Lakers Defense - Looking more and more like the Pistons?

[Cardom]

Is it just me, or alre Lakers looking a lot like Pistons in terms of their defense. At Orlando, they had 7 steals and 7 blocks. We have kept the opponets under 40% FG in the last four games and around 42% in the last 10. This team is for a real, and they will perform a defensive clinic on Miami.

[kobenbynum]

I don't know about playing defense as well as the Pistons because the Lakers don't have Big Ben but I do think they are just going to keep getting better.

This is not a fluke. These guys want to win and were insulted by all the preseason predictions.

[OX1947]

I have been stressing the issue about Kwame playing like Wallace for this very reason. Im hoping that in a few months we can go back to the mihm/brown combo at PF/C. I know the problem has been spacing with the two, but I hope they can fix that that way mihm can be our weakside shotblocker and kwame can be are man on man defender and rebounder....

[Cardom]

It would be ideal if Kwame and Mihm could play together, but Kwame needs to step up his game at PF. I wonder if he can do it.

[dirka dirka]

there are only like 2 choices on your poll, 1-2 and 3-4 are basically saying the same thing...

I like 1-2 though

[Serious NBA Fan]

The Pistons have B Wallace as tha anchor of the defense and the eraser. We don't have that in that quality in Mihm.

They Have Prince on the primeter, we have George. Advantage Pistons.

Now, if we get Artest or even Patterson, that would really help!

[postandpivot]

[TooCool]

I doubt that. Refs don't let us grab and hack like the Pistons do.
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[LakerFan1972]

It is definetely their defense. I think comparing them to the Pistons is a bit much. However, comparing to how sad their defense was last year this years Lakers have made a huge jump.

I do think Kwame can play PF, but it will take time. At least Kwame is contributing more consistently now that he is seeing more of his minutes come as the backup C.

[SirRunnethOfSoCal]

I'd like to see more of Kwame and Mihm in the starting lineup as the season progresses. However, with Phil, he's very keen on matchups and using different lineups to try and exploit possible mismatches with other teams' starting players. I like it. But in any case, I'm hoping I see more of Kwame and Mihm in the starting lineup together. I'm hoping that Kwame's confidence and ability to adapt to the triangle keeps moving in a positive direction. Also, his offensive skills need to improve, obviously. That right hand baby-hook looks awfully ineffective at times and he relies on it too much. He needs to seal his man down in the low post a lot more, since he seems very effective when he's that close to the basket. Developing a short jumper from 8-12 feet out, facing the basket, would be a nice counter to his spin move down low. Defensively, I'm liking his effort and hopefully he establishes himself more as an imposing wall against any dribble penetrators coming in. He and Mihm can potentially be a very good tandem in the low post if they just learn how to play and help each other out. I think it's going to take a little bit of time, but we're headed in that direction. More smart decisions by Kwame, means more minutes for playing time. And the more playing time he gets, more confidence in himself will build up. The more confidence builds up, the more chances of that beast from within him is awakened . When that happens, look out. I'm hoping, for I still see great potential in him.

p.s.
F the refs.

[Annihilator]

I went looking through the sortable team stats at nba.com to find some significant differences between the Lakers and Detroit. The statistic that seems to be the best indicator of how well a team has done so far this season is the average difference in points scored and opponents 3ptfg%. I thought rebounding and blocks per game would be pretty good indicators but they don't seem have as strong of a correlation (I just eyeballed it, I didn't actually do the statistics).

I will let everyone draw their own conclusions about what the statistics mean, but it was very interesting to see the average difference in points scored, the opponents fg% and and the opponents 3ptfg% of the Lakers over the last ten games and compare it with Detroit's last ten games. Looking at the season averages and what it seems to indicate about how good a team is and then looking at the last ten games really says a story about how well the Lakers are playing right now.


Sortable stats:
http://www.nba.com/statistics/sortable_team_statistics/sortable1.html?cnf=1&prd=1#top
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“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”

--Anonymous

[macwebb]

[lakeshowhorizon.]

I like their defensive cohesion. I think it's one of the best in the league and will only get better. It's very organized, their defense. You can tell that they're pretty much on the same page on that end of the floor and it's coming together on the other end too...From the harrassing on the perimeter to the collapsing in the paint, this team has put the D in defense this season.


For me, the difference between the Lakers D and the Pistons is a mental thing. THe Pistons could struggle the whole game offensively and still be in it down the wire because their D is solid throughout. They don't let their offensive woes affect their D. The Lakers still have some mental lapses here and there(getting better tho) but would'nt be suprised if their D is up to par with the Pistons by season's end, especially with both Ronnies? .

Just grateful they're playin some aggressive D this season.

[Kobina returns]

Wizards .342 fg% 91pts

Rockets .392 fg% 76pts

Mavericks .370 fg% 90pts

Magic .395 fg% 88pts

These are the defensive stats for the last 4 games. Lets keep it up.
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To win the title, Lakers will have to overcome the world.

[Kobina returns]