All the Laker talk is about the improvement of the O, but what about the D?

[wdleehi]

Gasol comes in, they become a top (if not the top) offensive team.


But are they as good defensively as they were when the Celtics faced them earlier this year?



The reason I ask, the Celtics put up 110 and 107 with the Lakers having their best low post defender, Bynum.  KG and Pierce both had great stats against the Lakers defense (Perkins numbers were pretty good as well)


Can the Lakers expect Gasol to do as good of a job as Bynum?  And if does, is it even enough to slow down KG and the  Celtics offense? 



Expect the Celtics players to feel suddenly 'free' this series.  No offense to the defense the Lakers play, it is not in the same class as the defense Detroit and Cleveland brings.   

[cuckroller]

For what it is worth, a Laker fan perspective.

The problem with the Lakers is not that they do not know how to play defense, because they do.  The problem is that they have apparently made some tactical choices (for reasons that I personally can fathom very little) as regards where to apply pressure and when to defend.  Actually they have a very good team defense - when they want to.  In the latter part of the regular season, and also into the playoffs, they have tightened things up quite a bit respect to earlier in the season.  Whether or not these changes will have any influence on how the Celtics play them during this series, remains to be seen however.  They are now playing more defense than they have done at any time during the season.  I pretty much exclude Denver because they knew they could outscore Denver anyway, but even Denver had a difficult time with their defense.  Just my take.

[Who]

They're a much better defensive team with Gasol. I also think LA's defense is very underrated.

That whole team has a much better understanding of how to play defense as a team since the C's played them last, I wouldn't pinpoint Gasol for that, more natural progression for a team rising from low playoff seed to a contender. The players knowing each other better and realizing their responsibilities.

The negative impact is on the backboards.

[wdleehi]

I just keep looking and seeing they allowed teams to score their average or better in the playoffs.



Except the Spurs who only score around what they did in the regular season once, the only game Manu played well.  But was he stopped by the defense or injuries.




The point is, I don't see any reason the Celtics should not be scoring around their season average against the Lakers (if not better)

[jaketwice]

I think the sense is that Gasol's not very physical. I forsee a highlight of KG dunking on him. I forsee a much bigger rebounding game for Perkins.

So I think, in essence, Wdleehi is correct: it's going to be much easier offensively on the Celtics.

Look for RA and PP to drive over and over again. Look for Pau to get dunked on.

Overall, Gasol's defense was more than satisfactory. Indeed, his only flaw there was a lack of muscle.

It's also noteworthy, however, that except for bouncing to the floor after drawing [...] charging fouls, Gasol never initiated any physical contact.

The bottom line is that Gasol is strictly a finesse player. But the same is true of Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. So, if there's any trouble ahead for the Lakers' revised corps of big men it'll come in the playoffs when the battles in the paint tend to favor strength over finesse.

 - http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7773532/Gasol%27s-game-looks-like-a-nice-fit-for-Lakers

[Roy Hobbs]

The Lakers defense seems a little underrated (in general, not by wdleehi's original post). 

Opponent's field goal percentage: 6th

Points allowed per 100 possessions: 5th

Rebounds: 4th

Blocks: 5th

Steals: 6th

They give up a lot of points, but that's largely because they play at a quick pace, which in turn results in more possessions both for themselves and their opponents (which of course also helps the raw numbers in terms of rebounds, blocks, and steals).

The Lakers defense didn't give us a ton of trouble the last couple of games, and I like our matchups.  There seems to be an idea that the Lakers are a terrible defensive squad, though, and that's not accurate.

[Discoflux]

I'm concerned KG will be able to do anything he wants in the low post vs. Gasol/Lamar.

Its going to be a battle of skinny length vs. same.  Very technical defending.  KG should be able to choose between powering through the technical defense and drawing fouls, or settling for J's over the top.  Either way he's going to be a huge factor.  

I'm wondering how the matchups will work out.  Both teams seem to play offense with a lot of spacing.  I'm eager to see how game one plays out.  

[wdleehi]

I didn't say the Lakers are a bad defensive team.

But they are not in the same class as Cleveland or Detroit.


And they have been a great boon to the Celtics offense. 




Have they improved over the team the Celtics played earlier this season.

[Norcalceltic]

The lakers do a good job of ball presure and forcing teams to shoot jump shots. But, too many times in these playoffs the Celtics have gone for 4-5 minute stretches without scoring. there have been a few 13-15 point quarters. If the Celtics go through these stretches of horrible offense, the Lakers will blow us out.