Riding a modest 2 game win streak, the Los Angeles Lakers showed that their recent troubles are more than just another bump on the road to another three-peat. After their up-and-down play over the last month, the Los Angeles Lakers were demolished by the Memphis Grizzlies on 104-85 Sunday night.
Despite the pathetic performance by the Lakers as a team, leading all-star vote getter Kobe Bryant looked as mobile and agile as he has looked all season.
There were warning signs in the first quarter when the Lakers let the Grizzlies push them around. But, the quarter ended with the game still tightly contested.
The game started to get away from the Lakers in the 2nd period, where they fell down by 48-39 at halftime.
The eyesores for the Lakers: hustle, lack of inside defense, not boxing out on rebounds, and letting Zach Randolph push them around.
Worst of all—the Lakers still have the same main problem: turnovers, turnovers that lead to easy buckets for the opposition. Why don’t the Lakers pass with more precision? Why aren’t they taking care of the ball?
And, 39 points for the Lakers at halftime? Who are these guys…the Grizzlies?
At the half, it seemed like maybe it couldn’t get any worse for the Lakers, and that they could get back into it. And they did.
After giving up some easy buckets off of turnovers, at the start of the 3rd, the Lakers cut the Grizzlies’ lead down to 2, 54-52.
Although the high-low with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol was effective, the Lakers only used it once in the 3rd quarter. It resulted in a slam-dunk. They put one big guy around the free throw line; get him the ball, so he can dump it into the other one who is under the basket. It’s not only easy, but it works. Why aren’t they still running this play more often? As Bynum returns to form, hopefully the Lakers will make use of this play like they have in the past.
As the deficit began to grow again, Kobe Bryant continued to carry the load.
In general, Bryant looks more limber than earlier in the season. He started to get a little more out of his legs in the Philadelphia game where he had some nice dunks.
Bryant’s best dunk last week was this facial on Nocioni.
The Lakers’ 6-point run in the 3rd quarter led to a Grizzlies’ timeout. During this timeout, you could see Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson’s displeasure with Kobe Bryant, as they sat on the bench together having a heated discussion.
Despite Bryant maintaining his brilliance, finishing with 17 points in the 3rd quarter alone, the game got away from the Lakers. Near the end of the 3rd, the Lakers were stuck in a 77-60 whole.
Bryant was fantastic despite what Phil Jackson said in the post-game interview. His 1/7 from 3-point range, though, suggests he was way too eager to launch long 3’s in that game. Other than that—and his assists and rebounds, which were mediocre—, Bryant’s offensive game looked tremendous, driving into the lane with a purpose and nailing jumpers with relative ease.
Sure, Bryant went one-on-one and took his own team out of the game like Coach Jackson said. But, that’s what Kobe does. That’s his thing—he has been doing this his whole career. The rest of the team has to step up and match his level.
In Bryant’s own post-game interview, Bryant admitted as much. Kobe isn’t Magic or Michael. His main goal is to score, not to necessarily help his teammates score. Bryant had 28 points on 10/22 from the field to go along with 2 steals in just over 30 minutes of play.
What makes this game more than just a wake up call for the Lakers was Phil Jackson’s reaction to the loss.
Like it was five years ago all over again, Jackson ripped Bryant, saying “Kobe has to screw up the game…by going one-on-one…we got the game back a little bit, but we couldn’t sustain it” (“Phil Jackson Post-game Interview,” Fox Sports Net).
Bryant, on the other hand, took the higher ground, saying it was a “team” loss and chose not to put the loss on any of his teammates even though the media gave him every opportunity to do so
At least Jackson and Bryant both agree that this is a regular season and “focus” issue, nothing more. Although that’s a comfortable position for the 11-5 (at home) Lakers to take, those excuses are becoming less and less believable to those of us on the outside looking in.
R.S. De France is a College and University instructor of English Composition living in Los Angeles. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing. De France has played, coached, and officiated competitive high school basketball in California for many years. Recently, De France, his wife, and another colleague started an internationally read magazine at Shwibly.com.
