Lakers' Season Opener at Staples Center
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by Ea34
Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers tipped off their 2007-08 season with a 95-93 loss at Staple Center against the Houston Rockets. After leading for much of the first half, the Lakers were outplayed in the third quarter, trailing by as many as 14 points. With 1:36 remaining, the Lakers still trailed by a margin of twelve points, 92-80. At that point, thanks to some outstanding defense by the Lakers, along with some poor execution by the Rockets, the Lakers launched what was shaping up to be a miraculous comeback, going on a 12-0 run over the next 1:23. The highlight of the night had to be Derek Fisher's dramatic jumper from the wing with 13 seconds left that tied the game at 92.
Unfortunately, in the 13 second following their inspiring 12-0 run, the Lakers were outscored 3-1, as the game ended 95-93 in favor of the Rockets. With 13 ticks left, Tracy McGrady brought the ball up the floor Shane Battier spotting up for a 3-pointer on the right wing. With a hand in his face, Battier put up a high, arching 3-point attempt that found its mark- Rockets lead, 95-92 with 2.5 seconds left. After a Lakers’ timeout, Battier took an intentional foul on Kobe Bryant before he could attempt a game-tying 3-pointer (an effective, obvious but seldom-used strategy- seriously, why don’t more teams do this?) with 1.5 seconds remaining. After making his first free throw, Kobe intentionally (and beautifully) missed the second attempt, managed to get his own rebound, but had his shot blocked from behind by Rafer Alston as time expired.
Watching the Lakers in their roller coaster opening game of the season, I kept having these three recurring thoughts:
Until the last 2 minutes, Kobe Bryant played like he had one foot out the door. To be clear, this is not to insinuate that Kobe “mailed it in” and didn’t give maximum effort on Tuesday night, rather that he seemed somehow detached from the rest of the Lakers, as they did not all share a common fate or common goals. It started in with Kobe getting booed by fans at Staples Center during introductions (on opening night??? Things are not right in LakerLand!), and lasted until the Lakers’ frantic fourth quarter comeback, when all seemed right again. In the interest of both the Lakers’ and their fans, the Kobe situation needs to be figured, and soon. While the Lakers’ [most business savvy move would not be to trade Kobe] [1] right now, after just one game it’s obvious that the relationship between Kobe and Lakers has deteriorated to the point where the team may not have much choice.
For all the talk about his mental and emotional impact on the Lakers, Derek Fisher’s on-court contribution could be even bigger in 2007-08. Entering the season, Fisher’s return to the Lakers was supposed to be as much as a mentor to the team’s young players and stabilizing influence in the locker room as a full-time point guard, but it looks like his acquisition could pay its biggest dividends in the form of his on-court production. With Jordan Farmar not quite ready to take over the full compliment of responsibilities that go with the position and 2007 first-round selection Javaris Crittenton still in need of quite a bit of seasoning before he can become a regular contributor, the Lakers may look to Derek Fisher to play 35+ minutes a night and score 12-15 points per game.
It’s time to stop protecting Andrew Bynum - let’s throw him into the fire and see what we’ve got. By now everyone knows that last season the Lakers’ belief in Bymun’s potential as a franchise center led them to pass up the opportunity to acquire Jason Kidd, drawing the ire of Kobe Bryant and contributing, at least in part, to his desire to leave the Lakers. The Lakers’ front office made an executive decision and now the team has to live with it- but let’s start living with it already! Bynum is entering his third year, he’s visibly bigger and stronger than last year, he showed some flashes of his potential last season and had a very impressive preseason this year (He wasn’t terrible in his 19 minutes on Tuesday night either- just 4 points, but 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and NO turnovers). What more are we waiting for? Name Andrew Bynum the starting center, start giving him some serious minutes and let’s see what the kid can do. Not that it was a conscious decision at the time, but dynamic duo of Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss indirectly chose Andrew Bynum over Kobe Bryant last season. Time to start living with that decision.
Note: Apparently Bynum was late in arriving at the arena on Tuesday night, understandably leading Phil Jackson to bench him for a good portion of the game as punishment. However, let’s hope we’re not in for a season’s worth of 19-minute outings for Andrew Bynum.
- User:Ea34 covers the Lakers beat for ArmchairGM.
