| Lakers Open Season With Familiar Operation Authored by Scott Essman - October 31, 2007 - 9:45 pm
Get ready, Laker fans. Expect more of the same this year. Kobe Bryant dropped 45 on Houston last night, guard Derek Fisher admirably added 17, and no one else scored more than 8. Lakers lose 95-93. Here we go again.
Granted, forward Lamar Odom wasn't available, and the Rockets got 55 points from Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming alone. But this seems to be the modus operandi of the Shaq-less Lakers: give the ball to Kobe and hope for the best.
Even in the rebounding department, Kobe tied center Kwame Brown for the team lead with eight. Surely, for now, this is Kobe's team, and will remain that way until he is traded or the Lakers add offense. But the man can only do so much.
Yes, the Rockets had a miracle three-pointer late from Shane Battier to cement their last lead and prevent the game from going into overtime after Derek Fisher hit his long 3-pointer on a pass from Bryant.
And yes, Kobe was fouled on the last play of the game. But the Lakers were playing catch-up virtually the whole game since mid-second quarter. Bryant can't be and shouldn't be expected to carry the whole load.
Why the Lakers front office, knowing Kobe's displeasure (rightly so) at not having enough supporting help to win consistently, did nothing to bolster the team in the off-season is anyone's guess. The Lakers are essentially sealing their fate of losing Kobe by refusing to include Andrew Bynum in the Jermaine O'Neal trade.
Perhaps they should at last look up the definition of the Peter Principle and realize that it precisely describes Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
Until then, we can expect a host of games that were like last night's close-but-no-cigar contest. |
