JOG - John Ireland's BLOG

Come Fly With Me

If you read my last entry, you know that this has been a typical road trip for the Lakers on the court (3-0 with another game today in Detroit), but anything but normal off of it.  What happened last night after the win in New Jersey kept that theme alive.

When we woke up in our New York City hotel on Saturday morning, the news reports were fast and furious about an approaching Winter storm.  A blanket of snow was heading for New Jersey just before tip off, and was expected to pound the entire Tri-State area for a good two days.  Immediately, that put Gary Vitti, the Lakers' Athletic Trainer and de-facto Traveling Secretary into damage control. 

Of course, whether or not we flew to Detroit after the game as scheduled wouldn't be up to Vitti, or anybody else who works for the Lakers.  That decision belongs to the FAA, which controls all air travel in the entire country.  Once they cancel your flight, you're forced to go to plan B.

For the Lakers, this wasn't as easy as it sounds.  Not only was air travel a problem, but just driving on the roads was dangerous.  The Lakers had to prepare as if their flight would be grounded, because almost every airline had canceled all flights out of New York and New Jersey starting at around 5 pm.   It helped that the Lakers used a private charter company, because that meant they only had to get one plane in the air, which is a lot easier that dealing with thousands of passengers.  Still, the snow was coming down and things didn't look good. 

The Lakers looked into multiple scenarios:

--They could go back to their New York City hotel and spend the night there.  That would force them to bus back to Manhattan from Jersey in a snowstorm, which certainly wasn't ideal.

--They could try to find hotel rooms near the Newark airport, and spend the night there.  That would keep the team closer to the airport and avoid the roads, but also was a logistical nightmare since trying to find 40 rooms the weekend before Christmas is never easy.

Of course either scenario was dependent on the storm clearing by morning, allowing the team to fly to Detroit the next day.  This was by no means a certainty.  Early Saturday evening, Phil Jackson told me that he had never missed a game as a coach due to the weather, but it was looking like a real possibility. 

Throughout the game, the writers who regularly cover the team began to receive word that all of their commercial flights had been canceled.  Even worse, many were told that they wouldn't be able to get out of the Tri-State area until Tuesday.  None of the five writers who are regularly on the beat--Mike Bresnahan and Brad Turner from the LA Times; Kevin Ding from the Orange Country Register, Elliott Teaford from the LA Daily News; or Jeff Eisenberg from the Riverside Press-Enterprise are expected to make it to Detroit in time for the game.  If that happens, it will be the first time in my eight years of traveling with the Lakers that no beat writer has been in attendance at a Lakers game.

But the Lakers checked with their charter company,  who continued to remain hopeful that the team's flight after the game would go off as scheduled.  By the time the final buzzer sounded, we knew this would be close.  The snow had arrived and showed no signs of letting up.  But the pilots were experienced and at 10:30 EST, they made the call:  the flight would go off as scheduled.

I asked everybody from Phil Jackson to Joel Meyers if they had ever flown in conditions as bad as this, and they all said no.  It took us over an hour just to drive the 12 miles from the arena to the airport, and another 45 minutes to de-ice the plane. But these guys somehow got the flight in the air, and landed in Detroit at around 3 AM.  By the time the Lakers arrived at the hotel and hit their beds, it was after 4 in the morning.

Since the Pistons game is an early start--6 pm EST and 3 pm in LA--Phil Jackson canceled their scheduled practice and will instead do a walk-through in a hotel ballroom. 

The Pistons aren't a great team this year, but if the Lakers win, they won't just be beating Detroit.  They'll be 1-0 against Mother Nature.

  

  

The Craziest 36 Hours of the Season

 

12/16—Lakers at Milwaukee

The Lakers have just gone through the craziest 36 hour period of the season, maybe of the last five seasons.  It’s 4:40 am in New York as I write this, and I’m not sure the team and the players fully appreciate the marathon they’ve just run.  It was like a sequel to “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.”  With that in mind, here’s a running diary of what happened from the start of the Bulls game Tuesday in Chicago, until the time we arrived in New York tonight.

Tuesday, 4 pm CST

I arrive at the United Center at the same time as Kobe Bryant who is three hours early.  When I ask him how his fractured right finger feels, he just shrugs and says "we'll see."  This exchange follows:

Me:  "Shoot straight, will you?"

KB:  "I just hope I can shoot--period."

