I don't see any major weaknesses for them. Ego, for a team, isn't a weakness. Championship-caliber teams typically play with a swagger. They're young, but their floor leaders (Kobe, Fisher) have tons of championship experience. And they got to the Finals last year, so they're way ahead of the curve in terms of playoff experience.
thus far this season, Lakers have been using new zone defensive schemes. The help-heavy defensive scheme that encourages trapping and ball-hawking takes advantage of the Lakers’ extreme length and quickness. Not surprisingly, Lakers now force a League-leading 18.5 tov, a full two turnovers more than the second-best team in that category. However, An aggressive zone is vulnerable to penetration. quick skilled pgs thats not afraid to penetrate---CP3, Tony Parker, D Rose---would have the easiest time against the Lakers defense.
I agree Top PG's can score at will the way the Lakers play defense, but i believe that is what the Lakers want to do. They allow pgs to score and shut out everyone else.
Mental toughness. I only see a couple guys on that team that are proven to deliver in crunch time, Kobe and Fisher. Even Kobe performed pretty badly in a couple finals.
Give credit to the players for sure. Stars can't do it all themselves, its a team game. A coach's effect really might not be more than a role player's effect. A top 3 pick in the draft like Derrick Rose does more for a than coach Vinny Del Negro. Just saying dont NOT credit the coach, making it like he's on the same level as the team bus driver. If a coach's main tactic to winning is he makes the best brownies the team's ever had and as a result they play better, he gets credit for pushing the right buttons.
When did I make that statement? If role players don't matter, then why did LA lose in 2003 when all of their role players played like crap in the postseason? Simple question.........
I do know what I'm talking about. When was the last time you saw Kobe take a charge. Everytime he tries to he's called for blocking.
Lakers have no weakness, and they have good defense on Yao. With their Homecourt and ref advantage I doubt anyone can beat them.
from a basketball standpoint, they have no weaknesses. however, basketball is game of matchups. the celtics defended them well and got them out of their rhythm.
The weaknesses as I see them are: Gasol - Never been out of the first round. His stats in the playoffs are not horrible but he certainly does not raise his game in the playoffs. He seems like he gets softer as the intensity of the games increase. Odom - Inconsistency. Is he an All-Star tonight or is he going to play 30 minutes and nobody even realize he is on the court. Play hard defense on him for one quarter and he'll pack it in for the night. Fisher - Most overrated role player I can think of. His defense is good if another PG is trying to post him up. Other than that he gets beat off the dribble as bad as any other PG in the league. He's made some clutch shots in his career but that is expected when you get wide open looks like he did playing with Kobe and Shaq. He's also 34 years old. Bynum - Only because is an unknown. How would he have held up against the bully style that Kendrick Perkins used to manhandle the Laker bigs in the Finals. The Lakers are going to win 65+ games this season but you can almost guarantee that when things get tough Odom and Gasol are going to shrink. Fisher is old and no match for today's young PGs and Bynum has yet to establish an identity in this league. All of those things can be covered up in the regular season thanks to the talent on the roster but the playoffs have a tendency to expose things.
Gasol made it to the Finals last year. I agree Odom is inconsistent but he's talented and they have more than enough depth to compensate for his off games. I don't think Fisher is a great PG but I do think his playoff experience is a big positive. He doesn't turn the ball over and has no problem being a role player. Basically, he's their Rafer Alston but a better shooter who performs better in the clutch. Name a team that wouldn't be happy to have Bynum. He's 21-years-old with huge upside. You make some good points in the last paragraph.
Their weakness is that they are doing too well in regular season. Sometimes if you are too hot in regular season, you will be cooling down in the playoff. See Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit....
Weakness meaning the Laker thats most likely to get outplayed, its certainly Fisher. His experience helps and he was a breath of fresh air from Smush Parker, but he's no world beater. Farmar being the backup, the PG position is at least steady. And the triangle offense doesnt require much from the PG anyway as far as running the offense (I'd even say Phil Jackson's triangle sunk the point guard position to its lowest standard) As someone mentioned, they'll let the opposing guard get his and stop everyone else. Which was what happened last game with the Rockets. Radmonovic and Odom might be the most lunkheaded small forward pairing in the league. They do have talent to offset their baffoonery. Bynum isnt all world but he certainly isnt a weakness. (Who cares but if they'da retained Turiaf, they'da had a well rounded front court this year) Well, I tried a 4th time to find a big weakness and still can't come up with anything significant. Rockets though are 1 of the few that has the least worry about the Lakers. They're (looking unlikely) good health and a move away from serious title contention.
i see quite a bit of 06-07 mavs in this laker team i hope they end up the same too haahha, first round exit by the 8th seed, hilarious
These Lakers are far more talented than that overachieving Mavs team. The Mavs won that many games because of their consistency, not talent. Plus, the Lakers #1 player (Kobe) is much better and more mentally tough than the Mavs #1 player (Dirk). If both teams brought their "A" games, these Lakers would mop the floor with those Mavs. Keep in mind the season is early and some of the perceived weaknesses the Lakers have will be ironed out. They are still working out some kinks, especially in their half-court offense.
lakers is seriously overrated. without kobe, they are nothing. besides, they have having the easiest schedule in the league right now. before tonight, they only played 11 games, among those 6 are home court. compare that to the rockets, 14 games, 5 home. if we didn't blew the the others against the spurs and portland, we could easily be 11-3 now. so yes, 11-1 is good. but doesn't mean that much so far.
you are r****dED!! w/o Kobe they are nothing??, name ONE top team in the league that would do as well w/o their superstar hmm .. 11 games 6 home 5 away is pretty much even did you see who they played on the Road??? 1. Hornets 2. Dallas 3. Phoenix isnt the rockets 3-2 at home and 6-3 on the road? The difference between a Contender and a Pretender is a contender KNOWS how to win in close games, beat teams their supposed to beat, and compete against the best teams in the NBA!!! if the Lakers are seriously OVERRATED, and blew the Rockets out by 29pts What does that say about Houston?
the lakers do seem to be blessed and destined to win a championship by god. They somehow found an idiot in Chris Wallace, who bacause of his cheap ass owner, gave away gasol for free. And if you consider how Derek Fisher is given to them for free as well (because of her daughter's cancer), you're really starting to think if this is destiny. Right now, I think the only thing that can stop them from winning a championship this year is if Karma strikes back on those Faker fans....Injury injury injury>>>>>>!!!!!
