Lakers fans have them in the NBA Finals. What we’re going through now are just the preliminaries before the big event. The Utah Jazz, then Houston or Portland, then probably Denver. Before what really matters: The Finals against LeBron and Cleveland — unless the Celtics somehow slip in there.

Would it be boorish of me to note that these Lakers aren’t exactly an impregnable edifice as a basketball team? Would it be impolite to note their fairly significant shortcomings?

To wit:

1. They have significant issues at point guard. Derek Fisher can’t stay in front of the quick point guards still in the playoffs, and if he isn’t making his 3s … he is a drag to the team effort. And that’s your starter. The options are … Jordan Farmar, who has regressed so massively that he didn’t get off the bench in Monday’s Game 5 clincher … and this Shannon Brown character, apparently the main part of the Vlad Radmanovic trade back on Feb. 7 (unless you view it as a plain ol’ salary dump). We know the Lakers didn’t really want Adam Morrison. Anyway, Shannon Brown is a smallish guy with lots of athleticism and almost no experience in big games. Those are your point guards. How far back do we have to go to find an NBA team that won a title with a shakier situation at the point? Probably the 2002 Lakers, who had Lindsey Hunter and the 27-year-old Fish at the 1 spot.

2. Andrew Bynum isn’t the Missing Link who turns this into a championship team. He just stunk up the Utah series. Is he rusty? Does his knee still hurt? Whatever, it’s getting awfully late to try to play him into shape. Maybe he has value later on as a designated fouler against, say, Yao Ming or Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but at the moment the Lakers clearly are a lesser team when Bynum is on the floor — and Lamar Odom or Pau Gasol are not.

3. The Lakers’ bench is turning into a disaster area. Luke Walton wasn’t having much of a year, at all, and he just tore a ligament in his ankle and won’t be back for weeks. We can dismiss three more bench guys immediately — D.J. Mbenga, whose role as Big Stiff in the Middle is gone, with Bynum back; and the aforementioned Farmar and Morrison. They are just keeping seats warm over there by Dyan Cannon and Magic Johnson. That leaves Brown, who has shot fairly well and defended a bit better but has that “about to turn into a pumpkin” feel to him, Bynum, forward Josh Powell, the epitome of “journeyman”; and Sasha Vujacic, who has been in a shooting slump seemingly since Game 3 of the 2008 Finals. (He just shot 21 percent from the field, 6-for-29, in the Utah series). Do you trust any of those guys in a crunch situation? Do you see any of them as a shot of energy in a tight game? Do you see any real sixth man there?

I believe a big reason why this Lakers team can’t finish off anyone is because its bench has been so bad. The starters build a lead … but then they have to turn it over to the subs, who can’t hold it, or the starters end up playing too many minutes and then they lose the lead because they’re exhausted.

This Lakers team ought to make it out of the West. There really isn’t another elite team in the division. And with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza, you’ve got a very good starting four. Enough to get to the Finals.

But to win them? Nope. Don’t think so. I wrote this a few weeks ago, and it seems even clearer now: These Lakers get to the Finals, but they don’t win them.