Turns out he can shoot just fine.  After trying a third different splint from trainer Gary Vitti, he scores 42 points to lead the Lakers to another win, running the team record to 19-4.

Tuesday, 11 pm CST

Instead of following the usual protocol, Phil Jackson decides to keep the team in Chicago and bus to Milwaukee for the game against the Bucks the next day.  This has never happened in the seven years I've traveled with the team.

Wednesday, 10 am CST

The team boards two buses headed for Milwaukee, 90 miles away.  It is nine degrees in Chicago when we leave, and 19 degrees in Milwaukee when we get there.  So they've got that going for them.  The team heads straight to the Bradley Center for practice, where they stay until 2 pm.  The team luggage truck breaks down four times between Chicago and Milwaukee, and everybody gets their stuff late.

Wednesday, 2 pm CST

The Lakers check in to Milwaukee's oldest hotel, The Phister, which is rumored to haunted.   The team will checks in at 2 pm, and will check out three hours later.  Rod Hundley, who is filling in for Stu Lantz as the Lakers TV color guy on this trip, mentions that he stayed in this hotel when he played for the Lakers in the 60's.  This is not a good thing.

Wednesday, 5 pm

The team arrives at the Bradley Center, and almost everybody looks tired.  It occurs to me that if they lose this game, Phil will probably scrap this whole "travel on the day of the game" thing in the future.  Since that keeps us in places like Chicago and San Francisco, and out of places like Milwaukee and Sacramento, I will now openly root for the Lakers.  I interview Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings before the game, and he tells me that even though he grew up in Gardena idolizing the Lakers, this is "just another game."  I don't believe him.  To open the game, they play the classic Emerson, Lake and Palmer song that starts with "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends."  Seems appropriate.

Wednesday, 7 pm

It becomes obvious that the team doesn't just look tired, they are tired.  The exception is Pau Gasol, who seems to be everywhere.  The Bucks lead by one at the end of the first quarter and by two at the half.  The Lakers seemed to take control of the game in the third, and led by three points going into the final quarter.  But in the fourth, the Bucks rally back and it's a tie game in the final seconds.  Kobe has a shot he usually makes from the left elbow to win the game, and inexplicably, the Bucks single cover him with Charlie Bell.  Kobe misses and the game goes to overtime.  I figure this is bad for the Lakers after the long day they've had, and mention to the guy next to me that these games only seem to go into overtime on nights that we have a flight.  We're scheduled to fly to New York right after the game, which is now three hours old.

By the way, I was right about Jennings.  He is nowhere to be found in the final minutes after making only four of 11 shots.  Scott Skiles, the Bucks coach, benches him for Luke Ridnour.

The overtime is all Milwaukee for the first four minutes.  But up by six with a minute to go, everything goes wrong for the Bucks.  They miss free throws.  They foul Kobe while he's driving, down by four, and the shot goes in. The game comes down to the last shot, with the Lakers down one.  Kobe gets the ball, and again, the Bucks single cover him with Charlie Bell!

While wondering how it is that coaches get paid as much as they do, I watch Kobe go to the exact same spot he went to at the end of regulation and win the game.  If anybody can explain to me any rational reason to leave Kobe single covered at that point, you can have my job.

Kobe finishes with 39 points (that's 81 in two games), and Gasol plays his best game as a Laker--26 points and 22 rebounds.

Thursday, Midnight CST

We board the flight to Newark and it's like that scene out of the movie "Almost Famous."  The plane is shaking, and seems to be blowing all over the place.  The worst turbulence we've had in three years.  People are saying things like "I love you, man," and they're only half-kidding.  All of the traditional in-air card games are stopped, and Lakers PR Director John Black blurts out: "I want to apologize to everybody that I've yelled at during my career."

If you know John Black, you know this is something he would absolutely never say unless he thought that plane was in serious trouble.

Fortunately, the pilot lands the plane in Newark, where we have now lost an hour and are looking at 2:30 am EST.

Thursday, 3:15 am, EST

We arrive at the hotel in New York City.  Three cities, two games, six bus rides, a haunted hotel, a broken luggage truck and near-crash landing.

The team has Thursday and Friday to recover before their third straight back to back set, on Saturday in New Jersey and Sunday in Detroit.

As the song says, "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends...."

 

 

  

How Kobe Scored 42 Points with a Broken Finger

12/15--Lakers at Chicago

Try something at home just for fun:  take something plastic and make a splint.  Put the splint over your right index finger, and then tape it--both up and down, and across--to the top of your finger.  Make sure that the finger can't bend at the joint.  Now, pick up a basketball and try to shoot it.

