Los Angeles Lakers: 6 Flaws the New Orleans Hornets Have Exposed
In the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers were expected to bulldoze the New Orleans Hornets.
New Orleans was without injured David West and all of the ESPN analysts predicted the Lakers would win in four or five games.
Well, someone forgot to tell the Hornets they were supposed to roll over.
Chris Paul came ready to play and led his team to a stunning victory in Game 1, proving to all the doubters that they would not go down easily.
The Hornets pushed the Lakers to six games, but didn’t have enough talent and size to match up with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers’ big men.
Although the Hornets fell short, they exposed some flaws in the defending champs.
Here are six of them.
6. Pau Gasol Can Still Be Pushed Around
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Over the last few years, Pau Gasol has received a lot of criticism for being soft.
It all started when Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics abused Gasol in the 2008 NBA Finals. Gasol had an awful series and was a key reason the Lakers lost the series.
While Gasol played much better during the 2009 and 2010 playoff runs, Carl Landry and the Hornets recently showed that he can still be pushed around. They proved that if you get physical and aggressive with Gasol, he often wilts like a flower.
I doubt that Gasol will continue to play as poorly as he did in the Hornets series, but there are still concerns about his toughness.
5. The Lakers Are Getting Older
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The age of the LA Lakers was on display in round one of the playoffs.
On several occasions, the athleticism and youth of Chris Paul, Trevor Ariza and Carl Landry made the Lakers look old and slow.
To no one’s surprise, Derek Fisher had a tough time chasing down Paul. In the paint, Landry was quick to the basket and scored many easy buckets.
While the size and strength of the Lakers were the difference in the series, the youth of the Hornets gave them a scare.
The Lakers should be fine against the older Dallas Mavericks, but the athleticism of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies could prevent them from returning the the Finals.
4. Kobe Bryant Can Be Slowed by Fast and Long Defenders
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While Kobe had a solid series against the Hornets, most of his success came against smaller guards.
He had no problem shooting over the top of Willie Green and Marco Belinelli, but he was not as effective against the taller Trevor Ariza.
Kobe’s sprained ankle may have slowed him down a bit, but even before the injury Ariza did a decent job of slowing him down.
While there is no such thing as a Kobe-stopper, defenders who are quick enough to stay in front of Kobe and tall enough to challenge his shots have found success keeping him in check.
Kobe is a savvy veteran who will always find a way to get his points. No one can stop him.
But during the Hornets series, Ariza proved that fast and long defenders can slow him down.
3. The Lakers' Bench Is Inconsistent
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While the Lakers won the battle of the bench against the Hornets, they were very inconsistent.
In the four wins, LA’s bench outscored New Orleans’ bench by 12 points per game.
In the two losses, LA’s bench was outscored by 9 points per game.
Lamar Odom won Sixth Man of the Year because he consistently delivered. Besides Odom, the Lakers’ bench has been hit-and-miss.
Shannon Brown, Steve Blake and Matt Barnes must step up and play consistently.
2. The Lakers Don’t Have a Championship Mindset…Yet
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While the Lakers had a great regular season and finished with the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, many feel that they could have performed even better.
The Lakers had several lows during the season including a five-game losing streak and a road loss to the lowly Cavaliers.
Sometimes they looked great. Sometimes they looked bored.
During the season most Lakers fans said, “just wait for the playoffs.” Well, the playoffs began in disappointing fashion and fans had to watch an energetic Hornets team steal Game 1 in Los Angeles.
While losing is always tough for fans, the way the Lakers lost was particularly frustrating. The team looked out of sync and disinterested.
Did someone forget to tell them the playoffs had started?
The Lakers didn’t play their best basketball until the series was tied 2-2 and their backs were against the wall.
While that kind of effort might work against the inferior Hornets, do the Lakers think they can just “flip the switch” against championship contenders?
1. The Lakers Struggle Defending Quick and Athletic Point Guards
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While Kobe had some fantastic moments in the series, Chris Paul was the clear MVP.
He single-handedly won two games for the Hornets and gave the Lakers everything they could handle. Paul ran the pick and roll to perfection and picked apart the Lakers’ defense.
As the series wore on, the Lakers did a much better job of defending him, but that had more to do with Paul running out of energy than anything else.
This was not the first time that a quick and athletic point guard made the Lakers’ defense look bad.
In round one of last year’s playoffs, Russell Westbrook was nearly unstoppable. Until Kobe Bryant stepped up and decided to guard Westbrook, many thought the Thunder could pull off an upset.
The Lakers’ inability to guard fast point guards is the team’s biggest weakness and could ultimately prevent them from finishing the three-peat.
