Quite possibly. I imagine we won't be able to tell for sure, but with Trevor Ariza fouling Rudy Fernandez in last night's blowout loss to the Portland Blazers, this might be the beginning of something different; possibly something we have not seen from this Laker squad in some time.
Today, the NBA suspended Lamar Odom for leaving the bench during the little rift after the foul between various players, and The Lakers will be even more short-handed against the tall Rockets team Wednesday in Houston. But after the foul, something else seemed to trigger the Laker squad. As a whole, the Lakers defense has been absolutely terrifying the past few games, and it seems as though wide-open layups and completely open three pointers are easy to get against the Lakers. But have the Lakers had enough? Will Portland's complete domination (that's 7 straight games won in Portland now) over the Lakers put a bitter taste in their mouths for the rest of the season?
Only time will tell, but the apparent general consensus around the locker room after the game was that they can no longer prepare for the big games, and not the teams they don't think are big games.
Wednesday night in Houston will tell a lot... Without Lamar Odom, the Lakers will have to do a lot more work to get back to winning and succeeding at their goal set at the beginning of the season: home court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs and finals.
They werent tough enough from getting their butts kicked last night
Tell me how my ass taste
The Lakers are more dangerous this year than last year because this year they are playing with more heart. The NBA Finals of last season was not about talent. It was about which team had more heart and clearly it was the Celtics. But now that many of the finals virgins on the lakers have had a chance to see what its like to go all the way to the big show and get they asses kicked then hopefully the experience has hardened them and made them even more hungry.