The Lakers Are Mortal After All
December 21st, 2008 | 
Author: 
With two consecutive losses this weekend, the Lakers have fallen from the ranks of The Immortals. Now, only two teams remain: the Celtics and the Cavs.
The Lakers began the season 14-1, but since then they are a mere 7-4; that includes losses to the lowly Kings and the mediocre Pacers. There are multiple questions about their defense - in the last 11 games, they have allowed an average of 103.4 points - and, recently, they have been failing to get it done down the stretch.
Part of the problem has been the regression of Andrew Bynum, whose blocks per game average has dropped from 2.1 in November to 1.4 in December. The young big is in perpetual foul trouble and his rebounding/scoring averages have also dropped. Bynum’s absence on the court on Saturday (thanks to foul trouble) severely limited L.A.’s ability to stop Dwight Howard.
It’s hard to be the Center of the Future when you can’t even stay on the court for more 12 minutes against Superman.
But Bynum isn’t the only one to blame.
Vladimir Radmonovic and Luke Walton have been unreliable (the former because of defensive lapses, the latter because, well, he’s Luke Walton) at the starting small forward spot. Pau Gasol has come back to Earth lately (the Heat successfully denied Gasol offensively on Friday by fronting him all game long). And key bench players have come up empty as of late (Sasha Vujacic missed all six of his shots on Saturday against Orlando).
Even Kobe Bryant has looked mortal.
Despite scoring 41 points against the Magic, Kobe broke down in the fourth quarter, mustering only four points on 1-7 shooting from the field. Kobe also has missed two consecutive game-tying shots. The first a 12-footer over Shawn Marion on Friday. The second, an unnecessarily long three-pointer at the buzzer on Saturday.
This isn’t the Kobe Bryant we know (since when has Black Mamba missed two game-changing shots in a row?). And this isn’t the Lakers team that we saw in the beginning of the season.
On Christmas Day the Lakers return home for an epic showdown with the Celtics. Can they pull it together in time to make the game competitive?
Posted in Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA Basketball | 
Tags: Black Mamba, Heat, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Los Angeles, losing streak, Magic, mortal, Pau Gasol
December 21st, 2008 2:42 pm
The Lakers have always been overrated. Now the reasons you cite do not get at the root of the problem. The actual reason the Lakers are struggling as opposed to the Celtics and the Cavaliers is their interior defense is rather poor. Neither Bynum nor Gasol are savvy enough to be sharp on their rotations on defense. Because when your perimeter defenders get beat off the dribble, your interior defenders must step up and seal off the inside, or funnel them to the baseline.