot. People are already speculating if he's bolting Cleveland to join a new team as early as this season started. The popular opinion is that Bron will be in New York two years from now.

All the hypothetical talk of LeBron to the New York Knicks may have come closer to being facts as the Knicks traded Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins in two separate deals to free up an estimated $27 million... enough money to make a run at LeBron and perhaps Dwayne Wade. This amount could also have the Knicks make a run at LeBron plus two solid starting rotation players.

While the Lakers can still be players at the 2010 free agent sweepstakes, I'm betting LeBron James won't be going for purple and gold.


Tags: NBA

Cool Machine Video

I found this nice video from Ball Don't Lie, which came originally came from The Lakers Nation. The video is about Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic ran out of juice during the 2008 NBA Finals:



You gotta love this clip, especially with the movie cut scenes. Best line: "When The Machine breaks down, we break down."


Tags: Los Angeles Lakers

Pau Gasol Eats Bulls for Breakfast

Well, not literally.

When the Chicago Bulls visited the Staples Center for their annual road game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the found themselves getting killed by a Spanish matador... err... Laker.

Pau Gasol led the Lakers to a 116-109 win over the Bulls by scoring 34 points, with a great chunk of them in the first half. Although the final score doesn't reflect it, the game was well decided by the middle of the last quarter. The Bulls did have nice runs, with Rookie of the Year favorite Derrick Rose leading the way. The Lakers rode their bigs from start to finish to exploit the Bulls' lack of size and strength inside the low post.

The Lakers also bounced back from the terrible loss against the Detroit Pistons in their last game. So much for a losing streak this early.

Is Pau Gasol an All-Star? Well, if the Lakers are leading the Western Conference by February, he may get the coaches' nod to be in the game. Thanks to "perennial" All-Star Yao Ming, the center position for the West is pretty much set for the next decade. :P


Tags: Los Angeles Lakers

Fox Sports' Mike Khan: Paul Pierce is NBA MVP so far

FOX Sports' analyst Mike Kahn says that Paul Pierce is the NBA's MVP this early on in the season.

You gotta be kidding me. When did this guy drink the "Paul Pierce is the best player in the world " Kool-aid? Sheesh.

UPDATE:

Magic Johnson, 3-time NBA Most Valuable Player, seems to be part of the Paul Pierce love fest. Magic said in an interview with ESPN's Maurice Brooks:

Now, was Pierce better than Kobe in the Finals? Of course he was. He was better than everyone. Pierce is one of the top three or four players in the world. He's right up there with LeBron [James] and Kobe.

"Top three or four"??? Magic, have you jumped in the Paul Pierce bandwagon too?


Tags: NBA

Shaq: Phil Jackson "Orchestrated" Feud with Kobe

If the Shaq-Kobe fued of the early 2000's were a soap opera, would this be the Big Reveal?

Shaquille O'Neal recently talked to Scott Howard-Cooper of the Sacramento Bee for an interview and his big dynamite was that he said that the feud between him and Kobe Bryant was designed by coach Phil Jackson during his playing days with the Los Angeles Lakers. Here's what he said:

...I think it was all designed by Phil (Jackson). Because if you think about it, Phil never called us into the office and said, ''Both of you all, shut the (heck) up.'' Never did that in four years. He knew that when I read something, I was going to get upset. And he knew Kobe was going to always come out and play hard. So I think it was all done by design.

Shaq also said he never had a problem with Kobe Bryant and he even said that they are the best 1-2 punch the Los Angeles Lakers ever had.

What's next? Five years from now, Shaq will say "Pat Riley designed my physical regimen that why I broke down in 2007."


Tags: Lakers

Damn you, Rasheed Wallace!

It's now official: The Detroit Pistons have the Los Angeles Lakers' number.

And one particular player who kept on dialing it is Rasheed Wallace.

In the first match-up between the Lakers and the Pistons in the season, Wallace shot 4-9 from deep, scoring 25 points in the process, plus adding 13 rebounds and 2 blocks. He helped his team give the Lakers their first loss of the season, 106-95.

Wallace was the X-factor in the 2004 NBA Finals series between the Lakers and the Pistons and he has proved again he'll kill the Lakers with his shooting and defense.

Damn you, Rasheed Wallace!

Tags: Lakers

Tale of Two Lakers Games

The Los Angeles Lakers got played two contrasting games in their back-to-back against the Dallas Mavericks and the New Orleans Hornets.

In the game at Dallas, the Lakers were down for three quarters and a half then rallied in the fourth to win against the Mavericks, 106-99. Defense in the second half was key-- The Lakers held the Mavs to only 39 points after letting them score 60 in the first, then Trevor Ariza's block on Jerry Stackhouse sealed the comeback in the waning seconds of the game.

At New Orleans, the Lakers didn't seem to be affected by fatigue until the fourth quarter. The Hornets rallied in the final quarter to cut a 21-point lead build in the first half into 3 points in the last minute. But thanks to a dagger three-ball from Kobe Bryant over James Posey,  the furious rally was stymied and the Lakers won, 93-86.

