Pivot Points: The Point of Attack Is a Point of Concern For the Lakers

In basketball most half-court offenses are orchestrated by the point guard, who has usually gone through his mental progressions before he crosses the time line, and has a good idea of where he wants to initiate the offense.

He usually does this by making a pass in the post, a pass to the wing, or a man on the perimeter cuts through the paint and the point guard slides over to occupy the space that was recently vacated.

Traditionally, this is the duty of the point guard but there is another type which has been a bane to the Los Angeles Lakers recently, and that guard is the one who looks to establish his own offense through dribble penetration.

It's no secret the Lakers have trouble defending small speedy guards, but the extent of the problem may be greater than once thought, because once the perimeter has been breached chaos ensues throughout the defense.

The Lakers seem to have little trouble with premier point guards such as Jason Kidd or Chauncey Billups because their games are not predicated on penetration that creates opportunities at the rim.

Billups and Kidd are more in the traditional mold because they prefer to run in transition, but they initiate their offense through other players, rather than making themselves the focal point.

These types of guards are easier for the Lakers to defend because they tend to be a little slower and their primary objective is not to skewer the defense with the dribble, but rather the pass.

Houston Rocket guard Aaron Brooks exposed the level of vulnerability the Lakers have to dribble penetration by almost leading a Rockets team without Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming to an upset of the Lakers.

Los Angeles had no answer for Brooks and his performance set the tone for opposing defenses when trying to expose weaknesses in the Laker armour.

This is an issue the Lakers are cognizant of, but have seemed powerless to prevent it from happening, and truthfully it's something which has plagued Los Angeles many times before.

The San Antonio Spurs brought the issue to the forefront in their struggle with Los Angeles to claim the title of the decade's best team, as Tony Parker and not Tim Duncan became the biggest matchup problem for the Lakers.

Duncan's name was the one in lights, but it was Parker's cameos which took center stage, as the Lakers repeatedly tried to no avail to slow the speedy guard down.

Recently there has been a call to sit Derek Fisher and let the younger guards such as Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar assume the reins of the team, but events have shown they don't fare much better than Fisher.

I have my own misgivings about Fisher but they mainly concern his tendency to force bad shots in large quantities at the most inopportune times, rather than his ability to defend the perimeter.

It is true Fisher may have lost a step but right now his experience more than compensates for the lack of discipline and confidence that Farmar and Brown bring to the table.

Brown and Farmar may have the edge in physical abilities over Fisher but so far they have been unable to utilize them in a way which would separate them from Fisher and possibly merit a promotion in the rotation.

Farmar has the quickness and is blessed with long arms which would ideally make him a great defender on the perimeter but he has yet to show the growth and maturity that would indicate he is ready to accept the responsibility.

Farmar has had his moments but too often he is a victim to poor footwork and an inability to fight through screens when he is confronted with them, which causes various problems as a consequence.

Brown on the other hand, is the perfect type of player for the Laker defense because he possesses the height, quickness, and athletic skill to be a viable deterrent to opposing offenses.

Brown's only issue is he tends to sometimes play out of control and get lost in the moment, losing his mental focus and falling into a rhythm of un-disciplined play.

This is something which can be corrected with more experience and at times Brown has appeared to be the future answer for the majority of the Lakers' defensive woes.

But, he's not there yet and meanwhile the Lakers are forced to deal with the domino effect that has been created due to their inability to defend the perimeter.

Once their first line of defense has been breached the Lakers' post players have seemed unsure of their rotations and have left free forays to the rim on numerous occasions.

This has caused a break down in the entire Laker defensive scheme which has resulted in easy points at the rim or uncontested shots on the perimeter.

The point of attack could be the single flaw which hampers a Laker repeat bid, and is the one piece in need of immediate attention if the Lakers are to fortify their defenses for the final stretch.