Offensively he will be OK, and he will help them, defensively he is a huge liability. Teams will exploit his rotations time and time again, he just isn't mobile anymore. Shaq was NEVER a good defender, but was able to be an anchor because of his size, speed, and athleticism. Now two of those are gone, and he's just a poor defender. He never was good at coming out on pick and rolls, and now it's even worse. The Lakers took advantage of it all night.
Great win for my Lakers, statement game, huge impact on the standings. Biggest regular season game for the Lakers in years, and they were up to the task without Bynum and Ariza. Go Lakers!!
Originally posted by: bladder23
Originally posted by: UncleWai
God damn it, Gasol is such a huge presence on the offense end. I don't think Suns have good enough defense to beat the Lakers.
But the lakers dont have much of that either
The Lakers are a very good defensive team. Don't look at opponent's PPG, which is totally misleading when a team scores as much as the Lakers. The Lakers have the 3rd best point differential in the league, and number 5 in the league in opponent's FG%, they are a very good defensive team.