The Lakers Are Flawed Front-Runners

[BonK]

What I've been saying all year still holds true in my book - LA will NOT win it all.

-They are a softer & more fragile than they initially appear.
-Their guard play, other than obviously Kobe, is way below average.
-Their team chemistry is a lot shakier than the Clevelands & the Bostons (even the Nuggets & the Rockets, no doubt). 
-They have more of a front-running team chemistry than a true "I really love my teammates no matter what" team chemistry. This should not be overlooked.
-Pau & Odom have historically been more goats than heroes in playoffs past. 
-Kobe & Phil have a great deal of arrogance to them, which can often work to their benefit, but sometimes (see last nights 2nd half implosion) they are too cocky for their own good, and they don't keep the throttle down.  Time & time again in the regular season, and now in the past 2 playoff games, the Lakers give up big leads rather easily.
-Bynum is not 100%, and is still working back into the team flow.

Those are just the reasons off the top of my head.  I think the biggest one is chemistry.  Cleveland & Boston have genuinally wonderful chemistry.  The Lakers have chemistry that seems great when times are good, but if you have watched Kobe & the Lakers much in the past several years, you should know better.

Rant over.  Thoughts?

[LarBrd33]

They will coast into the finals and meet their first real challenger in the Cavs.  Think nothing of their one loss in Utah.  Kobe was 5-24 or something.

[Chris]

They will coast into the finals and meet their first real challenger in the Cavs.  Think nothing of their one loss in Utah.  Kobe was 5-24 or something.

Well, the real reason they lost is because Boozer completely out-muscled Gasol, and dominated the paint.  Unfortunately, Utah has not given any indication that they can string together three more wins like that (they looked like a team completely out of sorts in LA), and it really doesn't look like there are any teams that have a presence like that, that will end up crossing paths with the Lakers.  The only possibility would be the Spurs, but without Ginobili, they don't have the perimeter scorers to balance things off.

[RAcker]

They will coast into the finals and meet their first real challenger in the Cavs.  Think nothing of their one loss in Utah.  Kobe was 5-24 or something.

Ummm...so the C's might as well quit huh?   

[D Dub]

As much as I hate the Faker Finesse brand of basketball, they do match up really well against the Cavs.

It's on either Portland, Houston or Denver to crank up their D and slow the game down to stop them.  

If the Lakers can get out of the West, it's thier title to lose.  Unless of course by some miracle it's us they face in the Finals, at which point our guys will be walking on air and will refuse to be denied.  I really don't think it matters who suits up for us, we WILL beat LA in a series if the opportunity arrises.  

[fairweatherfan]

The Lakers are probably the most talented team in the league, definitely the most offensively talented (in both senses of the word).  But I agree with the OP - they don't really play together like a championship team, and they still struggle with adversity in the playoffs.  Problem is, their talent is enough to keep everyone else in the West at arm's length most of the time.  Cleveland and the C's get stronger when things aren't going their way - the Lakers tend to get disorganized and rely on their offensive weapons to pull them through.

What I was most surprised by watching the game last night was for the first time noticing that Kobe has really lost a step.  He still is quick enough to get to his spots but his explosiveness has dropped off significantly.  Maybe he just was off last night but it was really striking to me.  Wonder if the long 08 season + Olympics are catching up to him.

[Roy Hobbs]

I think the Lakers are only front-runners in the West.  I think they'll lose to whatever team makes it out of the east.  I think Cleveland has to be the clear favorites.

[Birdbrain]

I don't consider them front runners for anything.  They are setup for another finals letdown.  They might still see the C's.

[ACF]

I think Cleveland has to be the clear favorites.

I'll co-sign that.

[liam]

I don't consider them front runners for anything.  They are setup for another finals letdown.  They might still see the C's.

The Celtics could still make it to the finals. The Lakers will lose to ( insert team name here.) 1st and foremost because they are chokers. They showed it last night.

[angryguy77]

This is one those match up series. Cleveland is the better team but they dont match up well with LA. LA wins in 5

[Celtics17]

While I would love for us to make the finals, we will not do it without a dominating KG. Since we don't even have any KG you can do the math. However, I really feel that Cleveland will beat the Lakers in the Finals assuming they meat.

[jdpapa3]

Yes. Their main flaw is: They are not good on defense. I think they are right around the league average in all defensive statistics. If someone has stats to correct this, that's cool. I just haven't been impressed with their D.

Defense wins championships. I can't think of the last team to win it with an average defense. Think of the last 20 or so championship teams: Celts 08, Spurs in the odd years, Detroit, Lakers in early 00's, Bulls, Rockets, Pistons. They were all fantastic defensive teams. Those early 00 Lakers teams were very solid on defense, especially with Shaq anchoring in the middle.

People fall for the offense every year. To expect anything different from the media/general public this year would be dumb.

Cavs are clear favorites in my mind, too. Ahh, hate saying that, but I still hold out hope for our leader to come back.

[Birdbrain]

While I would love for us to make the finals, we will not do it without a dominating KG. Since we don't even have any KG you can do the math. However, I really feel that Cleveland will beat the Lakers in the Finals assuming they meat.

That's conventional wisdom but, they still have to play the games.  Boston steals 1 of those first 2 games and it's on.  So much to do before that but, I think Boston's remaining bigs are all underrated.  I would consider anything less than the ECF as disappointment at this point.

[cordobes]

Yes. Their main flaw is: They are not good on defense. I think they are right around the league average in all defensive statistics. If someone has stats to correct this, that's cool. I just haven't been impressed with their D.

6th in terms of defensive efficiency. They're a step bellow Orlando/Cleveland/Boston, on the San Antonio/Houston tier. I don't think the difference is significant.

It's going to be very hard for the Cavs to beat a healthy Lakers squad if they meet in the finals.