LA Lakers Should Not Imitate USC Trojans Basketball’s Losing Playbook

November 19th, 2009 by Paul Peszko Leave a reply »
What do an NBA team and a college basketball squad have in common? They don’t show up to finish a game.

The LA Lakers have unfortunately taken a page out of the USC book over the past week, allowing their opponents to do whatever they want in the second half.

The Lakers had the same problem in games with the Denver Nuggets and the Houston Rockets over the weekend.  Then, last night, it almost happened again in a game at the Staples Center with the Detroit Pistons.

In all three games, the Lakers' second half defense resembled the basketball version of the USC Trojans.  All three opponents were able to score at will.

On Friday, in the second of back-to-back games, the Lakers offense managed just 23 total, second half points as Denver crushed them 105-79.  Coming out of the break, the Lakers only scored eight points, probably their lowest quarter in history.

On Sunday, it was deja vu as the Rockets and Aaron Brooks blew into the Staples Center and handed the Lakers a 101-91 defeat.  

Again, the Lakers were dismal in the second half, scoring just 37 points.

In both of those games, the bench was v ...

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