With the season coming to a close following yesterday’s loss to the Kings, the Lakers now start the journey they’ve become so well associated with, a path to another Laker title. While the journey is very rough this year, much harder than in recent years it seems. An old foe has re-invented itself to compete for one last title as newcomers like the Thunder, Pacers and Grizzlies are tasting success for the first time and feeling as if they can take on anyone any night, making it hard for teams like the Bulls, Heat, Lakers and Spurs to fight for the title only among themselves. Stars in their golden eras are reaching their final playoff games, while others look to add another prime year to the belt, some will look for redemption for past failures, others will be inhaling this playoff atmosphere for the first time in their young careers and a select few know their time is now, it’s all coming together for them and all they must do is execute as most advantages are on their side.
The Lakers are one of the teams looking to remind the league that they are still a powerhouse capable of winning another title under future Hall of Fame guard Kobe Bryant along with the Spurs and more distant hopefuls such as Boston and Dallas. Kobe strongly believes this team is capable of winning it all, either that or he just says that out loud to all of us but is really convincing himself, who knows. What is known is that the Lakers’ highest chances at a title lie in Kobe deferring offensively to his bigs, specifically center Andrew Bynum. Bynum has had a superb season to silence down talk of being injury prone or incapable of reaching the next level. While there are still some issues to work on, namely his maturity and on-court demeanor, one can only hope they’ll be polished out in time. However, the time for Bynum to be depended on is now, next season will only be harder for a Kobe led team to win the title, this year is as easy as it’ll get in these last years of Kobe. If Bynum can carry the load offensively and dominate the paint on both ends, Pau can do what he does best: fly under the radar while putting up nice double double games. Pau is clearly at his best when he isn’t a focal point and is instead a sort of floating assassin, waiting to be tagged in.
There is one flaw however, which may indeed prove to be fatal: The bench, or lack thereof. With Metta World Peace serving his 7 game suspension at this point of the season, the Lakers will be heavily relying on a hobbling Barnes and a delicate Ebanks at the small forward spot until World Peace returns. The bench however, even with MWP back, is still weak and highly inconsistent. There is no more time for picking up confidence on a road trip, or rejuvenating yourself with an emphatic home win, now it’s time to shift into the next gear up and sprint to the finish line. If the Lakers want the title bad though, they’ll have to make sure not to take shots outside of the offensive rhythm, control the glass, no spacing out, take care of the ball, keep moving and keep the ball moving, smooth defensive rotations, active hands defensively, and finally play with heart. I can’t stress that enough as this team has sorely lacked it all season except for rare short instances. They must be driven by their hearts but play with their minds, if they do this I expect to be celebrating in June rather than trying to drown myself in a bottle of Black Bull.
Our chances lie in the hearts of these kids…
and in the minds of these beasts…
WESTERN CONFERENCE
FIRST ROUND
GAME 1
(3) LOS ANGELES LAKERS
vs
(6) DENVER NUGGETS
04/29/2012 – 12:30pm (PST)
ABC
STAPLES CENTER
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
DENVER NUGGETS
2011-2012 SEASON HISTORY
12/31/2011 - LAKERS - 92 vs NUGGETS - 89
01/01/2012 - LAKERS - 90 @ NUGGETS - 99
02/03/2012 - LAKERS - 93 @ NUGGETS - 89
04/13/2012 - LAKERS - 103 vs NUGGETS - 97
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SEASON SERIES ANALYSIS
All four games have been close with an average score of 94.5 to 93.5 in favor of the Lakers, meaning this series should be a great match up. However, since the trade deadline the Nuggets have swapped Nene for JaVale McGee so it'll be interesting to see how his interior presence hurts or aids their strategy against the Lakers. These two current squads haven't played with Kobe missing the first Nene-less game so both teams will have a little mystery going into the playoffs.
The Nuggets however, are coming off a hot streak of 5 games where they pummeled Minnesota to close out the season, and just a few days later beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City unlike the Lakers who have stumbled into the playoffs this year despite internal growth from the team having to deal with Kobe's absence on the court.
MATCH-UPS
BATTLE OF THE BIGS
The Nuggets will be throwing a mix of Koufos, McGee and Mozgoz at Bynum meanwhile trying to keep Pau quiet with the little known Faried and the slender Harrington. Now that Nene and Chris Andersen aren't around, the Lakers' bigs should have no problem dominating the paint on both ends, especially second chance points, which will be a key component of keeping the tempo at the pace that best suits the Lakers.
The Lakers' bigs should dominate the paint and make it much easier to create open looks for MWP, Barnes, Kobe, and Sessions. As always, the Lakers' bench will be in the spotlight more than ever now as the league knows Kobe is insanely hungry for that sixth ring. The Lakers must control the tempo at all times and take care of the ball in order to prevent from falling into the Nuggets pace.
SERIES PREDICTION
4-1
The Lakers should have no issue man handling the Nuggets with their front line since the defense presence of Nene and Birdman will be sorely missed this time of the season. Kobe must defer to Bynum and Pau, if he does the Lakers may even sweep the Nuggets as they'll truly be a force to be reckoned with.
DISCLAIMER: DUE TO THE SEVERITY OF STARTING OUT ON THE GOOD FOOT NO EYE CANDY WILL BE PROVIDED. FEEL FREE TO POST YOUR OWN, HOWEVER, I WILL NOT SINCE THE PLAYOFFS ARE NO TIME FOR GAMES AND THE FIRST GAME IS A BIG DEAL IN MY OPINION. THE LAKERS MUST COME OUT HUNGRY FROM THE GET GO, NO MERCY NO GAMES, I WILL BE DOING THE SAME FOR THIS GAME. FOR FUTURE GAMES, HOWEVER, I WILL NOT DISAPPOINT WITH THE CANDY.
