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FAQ: Lakers best defensive team?
Phil Jackson’s team learned it the hard way in the 2008 Finals, when Boston basically dominated them: “We know that Boston played better defense than us.” And Pau Gasol is not the only one to notice that “If you want to win it all, you also have to play the best defense in the league.” Derek Fisher adds, “We were a little jealous of Boston’s defense. We want to be as good – if not better – this season!” This is exactly what the Lakers are doing this season so far.
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Only the right attitude is not the reason, but passion for defense is always a good start. This start is mostly being made by Kobe Bryant. In the past, Kobe was known as a true defender when the game was on the line, but he never did this for a whole season. This season, though, KB24 is as efficient on defense as he was during the Olympics last year. His teammates will follow Kobe: What else could you imagine for Kobe to expect from HIS team?
Coach Jackson, however, is the one behind this new system. He wants the Lakers to play a more aggressive zone defense, with lots of help, recovery, and fast rotation; his agile team helps him with that.
While Kobe leads the team with intensity and Jackson with strategy, Andrew Bynum is a kind of insurance for the Lakers, with 2.5 blocks per game putting him right behind Dwight Howard. Together with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, Bynum is at the core of a very agile defense. “Andrew and me are both very athletic seven-footers,” says Gasol. “It is our role to be security for our guards.” On top of that, both are great defenders against the pick-and-roll.
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In wing player Trevor Ariza, the Lakers are happy to have another great defender, who only played 24 games in the 08/09 season because of a foot injury. With his athleticism and height, Ariza can guard the opposition’s top scorer while giving Bryant a few breaks on defense. Like so, the Lakers are capable of pressure on the best guy for 48 minutes with Ariza and Bryant. With Ariza’s return, another Laker might be pretty unhappy: Luke Walton’s playing time has plummeted from 23.4 to 4.3 minutes per game.
The only weak point on the new Hollywood defense might be drives by fast point guards. Detroit, Sacramento, New Orleans and the Bulls showed that pretty clear. This is now why Phil Jackson preaches: “Stop the penetration first!” he adds “We have to stop the penetration to slow the game down.” We will see if the Lakers can work on this. If so, the rest of the league should be scared already…
