Michael Ventre

It might strike some as cruel irony that the name of the Los Angeles Lakers’ team in the Developmental League is the D-Fenders. It could be construed as a way to overcompensate for the shortcomings of the varsity.

When fans and media think of the Lakers these days, defense is not the first word that leaps to mind. The club boasts Kobe Bryant’s status as world’s No. 1 player, along with the hoop stylings of Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum and more.

But when the Boston Celtics overpowered the Lakers to win the 2008 NBA Finals in six games, they did so because they inflicted tortuous defense upon the Angelenos, who had little to offer in return in that department.

This year, although the Lakers are favored by many to win the Western Conference title again, there is still the nagging perception that not enough has been done to address the “F” received as an evaluation of their D.

“Defense and rebounding,” Luke Walton said after a recent practice. “That’s where we fell short last year. We felt like we could have won the championship with the team we had, but Boston did a great job. Adding Andrew and Trevor (Ariza) to the mix will be more than enough.”

But will it? Standing pat is never a good idea in the ravenously competitive world of professional sports. The Lakers made no major personnel moves in the offseason; by contrast, the New Orleans Hornets, a team many thought the Lakers were fortunate to have avoided in last year’s playoffs, lured valuable reserve forward James Posey away from the Celtics.

The Lakers believe that, even though no new names were inked to contracts, they’re improved nonetheless by virtue of bringing back Bynum — who was limited to 35 games last year because of an injured knee — and reserve forward Ariza, a determined defender who also spent a great deal of time in street clothes in 2007-08 and was of little help in the Finals.

“Our take on it is that the best thing we can do for this team is get Andrew Bynum back and healthy,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “Just his size alone. Physically, we don’t have anybody who is 7 feet and 295 pounds. That doesn’t mean he’ll be a nasty defender. But we think he could be an anchor for our defense.

“Our best defensive player really didn’t play. That was Trevor Ariza. He was eligible but missed three months and didn’t really get into the game on a consistent basis when he returned. If Andrew and Trevor are healthy, we’ll take our chances.”

The Lakers didn’t completely abandon the concept of defense last season. The defense they played was stern enough to propel them to a rather unexpected Finals appearance. In getting there, they vanquished the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs in the talent-heavy West.

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But the brand of defense the Celtics played was reminiscent of that exhibited by the Lakers when they ruled during the Showtime era of the 1980s, and by the Chicago Bulls during their run in the '90s. It was stifling, relentless and impressive. Every team raises its game a notch at playoff time, but the Celtics’ notch turned out to be bigger and meaner than anyone else’s.

“Boston was the better team,” Kupchak said. “I thought they clearly outplayed us, and yet we still won two games. Would I pinpoint their defensive prowess as the reason why we got beat? I don’t know. They were just better. They were better defensively, they were more efficient offensively. They were just better, period.”

But Fisher, the veteran point guard with three championship rings from the Phil-Kobe-Shaq years (2000-02), believes defense was the key ingredient that prevented the Lakers from parading in place of the Celtics.

“The No. 1 thing we talk about in terms of improvement is on the defensive end,” he said. “We feel that the biggest separation between us and Boston, and even some of the better teams in the West, is the ability to play more consistent defense than we do.”

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