J. West: Lakers too old to play defense

[Gek]

They'll play defense in the playoffs.

[LA Forever]

They'll play defense in the playoffs.

I'm sure they will, but seeing this complacency sucks for the fans because we're so caught up on watching them and wanting them to win, even though we truly know what they're capable of doing.

[KingLakers]

What West said is accurate the Lakers will only be a contener for a couple more years and then the rebuilding will begin. Also I dont know if its age thats the problem I think its more about milage the Lakers are trying to be the first team since the 87 Celtics to make it to 4 straight NBA finals there is reason why so few teams have done that its not easy playing 115 games every year.

[Gek]

They'll play defense in the playoffs.

I'm sure they will, but seeing this complacency sucks for the fans because we're so caught up on watching them and wanting them to win, even though we truly know what they're capable of doing.

Live on the east coast and you get to just read about the bad defense half the time because they games aren't on . Reading isn't as bad as watching.

[ALL HAIL]

Jerry West is quite simply telling the truth ... as he sees it.

I agree with Jerry West 90 percent of the time.

Some of you guys disrespecting him should be ashamed.

He, almost singlehandedly, is the reason the Lakers have been able to seamlessly move from dynasty to dynasty.

He's not playing mind games. He's a Lakers fan. He is telling it exactly how he sees it.

I haven't been on this sight in months and I've been thinking the exact same thing ... we are too slow from 1 to 9 ... Boston is slow too but they do have a player or two with great speed.

[rand0m]

They are definitely getting older and slower but they are not too old. Most of the time it's not because this team can't keep up but the effort is not there on the defensive side. We'll see if they can turn the switch or not but it's painfully obvious they don't seem to be putting in 100% right now.

[MasterRyu]

It's definitely not age. Just mentality and coaching.

The Celtics have been "raised" to play defense ever since Garnett came to Boston. The players believe in the system and everyone tries hard. In fact, the two of the oldest guys: KG and Ray Allen play great D on their man.

The Lakers don't have the same mentality. They don't communicate well and sometimes they just get lazy. It's fortunate that they have so much length in the middle that it kinda hides a lot of their lapses.

One of the thing that bothers me is the Lakers don't fight through screens. Like at all. If they aren't switching fast enough, they should fight through screens. Kobe is especially guilty of this. Watch Ray Allen, and that old man is still chasing his guy---and he still GOT the energy to do ten laps on offense to free himself for a three.

[Slava]

That's Jerry West's school of management. He'd have been more proactive in adding younger legs to this team even if we were winning.

Kupchak is a different guy in this regard, he is not prone to changing things much and he's quite content with Phil's opinion and the way the team is doing for now.

[Danny Darko]

i think this is a shot over Kobe's bow. I do think it's motivational, and also something we've seen. We've become much like the Rockets with Hakeem and the oldsters sandbagging until the playoffs. You can't do that forever, sooner or later we do need an exit strategy for what to do with a guy like Kobe who earns the right to retire a laker, but not to hog the salary cap as he declines. Minutes, salary, team identity, all will have to get a closer look next year or the year after.

[Kalidogg24]

L.A. Times

Jerry West's critical comments put Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson
on the defensive

http://lat.ms/g9o6do

[DEEP3CL]

All I know is last year when Jerry said, "LeBron is better now than Kobe". That seemed to tick Kobe off and Jerry even acknowledged so. He lit the fuse that made Kobe totally destroy the Jazz at that time. If anybody thinks for one minute that the guys didn't see or hear the comments......think again.

All I'm saying is the Jazz on tomorrow night are in big trouble. I think some of the younger guys here on the board may take this as a diss by Jerry, but the older guys know where he's coming from. Bottom line is it's no reason in hell to be mad or upset......cause he's telling the truth.

The fellas just have to prove him wrong.

[CowsMoo]

and just earlier in December, he said Kobe was the best player in the game. (some convo with Magic)

[ALL HAIL]

That's Jerry West's school of management. He'd have been more proactive in adding younger legs to this team even if we were winning.

Kupchak is a different guy in this regard, he is not prone to changing things much and he's quite content with Phil's opinion and the way the team is doing for now.

[dub81]

It's kind of weird.

The 96 Bulls was a older team with Ron and MJ in there mid 30's. But they still was a great defensive team. So I don't buy what Jerry said. There not a good defensive team because they do not have that defensive mentality like the older Celtic does.

[semi-sentient]

"We're ranked like what, third in the league in defense?" Bryant said.

lol... 3rd. Delusional. This isn't the 2009-10 season.

"I won't respond specifically to him," Fisher said of West. "But anybody else who has anything to say about how we've been playing defensively, it's just unfounded and not true."

Actually, Fisher, you're the biggest part of the reason that our defense has regressed over the years. Everyone has to look over their shoulder to make sure that your man is not leaving you at the 3-point line with unimpeded access to the basket. When your man does burn you, which is on just about every play, everyone else is scrambling to compensate and that screws up our whole scheme. Jack ass.

[AceFresh]

"We're ranked like what, third in the league in defense?" Bryant said.

lol... 3rd. Delusional. This isn't the 2009-10 season.

Actually KB may have a point.

Despite our horrid perimeter D this year, (most notably as you mentioned at the PG position)
we're tied for the 3rd lowest Opponent FG%


Maybe that was what KB was implying?

[supaflash]

Even when we were younger I never really liked Phil and his staff's schemes and principles. It seems we have always had a somewhat chaotic defense, overplaying, funneling, over aggressive closeouts.. I understand that it makes offenses uncomfortable, tries to create turnovers and quick decisions, but I've always felt we had the talent to play a much more stable fundamental D. When you look at how the Celtics play it just make so much more sense with the size and length we have and now with the age. Look at what Dallas has managed to do with their old vets, its not like Dirk, Terry, etc are good defenders and Kidd is a good defender but not great at keeping guys in front of him anymore.

[semi-sentient]

Overplaying is what gets me the most. I see Fisher and Kobe doing it all the time, and against guys that have zero business being doubled. We regularly get burned because those two are overplaying. I also have an issue with over-funneling guys in the paint. Drew is somewhat foul prone and Gasol doesn't challenge as many shots as he should (and rarely commits those vital hard fouls), so we'd be better off just trying to keep guys out of the paint and using our bigs as a last line of defense.

Another thing that pisses me off is the constant flopping (instead of fighting through screens -- I'm looking at you Fisher/Gasol) as well as the bickering after misses that allows opposing teams to get an advantage in transition. We make a lot of stupid mistakes that are easily correctable, but I guess Phil doesn't particularly care about getting on players until the playoffs start. Bad habits though... they're hard to break and we've seen them creep up in years past at inopportune times. Eventually their going to bite us in the ass.