No great surprise here. No, really. Houston played hard and with great energy, which didn’t surprise much of anyone, and the Lakers seemed distracted and flat — which also didn’t surprise much of anyone. The Rockets led all but, like, 47 seconds of the game, and it was no accident.
Now, we shall see if the Lakers have another gear to shift into, after coasting by the Jazz in the first round.
They pretty much have to at home, on Wednesday. Once they do that, they can work on going to Houston and winning a game.
“We’ve shown we’re a good road team,” Kobe Bryant said. “We know we can do win in Houston.”
Of course, they need to win in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Getting down 2-0 with a pair of defeats at home is not how you want to start a series.
The Rockets were strong in three key areas, and that spelled doom for the Lakers.
–Yao Ming helped clog the lane, and the Lakers were forced to settle for long jumpers — and didn’t make them. They were a wretched 2-for-18 from the three-point line.
–Shane Battier and Ron Artest gave Kobe Bryant fits. He was 14-for-31, forcing shots all night long and tattooing the front of the rim in the first half, when he was 4-for-12.
–Aaron Brooks, the tiny point guard out of Oregon, just destroyed Derek Fisher at the point guard position, routinely blowing past the almost 35-year-old point guard for embarrassingly easy layups.
It isn’t time to panic. But it’s time to get serious. The Lakers have to take care of business Wednesday night. That is Job 1. They can worry about the rest of this, Yao and the blue-collar Rockets, after getting this thing to 1-1.
1 response so far ↓
1 Damian // May 5, 2009 at 3:21 PM
This is one of the more frustrating Lakers teams to root for. I know expectations have something to do with this feeling, but when you see the personnel and the potential this team has within itself (such as that 7-0 road trip that ended with wins at Boston and Cleveland), it’s not out of the question for the fan to want to root for a special, historic season. All those 4th quarter leads blown and games lost in the regular season. Getting swept by Charlotte … again.
This is yet another Lakers team, like the Kobe and Shaq teams after they beat Philly in the NBA Finals, that only pledges to play as hard as they have to, and only want to outscore the opponent, rather than hold an interest in playing defense and stopping the opponent.
Many people will say it is human nature to not challenge yourself when the opposition doesn’t appear to be challenging at first sight. But that sort of sentiment is for the weak of mind. No matter how much money today’s players are making, it shouldn’t have a bearing on one’s passion for competition and the game.
And, in thinking about that statement, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that the Lakers play this way because they lack leadership.
Take Monday for example. Lakers sweep the season series vs. Houston 4-0 and had a week to rest, and then they put up that effort in Game 1. The reaction? No big deal and Kobe talks about how good of a road team the Lakers are. That is true but you should be ticked anytime you lose at home in the playoffs. Especially when you finished at least 11 games better than the rest of the conference in the regular season!
And when you’re 11 games better than your conference, these playoff games don’t come down to what Houston can do. It’s about the Lakers and what they are willing to do.
How Phil continues to put up with this bunch, despite his incessant battle with them to play the game the right way all season, is beyond me. I’m pretty sure Phil sees an opportunity for a title with this team and he’s only around so he can pass Auerbach in titles won as a coach and then he’s out.
There is poor leadership on this team and absolutely no vocal, emotional leadership component. The guy everyone looks to as a leader is the same guy who’s personally quit on his team in 2 past playoff games — in Sacramento and in Phoenix — and the guy who just tells his team to give him the ball when the team is faced with adversity in a tough situation. That doesn’t exactly breed confidence in the other players.
Gasol can’t a leader because he has little fire and wants to play every game without being touched.
Odom can’t be a leader because he is quite possibly the dumbest guy in the NBA whose head is in the clouds and crowds every game, wondering which groupies in the first 5 rows he’s going to invite over to the Marina del Rey Marriott after the game. (Please do not re-sign Odom because his play and productivity since the All-Star break and in the playoffs is only there because he’s only playing for a contract and to continue living in LA year-round.)
Fisher is a nice guy, great human being and samaritan, and great spokesperson, but these traits shouldn’t be confused with leadership.
Grown men won’t and don’t seek leadership from a coaching staff. Not that Phil has any to offer at his ripe age. Phil has mellowed and no longer has the energy to ride his players from game to game.
I’ll always love the Lakers but I found it difficult to cheer them onto the 2nd round as their 20-point 4th quarter lead over Utah in Game 5 dwindled to 6 with 3:30 left.
I can feel Phil’s pain — it’s hard to get worked up over a team that rarely feels the need to get worked up to play anyone, even if it’s the playoffs.
Who else misses the 80’s Lakers?
Leave a Comment