Got a chance to watch a "compressed" first half on ESPN replay. It's soooooooooooooooo obvious the Lakers are lacking "toughness", it's been talked about by everyone with a mic in their hand but the Celtics just seem to magnify the problem. IMO Perkins is a bit of a "punk" BUT the "punkish" stuff he does could be considered the type of "toughness" the Lakers are lacking. I saw Perkins do a lot pushing, shoving, elbowing, etc... all throughout the game. He got caught a couple of times but IMO those types of actions are what is missing from the Lakers. The Lakers need a little bit of the Perkins "dirty dirty" on the squad. There is not one single guy who has the personality or the "will" to be a little dirty. Shaq was tough, he's like beating on a boulder, you don't get tougher than Shaq but the Lakers also had guys like Fox durring their run get under players skin. Sasha is more like an annoying yapping little dog than someone who can really get the "vet" dirty move in on someone and get them pissed and/or intimidated or off their normal game. There is "zero" toughness on the Lakers right now, don't know if they can succeed with their pure finess game.
Last year the Celtics had Posey, Perkins, and Brown on the squad to be "thug" guys and KG, Pierce and Powe are "tough" guys while not being thugs. This year the Celts don't look as "tough/thugish" but they are 10X tougher than the Lakers. There really isn't a "tough" team out west right now so it shouldn't be a huge problem for the Lakers. Teams like the Spurs and Jazz will still pound the Lakers on the boards, although not as bad now that Ariza and Bynum are back, but the Lakers are going to get "punked" if they make it to the Finals by the Cavs or Celts. The Cavs and Celts just seem to play tough all the time and it's better suited for grind out games you play in a series durring the playoffs. IMO the Lakers should pick someone up who can deliver 6 hard fouls a game when needed.
Can't believe the Celts lost to the Warriors 2nite, I guess they are in the same league as the Lakers after all.