| Lakers Weren't Ready Authored by Graham Flashner - June 15, 2008 - 6:56 pm
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After manhandling the hapless Nuggets, brutalizing the up-and-coming Jazz, and running their way past the aging, ailing Spurs, the Lakers appear to have developed a sense of false confidence against a Celtics team they vastly under-estimated.
From the opening tip-off in Game 1, the veteran Celtics, built to win now, have played with a single-mindedness and defensive ferocity that the Lakers simply can’t match. Their one glaring flaw – softness interior defense – has been exposed time and time again, while the man who symbolizes the unlimited possibilities of a bright future – Andrew Bynum – can only watch in street clothes.
No play better symbolizes the disparity between the two teams than Ray Allen schooling Sasha Vujacic in the waning seconds of Game 4. Trailing 94-91, the Lakers desperately needed a stop. Allen, the crafty veteran, dribbled the clock down. Vujacic, the aggressive but overeager youngster, was the only man between Allen and the basket. Unbeknownst to Vujacic, a lane the size of Commonwealth Avenue had opened behind him, and Allen calmly took Vujacic off the dribble, while a too-late-to-react Pau Gasol arrived in time to see Allen make the layup that clinched the game.
It was a microcosm of the entire series: when the Celtics needed a stop – as they did in the final seconds of Game 2, not letting Kobe Bryant get off the shot while protecting a four-point lead – they’ve gotten it. The Lakers haven’t.
While Celtics bench players like Leon Powe, James Posey, PJ Brown, and Eddie House have been key contributors, playing with veteran composure, a different hero every night – the Lakers bench unit of Vujacic, Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, and Rony Turiaf – has been wildly inconsistent, a sure sign of youthful inexperience unable to handle the pressure of the big stage.
The Lakers starters have fared no better, largely due to matchups. Lamar Odom had his way with the Spurs shorter and slower front line, but has found it difficult to get untracked against the bulkier Kendrick Perkins and the Celtics clog-the-lane defense. What created space for Odom against the Spurs – and the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets before them – has resulted in offensive fouls and turnovers against the Celtics.
Pau Gasol, a finesse player who relies on quick little jumpers in the lane, has been bumped repeatedly out of his comfort zone by Kevin Garnett, Perkins, and whoever else might be swarming him. The alley oop passes that worked so well in previous rounds have been largely contested in the Finals. Thrown off his rhythm, the enduring image of Gasol seems to be the perplexed look on his face as he screams to the ref for a foul.
Derek Fisher has been off his game. Vladimir Radmonovic is meant to be a sixth or seventh man off the bench, not a starter.
Which leaves Kobe Bryant. Before the series started, much of the hype centered on Kobe’s burning desire to win a championship with a team he could call his own (i.e., without having to defer to Shaquille O’Neal).
But even Bryant’s desire pales in comparison to the Celtics’ Big Three of Garnett, Allen, and Paul Pierce, desperate for a championship after thirty-plus years of combined playing experience with zero titles to show for it.
On the court, Bryant has, for the most part, not looked like the MVP who led his teammates through the first three rounds. A large part of this credit has to go to the Celtics trapping defense, which has cut down the space that Bryant likes to operate in, have bodied him at every opportunity, and have dared his teammates to beat them. Except for Vujacic’s surprising 20-point explosion in Game 3, no Laker has stepped up.
It might be tempting to say that Bryant has never faced a defense this confounding, but he has – the 2004 Detroit Pistons used Tayshaun Prince to employ similar tactics in the Pistons upset of the Lakers.
For whatever reason – fatigue, the burden of expectations – Bryant has yet to impose his will on the series. It’s hard to believe that Pierce, good a defender as he is, could shut down Bryant for an entire half. Or that Bryant couldn’t assert himself when the Lakers were in the midst of blowing a 24-point lead.
Like a lot of the product in Hollywood, the hype behind the Lakers feel-good run to the Finals exceeds the reality of their limitations.
Look for the Celtics to wrap this one up in Game 5. For the Lakers, next year should be the year. At least, as Hollywood would script it. |
