Do the Lakers have any major weaknesses?

Defense - They're a gambling team. They reach in all the passing lanes and jump for every shot. Basically they're playing Denver's defense if done correctly. Patience and good ball movement will destroy them.

There have been 2 cases this season. One is against the Pistons, the other in the 1st qtr when we played them. Even when Yao went out and we were being outrebounded, we held the lead until guys started making bad undisciplined passes. They rely on blocks and steals too much. Against more disciplined teams(Celtics in the finals, Jazz in the 2nd round when the refs didn't takeover) they will fold.

 

The Bulls were made up of MJ Pippens and inter-changeable parts. it is the same before and after Phil's arrival. Phil was the difference

the nucleus of The Lakers were Shaq, Kobe (already a 2-time all-star b4 Phil) and interchangeable parts. the same before and after Phil's arrival. Phil was the difference.

 

They got mopped in the Finals, and had an NBA record set on them in a rout of a close-out game. They also blew a 20+ lead in one of the losses (at home) and nearly lost Game 5 as well (very questionable steal by Kobe to seal the game). You say they were 2 wins away, but the series wasn't really that close. And I wouldn't exactly call their road to the Finals tough. They beat the Nuggets, a pushover. They didn't play the Suns (SA knocked them off), and they caught an injured Spurs in the conf Finals. I'm not gonna say Boston's road was uber-difficult, but let's not act like LA's was.

As far as the rest of your post, it seems like some folks have given you some legit weaknesses that you just blow off as overrated. If that's your stance then why even ask the question?

Yes, Bynum is back and Ariza and Farmer look better. How does that translate to them beating a Celtic team that just mopped them, that could potentially have a Ray Allen playing like Ray Allen? I just saw Kwame Brown and Sheed manhandle Bynum, so why should I think an even more physical Celtics frontline won't? Will Kobe get easier shots against Boston, as opposed to a series full of jumpers? If he doesn't, will Gasol, Bynum and Odom be able to take control of the series? Who stops Pierce? Kobe has already shown that he is too small for him. Who is gonna hold Ray? When I see Boston's defense I see teams not getting good shots at all. Do you see that when you watch LA play? Who is gonna stop KG? Similar to Yao, teams with mobile bigs...especially ones that can shoot, could potentially give LA fit's and neutralize the advantage that their bigs have.

 

So it being Pippen and Grant's 3rd yr as a starter (4th in the league) had nothing to do with them finally getting over Detroit? Then how do you explain them going from getting 1 win against Detroit in 88, to 2 in 89, to 3 in 90 before finally breaking through with Phil? Maybe you should look up the word "improvement", especially as it relates to young players. Jordan's supporting cast was getting better....until a point where they were good enough to beat Chicago. Again, the Hakeem of 94 was a better player than the Hakeem of 90.

The same reasoning applies to the Lakers. However, I don't see how you can't note the difference between acquiring players such as Horry, Fox, Harper, Glen Rice, etc....unless you think two stars is enough. If that's your take then you clearly haven't watched too many Rockets games lately.....

 

Keyword - "if done correctly". Last year Denver was 10th in defensive efficiency(though I am not about to justify that they have good defense) from their gambling style of play. Denver was also a good rebounding team. Their defense is clearly working now, but like I said, it will backfire on the more disciplined teams.

 

I agree.. their defense last year was worse than this year but I don't think they improved this year to the point where it can't be exploited... offensively they are very scary and their bench is very deep.. they have good perimeter shooters and a veteran/young PG combo of Dfish and Farmar

 

Uh, I don't why you guys are even debating this...no matter what kind of statistics he brings up Berri's study is obviously false, coaches can have a lot of impact on the team. They design the overall system the teams run, they call the timeouts and substitutions in game, and most of all they motivate, inspire and are in charge of developing their player's game. Case in point would be New York Knicks...under Isiah they were a lottery team, now under D' Antoni they might make the playoffs.

