I spoke with a young man today about the Lakers. He's 18 years old and lives and dies with Laker wins and losses. I was talking to him about yesterday's win over the Utah Jazz and he said to me, "I was just waiting for the Lakers to blow them out...but it never happened."
Here is a kid that has watched every Laker game for the past five years, so you would imagine that he would know one thing above all else: the Lakers will let you back into the game.
Now, I don't blame him for being optimistic and hopeful. Occasionally the Lakers do manage to put it together for four quarters and demolish an opponent, e.g., game five against the Thunder. But the fact of the matter is that the Lakers consistently build a double-digit cushion, only to see it whittled down to nothing midway through the fourth quarter.
There are two schools of thought:
- Every NBA team goes on a run. The Lakers should be credited for building such a big lead in the first place and holding on to win the game. A win is a win.
- The Lakers have no killer instinct. They need to learn to step on the throats of their opponents and take 10-point leads to 20 and beyond, or else they will lose to better teams.
I'm more in line with point #1. The Lakers are super-talented, but it's not like they're playing the Mount Vernon Junior High School Smelters. Every team that the Lakers face has the ability to beat them on any given night, so it is expected that they will be outplayed for a portion of the game.
The question is, will this type of pattern spell disaster for them when they face teams that are nearly equal to them in terms of talent? None seem to exist in the West but, should the Lakers reach the Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic are pretty darn close.
If they continue to squander leads against teams like that, the Lakers may never get them back.
But then, of course, there's the old theory that the Lakers "play down to their competition," so they will bring the intensity when facing a worthy opponent. This could be the case, but we'll have to wait to find out.
As for now, we'll have to deal with the frustration as the Lakers make games much more interesting than they should be.
Comments
Don't be a Lakers hater
they're the defending champions, aren't they?
They certainly are, Ed, and that's where I am conflicted. On one hand I want to think that they are still the best team in the NBA, but on the other hand they are older (Fish), banged up (Kobe, Bynum), and slower (Artest vs. Ariza), so I'm not sure if we can use the "defending champions" argument here.
On the other hand, LeBron has finally gotten some help from Shaq and Jamison, and if you throw in Mo Williams the Cavs certainly look dangerous.
The fact that they are going to have a tough series with the Celtics might show that the Celtics are still a contender as well. And everyone seems to forget the Magic.
I know the Lakers are defending champs, but this certainly isn't a repeat of last year's playoffs.
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