Derek Fisher – Fisher Must Play For the Tacos Crowd
Lakers must play for the Tacos Crowd in Staples Center in order to ensure its trip to the NBA finals. By doing so, they must limit their opponents below 100 points and make sure they win the games.
The crowd at Staples Center gets promotional free tacos from Jack in the Box whenever Lakers limit their opponent’s score to 99 and below.
The Lakers could not just rely on its offensive game to carry them to the Finals. They badly need to work on their team and individual defenses.
The recent loses against San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday by a margin of one point (112-111) and against the Orlando Magic on Friday by a margin of six points (109-103) reflect the lack of intensity of the Lakers on defensive end particularly in the fourth quarter. On both games, they were not able to contain the point guards of the opposing teams from distributing the ball and making plays.
The onus is on Derek Fisher – the main man entrusted to stop or slow down his counterpart in the opposing team. Fisher, who is 34 years old, could no longer catch up with the speed of the young point guards in the league today like Tony Parker, Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul. Most of the times, he loses his man and ends up standing across the floor away from his assignment.
The game against Magic saw point guard Jameer Nelson made uncontested three-point shots and his last one with 35.7-time remaining gave Magic a one point lead, 104-103. Fisher was on the other side of court leaving Nelson wide open for the shot.
Fisher is an offense-minded player, not a defensive specialist. In his young days, he was a positioned-type player in the defensive end – meaning, he would position himself in front of the opponent and would readily takes a charge from him.
Phil Jackson must cut Fisher’s minute and give the rest of the time to either Sasha Vujacic or Trevor Ariza who are sure to play for the Tacos Crowd.
With the sidelined of Jordan Farmar, Fisher has logged-in many minutes and the toll on his body is now gradually showing. This also affects his decision-making that often translates into crucial mistakes.
Against Spurs, Fisher committed a silly foul against Roger Mason with 10.5 seconds to play who converted it into a three-point play. This sealed the Spurs win.
The Lakers management should consider finding a defensive-oriented guard to fill in the 15th spot in their roster. He would be handy down the road during playoffs, especially in the Finals – if the Lakers really want to win another championship.
On a side note, the lost to Magic on Friday spoiled Kobe Bryant’s 15th triple-double of his career. Kobe tallied 28 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
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