Lakers' Carpool Lane Defense Gives Green Flag

Despite the victory in Milwaukee last night, the hole in the Lakers’ defense has grown wider than a six-lane freeway.

The entire NBA knows the green flag is out. Getting into the paint against the Lakers is as easy as driving in the carpool lane at 4 AM.

The other night in Charlotte, the Bobcats scored 52 of their 94 points in the paint.

Last night in Milwaukee, Bucks center, Dan Gadzuric—who averages only four points—put up 14.

Strong forward, Richard Jefferson managed 29 points—10 points above his average. And point guard, Ramon Sessions, who was constantly penetrating the Lakers' middle had a triple-double with 16 points, 16 assists, and 10 rebounds.

The Lakers 104-98 victory to stop a two-game skid was anything but impressive.

Both Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom showed their fatigue early, as the Bucks transition game sped off to a 31-22 first quarter advantage.

The Bucks remained in control until the eight minute mark of the final quarter, when the Lakers finally forged ahead.

But the game remained in doubt until the final minute, when Bucks head coach, Scott Stiles, called a time out just as Charlie Villanueva grabbed a defensive rebound with the Lakers up 99-93.

Smart call, right?

Textbook?

But not when the Bucks had a surefire 3-on-1 fastbreak.

But the Lakers still needed a desperate leap by Pau Gasol to slap an offensive rebound back to Sasha Vujacic to prevent a final Bucks fastbreak.

The NASCAR defense that give opponents the checkered flag whenever they drive into the paint is not a recent development. It started some two months ago, when Andrew Bynum tripped over Kobe Bryant and tore his MCL. Without Bynum, the Lakers middle has been a virtual racetrack for opposing guards.

Only the Lakers high-powered offense has kept them at the top of the Western Conference. But their two highoctane scorers—Bryant and Gasol—are running out of gas since playing in the Olympics this past summer. They average average almost 40 minutes per contest since Bynum went down.

Now that fatigue has set in, Gasol, Bryant, and Odom need to spend more time in the pits getting refueled. This has put a lot of pressure on the Lakers inconsistent bench to become more consistent.

They could not do it in Atlanta and Charlotte, and lost their bid to catch Cleveland for the best overall record in the NBA.

Vujacic and Jordan Farmar were much more consistent last night and kept the Lakers close so Gasol, Bryant, and Odom could pull the game out.

But as I have been saying all along, the Lakers either need Bynum to return or the bench to play much more consistently. Without either, the Lakers won’t win the NBA title. In fact, they won’t even repeat as Western Conference Champions.

That’s my take. What’s yours?