Seven seems to be the number here. While the two games ended up in 7-point wins against opponents, the Lakers now find themselves in a seven game winning streak, with a 7-0 win loss record.


Tags: Lakers

Five Lakers in All-Star Ballot

The NBA unveiled the ballots for the 2009 All-Star Game in Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers' best five of Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were included n the ballot. I almost said that the Lakers' starting lineup was in the ballot, but then I remembered that Odom is now the Lakers' sixth man.

Other teams that got their starting lineup in the ballot: Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets. All of those teams, including the Lakers, are projected to be in the playoffs.

Fans are to choose two guards, two forwards and a center for the starting line-up of each of the conference All-Star teams.


Tags: Lakers

Lakers Shoot Down Rockets

The Los Angeles Lakers passed their big test of the week when they used a big run in the fourth quarter to beat the improved Houston Rockets, 111-82.

The Rockets acquired the talented but volatile forward Ron Artest from the Sacramento Kings in the off-season. And because of this, experts picked the Rockets as one of the teams to challenge the Lakers' Western Conference crown. Before the match, the Rockets sported 4-2 will-loss record.

The Lakers got a strong game from Pau Gasol, contributing 20 points and 15 rebounds, in addition to 3 blocked shots. Reigning MVP Kobe Bryant led the team in scoring with 23 points as the Lakers outscores the Rockets 61-34 in the second half. The Lakers also shot very well, with a 53.2% clip as a team.

With the win, the Lakers are the only unbeaten team in the Western Conference, and one of two teams in the league (with the surprising Atlanta Hawks being the other). The team is definitely on a roll, but a hard upcoming week with back-to-back games against the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Hornets and a home game against the revamped Detroit Pistons could be the source of their first loss of the season.


Tags: Lakers

My New NBA Fantasy Basketball Blog

I realized that I've been spending a good number of posts about the Los Angeles Lakers and NBA Fantasy Basketball in general lately.

Writing about Lakers in the Fantasy Basketball context is fun, but very limited. In my Fantasy teams this season, I only have Kobe Bryant in my rosters in the past week. I figured it would be interesting to write about Fantasy Basketball sleepers and nice pick-ups from different NBA teams.

So, having said that, I'm proud to announce that I've started my little pet blogging project: The NBA Fantasy Basketball Blog. I plan to update the blog weekly, with a summary of things that happened in the past week, and some advice on waiver wire pick-ups. I plan to focus in deep leagues, since I'm playing on a couple of deep ones and one of the leagues has 14 teams!

So I hope people can scoot on over there to look for NBA Fantasy Basketball advice.


Tags: Fantasy Basketball

Lakers beat Clippers... Again!

Even though this happens almost every season, I never get tired of seeing the Los Angeles Lakers beat their cross-town rivals Los Angeles Clippers.

In their first of two games for the second week of the season, the Lakers thumped the Clips in the fourth quarter to score a 106-88 win. The Lakers looked like they were in trouble early in the last quarter, but thanks to a 22-0 run, they sealed the deal. Kobe Bryant led them with 27 points and Andrew Bynum had 17 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

One Clipper that's getting some attention is forward Al Thornton. He seems to have a Josh Howard-type game and he's very eager to play, despite being in a franchise known for chalking up L's through out the season.

The Lakers are now riding a four-game winning streak, their best start since 2002-2003.


Tags: Lakers

Lakers Looking Strong in Opening Week

It has only been one week and three games for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA's 2008-2009 season, but the Lakers are making the experts look like sages so far.

Three games for the team translated into three wins: A big blow-out against the Oden-less Portland Trailblazers in the season opener, another serving of Los Angeles Clipper domination in the next game, and a come-from behind win over Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets. The average winning margin for those three games is 21 points.

It seems the Lakers are hell-bent on forgetting the last game of their 2007-2008 season game (an embarrassing 35-point loss to the hated Boston Celtics) and are showing how the can lock down teams and come from behind to win a game. Coach Phil Jackson must be happy that in those three games, reigning MVP Kobe Bryant only logged an average of 32 minutes and forward Pau Gasol an average of 36 minutes. This rest is crucial to keep the top players fresh as the season goes on.

More bright spots: Trevor Ariza is giving the perimeter defense a much needed boost. I think his defense can hold on its own against the top small forwards and shooting guards in the West, like Ron Artest, Tracy McGrady, Rudy Gay and Carmelo Anthony. Lamar Odom has also been quiet about his sixth man role, which is a good thing off the court.

However there are things of concern:

• Speaking of Lamar Odom, his play off the bench has yielded mixed results. He's a good floor leader for the second unit, but his play has not been producing top sixth man numbers.
• Andrew Bynum has played poorly, despite the resolution of his contract extension situation.
• Sasha Vujacic is shooting poorly: 35% from the field, 33% from deep. (To think I vouched for this guy!)

The Lakers are going to have plenty of rest the next week. I do think the game against the Houston Rockets on November 9 is a must watch.

Tags: Lakers