The Lakers size are overrated

[harrmonica]

The Lakers bigs are formidable when they are healthy and being used to their potential.

However, some people act as if the only way a team could possibly beat the Lakers is if they had equal size / length / height.  The notion seems to be that the Lakers are invincible except against some other team that can also trot out three multi-talented seven footers.  That's silly.

thank you.

[ducksawce]

For sure, the Lakers' bigs are no joke.  They were certainly the #1 reason the Lakers were champions at the expense of the Celtics, but I somewhat understand the sentiment of the original post.

Teams need skilled bigs in order to win against the Lakers...that much is true.  That's why I never even entertained the idea of OKCity taking the down in the 1st round last year.  However, teams don't need the SAME types of bigs that the Lakers do...and that is where the Celtics come in...

...and as usual, it simply all boils down to KG.  The national media has largely forgotten KG's (true) impact on the Celtics....because his credo is help defense, and that is something that is hard to put into basic stats...one needs to actually watch him on the court to see his impact.  Shaq is no slouch either.  I would argue that at one end of the ball, a KG-Shaq pair is instantly MUCH more potent defensively than any Laker big combo out there.  There really is no disputing that.  This team was 1st in defense for the first half of the year with THAT very pairing (and Shaq wasn't even consistently in the lineup during that time!).

And has everybody forgotten that the Lakers as a WHOLE rebounded well in game 7?...not just the bigs.  How many rebounds did Kobe have?...15!  The Celtics did a p--- poor job of gang rebounding in game 7...and I'll hand it to Kobe...he did what superstars should do...despite a horrid shooting night, he came through on the boards.

This is where the Green acquisition comes in.  Already we are seeing it's effects on Paul Pierce's level of play...just phenomenal.  You get rest for Paul and Ray...you get consistent offense, and consistent gang-rebounding.  Just watch back to many of the most significant games of this year (spurs, magic, lakers, bulls)...the gang rebounding by these two, especially Paul, excelled.

Add in a healthy Shaq, a 10 minute Jermaine, Kristic, the KG/Baby tandem, and the 3-2 Paul/Ray/Green platoon...and YES, I think the Celtics will do just fine on the boards against the Lakers.  In summary, the Lakers' length IS as real as it is vaunted, but it doesn't necessarily have to be copied in the same exact way in order for teams to be successful. 

[guava_wrench]

The Lakers bigs are formidable when they are healthy and being used to their potential.

However, some people act as if the only way a team could possibly beat the Lakers is if they had equal size / length / height.  The notion seems to be that the Lakers are invincible except against some other team that can also trot out three multi-talented seven footers.  That's silly.

thank you.

To go a step further, assertions that any team 'can not be beat' do not make sense to me. Teams can have very strong advantages, but we should not exaggerate their chances. Even Atlanta almost knocked us out of the playoffs in 2008.

[snively]

The Lakers' size is their best asset.  If anything's overrated on that team, it's Kobe, whose alpha dogging often keeps the Lakers from exploiting their size advantage.

The one weakness in the Lakers frontcourt is speed.  When Bynum and Gasol play together, they are very slow.  Odom/Gasol make a quicker tandem, but their interior D isn't as imposing.

[Rondo_is_better]

The Lakers' size is their best asset.  If anything's overrated on that team, it's Kobe, whose alpha dogging often keeps the Lakers from exploiting their size advantage.

The one weakness in the Lakers frontcourt is speed.  When Bynum and Gasol play together, they are very slow.  Odom/Gasol make a quicker tandem, but their interior D isn't as imposing.

I guess I don't have to post. TP.

[droopdog7]

This post is essentially the anti-truth.  The lakers size is the one thing that separates them from just about everr other team.  And when is the last time the bigs dominated a series?  How about every single series they play in?

In fact, I will take it a step further. The single biggest reason they win is because of their size, not because of kobe.

