Monday, November 15, 2004
.500 Road Trip
Road trip didn't go as well as expected with a blowout loss to Memphis and a blown lead against Houston. Wins over Houston and New Orleans do little to make up for our play in the other games. In fact, the narrow escape in New Orleans turned out to be the potential sign of a problem with this year's Lakers. After holding a 33 point lead in New Orleans, the Lakers needed several key buckets down the stretch to get a victory. The following night, they were simply blown out in the second quarter against Memphis and couldn't come back. I don't see this team as the kind of team capable of a comeback for the simple fact that a comeback means Kobe will become one dimensional....he gets the ball, he will shoot in a comeback situation. That's not the way this team is going to be successful. Don't get me wrong, the ball does need to go through Kobe but not only as a scoring option. We have looked our best when we can get multiple folks in double digits and Kobe scores around 26 or 27. This means the Butlers, Odoms, Mihms, and Atkins are getting their touches to which keeps the defense honest.
But back to the potential problem, in Orlando Friday night, the Lakers held a 37 - 21 lead after the first quarter. At halftime, the score was 57 - 55 . . . Orlando!. The Lakers cannot continue to give up big leads. The same happened against Houston as well where a double digit lead suddenly was no more. It's almost as if the team relaxes on defense and stops running as hard. I'll keep an eye out on this trend but I can't promise anything as my once proven sports bar still has not ordered the NBA League pass.....
But back to the potential problem, in Orlando Friday night, the Lakers held a 37 - 21 lead after the first quarter. At halftime, the score was 57 - 55 . . . Orlando!. The Lakers cannot continue to give up big leads. The same happened against Houston as well where a double digit lead suddenly was no more. It's almost as if the team relaxes on defense and stops running as hard. I'll keep an eye out on this trend but I can't promise anything as my once proven sports bar still has not ordered the NBA League pass.....
