L.A. Lakers: 5 Things You Must Do to Beat Them in a 7-Game Series
The Los Angeles Lakers are peaking just as the postseason approaches, and it will be difficult for other teams to prevent the Lakers from capturing their third consecutive NBA title.
Difficult, but not impossible.
The Lakers are arguably the biggest, most talented, and they are definitely the most experienced team heading into the 2010-11 postseason, but there are chinks in the defending champ's armour.
Whether or not any opponent has the ability to exploit those weaknesses over the course of a seven game series is a different matter.
Any team can be beat in a single game, but unlike the Super Bowl or the NCAA Tournament, the NBA's champion is decided by the pressure of a seven game series, and more often than not the last team standing is usually the best.
The Lakers have been that team the last two years in part because they have imposed their will on the opposition, and their opponents have been unable to do the same on a consistent basis.
The Lakers' playoff opponents in 2009 and 2010 have been able to offer glimpses of strategies that could lead to victory over Los Angeles, but none of the teams have been able to maintain their advantage.
I have compiled a list of five things any opponent must do if they hope to defeat the Lakers in the postseason, but unfortunately, the list is a package deal.
Conquering one aspect of the list may cause the Lakers problems, but it probably won't beat them, because one of the greatest things about their championship teams has been their ability to adjust to their opponent's schemes.
In order to dethrone the Lakers, an opponent must excel in all five categories. Even then victory will not be guaranteed, but it will give you a fighting chance.
I have also included some of the teams who have found varying degrees of success employing these strategies in the past, but is there any team capable of combining these tactics this season?
Feel free to let me know what you think, and please offer any other strategies that I may have missed. Please enjoy.
5- Make Every Possession Count
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The Lakers may be one of the most offensively balanced teams in the NBA, and they are capable of applying pressure all over the court, so it's crucial for an opponent to maximize every possession.
Rushed offense can lead to quick points for the Lakers, and before you know it, an opponent can struggle just to keep pace.
One of the reasons the Oklahoma City Thunder found marginal success against the Lakers last season was their refusal to settle for the first available shot.
Patience really is a virtue against the Lakers' tough defense, and at times it may be smarter to pass up a good look at the basket for a great one.
4- Stay Competitive in the Paint
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The strength of the Lakers lies in the front court play of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom. If you allow those players to dominate a series, then the chances are pretty good that you will lose.
No other team can match the trio's combination of size, talent, strength, and versatility, and their advantage tends to increase as a series lingers on.
When the Lakers front court players are performing with focus and motivation, there is little chance of an opponent shutting them down, but their advantage can be minimized by competing in the paint and applying pressure on offense.
A team must have an inside presence that can score if they hope to beat the Lakers, and they must also have players that are not afraid to challenge the Lakers' long front line on the boards.
The Thunder were the only team that actually out-rebounded the Lakers in a playoff series last season, but they didn't have a player who was capable of contributing at least 15 points from the paint on a consistent basis.
3- Push the Tempo
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It's no secret that the Lakers will be one of the oldest teams in the postseason this year, and although they have the ability to score and defend in transition, they are much more comfortable in a half-court set.
The pace of the game usually slows down in the postseason, but if a team can find a way to force the Lakers into a fast-paced affair for the duration of a series, their chances will greatly improve.
Last season, the Phoenix Suns were at their best in the Western Conference Finals when they turned their games with the Lakers into track meets.
The Suns were able to turn a 16-point 4th quarter deficit in Game Five into a one-point lead by forcing the tempo and not allowing the Lakers defense to get set.
Of course it would help to have at least a slight understanding of defensive principles, because the Suns' biggest issue last postseason was their inability to stop the Lakers after they had scored themselves.
2- Employ the Pick-and-Pop Strategy
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One of the Lakers biggest perceived weaknesses during the Phil Jackson era has been their inability to defend the pick-and-roll offense.
There is some truth in that logic, but the Lakers were never really hurt by this strategy until the Detroit Pistons added a little wrinkle to the scheme during the 2004 NBA Finals.
The Pistons found greater success by setting a pick and then fading out to the perimeter instead of rolling into the face of the Lakers' defense.
This allowed Detroit to force the Lakers post players to defend the perimeter, and it also opened up the interior for players cutting to the basket.
The Lakers never figured out how to defend the pick-and-pop, and they were consequently ushered out of the Finals in a surprisingly easy five-game series.
Last season, the Phoenix Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder both found a little success using the same method, but neither team was able to be effective for the entire series.
This is probably the best way to neutralize the strength of the Lakers interior players, but the only way it will beat them is if a team has the ability to score consistently from the perimeter.
1- Dominate the Point Guard Matchup
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Any team that faces the Lakers in the postseason will likely enjoy an advantage in the point guard matchup, but in order to beat the Lakers an opponent can't just win that pairing, they have to dominate it.
The Lakers have suffered from poor defensive play from the point guard position in each of their past three seasons, but the team has been resilient enough to succeed despite that flaw.
The Lakers probably understand that the point guard position is where most opponents will mount their attack, so what they usually try to do is limit the damage by using Kobe Bryant to defend an opposing point guard in stretches.
The Thunder, Suns, and Celtics were all able to exploit the Lakers weakness at point guard defense in their respective series, and in each one Bryant was called on to turn the momentum.
The Lakers used Bryant to defend Russell Westbrook, Steve Nash, and Rajon Rondo at various stages, and the strategy worked because it was harder for those players to penetrate past the longer Bryant.
But if a team can force Bryant to defend the point guard position for longer stretches and create mismatches on other parts of the court, then they could cause the Lakers problems.
In order for that to happen, an opposing point guard must play with an attack mentality for an entire series, and their sole focus has to be on disrupting the Lakers defense through penetration.
