RealGM

How is our defense looking for the upcoming season?

We got Howard and the Metta. Two of the best defenders at their positions in the game. I think with them at the helm the Lakeshow will be one of the best defensive teams in the league, even making up for the shortfalls presented by Steve Nash.

X Factor: Kobe Bryant and Steve Blake

Kobe has been known to gamble but can play D when he puts his head into the game. This year he's going to be lighter, more focused and less (much, much less burdened). I think he'll surprise alot of people with his defense. He might not be as athletic as he used to be, but not being the number one guy all the time, for everything, is going to give him plenty of more energy.

Steve Blake got a lot of bad wrap for his defense, but he is pesky and persistant. He's not going to physically match Westbrook or Rose, but he can stick with most point guards quickness wise and bother them enough to put them off their games. If Steve Nash is playing more than 32 MPG this upscoming season then the Lakers are desperate, Blake is likely to be playing 20+ mpg.

Thanks for listening to my rant.. I want to see what you guys think about using Zones, Playing Man etc. and how we're going to make up for the obvious seniority of the team.

We will be at least top 5, with a full training camp/offseason Mike Brown has no excuse to not turn this team into a defensive powerhouse

If Dwight can get himself healthy his presence in the middle is going to be unbelievable forcing teams to shoot from the perimeter which we should be in a far better position to defend because we won't need two guys protecting the rim.

It's gonna be a different year for Kobe. Ucan trust Nash to run the offense and Kobe should get easier baskets so he should have more energy to guard. We all play ball and if we work really hard to score, playing defense becomes less and less of a priority. Kobe should play harder on d and will have a lot of of assignments because Nash can't guard many pg's. They gotta collectively learn to funnel players toward d12 and build chemistry overall. Should be good to go

We will for sure be top 5 this year. I am not worried at all about defense except the point guard position.
Offense is our bigger problem. Just how we run it.

If PGs are going to run straight past Nash all season I can live with that because they'll be running straight into either Pau or Dwight so thats not so much of a problem, we've got 2 DPOY, 2 MVPs, 6 All stars and a coach of the year. I CAN'T WAIT!!

AcecardZ wrote:If Dwight can get himself healthy his presence in the middle is going to be unbelievable forcing teams to shoot from the perimeter which we should be in a far better position to defend because we won't need two guys protecting the rim.

I wouldn't put all that pressure on Howard. He has defensive help now. Utilize it. 2 bigs protecting the rim is better than 1

http://tacticstime.com/wp-content/uploa ... -fense.jpg

Too plain or my taste.

It depends on if the Lakers players are willing to take charges. Our problem is that no one is willing to put their body on the line, so other teams are not afraid to dive head first towards the rim.

Kobe and Ron won't willingly fall, Nash shouldn't be taking charges, and neither should Dwight. S that leaves Pau. When I say willingly fall, look at Kobe and Ron when they get position and take the hit, they still stand there and sit down slowly because they have too much pride to just fall back

Dwight alone makes you a top 5 defensive team... add a now healthy/rejuvenated Ron and I'd say we're in decent shape.

I'm much more interested in seeing what the offense will look like.

eablinksum wrote:We will for sure be top 5 this year. I am not worried at all about defense except the point guard position.
Offense is our bigger problem. Just how we run it.

Don't worry. Coach Nash will take care of it.

kblo247 wrote:Kobe and Ron won't willingly fall, Nash shouldn't be taking charges, and neither should Dwight. S that leaves Pau. When I say willingly fall, look at Kobe and Ron when they get position and take the hit, they still stand there and sit down slowly because they have too much pride to just fall back

Funny Sig bro

A bigger guy like Ron will definitely benefit having a regular off-season to season cycle now, like anybody it'll take him a bit of time to get into season shape, but he's still gonna be a consistent factor for you guys defensively

Going to be a fun team to watch

Nash should save some energy from Kobe and Pau on the offensive end. I think they will be fine on the defensive end with Howard in here. Plus that new D coordinator has had success with Howard in Orlando, he knows how to use him

Howard should save the Laker fans alot of tacos

tayzer wrote:It depends on if the Lakers players are willing to take charges. Our problem is that no one is willing to put their body on the line, so other teams are not afraid to dive head first towards the rim.

Hit it on the spot. The heat is such a defensive power house because they have people that are willing to take charges. OKC was thinking twice before driving to the rim just because of that reason.