The Lakers’ Win Doesn’t Mean a Damn Thing
Watching the first half of Lakers/Spurs last night made Tex Winters‘ comments look idiotic. L.A. started the game 10-11 from the field, getting buckets from everyone on the floor. The Lakers built an 18-point lead by the end of the first quarter, and maintained that double-digit spread deep into the third quarter.
But as San Antonio scrapped back into it, Winters’ assertions that the Lakers have serious flaws (I think that’s what he means by “warts”) and that they’re “not playing as good as our record indicates” looked like the truth.
As we wrote in Smack, you knew that the Spurs were going to put a run together. Tony Parker went on a personal mission in the third, murdering the Lakers’ D on screen-and-rolls. He rattled off eight straight points, and then after TD and Ime Udoka both scored, Parker finished the quarter on a five-point run. Parker had L.A. so mixed up, Kobe ended up on the wrong side of a screen, hugging the guy who set a pick on that play (Udoka?) as TP took a wide-open J.
But even so, L.A.’s defensive lapses weren’t the troubling signs. It was what they did on offense during that stretch. The Lakers became really stagnant, waiting around and watching each other go one-on-one. They went 8-22 from the field as a team, committing five turnovers while converting only four assists. Kobe didn’t get involved in the flow of the offense at all. Every time he got a touch, it felt like the Lakers were stopping and staring. Bryant finished the third quarter without hitting a field goal.
But the Lakers managed to stave off San Antonio’s run because they got a couple ill-advised shots to go. Phil Jackson couldn’t have been happy that they were even taking those tries in the first place. Derek Fisher stuck a 24-foot jumper in Parker’s grill – a classic example of Fisher jacking, and one of those shots that everyone on the bench says “Nooo!” when he pulls, and “Yes!” when it goes in.
If you only saw the SportsCenter highlight, you might think that last night was yet another example of Kobe taking over a game down the stretch. But the truth is, Luke Walton was the biggest reason that San Antonio’s 16-point comeback didn’t translate into a loss for L.A. He started the fourth quarter with Mamba on the bench, and got things moving. He made a pretty pass to Pau in the paint, then got a big steal when the game was 81-77, and stretched L.A.’s lead to 12 points on two different occasions in the fourth quarter. Sidenote: In Bill Simmons’ recent mailbag, a reader called Walton the male equivalent to Jennifer Love Hewitt:
“I thought you should know that I have discovered the male equivalent to Jennifer Love Hewitt — a guy that most women find attractive, but when guys hear any girl say it, they get seriously pissed off. Brace yourself … it’s Luke Walton. Go ahead, test the theory with your male and female friends, but I think you will find the same results.”
But back to last night – bottom line: you don’t want your second unit (or the Bench Mob as Vujacic says) to be the only group capable of getting clean looks at the rim. And furthermore, you don’t want to watch an 16-point lead slip away and leave it to Kobe to hit two very tough shots – one fading 17-footer with two guys all over him, and then a ballsy three after the Spurs cut it to 95-93 in order to maintain a lead. That’s not what you’d expect from a team that is “running away with the West” as the LA Times said this morning. Normally, an L.A. win over San Antone would mean that they’re clicking, as they came out on top against the team that gives them a ton of trouble. But the final 25 minutes of last night’s game paints a different picture.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Michael says:
You really are an idiot aren’t you. The Lakers did what ever the hell they wanted. Pau plays Duncan suprisingly well, and the Spurs still can’t figure out how to slow down KObe.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Michael says:
By the way the reason Kobe didn’t hit a shot in the third quarter is because he didn’t take a shot in the third quarter, he took only six in the entire seoncd half.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Al Qaeda Jada says:
they need better defense but I still think they’re taking it this year
March 13th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
marcus the great says:
damn they really do be bashin the hell outta AK lol
March 13th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
samir says:
do your thing Katz they still gonna come back and read it anyway
March 13th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
SJ says:
In a 7-game series of LA vs SA, I’d take Spurs any day. They are built for it.
March 13th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
need4thrill says:
I agree with them this article makes a mockery of my intelligence
March 13th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Drink the Haterade (KB24 Chip 09) says:
No way SA wins in a 7 game series… The Lakers against SA, Boston and the Cavs are 6-1 the only loss was at SA on a back to back…
Nuff Said!