It's almost impossible to control the ball.  But I just returned from the United Center, where Kobe Bryant dropped 42 points on the Bulls in leading the Lakers to a win.  When I interviewed him on the court after the game, I asked one very obvious question:

"How does a guy with a broken finger score 42 points?"

"I don't know. I don't know," Kobe said laughing, "I don't know." (You can watch the entire interview here: http://cbs2.com/video/?id=122118 )

Actually, I do know.  It's a combination of Kobe's willingness to do anything to get ready to play, and Gary Vitti's willingness to make an enemy out of Kobe.  Vitti is the Lakers' athletic trainer, who has been with the team since 1984.  He's worked on everybody from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to Magic Johnson, to James Worthy, and now, Bryant.  One thing I've learned about Vitti:  if you are a willing patient, he will do everything humanly possible to get you ready. 

I had dinner with Vitti on Monday night.  After dinner was over, he went to Kobe's room and worked on his finger for an hour.  He took a shoelace, and wrapped it so tight around the finger that he was able to move the swelling from the top of the finger to the bottom.  He then taped the bottom down so that Kobe would sleep with no swelling at the top.  The entire time Vitti was working, Kobe was in so much pain that he screamed at Vitti throughout the whole process.  Vitti did it anyway.

"I don't like him very much right now," Kobe said after the game.  "It's very painful, but he did a fantastic job."

At shootaround on Tuesday morning, Vitti tried a new splint that was different from the one they tried in the loss at Utah on Saturday.  In the Utah game, Vitti put an aluminum rod on the front of the finger to hold it in place, then put a plastic splint over the top of the finger and taped the whole thing up.  But at shootaround, he tried some different things and then settled on a third, brand new, splint for the game.  He decided to scrap the rod, and use a thin piece of plastic to splint the finger at the top.  He taped only that thin plastic, in a less-bulkier fashion, around the finger.

When Kobe came out to try it a couple of hours before the game, I could tell right away that this new splint was much better.  The rotation on his shot looked normal, and so did his stroke.  I said on our radio show that I thought he would be able to shoot normally, and that was an understatement.

He made 15 of 26 shots, scored 20 of the Lakers first 24 points, and had 25 of LA's 54 points at the half.  He cooled off in the third quarter, but turned it back on in the fourth to finish with a season-high 42.

The next test is tomorrow in Milwaukee, when he'll try to play back-to-back games with the new splint.  

Could the Lakers Contend Without Kobe?

December 12—Lakers at Utah

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that I thought the outcome of the Utah game was predictable.  I won’t dwell on that.  But I will ask a question that I’ve often wondered about, and that we got somewhat of an answer to in Salt Lake City.

Would the Lakers be a title contender without Kobe?

In Utah, Kobe was both injured and sick.  He was one day removed from fracturing his right index finger, and then came down with the stomach flu.  He tried to play—but that might as well have been me out there.  He wasn’t close to himself, making just seven of 24 shots, including one of nine from behind the three-point line.  It was only the fourth time all season he was held under 20 points, and the Lakers now stand 1-3 in those games.

So let’s consider the question.  Without Kobe. the Lakers would still have Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and Ron Artest.  That’s a great team.  On the bench, you’d have Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic, Josh Powell, DJ Mbenga, and Adam Morrison.  Not a great bench, but not the worst either.

Gasol would be the leading scorer, with Bynum a close second.  Odom would have to score more than he does now, but that probably wouldn’t be a problem.  Artest would move up to the third or fourth option, which he’s been his whole career anyway.  Fisher is a stabilizing influence, and in many ways, a coach on the floor.  You wouldn’t play most of the bench guys, although Brown, Farmar and Mbenga would probably have to play every game.

On paper, that’s probably a 50 win team.  Remember that in the first year after Phil Jackson lost Michael Jordan to baseball in the 90’s, he led the Bulls to 55 wins without him.   If the “no  Kobe” Lakers win 50, they’re in the playoffs, probably as a four or five seed.

In the West, that means they would have teams like Denver, San Antonio, Portland and maybe Utah or Dallas standing in the way.  Again, on paper, that looks like no big deal.

But I would argue that they’d never get out the West because they wouldn’t have the guy.