[droopdog7]

i think having green vs LA will make things very interesting.

assume the lakers have kobe at the 2 and artest at the 3. when we want to rest ray, we can have pierce at the 2, and green at the 3. now that puts the lakers in a tough spot. kobe will have problems overpowering either pierce or green when he posts up (he'll work very hard to make those fadeaways and jumpshots) and then when hes on defense, if hes on green, green will post him every time, or if its pierce, well you know how pierce likes to use his size.

i also think we'll have bbd and green split the minutes on odom. i also think that if one of the oneals are injured, bbd may see more time on bynum and so green will get more minutes on odom.

but green will play a big role in the lineup mentioned above with him at the 3.

This is a great point and something I have thought about as well.  kobe has been able to roam on defense against us because they always put him on Rondo.  When we put Green in as SF, kobe will have to guard PP.  And even if he doesn't go off, PP will certainly make kobe work.  Hoefully he will also punish him some with his strength.

[Junkyard Dawg]

I don't understand how the dialogue on these boards has changed so much since the Perk trade.  Since 07-08 the Lakers and the Celtics have been the ONLY 2 teams in the nba, everyone else has been a pretender.  Every team has been measured according to how their bigs stack up against the Lakers and the C's.  People thought the Cavs, the Magic, OKC and other teams could compete because they made up for their lack of multiple dominant big men in other areas.  They couldn't.

Now all of a sudden Danny Ainge and many others in Celtic nation are making the bet that it HASN'T been the bigs that have won championships.  All of a sudden a moderately talented offensive center is more valuable than one of the best defensive bigs in the league.  Now I understand it's debatable if Perk was gonna come back and dominate this year (to me, he looked pretty good in his few games back with the C's), but I don't understand how black turns to white and up goes to down without explanation overnight.  I really, really hope everyone is right about size, i mean we still have 5 guys who are 6'11"+ and BBD.  But you have to differentiate between BIGS (Bynum, Perk, Shaq, Howard) and bigs (Krstic, Odom, Gasol) and this trade definitely made us more of the lower-cased variety.

[Who]

i think having green vs LA will make things very interesting.

assume the lakers have kobe at the 2 and artest at the 3. when we want to rest ray, we can have pierce at the 2, and green at the 3. now that puts the lakers in a tough spot. kobe will have problems overpowering either pierce or green when he posts up (he'll work very hard to make those fadeaways and jumpshots) and then when hes on defense, if hes on green, green will post him every time, or if its pierce, well you know how pierce likes to use his size.

i also think we'll have bbd and green split the minutes on odom. i also think that if one of the oneals are injured, bbd may see more time on bynum and so green will get more minutes on odom.

but green will play a big role in the lineup mentioned above with him at the 3.

This is a great point and something I have thought about as well.  kobe has been able to roam on defense against us because they always put him on Rondo.  When we put Green in as SF, kobe will have to guard PP.  And even if he doesn't go off, PP will certainly make kobe work.  Hoefully he will also punish him some with his strength.

I think it'll be Rondo who does more of the damage offensively than anyone else ... once he is freed from the shackles of Kobe Bryant.

Rondo has been devastating whenever Kobe Bryant has switched off of him ... he'll be able to tear that Lakers defense apart at will.

[droopdog7]

I don't understand how the dialogue on these boards has changed so much since the Perk trade.  Since 07-08 the Lakers and the Celtics have been the ONLY 2 teams in the nba, everyone else has been a pretender.  Every team has been measured according to how their bigs stack up against the Lakers and the C's.  People thought the Cavs, the Magic, OKC and other teams could compete because they made up for their lack of multiple dominant big men in other areas.  They couldn't.

Now all of a sudden Danny Ainge and many others in Celtic nation are making the bet that it HASN'T been the bigs that have won championships.  All of a sudden a moderately talented offensive center is more valuable than one of the best defensive bigs in the league.  Now I understand it's debatable if Perk was gonna come back and dominate this year (to me, he looked pretty good in his few games back with the C's), but I don't understand how black turns to white and up goes to down without explanation overnight.  I really, really hope everyone is right about size, i mean we still have 5 guys who are 6'11"+ and BBD.  But you have to differentiate between BIGS (Bynum, Perk, Shaq, Howard) and bigs (Krstic, Odom, Gasol) and this trade definitely made us more of the lower-cased variety.

