9 Jan 11 The Verdict:No One Stands a Chance Against The Lakers Except The Lakers.

I think this is the first time in NBA history a team this inconsistent has had a record this good. With all the dilemmas the Lakers have withstood this year, injury to key players, lack of focus, internal frustrations, There's no way they should have the second best record in the NBA right now. Kansas City Chiefs jersey
The credit formost of the success they have had while not playing to their potential goes to The Mamba. His ability to make plays down the stretch of close games has given them six wins off game winning shots.Themark of his murderous fangs were left onmany more occasionswhere his timing when releasing his deadly venom was just enough to swing the momentum back to the Lakers before things got out of hand.Now can you imagine what the Lakers record would look like if they only loss games where the opponents genuinely beat them at their best?With the talent they have the Lakers were projected to have the leagues best record by this time, and they would have it if they played with the hunger of the Cavs.The Lakers are automatically the best team by default because they have Kobe. While who's better between the two depends mainly on who one likes more as a person, the Lakers have the upper hand because Kobe has the ability to rip the opposing teams heart out in the games final moments, Lebron doesn't.That ability as much as it is a gift is the Lakers biggest curse. When analyzing the majority of the Lakers losing efforts the results of the reason they lose came down to A Kobe wasn't there to bail them out, B Kobe was there to bail them out and true to hisFG percentagehe was due for a miss, or C the biggest factor all season a lack of physical interior pressence.Looking deeper into these games I noticed even more kinks the Lakers need to work out, such as Derek Fisher starting.Any Lakers fan will tell you that our most vulnerable spot on the defensive end is the PG spot. I know Fisher is kept around for his veteranleadership, but I don't think he has gotten that memo.He takes way too many shots to only average 7 points a game! Good thing about the Lakers offense it doesn't need a point Miami Dolphins jersey
guard, the triangle is ran through the post so Derek could easily be replaced by Shannon Brown.Shannon is bigger and fast enough to keep up with the leagues younger and quicker point guards. In the vast majority of the Lakers losses the point guard battles were landslides, take the last game the Lakers played against Denver. The majority of Chauncey's points were wide open three pointers!The Lakers might as well have been playing 4 on 5, Derek was late on his switches and was getting beat off the dribble by a point guard that has lost a step or two himself over the years.Another relevation I unearthed was that the Lakers still have yet to noticed that Gasol does not have big games against physical forwards. That will not change, its apart of his DNA.While he is a very skilled big man his heart does not pump the blood of a warrior it pumps the blood of a hair stylist, better yet a animal rights activist.So when L.A plays against intimidating frontlines they need to work Gasol in when he has a size advantage down low,or preferablly when the opposing teams starting big menare out of the game catching a breather.Also too many times the Lakers have had Bynum going the first 5 or 6 posessions of the game just to abruptly shut him out the offense in a attempt to please Gasol.My suggestion is once you get Bynum going ,keep going to him until he runs out of gas. Once Bynum is shut out of the offensive process his focus drifts off completely.Thats when the fouls start piling up and he ends up riding the pine where heoften looks relieved to be out of Minnesota Vikings
the way.Out of the 15 losses L.A has this year, I'm not convinced that any of those teams beatthem at their best.Also, I'm almost certain that neither of those teams can beat L.A in a 7 game series.So my verdict is thatno team in the NBA is good enough to take thetitle from L.Aif they play with the urgency of a champion, but they sure cangive it away if they continue to be inconsistent.