Originally posted by: BuckleDownBen
trmiv-
you obviously know nothing about basketball, though you make yourself sound knowledgeable. basketball is a team sport. defense is played by a team. so what if fisher gets beat on the dribble? the way bibby has been playing he will beat any gaurd in the league off the dribble. a team needs role players, which the lakers have. if you want a team full of stars, go root for Portland. but most of all, quit your whining.
what the hell are you talking about? I've been steadfast in my criticism of Fisher all season, and his defensive problems are widely known. I think it's you that hasn't a clue about basketball.
While basketball is a team sport, like every team sport, it takes every player pulling their weight to succeed. Defense IS played by the team, but if the team has to spend time covering up for a poor defensive player, the entire team suffers. I don't care how good the team is collectively, if one player is a weakness, teams will find it, and they will expose it, they are just too good. Guarding the point (along with guarding the pick-and-roll, which involves the point guard as well.) IS the Laker's biggest weakness, and the Kings have exposed it big time. Do you think it's a coincidence the Kings try to feed the Lakers a steady diet of Bibby early and often until the Lakers force someone else to beat them?
Fisher get's beat off the dribble, runs under the same screens that Kobe and Hunter fight through (don't tell me Phil tells him to run under screens, because he's the only guy on the team that does it on a consistent basis)
Do you think it's coincidence Jackson put Kobe on Bibby in the second half? That was the defensive swtitch that IMHO won the game, and it was mainly because of one switch. Do you also think it was a coincidence that Hunter came in as a defensive subsititution on the last play on offense the Kings had?
Fisher has been getting burned by dribble penetration and running under screens all season long, so the problem didn't start with Bibby. The team collectively has been able make up for his lack of defense on the other teams point guard.
And that is just defense. On offense, Fisher has become convinced that the Lakers have a "Big Three" and he is part of it. I love when Fish just plays his role and shoots the open threes. When he has his feet set, and is open, the guy is like a 60% three point shooter. But, when he pulls up off the dribble, or shoots with a man in his face, his percentage is somewhere between 0 and 5%. If he would stick to his role, which is open threes, which he did in last year's playoffs, he'd be fine. But, Fisher is somehow convinced he is the third scored, and can jack up 14 shots like he did today.. A point guard on a team with Shaq and Kobe should not be taking 14 shots, including 7 threes.
And where did I say I wanted a team of stars? Find one place in any post I've made where I said that? I've said the Lakers need to be more athletic, which they do, but I've never said they need more stars. Devean George is an example of an atheltic guy that the Lakers need more of, but he is far from a star. He's a role player like Fox, Horry, etc, but he is athletic enough to provide defense against the quicker teams like Sac and Dallas.
I agree half way. Rick Fox needs to be traded. Plain and simple he has contributed very little over the course of the regular season not to mention the post season (considering he was starting). At times he looks to be very confused on the court. He plays D but has no offense what-so-ever
I think Fox could be on his way out, but I don't agree he hasn't contributed. He was a defensive ROCK against Steve Smith in the Spurs series. I love his defense, and he doesn't over do it on offense, do he's not hurting the Lakers that bad when he's off. The only reason I think he could be gone after this season is, he has some decent trade value to a team looking for a veteren. Plus, Devean needs to be resigned, and he is getting to the point where he is going to be the starting SF. I wouldn't be surprised to see Fox traded, but I don't mind it if he isn't. His defense alone keeps him on the team.