Let me also add the Lakers had dual post-up threats last year and were swept by the Mavs. Dirk did very little post work in that series.
The Lakers are a better team this year because they are going to go to their bigs and post up threats, the largest advantage they have on their opponents. Mike Brown is slowing down the game and turning them into a half-court juggernaut. They are a better team than last year and the playoffs are going to show it. I don't understand totally what happened to them last season, in Phil Jackson's last year. All I know is the mojo wasn't there. They got caught up in playing the Mavs game instead of forcing the Mavs to play their game. Perhaps Kobe was dinged worse than we know. Perhaps....I don't know. Can't put my finger on it. But their chemistry wasn't right down the stretch. They are a different team this season. Yes, I did post this during a key game, a game that truly represents what the playoffs are going to be about. I will be posting more as we go down the stretch and these games take on a more playoff feel. But in all fairness, I wasn't going to post in this thread after every win and go hide after every loss in the first half. I have posted mostly in response to the doubters after they lost games during the first half of the season. I will be posting more as I see plaoyff type settings in the 2nd half of the season, irregardless if they win or lose that particular game. Today was an example of how good the Lakers are. They took the probable Eastern Conference Finals representative and shoved them in the trash can.
I think they are now. Bynum has found himself for the first time in his career. He commands double's and is a force down low. Lakers are a team that will be reckoned with in the postseason.
Their bigs have always been there. It depends on Kobe if he is going to be a selfish player or feed the bigs and play off of them.
The Lakers looked good, but they are a very good home team and the Heat were playing without their best big man. They were supposed to win. I will agree, though, that the Lakers post game will be a huge advantage for them in a half-court oriented playoff series. Below is a chart I posted in another thread. The Lakers edge on post ups is huge. They need to take full advantage of it, because they've been a poor pick-and-roll and transition team.
I sure would like to see this kind of data for teams differentiating their playoff data from regular season data. It's my firm opinion that the championship teams up significantly their post ups in the playoffs and force the ball to the rim. It would be interesting to see what the Lakers did post season versus regular season and comparing what they are doing now as far as utilizing their post game.
Yes, Lakers are better than last year because Kobe is much healthier than last year. He was considering retirement before the surgery in German. It's that bad.
Badump. And as the regular season winds down and we head to the playoffs, the Lakers are going into the big guys more and more, grinding out the possessions and making sure the ball goes into the paint. Oh, come to find out, Artest and Barnes can really play a little bit too. Imagine that. You don't have to wait until May or June to tell who the best teams are. You can see it coming months before the season ends. One of these two teams will take out the Thunder if the Thunder don't get upset in the first round.
They're getting horsewhipped on the road by the other team that will possibly come out of the West. Kobe has been out. He's coming back and obviously not clicking. And the Spurs are very, very good. Lakers and Spurs are the two best teams in the West. One of them goes to the Finals.
I agree with you about the Thunder, they just don't click enough on both sides of the ball for me to have faith in them in the playoffs. For the stretch run you need two things, a strong frontline and strong D. I think the Grizz or Lakers will come out of the West.
They weren't when this post was made, but once they got Sessions and got rid of Fish and Chipper, they are. DD
Funny stuff. Van Gundy talking about the Lakers going to have to get a handle on how to play PnR defense agaisnt Parker, figuring out what they can live with and what they can't. Then the picture shifts to Ron Artest sitting on the bench. Watch it happen. I'll bet Brown runs Artest at the top defensively and trys to shadow Sessions on Leonard if they meet in the playoffs.
