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|  | | Chris Webber lit up the Lakers to the tune of 23 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and seven blocks in Game 4. |
LOS ANGELES -- We interrupt this Los Angeles Lakers limo ride to the 2000 NBA
championship to bring you this important message:
The Lakers have an Achilles' heel, and the Sacramento Kings have
exposed it.
Turns out there is a way to beat the Lakers in the playoffs. If you are
willing to run at every opportunity; and if you have a center who can
knock down a 20-footer with some consistency; and if you have a power
forward capable of dominating the interior while Shaquille O'Neal goes outside to
guard that perimeter-shooting center; and if you have a home crowd that
makes a jet landing at LAX seem as relatively soothing as a string
quartet ... then you have a shot at beating the Lakers in the playoffs.
Two Lakers traits were made abundantly clear in the Kings' two wins at
ARCO Arena that set up Friday's dramatic, Game 5 showdown at Staples
Center:
The Lakers thought they could show up for Game 3 and get the series
clincher by their mere presence on the court.
Both Lakers superstars, Shaq and Kobe Bryant, still have
flaws in their games that seem to magnify themselves under pressure.
The Lakers may have taken their cue for Game 3 from their coach, Phil
Jackson, who professes to believe that an occasional dose of realistic
humility can be good for a team for which success often comes too
easily. Jackson professed, afterwards, that the Game 3 loss might have
been just what his troops needed. His troops may have sensed their
leader didn't have the same urgency about Game 3 preparation as he had
for Games 1 and 2.
That may seem overly analytical, but when you're dealing with a Zen
Master, there is no such thing as overanalysis. We wonder what kind of
introspection he underwent when his hoped-for response to Game 3
humbling didn't materialize.
As to the flaws in Bryant and O'Neal ... well, O'Neal's flaw is the
same one that has kept him from earning a championship ring through the
first seven years of his career: abysmal free throw shooting. During the
Lakers' late-season run to the best record in the NBA O'Neal made nearly
70 percent of his foul shots.
Through the first four games of the series
against the Kings, he has made only 19-of-42, 45.2 percent. The problem
magnifies itself because it is also clear O'Neal's teammates seem
reluctant to put him in a position to fail. Jackson's triangle offense
needs to flow through O'Neal. When his teammates are disinclined to
throw him the ball, the triangle loses one of its sides.
You hate to say it, but the very fact O'Neal cured his free throw woes
during the Lakers' late, 19-game win streak proves 90 percent of his
problem is half-mental. (Apologies to Yogi.) In other words, he made his
foul shots when things were going well, but has succumbed to playoff
pressure while against the Kings.
O'Neal likes to call himself "the Big This" and "the Big That," his
most recent appellation being reference to the Lakers' tradition of
great centers when he dubbed himself "The Big Continuous."
If O'Neal costs the Lakers a first-round playoff ouster because he
can't make a free throw, he will hereafter be known as "The Big
Choke," or, in golf parlance, Greg Norman.
Further, O'Neal is a 7-foot-1, 315-pound player being asked to play
enormous minutes. He can't be expected to sprint back on defense from
start to finish. The Kings have figured out how to eliminate him as a
defensive force: get into their offense before he gets a chance to be a
defensive factor. O'Neal gets his bulk back on defense about as fast as
can be expected ... just not as fast as the Kings are capable of getting
into their offense.
Then there is Kobe. Now, maybe you thought Bryant was brilliant in the
fourth quarter of Game 4, when he was the lone Laker able to match the
Kings' offensive sheen. And he was amazing, hitting the toughest of
shots after awesome individual moves.
Ah, but there's his fatal flaw: At this stage of his career, Bryant
still believes more in his own ability to create points than in the
triangle's effectiveness. Jackson reined in his tendency to freelance
most of the season, but when Game 4 was getting away from the Lakers
Tuesday night, Bryant tried to take everything into his own hands.
He was great, but his teammates fell into the trap of watching him try
to emulate Michael Jordan.
Kobe isn't Michael ... yet.
Are the Lakers so flawed they will be upset Friday night at Staples
Center?
Don't be ridiculous.
Understand, I was first-hand witness to eighth-seeded Denver's stunning
upset of top-seeded Seattle in 1994, so I have seen amazing upset occur.
History won't repeat this time.
Nevertheless, the fact remains: The rest of the NBA has been watching
intently as the Lakers have shown their vulnerability to the Kings.
Now, if Scott Skiles can only teach Luc Longley how to shoot an 18-foot
jumper, the Suns might be in business in the second round.
Mike Monroe, who covers the NBA for the Denver Post, writes a Western Conference column for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him at monroe128@go.com | |
ALSO SEE
ESPN.com's NBA Playoffs coverage
Sacramento vs. L.A. Lakers
 Monroe: Sorry, Doc, but Phil deserved it
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