Hustling to Victory

                                         LAKERS REPORT                                           1-2-2012

         The Lakers survived the initial scheduling onslaught to start the season, with a 3-3 record, which is probably about as good as they could hope considering the circumstances. They lost the first two, and their first victory of the season came at the end of a back-to-back-to-back game scenario, against a much fresher team, the Utah Jazz, who were the only team who hadn’t played a game up to that point. While their defense has held opponents to low point totals, there have been several lapses in each game where the opponents were left wide open for the shot but just missed, so some of the defensive stats are a little misleading. Offensively, their most glaring obstacles are cutting down on their turnovers and 3-point shots, as well as making more free throws at a few key moments. So far, the most impressive aspect of the team is their energy and hustle on both ends of the court, which should translate into some victories (and streaks) once they get into better shape and become more efficient on offense.


          The offense has been taking and missing way too many 3-pointers and looks disjointed on a few possessions, but they still have had a chance to win nearly all of the games so far (except when the Kings beat them pretty bad in game 2). Their best offensive game by far was against the New York Knicks, who still don’t play any defense even with the acquisition of Tyson Chandler, but they beat the Jazz pretty soundly for their first win on the year, and came back to beat Denver in the last couple minutes of game 5. They probably should have won game 1 against Chicago, blowing a relatively large lead late in that game, and were close in the last game against Denver, despite a terrible shooting night (less than 25%) by their star Kobe Bryant. Their defensive tenacity (and their opponents stale shooting at times) , along with great hustle from many players, most notably McRoberts and Fisher, have helped them stay close in games, and eventually win half of them.

        Bryant sometimes takes on too much of the scoring load, and he is still one of the game's historically great scorers but once he learns to trust his teammates, especially when they are close to the basket, the team will be more successful. Pau Gasol still settles for too many long jumpers, playing like a small forward in a 7 foot tall body, appearing incapable of playing close to the basket at times. Sometimes he gets overpowered and pushed around when he gets in close, and when the refs ignore his yells of discontent at what he believes is a foul, he just hangs out near above the free throw line looking to take another jump shot. Andrew Bynum served out his suspension and has been a force on both ends upon his return to the court, scoring, rebounding, providing stout interior defense, and a much needed low-post power presence on the offensive end. He will be even better once he gets his conditioning back in order, and the only question is if he can remain healthy the rest of the season, but history isn’t in his favor there.


          Metta World Peace finally showed up for games 2 and 3, scoring points in the paint and playing good defense and providing some much needed production off the bench. Those were probably his best two games since the finals against Boston about two years ago, but he has since reverted back to the old Ron Artest in the last three. Once Andrew Bynum came back, especially, MWP wasn’t going to the low post position that aided his scoring totals in those two good games, instead resorting to shooting off balance jump shots and unnecessary 3-pointers. In those two good games, he was posting up smaller players, and going to the basket to either get fouled or [occasionally] make a layup, and he even went in for a one-handed dunk which is almost as rare as Fisher doing it. In order for him [and the team] to be successful, especially if they are going to depend on World Peace to anchor the bench squad, he must get the ball in the post area, closer to the basket so he can utilize his strength. It serves no one letting him camp out near the 3-point line because he can’t shoot the ball very well, and he can’t dribble into the middle to make a good shot or even a good pass very often, since he is so awkward and stiff with his movement.


         The rest of the bench looks good now, especially with Andrew Bynum back in the lineup, which moved Josh McRoberts back to the bench, where he provides some energy on the floor on offense and defense. The experiment starting the youngster small forward Devin Ebanks may have ended as Matt Barnes pushed his way into the starting lineup with his high-energy play in the previous games off the bench. Ebanks hasn’t even played in the last couple games, but there’s a good chance his services will be required again soon based on the likelihood of injuries and the requirement to give players more time off thanks to the tight scheduling. Troy Murphy hasn’t played much lately either, since they usually have some combination of Bynum, Gasol, and McRoberts on the floor so there isn’t much time available for him, but it looks like he is going to be a solid bench player, especially once he rounds himself into shape after missing most of last season with injuries. Derek Fisher’s backup at point guard, Steve Blake, has had a couple good games, and even though his shooting percentage isn’t yet above 40%, he looks more confident on the floor and is getting more playing time. The bench will play a huge part in their success this season, and there is some talent there, which is a vast improvement on how it looked a couple of weeks before the season started.


         Thankfully, they managed to maintain that trademark length in their front court with Bynum and Pau Gasol, and the additions of bench players McRoberts and Murphy, so the unloading of Lamar Odom doesn’t look as terrible. They only received a trade exception in exchange, so a trade still seems likely (unless they‘re just stupid and want to unload a good player for absolutely nothing), which means some of these present players are probably auditioning for other teams. If the Lakers can avoid trading Gasol and Bynum in their likely upcoming trade, it should make them an instant contender, even if it does mean losing some of their promising bench players. Time will tell… But for now I’m just glad they aren’t 0-6, because they could have just as easily lost each of those games that they ended up winning.