March 13th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
McLovin says:
This is the worst article I have seen on dimemag!
March 13th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Kobeef says:
A win is a win.
If the Spurs were the better team they would have won. That’s the object of the game.
March 13th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
max says:
You’re absolutely right! The lakers are not perfect. So weren’t the bulls or any other team, and you will never find a team that is perfect. Therefore these articles will continue to flow in stating that teams aren’t perfect. At the end of the day the lakers pulled out the win and that’s all that matters.
March 13th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Ian says:
kobeef
really then why arent the lakers undefeated???
the game doesnt mean shit even if the spurs win it doesnt mean shit
March 13th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Sanpitch says:
keep it up ak. laker fans will always complain about something.
just lay off the lil’ wayne articles.
man andrew, you have picked up some haters. what did you do?
March 13th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
doc says:
Good shit to me.They won but won in a way that gotta be fixed so they dont get that ass handed to them-AGAIN.
March 13th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
rangerjohn says:
lmao at posts 1 and 2
you are the idiot, get off kobes nuts!!! i mean damn for someone who is so obviously smarter then the writers in all manners of the nba, you would think that you would know that kobe went 2 OF SEVEN in the 4th so explain how he ONLY TOOK SIX SHOTS IN THE SECOND HALF. oh wait, i get it, kobe is SOOOO GOOOOOODDD, that he made a shot he didnt even take and it had to be the game winner right?
holy shit!
lmao at the kobe love.
March 13th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Every game means something. If it doesn’t mean anything then why have a season at all? Perhaps we should just go from the season opener to game 7 of the Finals.
Butterfly effect. Look it up.
March 13th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
the cynic says:
it really doesn’t matter that the lakers aren’t the best “TEAM” in the league because they have the best player, and the few teams that have the better “TEAM” then the lakers aren’t that much better to negate the Kobe factor. If the Lakers don’t win it all this year it will be because the team choked
March 13th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
FIRE KATZ says:
hahahah they deleted my comment.
March 13th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Jason says:
Michael, did you even watch the game? The Lakers were quite fortunate to win the game.
AK, great article.
P.S. I’m a Lakers fan, and absolutely loathe the Spurs.
March 13th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
kevin k says:
lol
AK is the most hated dude @ Dime
you know what you need to do AK; you should have someone else write a article and then just post it under your name to see what kind of response you get
the game was fun. TP is straight up a killer.
March 13th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
doug says:
Ian I think if the spurs won you wouldn’t be saying that game didn’t mean anything. Jason nothing says I’m a Laker hater more than the P.S I’m a Laker Fan comment. I’m a laker fan and I like most laker fans have don’t have to write down that we are Laker fans people usually know.
March 13th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
AY says:
every damn article by AK has a link to espn. Why don’t I just go to espn instead? I should.
March 13th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Ace says:
Dude…Seriously ??
what a pathetic excuse for an article.
March 13th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Ian says:
doug how puerto rico?? nah man dont say that i said the same thing when we won the first game if there are 2 coaches who dont really give a fuck about last nights result are pop and phil.
March 13th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
. says:
dont want to be picky but kobe didn’t take a shot in the 3rd quarter which would be the reason why he didn’t make any.
March 13th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Marian says:
Oh my, what an excellent article! First off, I am a Spurs fan, and secondly, I will say, that the Lakers are a helluva team. This is the best Lakers have been in forever. And they scared the heck out of us early. HOWEVER, after the first quarter, Spurs came back strong and steady. Persistence drives a stone mad. Had Spurs gotten their freethrows, might’ve gone into overtime.
Look, Spurs fans respect the Lakers, and I think vice versa is true. Even if they don’t love each other, we know that each team has to go through the other to go anywhere. Read Bill Dwyer’s article from March 3, I think it was in LA TIMES . . . he was saying LAKERS: SOS.
Reason why win “doesn’t mean anything” . . . Manu was out. Gooden played almost no minutes. And, of course, Bynum was out. Even if Spurs won, these are most likely the true teams that will face each other come PLAYOFFS.
Bottom line is, Kobe is amazing, even second string was strong, and Spurs needed a gauge, as Timmy and Pop said, and they got it. With Manu hopefully healing, and Gooden on our team, seven game series, I’m goin’ Spurs. But the Lakers scare the heck out of me.
