Just how bad was the beatdown that the Nuggets put on the Lakers Friday night? In case the 105-79 final score wasn't enough of an indication, try this on for size: Denver held L.A. to just 23 points in the second half, which was the lowest ever in the Lakers' franchise history.The Nuggets were feeling pretty good about themselves after the win, and they should: it was a quality victory in which the home team executed on both ends of the court for 48 minutes. But they would also be wise not to get ahead of themselves. Because while L.A. was at the top of the standings heading in, honestly, the 7-1 record was a bit of a fraud.
The reality is, the Lakers right now are nowhere near that good, and are a far cry from playing like the team that finished last season as the world champions.
It's a given that when you win a championship, along with it comes the virtual target on your back every single night. And a quick review of the Lakers' early games, especially those on the road, shows that teams have been more than ready to take their swing.
Trips to Oklahoma City and Houston required Herculean efforts from Kobe Bryant (31 and 41 points, respectively) -- along with overtime in each game -- for L.A. to come away with the wins. And while the Thunder and Rockets are both interesting teams that may overachieve a bit this season, neither are considered to be anywhere near on par talent-wise with the Lakers.
When you add in the home victories over Memphis, New Orleans, and the Clippers, you get teams with a dismal combined won-loss record of 16-30 that account for five of the Lakers' seven wins.
Told you their record wasn't all that. And really, only L.A.'s victory over the Hawks can be considered a quality win; the blowout over Phoenix was against a Suns' team that was playing their seventh game in 10 days, and was coming off of a home win the night before having to travel to play one of the league's top teams.
Ask the Lakers about how that last part worked out for them in Denver.
Strength of schedule (or lack thereof) aside, the real signs that the Lakers aren't yet what they used to be show in their offense. The fluidity in the half court sets and the high volume of transition baskets we got used to seeing a season ago are, at least through the team's first 10 games, borderline nonexistent.
Before going any further, now would be a good time to mention that Pau Gasol hasn't played a game yet this season due to playing for Spain in the Eurobasket tournament a hamstring injury, and that Andrew Bynum missed two of the team's games with an injured elbow. Add in the fact that Ron Artest is still finding his way offensively, and perhaps there are some built-in excuses for the Lakers' slide on that end of the court.
What slide, you ask? The Lakers finished last season third in the league in offensive efficiency, which is a measure of points scored per 100 possessions. This season, they're currently sitting at 15th in that category, a full six and a half points behind last year's number of 112.8.
But you don't need numbers to tell you that the Lakers' offense is off -- just watch them play tentatively and virtually without motion in their half court sets.
Kobe Bryant has made it clear that he's going to try to operate in the post this season, and as a wrinkle to the team's successful running of the triangle offense, it's something that should be a welcome addition. The problem is, every time down now, it seems the team is hell bent on getting him the ball on the block to begin the set.
Since other teams are well aware of this, it's been resulting in Bryant posting up, with Lamar Odom or Artest standing at the three-point line with the ball over their head in a pass-only stance, where they're showing no threat of shooting or driving to the basket. So, we watch for four or five seconds as the perimeter defender sags, while Bryant engages in a wrestling match for position, and the rest of the Lakers stand around helplessly watching.
This, my friends, is not good basketball.
Sure, it worked occasionally in the early games, because Bryant is a top-three player in the league, and the weaker teams on the schedule might not have been ready for it, or might not have had the personnel to defend it. But the Nuggets had both the readiness and the players to stop it, which is part of the reason for L.A. getting completely shut down in that game's second half -- when, as you may recall, Bryant was held without even a single field goal.
It may be a while before the Lakers find their groove again offensively. Gasol is supposed to be back at some point soon, but whether he returns by Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, he's going to be rusty, and it's going to take the Lakers a while to work him back into the offense, and to get everyone on the same page -- especially newcomer Ron Artest.
The good news is, as bad as the Lakers' offense has looked, the team still sits at 7-2 -- having talent like Bryant, Odom, Bynum, and Artest will win you a good number of games, whether the team is playing well overall or not. But to get back to that championship level, the Lakers have a lot of work to do to regain that cohesion they had a season ago.
Being that it's only November and there are 73 games left in the regular season, there's plenty of time to make that happen.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
brett if full of crap... the lakers are not at full strength... missing pao is huge... all teams have bad stretches... the lakers will repeat...brett should get his head out of his ass..
wow really? how do you think the celtics would be doing without KG? how do you think the cavs would do without mo williams? or what about orlando without vince carter? any team without their second best player will struggle. u foolish sports writers dont know anything.
What a stupid article. I have watched every Laker Game except 1. Another Laker hater, trying to find any team that in there mind can de-throne the champs. Learn the game Brett. First off its one game out 10 of a long season, 2nd the lakers were coming off an impressive victory against Phoenex. I noticed dumb ass, you didn't burry Denver for losing to Atlanta, which Kicked Denvers ass, and Milwaukee which beat them. Learn the game then write articles. When they Repeat and beat Denver 4 games to 1 in the playoffs then write the Lakers off. Until then Deal with it.
