**Lakers vs OKC April 10th, 6:30 Pacific**

[Anklebreaker702]

Shannon's defense has always sucked. The reason we got high on him early is because he was shooting a ridiculously high percentage from downtown (as was Blake). Other teams took notice of that and stopped leaving him open, which in turn took away the only thing he's actually good at besides the occasional dunk.

Our defense early on was nothing to be happy about, but our offense was so dominant that no one really cared. Now that our offense has sputtered (we went from being 1st by a wide margin to 7th) the guys who are struggling (on offense) only stand out that much more for their defensive short-comings.

Good points. What also needs to be mentioned about Shannon is he has little to basketball I.Q. whatsoever. How many times does he dribble the ball back & forth between his legs then starts pointing like someone is in the wrong spot? Give up the ball Shannon & they will move. You're stifling the offense.

[Anklebreaker702]

Not only will we lose the 2nd seed to Dallas, we are likely losing the 3rd seed to OKC if we lose to the Spurs and Kings. We only win one of our last 2 we take the 3rd seed. This is truly pathetic after going 17-1 and the entire city declared them the champions, now they look worse than before the All Star Break.

Agreed. Not only do we need to win the last two to save seed. We need them to save face at this point as well.

[b shaw20]

Our defense early on was nothing to be happy about, but our offense was so dominant that no one really cared. Now that our offense has sputtered (we went from being 1st by a wide margin to 7th) the guys who are struggling (on offense) only stand out that much more for their defensive short-comings.

IMO a big reason as to why we are not a defensive minded team is Kobe Bryant. All his life he has been able to excel by outscoring people. That's what he does and who he is .... a scorer. After 5 chips, no one can make him rethink his approach. Not Jerry West, not Magic, not MJ, not Phil. And as the "leader" of the team, he can't say sh¥t to anyone about playing defense without losing face since he can't stay in front of anyone he guards himself.

So as you mentioned, people tend to overlook defensive deficiencies when you have had the success the Lakers have had. They win on talent alone most nights, by outscoring teams and not necessarily by "getting stops" in critical parts of the game. The fact is, we win as much as we do despite ourselves.

We tend to stop doing things that are working almost every game. Or to put it another way, we play to our weaknesses instead of our strengths.

Still, the playoffs present new opportunities to wash away all sins. I believe this team has dug itself a huge hole. Stacked the odds against themselves almost too high to overcome. But of the 2 things I wanted going into the playoffs (other being a rythm) we have the most critical one which gives us a real chance to overcome the odds:

Health.

[stunnar0b]

IMO a big reason as to why we are not a defensive minded team is Kobe Bryant. All his life he has been able to excel by outscoring people. That's what he does and who he is .... a scorer. After 5 chips, no one can make him rethink his approach. Not Jerry West, not Magic, not MJ, not Phil. And as the "leader" of the team, he can't say sh¥t to anyone about playing defense without losing face since he can't stay in front of anyone he guards himself.

So as you mentioned, people tend to overlook defensive deficiencies when you have had the success the Lakers have had. They win on talent alone most nights, by outscoring teams and not necessarily by "getting stops" in critical parts of the game. The fact is, we win as much as we do despite ourselves.

We tend to stop doing things that are working almost every game. Or to put it another way, we play to our weaknesses instead of our strengths.

Still, the playoffs present new opportunities to wash away all sins. I believe this team has dug itself a huge hole. Stacked the odds against themselves almost too high to overcome. But of the 2 things I wanted going into the playoffs (other being a rythm) we have the most critical one which gives us a real chance to overcome the odds:

Health.

talking like a tru upcoming coach, i completely agree with you and to add on that our second best player also doesn't think defense first most nights, so its really hard to hang our hat on defense each and every possession... thats why rewatching game seven brought a tear to my eye how the lakers locked down on defense during the second half to bring it home.

[KB24TBOTB]

IMO a big reason as to why we are not a defensive minded team is Kobe Bryant. All his life he has been able to excel by outscoring people. That's what he does and who he is .... a scorer. After 5 chips, no one can make him rethink his approach. Not Jerry West, not Magic, not MJ, not Phil. And as the "leader" of the team, he can't say sh¥t to anyone about playing defense without losing face since he can't stay in front of anyone he guards himself.

So as you mentioned, people tend to overlook defensive deficiencies when you have had the success the Lakers have had. They win on talent alone most nights, by outscoring teams and not necessarily by "getting stops" in critical parts of the game. The fact is, we win as much as we do despite ourselves.

We tend to stop doing things that are working almost every game. Or to put it another way, we play to our weaknesses instead of our strengths.

Still, the playoffs present new opportunities to wash away all sins. I believe this team has dug itself a huge hole. Stacked the odds against themselves almost too high to overcome. But of the 2 things I wanted going into the playoffs (other being a rythm) we have the most critical one which gives us a real chance to overcome the odds:

Health.

talking like a tru upcoming coach, i completely agree with you and to add on that our second best player also doesn't think defense first most nights, so its really hard to hang our hat on defense each and every possession... thats why rewatching game seven brought a tear to my eye how the lakers locked down on defense during the second half to bring it home.

That Laker defense was a beauty. I'm confident that when the stakes are that high we are still capable of locking down on defense

[b shaw20]

^^^
as much as I want to believe they can turn it on defensively, I just can't see it happening. Our key guards (bryant, fish, shannon) who are asked to defend point guards and playmakers simply do not have the lateral quickness to stay in front of them. As soon as they get beat off the dribble, our defense is forced to scamble and it often leads to open shots for opponents. It also leads to our bigs picking up cheap fouls.

Our team defense is not going to re-invent itself going into the playoffs. Kobe in particular has to find an extra gear and not get abused by the likes of guys who are not on the same level as he is (eg - wesley matthews, cj miles, kevin martin, westbrook). Frankly, I don't think he has it and even if he did - he wouldn't use it. Instead, he'd counter with 3 pt bombs like he always does.

Play to our strenghts (inside, out), play smart (limit turnovers) and put in a consertive effort to stay in front of people and we give ourselves a shot. Unfortunately, team is plain stupid and refuse to play the right way.

[semi-sentient]

Yep, Kobe is the key. IMO, he can do it if he stops trying to be the hero every damn night on the offensive end. He's going to have to have a chit-chat with Gasol and tell him that he will have to play more aggressively on offense -- and not just here and there but every minute that he's on the court. Bynum has already committed himself to being our anchor, so now we need someone else on offense that commands attention so that Kobe can conserve for defense.