To me, the risk wasn't that we got smaller (we didn't), but that we are now relying on at least one of the O'Neals to be healthy and contribute.  If they can, we we still have the size to match up with the lakers. 

[Fafnir]

i think having green vs LA will make things very interesting.

assume the lakers have kobe at the 2 and artest at the 3. when we want to rest ray, we can have pierce at the 2, and green at the 3. now that puts the lakers in a tough spot. kobe will have problems overpowering either pierce or green when he posts up (he'll work very hard to make those fadeaways and jumpshots) and then when hes on defense, if hes on green, green will post him every time, or if its pierce, well you know how pierce likes to use his size.

i also think we'll have bbd and green split the minutes on odom. i also think that if one of the oneals are injured, bbd may see more time on bynum and so green will get more minutes on odom.

but green will play a big role in the lineup mentioned above with him at the 3.

This is a great point and something I have thought about as well.  kobe has been able to roam on defense against us because they always put him on Rondo.  When we put Green in as SF, kobe will have to guard PP.  And even if he doesn't go off, PP will certainly make kobe work.  Hoefully he will also punish him some with his strength.

I think it'll be Rondo who does more of the damage offensively than anyone else ... once he is freed from the shackles of Kobe Bryant.

Rondo has been devastating whenever Kobe Bryant has switched off of him ... he'll be able to tear that Lakers defense apart at will.

I wonder if the Lakers might adjust and go big with the C's, play Kobe/Barnes/Artest.

I think it'd disrupt them too much to do so, but it would be an interesting counter.

[OsirusCeltics]

The Lakers' size is their best asset.  If anything's overrated on that team, it's Kobe, whose alpha dogging often keeps the Lakers from exploiting their size advantage.

The one weakness in the Lakers frontcourt is speed.  When Bynum and Gasol play together, they are very slow.  Odom/Gasol make a quicker tandem, but their interior D isn't as imposing.

+1
Yes totally right. Kobe is a black hole. The bigs would be more effective if the offense was centered around them. Instead they   are centered around one person. Teamwork from the opposing team always beats the Lakers

[droopdog7]

i think having green vs LA will make things very interesting.

assume the lakers have kobe at the 2 and artest at the 3. when we want to rest ray, we can have pierce at the 2, and green at the 3. now that puts the lakers in a tough spot. kobe will have problems overpowering either pierce or green when he posts up (he'll work very hard to make those fadeaways and jumpshots) and then when hes on defense, if hes on green, green will post him every time, or if its pierce, well you know how pierce likes to use his size.

i also think we'll have bbd and green split the minutes on odom. i also think that if one of the oneals are injured, bbd may see more time on bynum and so green will get more minutes on odom.

but green will play a big role in the lineup mentioned above with him at the 3.

This is a great point and something I have thought about as well.  kobe has been able to roam on defense against us because they always put him on Rondo.  When we put Green in as SF, kobe will have to guard PP.  And even if he doesn't go off, PP will certainly make kobe work.  Hoefully he will also punish him some with his strength.

I think it'll be Rondo who does more of the damage offensively than anyone else ... once he is freed from the shackles of Kobe Bryant.

Rondo has been devastating whenever Kobe Bryant has switched off of him ... he'll be able to tear that Lakers defense apart at will.

I wonder if the Lakers might adjust and go big with the C's, play Kobe/Barnes/Artest.

I think it'd disrupt them too much to do so, but it would be an interesting counter.

I've thought about that but do they really want kobe running the point?  I really don't think so even though all the PG has to do is bring the ball up the floor.

[wiley]

I consider the Lakers a big team.  Very big, with a bit of thuggery thrown in.  Phil my-team-doesn't-play-rough-like-boston Jackson has benefitted from Kobe and Ron's thuggery:  knee to thigh, elbow, shove, etc...  I think L.A. is the roughest team in the league.  Boston plays harder.  L.A. is bigger and rougher......

Kobe
Odom
Artest
Fischer?

All very capable and willing to make a hit

[Neurotic Guy]

I hope so.

And I hope we don't see them in June.