As for Phil Jackson, people who just call him lucky don't realize that while he is a great coach. Being able to juggle superstar egos as well as he does and inspire them to sacrifice for the common good, that's not something anyone can do. He's also great at in-game substitutions and making the right play at the right time. If you need a validation of his coaching ability, how about last season, before Bynum went down with an injury and Pau Gasol came to town? Before the season started most people were picking them to be lottery team, but they performed really well under Jackson's watch.

The fact is, Phil Jackson is both lucky and good, and that's why he only needs one more ring to have one for each finger

 

Fisher is ranked 42th in PER of all PGs.

 

On topic:

Unfortunately on paper the lakers seem perfect. I'd consider their starting lineup of Kobe, Bynum, Pau Gasol, Fisher and Trevor Ariza to be among the best starting 5 in the league. Their bench has a lot of quality players as well, including Odom (who is starter quality), the machine, and Farmar (underrated player IMHO, this guy can be a very solid player).

One weakness I think teams can exploit is Pau's softness and Bynum's inexperience by playing them extremely physical (ala what Boston did last year). Once Bynum and Pau become manhandled Kobe will lose it and start going solo, which is when you let him shoot his team out of the game. Fortunately, we match pretty well against them...just need to get healthy

 

You can't really play physical with them unless you are the Celtics. The refs are always on the Lakers or Boston's jocks, those two teams always get the calls, if you play physical your entire team will foul out and you will just watch Kobe shoot FTs all day.

 

Pippen was NOT an All Star before Phil Jackson arrived.
Kobe was a 6TH MAN voted into the All Star game off popularity before Phil Jackson, like how Yao was voted in his 1st year.

 

Funny....everyone take peek at #43.

It's beautiful ain't it.

Approximately 31 starting point guards and 12 backup pgs are ahead of our starting one, in terms of production.

 

easy, Phil was the difference. he got the Bulls over the hump, something his predessor, Doug Collins, a fine coach but not championshp caliber, couldn't do.

do u not understand that Harper, Glen Rice were but role players, interchangeable parts. Shaq and Kobe's were the game-changers

btw, get your facts right,

• Horry and Fox joined the Lakers when Phil's predessesor, Del Harris, was the coach.

• Harper was on his last leg, play only one year for the Lakers

• Rice joined the Lakers for the third ring

 

Did you ever watch Glen Rice in Charlotte (even his last year with the Hornets) or Miami?

Glen Rice was Michael Redd on steroids. This man was almost shooting 50% from 3 point land and at the time averaged over 19 ppg for about 6 seasons.

Glen Rice was also still somewhat of game-changer.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/ricegl01.html/

 

u obviously did not watch Rice with the Lakers, he was but a role player on the Lakers pick up to replace JR Ryders

u obviously don't know what a game changer is. get i clue !

 

He was a 3rd scorer with the Lakers still capable of having big nights, like he did in Charlotte and Miami. Hell, before he came the LA ... he was still putting up 21+ ppg. When did you start watching basketball, Isiah Rider didn't get there until the next season (00-01).

Glen Rice was traded for Elden Campbell (decent big man) and Eddie Jones (all-star, all-defensive guard).

 

White girls from Colorado.

Ba Dum Dump.

 

I think they are by far the best team in the west and it is not very close really. I think the west is depleted of quality depth and instead has a bunch of so-so teams in there. The spurs declined, the mavs declined, and the rest are mired in mediocrity (jazz, suns, rockets, hornets). The rockets are the only team with any realistic chance of making things hard on the lakers, but even if all things click i strongly doubt anyone in the west is equipped to beat the lakers in best out of 7.

There only competition is out east in the celtics and, possibly, pistons (I do not think the pistons will seriously challenge the celtics, lebron and the crew have a better shot at it but they still won't be able to in my opinion).

I think for the first time since 98 (at least I think that was the case) we will have the same two teams in the finals. I think the lakers/celtics are much better than anyone else out there.