During the course of the NBA season I'll be offering my insights on the league about things I think are interesting or things I think may have gone unnoticed. Ususally, they'll be on one specific team and will be posted on talkhoops.net's Eight Second Violation section, a portion of the website that is updated daily. My first observations, posted today on the website, are on the Lakers and their dominance during their first two games.
Notes on the Lakers:
After the Lakers routed both the Portland Trailblazers and the Los Angeles Clippers, one of the most surprising things about the Lakers this season has been their defense. They’re only allowing 77.5 points per game and a measly 36.4 percent from the field – and they’re doing it by playing long stretches of good, solid defense. There have been six separate occasions just in their first two games where they have held their opponent scoreless for longer than three minutes resulting in runs of 8-0, 10-0, 9-0, 17-0, 10-0 and 12-0. What’s more impressive is the fact that one of the Lakers 10-0 runs and their 17-0 run against the Clippers came while their second units were on the floor during the second quarter of each game.
The depth of this team has also made Kobe Bryant quietly more dangerous. It seems ironic because Bryant is only averaging 19.5 points per game and only attempting 14.5 shots a night. Great scorers are always itching to go off and this season, it isn’t going to take much to set Bryant off. It seems Bryant is only going to put up big numbers when he needs to or when he is given a reason to – like he was in the third quarter against the Blazers. Going into the third Bryant had only scored six points, but after a hard foul by Portland’s Joel Przybilla, Bryant rattled off 17 of his team high 23 points in a 9:11 span. Look forward to short, quiet scoring binges at random times and during crunch time from Bryant all season.
Not expected: No one expected Trevor Ariza to play this well this early. He seems to be completely comfortable in the offense and his teammates are very comfortable with him on the floor. Also, he’s shot very well from behind the arch where he was two for two on opening night and two for three against the Clippers. If Ariza can keep up the hot shooting the Lakers bench could potentially be one of the most productive benches in NBA history with Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic all playing well too.
Something to consider: This trend obviously will not continue during the course of the season, but the Lakers are averaging 11 different scorers per game after their first two. In their game against the Blazers, nine different Lakers scored at least five points and Chris Mihm came in and pick up two points at the end of the game. Against the Clippers, all 12 Lakers who suited up contributed at least four points to their 117-79 victory.
15 years ago
2 comments:
i think its bad ass that you are able to contribute to that website. your perception and ability to disect a game far exceeds mine homie. so ima do my best to keep up with you. what excites me is that you are a Lakers fan and i am a die hard Kevin Garnett fan, which makes me a die hard Celtics fan. i too am impressed with my Celtic start of the season, we just destroyed the Bulls and gave an inconsistent performance against the Cavs and still won by 5. I see the laker/celtic debates continuing to at least the conference championships. Perhaps the Finals again?
I'm preying for another Lakers-Celtics Finals, actually. I grew up with my dad bragging about how great basketball was in the 80s and about how I missed out. Basketball is finally becoming great again, and nothing would make me happier than the Lakers ending their season moping up the Celtics in the Finals lol... hopefully they don't have too many more nights like they did against the Pacers last night lol.
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