biba
02-09-2010, 03:13 PM
1. Lakers Still Sharp Without Kobe, Bynum
By J.A. Adande
ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100208/daily-dime
LOS ANGELES -- Notice how this time of year you don't hear anyone saying "it's just one game" in the NBA. We've seen enough of the season to take plenty from 48 minutes of basketball, and the obvious conclusion to draw from the Lakers' 101-89 victory over the Spurs on Monday night was the Lakers aren't mortally wounded without Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, and the Spurs aren't better for adding Richard Jefferson.
The Lakers haven't had Bryant (sprained left ankle) for the past two games and Bynum (bruised right hip) for the past game and a half, but during that time they ended a nine-game losing streak at Portland and sent the Spurs -- their supposed rival for Western Conference supremacy at the start of the season -- deeper into also-ran status. If San Antonio at full strength can't beat a short-handed Lakers team in as favorable conditions as teams visiting Los Angeles could ask for, we should stop considering the Spurs among the contenders.
The Lakers tapped into their potential and demonstrated that they haven't been better than the sum of their parts so far. Lamar Odom's game isn't a natural fit alongside Bryant, and Bynum has had his difficulties fitting in with Pau Gasol. But ask Odom and Gasol to do more by necessity, with no viable alternative, and they inscribe their initials all over the stat sheet. Odom has always been better with the ball than playing off it. Monday he was grabbing rebounds, initiating the fast break, driving by power forwards and posting up guards to the tune of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Gasol led the Lakers in every major category, with 21 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists and five turnovers. He seemed to relish having the ball placed in his hands almost every possession, as well as providing the last line of defense and playing all but two minutes of the game.
"Tonight was fun," Gasol said. "We're playing hard. When you play hard and give your best and things work out, you're happy."
The freedom on offense and fun that comes without Bryant could end Wednesday if Bryant comes back from the injury against the Jazz in Utah. For his participation in that and the All-Star Game, Kobe says, "If I'm not able to play, I won't play. But if I'm healthy I will. It's as simple as that."
No one thinks the Lakers can win a championship without him, because someone's going to have to make the big shots on the road. Phil Jackson implied the reason the Lakers often downgrade into a Kobe-watching team when he's out there is that he makes it so easy by seemingly scoring at will.
"It makes it a lot easier on everybody when you don't have to work as hard to score," Jackson said.
On the flip side, watching the Lakers without Bryant can be easier to watch if you want to see a team effort and not a dynamic individual performance. The Lakers were two baskets away from placing seven scorers in double figures. They beat a full-strength Spurs team.
But this victory can't be counted as one against an elite team. The Spurs are 29-21, much closer to being out of the playoffs than they are to the Lakers' record in the Western Conference, and six victories shy of last season's pace.
"For some reason I'm not getting through to this group," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich lamented, before laying into everything that's wrong with his team. "It's about mental toughness and physical toughness and passion, a group jelling together and pulling for each other, and we're not doing it."
It's easy to zero in on Jefferson. The Spurs acquired him and his expensive contract (for this season and next) with the hope of adding firepower. So far all he's given them is 12.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game -- numbers that aren't much better than Roger Mason's 11.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg last season.
Popovich stopped just short of selling him out, responding to a pregame query on Jefferson by saying, "He's still in the process of trying to find himself on the court, both offensively and defensively. Maybe the defense takes a little bit longer. But at this point he's still a work in progress."
And that was before Jefferson shot 2-for-9 with only two rebounds.
Afterward, Popovich was very succinct in his response to a question when asked if he needs to see more from Jefferson.
"That would be a great thing," Popovich said.
ESPN columnist J.A. Adande is a regular contributor to the Daily Dime
By J.A. Adande
ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100208/daily-dime
LOS ANGELES -- Notice how this time of year you don't hear anyone saying "it's just one game" in the NBA. We've seen enough of the season to take plenty from 48 minutes of basketball, and the obvious conclusion to draw from the Lakers' 101-89 victory over the Spurs on Monday night was the Lakers aren't mortally wounded without Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, and the Spurs aren't better for adding Richard Jefferson.
The Lakers haven't had Bryant (sprained left ankle) for the past two games and Bynum (bruised right hip) for the past game and a half, but during that time they ended a nine-game losing streak at Portland and sent the Spurs -- their supposed rival for Western Conference supremacy at the start of the season -- deeper into also-ran status. If San Antonio at full strength can't beat a short-handed Lakers team in as favorable conditions as teams visiting Los Angeles could ask for, we should stop considering the Spurs among the contenders.
The Lakers tapped into their potential and demonstrated that they haven't been better than the sum of their parts so far. Lamar Odom's game isn't a natural fit alongside Bryant, and Bynum has had his difficulties fitting in with Pau Gasol. But ask Odom and Gasol to do more by necessity, with no viable alternative, and they inscribe their initials all over the stat sheet. Odom has always been better with the ball than playing off it. Monday he was grabbing rebounds, initiating the fast break, driving by power forwards and posting up guards to the tune of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Gasol led the Lakers in every major category, with 21 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists and five turnovers. He seemed to relish having the ball placed in his hands almost every possession, as well as providing the last line of defense and playing all but two minutes of the game.
"Tonight was fun," Gasol said. "We're playing hard. When you play hard and give your best and things work out, you're happy."
The freedom on offense and fun that comes without Bryant could end Wednesday if Bryant comes back from the injury against the Jazz in Utah. For his participation in that and the All-Star Game, Kobe says, "If I'm not able to play, I won't play. But if I'm healthy I will. It's as simple as that."
No one thinks the Lakers can win a championship without him, because someone's going to have to make the big shots on the road. Phil Jackson implied the reason the Lakers often downgrade into a Kobe-watching team when he's out there is that he makes it so easy by seemingly scoring at will.
"It makes it a lot easier on everybody when you don't have to work as hard to score," Jackson said.
On the flip side, watching the Lakers without Bryant can be easier to watch if you want to see a team effort and not a dynamic individual performance. The Lakers were two baskets away from placing seven scorers in double figures. They beat a full-strength Spurs team.
But this victory can't be counted as one against an elite team. The Spurs are 29-21, much closer to being out of the playoffs than they are to the Lakers' record in the Western Conference, and six victories shy of last season's pace.
"For some reason I'm not getting through to this group," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich lamented, before laying into everything that's wrong with his team. "It's about mental toughness and physical toughness and passion, a group jelling together and pulling for each other, and we're not doing it."
It's easy to zero in on Jefferson. The Spurs acquired him and his expensive contract (for this season and next) with the hope of adding firepower. So far all he's given them is 12.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game -- numbers that aren't much better than Roger Mason's 11.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg last season.
Popovich stopped just short of selling him out, responding to a pregame query on Jefferson by saying, "He's still in the process of trying to find himself on the court, both offensively and defensively. Maybe the defense takes a little bit longer. But at this point he's still a work in progress."
And that was before Jefferson shot 2-for-9 with only two rebounds.
Afterward, Popovich was very succinct in his response to a question when asked if he needs to see more from Jefferson.
"That would be a great thing," Popovich said.
ESPN columnist J.A. Adande is a regular contributor to the Daily Dime