Haha. You guys should actually read the whole article before you start issuing threats and going crazy.
Three-peat Lakers didn't start great either. We'll be better by the time playoffs roll around.
Brett is not a Lakers fan and he does'nt conceal it which is cool. But Laker fans know that periodically the Lakers get blown out. That's just how they are. This game meant a lot more to Denver than the Lakers and it showed. They just played harder and they are very talented. But the Lakers have the same agenda this year as they did last year, to win the championship, so games like this just don't mean that much. Come the playoffs, you'll see a different team.
It's ashame the Lakers won't repeat because they lost a game in Nov. Brett is a Laker Hater. This is a dumbass article.
The Lakers' starters outscored Denver's starters. With Pau back and Odom shoring up the bench, I don't think you get such a weak effort from the subs.
I didn''t get the memo that the NBA was now being judged on strength of schedule like the BCS does.
Once Pau gets back and March rolls around I'm sure Mr.Pollakoff (didn't he used to have a different surname?) will be writing a different tune.
With Gasol in the lineup it gives the Lakers so many differnt options and looks.
And, finally, not that I'd ever make excuses but playing in Denver on the end of a back to back where the team didn't get in until the wee hours of the morning combined with the thin air does give the advantage to the home team. Let's just see if they can do it in late May or early June.
Lakers will self destruct from Kobe's BIG HEAD exploding all over the court. LoL
I'm Laker's fan for 30 years now, and I'm amazed at how childish some fans are that they go nuts when a man makes an honest, accurate assessment of where the Lakers are at currently. Pollakoff does not predict doom and gloom, he merely states where the Lakers are currently. And he's correct: they just lost another game, this time to an undermanned, undersized Houston team miss both McGrady and Yao Ming. Yes, they're missing Gasol, but they have enough talent to whip anyone. Their half court offense is awful: everyone stands at the 3-point line, waiting for Kobe to post up or kick out. Kobe is taking bad shot after bad shot: you cannot hit a high percentage of long distance fall away jumpers, no matter how good you are. As great as Phil Jackson is, his unwillingness to give playing time to emerging players is appalling: once again, Sasha Vujacic bends the back boards while the hugely talented Shannon Brown rides the pine until the game is out of reach. Dereke Fisher, great man that he is, is back to putting up bricks. No one, no one, is attacking and breaking down the defense. No one is rotating on defense, and stopping the penetration. The only guy earning his paycheck right now is Bynum: against Houston tonight, he had 5 blocks and was killing them in the paint, so what did the Laker's do??? They gunned 3-pointers, and missed a ton of them. Two terrible losses, and two overtime wins over marginal teams is not the way any defending champions should play. Forget about Gasol: one man is not going to fix what ails this team. Stars Shannon Brown at point guard, start Josh Powell at PF until Gasol returns, and let Odom do what he does best, come off the bench. And start attacking, or it's going to be a long season. And for you Laker's fans: stop whining every time someone makes an honest assessment of your team. Right now, they're playing poorly. It's hopefully a temporary malaise: if it continues, it won't be pretty. If they go back to playing their style of game, it will be wonderful. I"m pulling for the latter.
to 5th st Freddie
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very good observation. I might add that I think we lost a lot of speed and cohesiveness losing Ariza. I hope they can get in Tempo with Artest. Odom must come off the bench, he is too unpredictable as a starter!
lakers are doing fine ,you got to see what works when a player gets hurt , 9 -3 and all worry , give the ring to la right now
Lakers need to enjoy that ring now because that will be the last ring they get in a long time...It is not the era of LeBron James...All bow down...Long live the KING!
WOW, the Laker fans are up in arms over this article. truth be told, they were damn lucky to get thru the Rockets and the Nuggets. The loss of Trevor was significant and Kobe is only one man. The lakers will wake up..................maybe.
I think I just wasted 5 minutes of my life reading this artical. I dont know if you noticed or not this was the what? 9th game in the season? Ron artest is still getting used to playing here and Gasol is takeing his time getting back. if this was the playoffs hed be playing but he is takeing it slow. Why not i mean if u lose 3 games in november it dosent do anything. I would like to see any team without thier second best player not playing. I cant wait till the lakers repeat. GO LAKERS!
Complaining about a team's performance in NOVEMBER is absolutely idiotic. This is like saying the Nets will win an incredible 0 games this season just because they have yet to win. Boston isn't doing the best and neither is Cleveland. Atlanta and Phoenix are #1, but seriously, who in their right mind thinks either of those will last the whole season?
This article is not only a waste of time to read, but a waste of bandwidth on the internet. Please, please, for the love of Mike, think twice before writing another asinine article hating on the Lakers. Everyone and their grandmother on the east coast already does it!
Gasol came back and finally
they got a championship team
again but they lost Ariza.
read what you write, ha ha. men you must be on something
LA again sorry we got a young team with good ass vets sounds like a good combo ,