Bitter Defeat for Lakers
You hear people say that they’d rather get blown out than lose by a point in a game they should’ve won. They were thinking of games like this afternoon’s opening day 88-87 loss to the Bulls, featuring a shocking collapse that they don’t even have the time to deal with because they’ve got another game tomorrow in Sacramento, then back home against Utah the following night (Tuesday) in a brutal back-to-back-to-back.
Yes, it’s hard to say a team that shoots 4-16 from the 3-point line, 11-20 from the free throw line (and did I mention the 17/6 turnover/steal ratio to the Bulls’ 10/10?) “should have won” but there they were, sporting an 11-point lead with 3:44 to go. (Did you know that the Bulls had lost their last six games in Los Angeles?) From that 3:48 mark, the Bulls closed the game on a 17-5 run.
With 1:40 to go, the Lakers nursing an 84-79 lead, Pau Gasol went to the line to shoot two. He missed both. 28 seconds later, Lakers leading 84-81, Josh McRoberts went to the line to shoot two. McRoberts also missed both. Four misses in a row. The sucking sound became audible at that point. Kobe turned it over (stolen by Luol Deng), then had his shot blocked (by Deng) just before the buzzer.
The Bulls missed five foul shots. The Lakers missed nine foul shots. The Lakers lost by one point.
A couple more negatives before mentioning the positives: Kobe Bryant should not have played in this game, and probably shouldn’t play in Sacramento tomorrow either. His wrist injury could get much worse by not letting it heal. Mike Brown needed to assert his authority and say NO. His first job is to protect his players– from everything! In fact, his wrist may have gotten worse from a fall he took late in the game. We’ll know tomorrow. Playing Kobe is a panic move. Sure, it’s tough to win without Kobe and Bynum but, though shortened, the season is 66 games long. Obviously, they’re going to need a healthy Kobe. Play with what you’ve got and see what happens. The Bulls are a weak offensive team. They can be beaten without Kobe and Bynum. Really.
Second negative before mentioning the positives: Pau Gasol, though he did look good in the low post, is not a center. Yes, in short spurts he can do a lot of things because he’s versatile, smart and talented. That doesn’t mean he’s your backup center! Kupchak has to get off his ass and go get one. And it’s not like they’re hard to find.
(Kupchak was interviewed during the game and explained Lamar Odom’s shipment to Dallas by saying Lamar demanded a trade. Sorry, that’s weak. And glib. So Lamar wanting to be traded, so what? Kupchak had to sit down with him and say, Hey, it was just business. You have that big salary and you’re the player everyone wants. We were trying to get a future Hall of Fame point guard and then hopefully a future Hall of Fame center and you, Lamar, were the key to that whole series of events. We didn’t want to deal you. We love you. Please play for us. We need you to win a championship. And if he then is still unhappy, I’d wait at least a couple of days to see if his mood changes. After all, Lamar does want to be in Los Angeles. That’s a given. So why not let him have a chance to cool down and change his mind. Instead, Kupchak dealt him the next day. For the opportunity to select the approximately 26th player in next year’s draft! And Lamar was dealt to the reigning NBA champions who swept the Lakers in last year’s playoffs. Hello! Kupchak can’t claim to have been in a hurry to make that deal.)
The Lakers actually looked very good in spurts. Pau played well (14 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals) until the fourth quarter. One might theorize that playing center for 38 minutes took its toll on a guy who probably isn’t in great shape yet.
Kobe was the great competitor he always has been, playing hurt for 35 minutes and scoring 28 points with seven rebounds and six assists. He also committed eight turnovers. Kobe’s burden is that he’s got to be the off-guard, the scoring machine, as well as the point guard who creates team offense, getting others involved. It’s too much. He broke down at the end, missing shots, turning the ball over, and when was the last time he had a shot blocked?
Devin Ebanks started and hit four of his five shots. Andrew Goudelock hit two of his three 3-pointers and should’ve played more than 13 minutes. McRoberts rebounded, defended, scored eight points and blocked a couple of shots. Troy Murphy was 3-5 from the field and Steve Blake was 4-9. But why didn’t Darius Morris play?
When Mitch Kupchak goes shopping for a backup center, tell him to pick up a point guard as well—a first string point guard–and let Derek Fisher come off the bench for 16-18 minutes.
Without a backup center, Gasol is being played out of position. Without a decent point guard Kobe is being overworked.
Mike Brown needs to make waves. I got a feeling he ain’t gonna. So I guess I’ll have to.