The Western Conference is stacked from top to bottom with talented point guards. Some squads in the conference are so stacked at the position that their backups could easily start for other teams in the league.
— Have You Seen These LIMITED EDITION “Mamba Strikes Back” T-Shirts? —
Over the past few years, opposing point guards have caused a lot of problems for the Los Angeles Lakers. Players like Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Tony Parker, Ty Lawson, Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Mike Conley have all had dominant performances against Los Angeles in years past.
After an 0-4 start to the season, veteran forward Carlos Boozer believes the team’s defense needs to be much improved in terms of containing opposing point guards. Boozer wants the Lakers’ floor generals to accept the challenge, but also says the team’s bigs need to step up to help out Jeremy Lin, Jordan Clarkson and Ronnie Price, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Carlos Boozer (1/2): "In the West, guards are great. The bigs gotta be up there to help em. Our guards have to take that challenge…"
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) November 3, 2014
Boozer (2/2): "They can't be scared of who they're playing against. Us as a team, we've got to do a better job of helping our guards out."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) November 3, 2014
The first four games of the season were brutal in terms of facing top tier competition. Jeremy Lin has struggled early in these first games of the season. Lin continues to try to find his niche and get comfortable in his new surroundings, but hasn’t faired well thus far.
Right out of the gate, Los Angeles faced the Houston Rockets followed by the Phoenix Suns in the second game of a back-to-back. One day later, the Lakers faced the rival Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.
The schedule doesn’t really get any easier moving forward with the Lakers set to face the Suns for a second time in four games on Tuesday. Kobe Bryant and company will play host to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. Although the Hornets may not be one of the toughest teams on the schedule, the Lakers don’t play well against Charlotte historically.
[divide]Could Ryan Kelly See A Return To Game Action On Tuesday?