| Where Are The Lakers Vulnerable? Authored by David Torres - December 14, 2008 - 3:24 pm
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They appear to be on a collision course with the Celtics or Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, but how can they be beaten during a regular season game now in December? What sort of clues do we have on how they can be upset in the playoffs?
Vulnerabilities
Toughness. As Boston showed last year in the Finals, the Lakers lacked the toughness to beat a team like them over a seven game series. Granted, the return of Andrew Bynum bolsters the front court, but losing Turiaf certainly hurts them. The Lakers are awfully thin in the post with Bynum and Gasol the only bigs logging a considerable amount of minutes this season.
Depth. Their bench backcourt and wing depth is solid with Farmar, Vujacic, Ariza, and Odom. The weakness is their depth at the post. If one of their bigs is in foul trouble, hurt, etc. they are forced to play Odom in the post or bring in someone inexperienced like Josh Powell who only averages around 5 minutes a game. Their losing Turiaf hurt them as a big body who could come off the bench and bang for a solid 15-20 minutes a game
Playing the Lakers
To have the best chance to beat the Lakers you must be able to have good post play or have a team capable of putting up a lot of points. Just look at their two losses this year against the Pistons and Pacers. The Pistons have the luxury of good perimeter play to match with a number of big strong bodies that they can throw at you. Wallace, K. Brown, Maxiell, A. Johnson. The Pistons have the bodies to throw at Bynum and Gasol and held them to 8 and 15 pts respectively.
On the other hand, the Pacers and Lakers had a shoot-out. The Pacers were banking on their ability to get up and down the court and play at a pace where they could get a lot of points up. The Lakers can play this way too so the fact the Pacers beat them is that if you have a team that can put up some big numbers you have a shot to come away with a win. Detroit and Indiana, two different kinds of styles but both effective in beating the Lakers.
Just look at the teams the Lakers lost to more than once last year. New Orleans, San Antonio, Boston, all had great defensive big men that can body up the Lakers' bigs. Golden State can score 130 on a given night. Portland can also score when their jumpers are consistently falling and Cleveland of course has Lebron James.
The key to beating the Lakers is making them beat you with their role players.
Kobe will get his points, but you need to always have your best defender on him to try an limit his touches.
You need to limit Bynum by forcing double teams in the post and force him to kick the ball out.
With Gasol, you need to make him a jumpshooter and put a big body on him that he wont be able to post up on. By focusing your energy on Kobe, doubling down on Bynum, and putting a big body on Gasol, you're forcing the Lakers to beat you with jumpshots and beat you with their role players who aren't used to putting up big numbers.
Best chance to Win
1. Out rebound
2. Commit less TO's
3. Attack the rim early and often
4. Expose their lack of depth in the post
Defense
1. Limit Kobe's touches
2. Double down on Bynum
3. Force them to take jumpers
4. Limit them to 1 shot
Offense
1. Attack the rim, attack bigs (Bynum, Gasol) try to get them in foul trouble
2. Transition offense. If you can score quick and a lot you have a chance
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