Every great championship team has that one guy who puts the team on his back when the game is on the line.  Normally a first-team all-star or hall of fame caliber player that just delivers.   Look at that list of teams again.  Denver has Carmelo, San Antonio has Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, Portland has Brandon Roy and Dallas has Dirk.   You might find one team over the past twenty years (I’m thinking the ’04 Pistons) that does it by committee, but I would argue that you need Superman when the game needs to be saved.

Kobe is that guy.  As good as the rest of the Lakers look on paper, I’ve seen too many games to believe that Kobe can be replaced.  He sets the tone on defense, is arguably the most clutch player in the league today, and most of all, he’s a leader. 

As the famous proverb says:  “You know what they call a leader with no followers?  A guy taking a walk.”

Without Kobe, I don’t think the Lakers get out of the second round.  With him, they are the absolute favorite to win the title again.  As good as the rest of the team looks, he’s the difference between a great season, and a championship one.

Next up:  game two of the road trip in Chicago on Tuesday night.

Does the Streak End Tonight?

12/11--Minnesota at Lakers

On a couple of different occasions during the Lakers current 11 game winning streak, Phil Jackson said something obvious, yet unusual for a coach to admit:

"We're going to lose again," Jackson said, "it's coming."

He's right, and I think that loss is coming tonight in Utah.

I've been saying this for a couple of weeks.  Jackson has taught me over the years that some losses can be attributed to scheduling--and this looks like one.  The last time the Lakers played back-to-back games, going west to east, they were hammered in Denver.  I predicted that loss (the only other time I've done it this year), and I'm predicting another one tonight.

There are several reasons for this prediction, but more than anything else, this feels  like a loss. It isn't that the Lakers aren't good in back-to-back games--they're actually great in those.  It's this specific situation that gets them.  For example, they play back-to-back twice in the coming week--Chicago/Milwaukee on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by New Jersey/Detroit on Saturday and Sunday.  I think they'll win all four.  But tonight, they're changing time zones, climates, and playing a team they just played three days ago.  Utah is one of the best home teams in the NBA, even if you don't show them your playbook earlier in the week.

I'm writing this at 3:47 AM in Salt Lake City.  I'm wired from the trip, and I didn't play.  Here's a time frame of what the Lakers have been through tonight:

9:50 pm Lakers beat Minnesota

12 midnight   Flight departs LAX for Utah

1:25 am      Flight lands in Utah (where it's 18 degrees and snowing)

3 am   Players arrive at hotel (one hour time change)

The game is set for 6 pm tonight, California time.

On top of all of this, Kobe Bryant fractured his right index finger in the win against Minnesota. He'll learn to play through it, he always does.  But it normally takes a game for him to figure it out.  Pau Gasol's first loss as a Laker was in February of 2008 in Atlanta, a game after Kobe fractured his pinkie on that same hand.  He was off that night, but figured out how to shoot with the bad hand in the next game, and the Lakers won their next ten games in a row. 

By the way, the Jazz had Friday night off, and are coming off of their best win of the season on Thursday night against Orlando.  Utah has won six straight at home.  Did I mention this feels like a loss?

Of course, I could be wrong.  A few years ago, Kobe was in that stretch of games when he scored more than 40 points a game for ten straight games.  The Lakers won a double overtime game against the Rockets at Staples Center, and Kobe could barely walk.  We boarded a plane for Utah at 1 AM, and arrived in Salt Lake City even later than we did tonight.  I've never been more convinced the Lakers would lose than that night.  They won, and Kobe led the way.

If that happens tonight, I'm not sure Phil Jackson is right.  They might win another 11 games in a row.  Ron Artest, who uses Twitter several times daily, tweeted this from the plane right before we took off:

"great game!!  true test tomorrow!!!!"

That's a good sign.  Great teams test themselves throughout the season, and the Lakers won't have a tougher early season test than this. 

28-6 Blitz

12/9--Utah at Lakers

This game illustrated why the Lakers are so dangerous. 

Utah played an almost perfect first three quarters.  The Jazz stayed even with the Lakers after the first, and Utah actually led by four at halftime.  At the end of three, it was still very much a game with LA leading 73-71.  The Jazz controlled the boards, both offensive and defensive, and took advantage of second and third opportunities.  After three quarters, this reminded me a lot of the Houston loss earlier in the year, when the Rockets out-rebounded the Lakers, 60-38, to hand LA one of only three losses this season.

