I'm not a Laker fan but I think that vulnerable lang ang Lakers during regular season, doon sa mga one-off meetings ... pagdating sa playoff wherein you have to beat them 4x medyo mahirap, magaling pa rin si tatang and I personally think na na-upgrade this season yung supporting cast nila ni AD ... Mark Gasol started slow pero all round yung game nya, besides being a center, merong three point shooting at magaling mag-distribute ng bola - di nila sya masyadong kailangan sa scoring
I don't think the Lakers will push to get the #1 seed for the playoffs. Very short yung turn around time nila from winning the Championship to playing in the pre season so they need to be paced properly most specially LBJ. They will be in great shape if they will finish in the top 5 seeds for the playoffs.
Last year the need for Javale and Howard was really limited in the playoffs. Ginamit lang sila extensively sa Portland (against Nurc) and Denver (Jokic). Sa Miami series mostly AD played the 5. Its a gamble for them to replace those two stalwarts of defense with improved offense (Harrell) and in the case of Gasol, his cerebral offensive control.
We will see if AD is up to the challenge of banging bodies with the likes of Jokic and Nurc but the better scenario that they are banking on here is how will Jokic and Nurc respond to the all around game of AD. If AD starts shooting three's with increased frequency and accuracy then that will be a huge problem for Portland and Denver. Based on the post game interviews ni AD, Coach Vogel wants him to increase his three point attempts per game.
