February 7th, 2010 by Chase
It’s not going to be a walk in the park like it was back in 2000-01. It’s going to be a grind to the end. With fellow contenders in the West Denver Nuggets and the Celtics, Cavs, and Magic all lying in the East this year will be much tougher than last year. And that is why there are 10 things the Lakers need to improve on if they want to repeat as champs this year 2010. Here they are:
1. Better Defend the Point Guards
It’s no secret to the entire NBA that the Lakers have troubles guarding quick, penetrating point guards. Derek Fisher isn’t getting any younger. And Jordan Farmar is simply incapable of shutting down the opposing teams point guard. Every contending team has a point guard that gives the Lakers trouble. Billups, Mo Williams, Rondo, and Jameer Nelson. If the Lakers don’t find a way to fix this problem, they could be going home early.
2. Trade Vuyacic and Morrison
These are two players on the roster who are not capable of helping the team at all. They are both “shooters” who can’t shoot. Morrison is tradable because of his $5 million or so expiring contract. The only way you could get rid of Vuyacic is by packaging him with Morrison’s contract. This needs to happen before the trade deadline for so many reasons. Mainly because they could bring in a PG that could help with the problem mentioned in #1 of this post.
3. Get Kobe and Artest Healthy
Pau and Bynum have had some minor injuries this year. But Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest have been playing through some serious stuff. Kobe with his knee, back spasms, broken index finger, broken pinky, and bum ankle all need to be somewhat healed to get ready for the playoffs. Artest with his busted finger, and Plantar Fasciitis in both feet need to be healed. I don’t think I really need to explain how these two guys being healthy affects the Lakers.
4. Get Bynum to Play Defense
Not sure what coach PJ and the crew need to do here to get the big man motivated defensively. But I know one thing is for sure, it cannot be offensive touches that gets him motivated to play defense. He needs to learn to bring it every night. Bynum needs to learn a few things from Kendrick Perkins on how to play defensive and make an impact on every game by doing so.
5. Integrate Ron Artest Offensively
Not sure how long this is going to take, but the Lakers don’t have but a few more months longer to figure it out. The offense struggles when he’s on the floor. And for some reason it seems like he’s always having to settle for 3’s. He’s a great post-up player. They need to look for him a little more in the post and get him a little more offensive minded.
6. More Post Up’s For Pau Gasol
Instead of feeding the ball into Bynum, the Lakers need to feed the ball into Pau more to take advantage of his size against other Power Forwards in the league. I think I speak for every Laker fan when I say I would like to see Pau be tougher inside against the smaller PF’s. When Pau has a size advantage there is nobody in the world who can guard him.
7. Need Bench To Build Leads
The Lakers bench has been inconsistent at best this year. In order to keep the starters healthy this year, the bench is going to have to step up their play and build leads so the starters can get more rest at the end of games. And in the case of the tougher matchups in the NBA, the bench needs to at least help maintain the lead built up by the Starters. This is critical to every championship team and the Lakers are currently not doing it.
8. All-Star play from Lamar Odom
Even though he comes off the bench, he’s still the 3rd best player on the entire team! When Lamar is on his game he is doing everything. He’s scoring, rebounding, and he’s even your best defender on many nights. When he is playing at an All-Star level and Kobe is feeling good, the Lakers are nearly impossible to beat.
9. Continued Great Play from Shannon Brown
The word I like to describe Shannon Brown’s play this year would be “refreshing”. He plays hard on both ends of the floor. He can finish around the rim as good as any Laker. And he’s not afraid to take a big shot when asked. If he can continue to play this way throughout the rest of the season and into the playoffs, it definitely increases the Lakers chances to repeat.
10. Home Court in the West
The Lakers need home court against the Denver Nuggets. That’s what this is all about. The Nuggets are a tough team to beat at home in the high altitude, and the Lakers are sure to meet up with them at some point during the playoffs. It wouldn’t hurt to get home court throughout by beating out the Cavs either considering the type of home team they are.