But in the fourth, the Lakers played their best quarter of the year.  It was almost like LA had an extra player on the court.  They outscored Utah 28-6, which is the fewest points they've allowed in a quarter since they held the Clippers to just three points back in December of 1999.  They seemed to double-team every Jazz player when he had the ball, and they forced three shot-clock violations.  It was the best defensive quarter I've seen in years.

How does that happen? 

"They turned it up defensively," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.  "That's what great teams do.  They have a great team to start with, but they are also one of the great defensive teams.  That is what has made them so good."

"Great defense," Phil Jackson said.  "We struggled for three quarters and then we had a run--a big one."

"Defense," Lamar Odom said.

See the theme?  The Lakers are obviously one of the most dominant offensive teams ever constructed, but that's not how they'll win another title.  What they showed on Wednesday night is an ability to completely smother an opponent--even one that had been having a good night.

I asked Pau Gasol why they didn't just play defense in the first three quarters, the way they did in the fourth?  His response surprised me.

"Because it's impossible," he said.  "You can't sustain that type of defensive pressure for four quarters--you just can't do it.  But we did a good job of turning it up when we needed to."

Just ask the Jazz.

Next up:  Kurt Rambis gets his ring on Friday night when Minnesota comes to town.

Is Tim Donaghy Telling the Truth?

12/6--Phoenix at Lakers

While most Lakers fans were watching LA beat up on the Suns for the second time this year, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy appeared on 60 Minutes.  It was his first interview in two years, detailing everything that happened at the end of his career.  It was riveting television, and for any NBA fan, a look inside how a professional referee could ruin his life by gambling.

In the interview, Donaghy outlined how his gambling problems began.  He found himself in debt after losing bets golfing and playing card games at a country club.  Once the debts piled up, he realized the easiest way to make that money back would be to bet on NBA games.  He knew things that few others knew, and figured for the most part he could use that knowledge to correctly predict the outcome of NBA games against the point spread.

He was right.  In three years of betting NBA games (many which he officiated himself), he won 70 to 80% of the games he bet on.  If you believe Donaghy, he based his bets not on his ability to control games with his whistle, but on tendencies his fellow officials had against certain players, coaches, general managers and owners. He insists that he never "fixed" games, and that he never let his calls influence the teams that he bet on.  In one instance, he shared a story of a game in which he bet on San Antonio, but then ejected coach Greg Popovich early in the first quarter.  The Spurs went on to lose that game in New Orleans, costing Donaghy and the Mob a lot of money.  He said this is just one example of how he never let his calls influence his bets.

On the surface, his story seems very hard to believe.  Why would a convicted felon, who is trying to sell a book, not say anything to improve his book sales?

But you know what?  I tend to believe his story.  I don't want to believe him, but I have no reason not to believe the FBI agent who headed the Donaghy investigation, Phillip Scala.

During the 60 Minutes piece, Scala tells reporter Bob Simon that Donaghy cooperated fully with the FBI, and that they tried to find examples of Donaghy fixing games.  They couldn't.  Either could the NBA's lead investigator, Lawerence Pedowitz.  Even Donaghy himself tells a story of how he and his fellow referees intentionally tried to teach Allen Iverson "a lesson."  Iverson was feuding with referee Steve Javie at the time, and the league fined AI $25,000 after he threatened Javie.  The other officials thought Iverson should have been suspended, so according to Donaghy, they all agreed to stick it to him.  Based on that, Donaghy bet on Utah to beat Denver.  

But as Ken Berger from CBS Sports points out in this incredibly well-researched article http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/12624836/disgraced-former-ref-donaghy-details-scam-on-60-minutes , Donaghy's claim that they went after Iverson doesn't hold up.  I think he simply bet on the Jazz, and the Jazz beat Denver.

Donaghy tells another story that involves the Lakers.  He says that at one point, the Lakers sent a DVD to the NBA league office that contained 25 examples of fouls against Kobe Bryant that were not called.  The next day, the league sent a memo to all of the officials pointing out that 22 of those 25 were indeed missed calls.  Donaghy knew that Kobe would get calls for a few weeks, so he bet a lot on the Lakers--and he won.  Of course, the Lakers are always good, and Kobe usually gets calls, but that probably helped.

