A couple weeks ago I gave quite a bit of praise to the Denver Nuggets and said how I think they will really be able to challenge the L.A. Lakers in the 2009 NBA Western Conference Finals. But after watching the first five games of the series (L.A. leads 3-2) I’ve come to realize that the only time anyone can challenge the Lakers is when the men in yellow and purple mentally take the night off.
During Wednesday’s game five at the Staples Center, we got to see a small glimpse of what the Lakers are capable of when they have the right group on the floor – Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown – and are unselfishly willing to give up the basketball. They undoubtedly have one of the most top-to-bottom talented teams in the league, but it seems they spend the majority of the game with Luke Walton and Sasha Vujacic on the court for reasons that are unbeknownst to me.
As of late – and by late I mean the entire postseason – veteran point guard Derek Fisher has been a complete no-show. Granted, he can still knock down clutch free throws when the time calls for it, but that is about it. There is no doubt Shannon Brown will be the next great Laker point guard. The second-year man out of Michigan State University has shot 48 percent from three-point range, while playing just under 15 minutes per contest in the playoffs. Brown is one of the most explosive players on the Laker roster, hands down. He proved so last night with his powerful slam right in Chris “Birdman” Andersen’s grill late in the second half.
But to me, the high point of game five was the play of Odom. When he shows up to play, the Lakers win. Plain and simple.
In his 26-point performance in game five of the Utah series, he shot 10-15 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, recorded two blocks and pulled 15 boards for the second straight game, and the Lakers closed out the series. Odom has been relatively efficient throughout the majority of the postseason, but the problem has been his level of aggression. Before Wednesday night, Odom had gone eight straight games in which he shot nine times or less. For a 6-foot-11 freak athlete who can bring the ball up the court as well as post up, he should be taking nearly twice that many shots without batting an eye.
So of course, it was nice to see him go for 19 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and four blocks last night as L.A. surged past the Nuggets with a 21-3 run at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth.
Bryant has continued to be outstanding in the postseason, scoring 30-plus points in the first four games of the current series, before being held to a quiet 22 points on just 13 shots last night. He’s gone for 40 or more three times this postseason, and has been in double figures four times from the free-throw line alone. Gasol, on the other hand, has gone for eight straight double-doubles while averaging nearly 40 minutes per game.
Obviously, Bryant and Gasol are going to get theirs. But the Lakers will only be able to go as far as the Lamar Odoms and the Trevor Arizas of the team are willing to take them. When the Lakers have five offensive and defensive threats on the court, they become nearly unstoppable. But it’s becoming increasingly hard to tell just what head coach Phil Jackson is going to do next.
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