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They are playing better..but consider the teams they have been playing. Knicks are good..but there really isn't much to take away from that game..NY didn't show up..neither did Amare or Felton.
...I have been watching the last games they played and they have turned up the intensity, passing the ball, rebounding and hiting their jumpers with a better % than they did in Dec.
If you asked me, this is what I was expecting from them by this time of the season (mid-season).
does somebody else share these thoughts ?
They are playing better..but consider the teams they have been playing. Knicks are good..but there really isn't much to take away from that game..NY didn't show up..neither did Amare or Felton.
No surprise that they struggled at the start of the season, nor at their playing really good right now. Barring injury, the Lakers are still defending champs and it won't be easy by any means to dethrone them.
wrong forum
Exactly. Mods remove this stench from the Spurs side.
Lakers & Chuck Person Adjusting Team Defense LA Times: An embarrassing dip into history nudged the Lakers into action.
The franchise was fuming last month after thorny losses to Miami and Milwaukee, a two-game spell that became the first time since 1959 the Lakers lost consecutive home games by 16 or more points.
It was time for a change, a heightened at ude toward defense, after Milwaukee's Earl Boykins punctured them for 22 points Dec. 21 and the Miami Heat took turns pummeling them on Christmas Day.
The Lakers had won two championships under a defensive scheme installed by former assistant coach Kurt Rambis, but there was a growing need for more accountability among their perimeter defenders.
Coach Phil Jackson was bothered by the Lakers' defense this season, and assistant coach Chuck Person helped restructure and clarify a majority of the changes that were made.
The Lakers' perimeter defenders used to funnel players toward the middle of the key, where their big men would presumably step out and help stop the penetration. Now the Lakers are forcing opposing perimeter players toward the baseline and often keeping their big men closer to the basket.
Person was in charge of the Lakers' game plan Sunday against the New York Knicks, who scored 21 fewer points than they average and shot only 36% in the Lakers' 109-87 victory.
"Lately we've been paying more attention to details," Person said. "We've given some rules to our defense to hold guys more accountable for their defensive responsibility."
The Lakers used to welcome middle penetration. Now they abhor it.
"The basic principle is to make sure we keep the ball out of the middle of the floor," Person said. "We want to make sure we influence the ball down the sideline and then to the baseline. It's not a total departure from what we've done, but we just tweaked it a bit."
Despite solid recent results, Jackson said the defense was still not flawless.
"We're trying to break habits more than anything else," he said. "We've been playing a form of defense that has been pretty good for us the last four years, but I'm trying to make some adjustments and to break those habits takes some time."
It's because of Bynum. When he is healthy, he turns Lakers into a significantly better team.
Let's hope he misses the rest of the season then
I thought their offense was mostly the culprit. They had a hard time putting up 90 points on the board. I think this is a stretch of the schedule that they needed to take advantage of, and except for the Memphis beatdown, they're doing it.
I thought it was a move to be running up the score against the Cavs last night (they were up 30+ at halftime and Phil played the starters pretty much until it was a 50+ point game), but maybe that's what they need to get their confidence back on track.
We'll see where they're at when the schedule gets tough again.
...I'm at work ....... and about to lose it because of this
I like how that article failed to mention the spurs beatdown which was part of a streak of 15+ point losses
84 points allowed last 5
And it's still preseason. We all saw how the Lakers flipped their defensive switch during the back to back. Gluck, Western Conference.
oh no...
they just had an easier schedule...since dec 10 till now they have faced only 4 good teams in bulls, spurs, heat and knicks....why wouldnt they roll with such an easy schedule
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule...angeles-lakers
considering the East powerhouses they've played recently, i'd say they are definitely back.
Fabbs you need to post this pic. in the NBA forum. Too funny.
I didn't make it.
Can't remember who did but yes, mega props to he/she for this.
I like to be realistic.
Ridiculous cherry picking
The only reason you get that 84 number is because the Cavs only scored 57.
You take out the last Cavs game and they've given up 94 in the previous 6, all of them at home except Phoenix and the only two teams over .500 during that stretch were NOH and NYK.
Scoring is what's been up. Lakers averaged about 100 points during those 6 (The Memphis loss being the low point with 83). That's somewhat expected when you're playing ty teams though (Spurs did the same early in the season)
Legit Laker fan that actually knows basketball.
I can just see a whole scene with Kobe in a Xerxes voice saying... I can make you the Champion of the NBA. I only ask, that you kneel.
Yes, definitely starting to Troll.
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