In the end, I believe that Donaghy knew certain refs tend to call things a certain way, and he used those tendencies to make his bets.  It was nothing more than insider trading at an NBA level.  I don't think he fixed games, and I also tend to believe the NBA's investigators when they say Donaghy acted alone.  I know that good NBA scouts can tell you the tendencies of every NBA player and most coaches.  The refs are no different, and Donaghy was the only guy using those tendencies to sway his betting.  Had any team or owner studied the refs, they would have had a similar advantage--not to make bets of course, but for strategic purposes.  Mark Cuban tried to do this for years, until the league told him to knock it off. 

I actually think this whole scandal might make the referees better.  Now that they know more people will be paying attention, I think holding a grudge against a team or a player will be harder to do.  Of course, any time a ref makes a really bad call, fans are going to assume the worst.

That will be the legacy of Tim Donaghy.

For what it's worth, I think his biggest crime wasn't the gambling.  It was that he sold out all of his co-workers and the league that had allowed him to make a ridiculous living for 13 years.  Any referee could have done this, but most have too much integrity and too much love for the game to throw it all away like Donaghy did.  It's clear from the 60 Minutes interview that he realizes that now, but it's hard to believe he didn't think about any of that before he started.  By the way, he's not only out of work--but he lost his family.  His wife divorced him, and she now has custody of their four daughters.

If you want to watch the Donaghy story on 60 Minutes, click here:  http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/?pid=UHMI_aAl1bF4grHiBD1x1CTwxUJvoKDi

Next up for the Lakers, another home game--Wednesday night against Utah.

  

Lucky to Beat the Heat

12/4--Miami at Lakers

I was at Staples Center, and I still can't believe what I saw.

The Lakers were dead.  Down by four with nine seconds to go.  But after Derek Fisher buried a three-pointer, I thought there might be hope.  The Heat had been missing free throws all night, and when the Lakers fouled D'Wayne Wade intentionally, there was a decent chance he'd miss at least one of two (which he did).  For the game, the Heat made just 27 of 42 free throws, shooting just 64%.

That left the Lakers with a decision: down 107-105 with 3.2 seconds left, who gets the ball?  I've always argued in these situations that Kobe should get it, no matter what.  But in this case, you only needed a two to send the game to overtime.  With enough time to pass, it made a lot of sense to use Kobe as a decoy and maybe go inside to Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum to tie the game.

Instead, Ron Artest inbounded the ball to Kobe, who had a lot of trouble finding some space.  By the time he caught the ball and tried to create, he had no choice but to throw up a one-footed, off-balance, 25-foot bank shot. 

It went in as the buzzer sounded.  Lakers 108, Heat 107.

After the game, I asked Kobe what happened.

"Lucky," he said, "it was a lucky shot."

"To win that ballgame," Phil Jackson added, "you need to be lucky.  And we were tonight."

So did they make the wrong choice?  Absolutely not.  Kobe Bryant has a unique ability to come up big at the end of games.  He's done it his whole career.  I know this doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'd rather take my chances with Kobe taking a last-second shot while he's covered, than with any other Lakers player wide open.  I've just seen him do it too often to bet against it.

Actually, this was the first time I can remember a shot that anybody thought was "lucky."  Most of the time, he takes tough, well-contested shots that go in about half the time.  But this wasn't one of those--it was a prayer, and it was answered.

"I knew he was going to make it," Ron Artest joked after the game.  "That's why he's the Black Mamba."

I asked Andrew Bynum if he thought the Lakers were dead--down four with nine seconds to go.

"Yeah...pretty much," he said.  "But nothing Kobe does really surprises me."

And that's why you give the ball to Bryant.  Some guys just deliver when others don't.  If you're lucky enough to have one of those guys, you give him the ball--covered or not.

Next up:  the Phoenix Suns back for their final visit to Staples on Sunday

An Encouraging Sign

12/1--New Orleans at Lakers

It's a new month, but the same old story.  A team with a losing record comes into Staples Center--in this case, without their best player--and the Lakers jump all over them.  New Orleans was the punching bag again this time around, losing to the Lakers for the second time in a month.

The Lakers led by four at the end of the first quarter, by 20 at the half, and by 21 at the end of the third.  But in the fourth, the Lakers' reserves began to blow the lead--something that has happened more than once recently.  But this time around, Phil Jackson refused to put his starters back in the game, even as the lead dwindled to ten in the final minutes.

"I was going to suffer the consequences," he said. "I thought one way or the other they've got to take responsibility for it, that crew that was out there."

And even though the reserves pulled out the win, the talk in the locker room after the game wasn't about the victory, but about the finish.