Katz, thanks for having the courage to speak the truth.
March 13th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
John says:
For one, Kobe didn’t attempt a shot in the third. This was in effort to get others involved, not because the Spurs defense “slowed him down”.
And lets look at this win in context, the previous night the Lakers played a tight games against one of the league’s best, shorthanded (no Lamar Odom), and came away with the win. So after playing a back to back, in a tight game, against a team like the Rockets, it would make sense for the Lakers to wear down as the game goes on. In addition, you make is seem like the Laker bench “held off” the Spurs run, when in fact they were the unit out there that let the Spurs cut the lead down to 4 at one point in the fourth. The Lakers starters withheld that run. The Spurs could not stop the Lakers for a consistent period of time when their starters were out there.
Sure the Lakers have problems (funny that you say that the Lakers showed more problems offensively, then defensively, because it shows you have no idea what you’re talking about), but how about you “critique” the other team as well. How about the fact they do not have one player on that roster that can guard Kobe Bryant. How about the fact that they do not have the size nor the athleticism to complete with the Laker frontline. And as bad as the Laker bench has been recently, they are still better then what the Spurs have out there. And what about the Spurs’ offensive system that relies on the three ball exclusively to free up Tim Duncan. If there is one game where Bonner, Mason, Hill etc. are not hitting shots, the Spurs will get blown out, that’s a pretty troubling sign, isn’t it. Hell, it took Tony Parker to get red hot at the end to make it close, if it hadn’t been for his run at the end, the Lakers would have pulled and cruised.
Keep in mind the Lakers took the series 3-1, with the 1 loss coming on freak play in a game the Lakers should have won. And sure when Manu comes back he’ll help the Spurs, but like last year, chances are he won’t be 100% and when Bynum gets back, that will make life harder for both Parker and Manu, strengthening the Lakers overall defense. So the fact that the Lakers were able to hold off the Spurs in their building and taking everything into context about the win, it is very telling that they are quite ahead of them.
March 13th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
John says:
Oh and by the way, Kobe hitting those tough shots at the end, well guess what you NBA guru, that’s what superstars do. You might say that Kobe had to hit those shots at the end, but like I said, if Parker doesn’t get hot at the end at the game, you wouldn’t have even written this article.
March 14th, 2009 at 12:51 am
LakeShow84 says:
Yeah ok AK.. your a nut on this one..
If the Lakers had 40-45 wins you could say this mean dont mean nothing and we “barely” squeaked it out.. The real point to that is we werent at home and built a good 16 point lead AND held it in a tough arena on the second night of BACK2BACK in Texas.. we been winning since the beginning of the year and we still winning.. this aint no fluke shit like Denver looking strong in January or Houston with that win streak..
We got 50 wins and we still clicking.. it aint bad to grind it out sometimes.. was anyone really surprised the Spurs made a run?? those foos were hitting hella video game 3’s in the 3rd lol.. Finley havin flashbacks and shieett..
Try harder to hate AK..
March 14th, 2009 at 1:04 am
LakeShow84 says:
It cracks me up how foos getting on us and we have had the hardest schedule of the top teams this whole year AND we have had the best record out the gate..
You think Lebron tearing it up against the Bucks, Clippers and Kings means shit??
Boston playing the Clippers and Grizzlies?? come on now.. we just Texas two stepped back2back..
March 14th, 2009 at 2:41 am
bsaidit says:
The lakers are under performing. Still don’t think they are tough enough mentally, kobe aside, to win it this year. As soon as someone get physical with them, they get all whiney and looking for fouls at every turn. I see problems if they meet portland in the playoffs.
March 14th, 2009 at 6:55 am
changster says:
do you really have nothing better to write about? wow. why don’t you talk about how cleveland almost lost to a pathetic phoenix team last night instead? and how they had to go OT to beat sacramento tonight? stop hating on the lakers, in the playoffs against SA i’d be surprised if it went 6 games. i’m not saying the lakers are going to take the chip outright, but they sure as hell are getting out of the West unscathed. too deep, too big, too athletic.
March 14th, 2009 at 7:52 am
sashalex says:
LOL ! Well, all what I care is the Lakers’ positive result. I don’t care how do they do it !?
This article is the worst I’ve ever seen.