Degree of Difficulty

Toward the end of last season, after the Lakers acquired Gasol, and into the playoffs, I used to play this game in my head. The Lakes had some unbelievable record when they scored 100 points first and when games got into the third Q I'd calculate what they needed to score to win. "Okay, just twenty more points," I'd think to myself. Or "If they put up another fifteen, there's no way they're losing this one." For the most part, it worked. But then they got to the Finals and everybody thought they'd blow by the slower Celts who had to play two seven-game series just to reach the conference finals. I wasn't so sure because deep down I knew the Lakers would eventually have to play some defense and as everyone always says you can't just turn it on. True, they were without Bynum, who even if he's not scoring is a deterrent down low, and Ariza was just coming back off his injury. But the playoffs are about dictating tempo and against good teams you can't always expect to outscore everyone.

Fast forward to this year's Lakers team and you see a lot of similarities. Phil Jackson has tried to make this a better defensive team but when things didn't work early on he was the first to say, "I guess we're just a good offensive team." At times, LA can be a great offensive team. Just look at how many double-digit leads they've raced to only to let teams get back into (and occasionally win) the game. Some may say it's the nature of the NBA and to an extent it is. But people who watch the Lakers know they're not a good defensive team. That's not to say they can't play decent D. They've done it in the past. They held Cleveland to 30-some points in the second half there after surrendering 60 in the first. But basically their MO is to outscore opponents.

I know. I know. It's hard to quibble with a 48-12 record including four wins over the Eastern’s best. But if you look back at the games individually, you'll see that the Lakers don't blow too many teams out. The good thing is they themselves are rarely blown out. I'd say the Sacramento loss early on (113-101) and Friday night's loss in Denver are probably their worse defeats of the season. Which means two things. One, they're in every game with a chance to win. Two, so are their opponents. And while a mark of good team is to win the close ones, three-point Ws over Miami and Indiana and a two-point win over New York (all at home) are a scary sight to behold, let alone witness in real time.

You don't have to watch the Lakers much to know that they give up a lot of open threes. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding why they double so much and it doesn't help that more times than one would hope, someone like LO or Sasha ends up doubling way out on the floor, leaving somebody, usually a good shooter with an open look. It doesn't surprise me that the Magic beat them twice. Orlando lives by the three and even though the Lakers know that they gave them look after open look. Obviously, part of the problem is slow rotations. With the exception of Ariza, the Lakers have to be one of the worst show and recover teams in the L.

But a bigger problem in my view is the degree of difficulty with which LA plays. Case in point is today's loss to the Suns. The Suns 56 percent shooting included at least four uncontested layups/dunks and two makes off missed free throws. If you look at the shot chart, Phoenix had 30 points off layups/dunks. THAT'S A QUARTER WORTH OF POINTS. It helped that the Suns missed 16 free throws, otherwise the game wouldn't have been close. But at some point, you just can't give up so many easy baskets and expect to win (it's great to have Fish and Farmar penetrate, but there's no responsibility when they turn the ball over). And yet, game after game the Lakers will come down on O, move the ball for Gasol to score or have Kobe make some ridiculous shot only to give up a layup on the other end. It’s like they’re trying to invent new ways to win without playing D every single night.

What's more is the Lakers routinely start slow, get behind, ratchet up the D somewhat or ride Kobe back into the game. How many games recently have they given up 60 points in the first half? Now, it's a long season and I'm as confident in PJ's ability to get guys rested and sharp for the playoffs. And I know this is a much better defensive team with Andrew in the middle. But just once I'd like to see the Lakers come out and play aggressive D from the start of the game. If you look back to the first two games of the season, that's exactly what they did. But ever since then they've been playing to the level of their opponent. How else do you explain wins over Cleveland and Boston and Ls to Sacto, Indiana, Charlotte and the depleted Suns?