"We did close," Andrew Bynum said, "but especially that second unit, they really need to set and run the triangle and get organized.  That's the big issue."

"We have to do a better job at closing those games," Lamar Odom added. 

The fact that the Lakers had just won their seventh straight game, and instead focused on what they didn't do, is an encouraging sign.  Championship teams are never satisfied, even when they win.  All of the NBA Finals teams I've covered (six total) share this characteristic.

As for the Hornets, they've gone backwards since challenging the Lakers for the best record in the West only two seasons ago.  Since that year, they've traded their center (Tyson Chandler), fired their coach (Byron Scott) and installed the GM (Jeff Bower) as coach in an attempt to save the ship from sinking. I've got a crazy idea for New Orleans, and I actually think it makes total sense.

I would trade Chris Paul. 

Now keep in mind that I consider Paul to be the best pure point guard in the NBA since John Stockton.  He's better than Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Deron Williams or Jason Kidd.  He can score with anybody, sees the whole floor, and is impossible to guard.  So why trade him?

He can leave after the 2012 season.  And if the Hornets don't build a winner, he'll leave--all great players do.  On top of that, New Orleans owner George Shinn is all about saving money.  If he doesn't win, there is no way he'll pay Paul when his contract comes up. 

Here's what I would do:  I would trade him to Golden State for Monta Ellis, Anthony Randolph, and next year's number one pick.  The salaries are almost identical.  It would energize the Warriors without decimating the team.  Paul would join Steph Curry, Andris Biedrins, Corey Maggette, Vlad Radmanovic, Anthony Morrow and Rony Turiaf to form a solid nucleus.  In New Orleans, they get a star (Ellis) who is locked in for four more years at $11 million a season (way less than Paul would cost in two years).  They also get a native son in Randolph who is still on his rookie deal.  The number one pick is almost certain to be a top ten pick, maybe top five.

In the short term, Golden State is getting the best player, so they probably get the best of this deal.  But the closer Paul gets to free agency, the less the Hornets can command in a trade.  And if they don't do anything, they could get left with nothing.  Plus, I think the Hornets would become a more balanced team, and certainly a playoff contender.

By the way, I'm not the only one who connected these dots--Sam Smith from www.bulls.com had the same idea.  I've run it by a bunch of NBA writers (including Mark Heisler and Mike Bresnahan from the LA Times), and almost everyone agrees that it would make sense for both teams. 

I don't think it will happen--especially now that the GM is the coach.  I think he has to justify his draft picks and try to keep his job.  But this is one of those deals that could and should happen.  It just won't.

Next up:  D'Wayne Wade and the Miami Heat, followed by a rematch with Phoenix.

 

Why So Dominant?

11/29--New Jersey at Lakers

I know it was against the Nets, but the Lakers won their sixth game in a row in ridiculously easy fashion.  In all six games, they've scored more than 100 points and won each by a double-digit margin. They ended their October/November schedule with a 13-3 record, but all three losses were without Pau Gasol. It reminded me a lot of last year's championship season, when the Lakers finished October/November at 14-1. 

But how are they doing it?  Why is it that they're not only winning, but dominating?

"The defense is getting better and better," Kobe Bryant said after the NJ win.  "We're working really, really, hard at it.  Energy has been consistent.  This is something we feel like we can maintain."

But how have they adjusted so quickly to one new player (Ron Artest), and another who missed most of training camp (Gasol)?

"I think the experience, as far as us playing together, understanding the triangle," Lamar Odom says.  "Ron is an incredibly smart basketball player.  I think he understood what he had to do to take over for Trevor.  He's fit into that role well."

I really think they're on to something here, but we won't know for awhile just how good the Lakers are. The schedule doesn't exactly get tougher in the coming days.  The next five games are at home (New Orleans, Miami, Phoenix, Utah, Minnesota), followed by a five game road trip against teams with mostly losing records (Utah, Chicago, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Detroit).  After that, they play Oklahoma City at home before the big Christmas day showdown with Cleveland.

That's 11 games before the Cavs come to town.  If the Lakers go 9-2 (certainly possible), they would go into that Cleveland game with a record of 22-5.  That would be within a game of what the team was last Christmas, when they beat the Celtics and the season took off.

Next up:  Chris Paul and the Hornets in their final visit to Staples this season, on Tuesday.  The Lakers beat the Hornets, 104-88, back on November 8.