2. It's moving forward as an organization. Phil felt like a two year warrior and not always on the road with the team. I think the Lakers are trying to win now AND build for the post Kobe future. That stated, watching Kobe play this season, is there any doubt that he totally buys into the system approach to making his teammates better? It's about rings at this point, not vanity. He's been very efficient.
3. Regarding D'Antoni style as Championship worthy, it's shades of '07 Suns.That was a tough team. I can see Nash, Blake or Morris running well in that type of offense. That could generate offense for the second unit - e.g., Blake and Hill, Morris and Gasol.
4. With DH protecting the paint, they could disrupt a lot of teams with that uptempo style.
5. I can get behind this. Pick-and-roll basketball is a highly entertaining brand of basketball.
I am a die-hard Lakers fan. I remember when the Lakers were a middling team coached by Jerry West with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as their star, and not much else.
I remember when Magic Johnson joined the team (with West as GM), and the rise of Showtime. I remember Magic Johnson's shocking retirement, and the fallow period that took place before Shaq and Kobe made the Lakers great again.
I remember the inevitable fall and then the unlikely rise to two more championships, flanked by a still-dominant Kobe and an inspired, skilled giant in Pau Gasol.
In this time, there have been so many tears (of joy and disappointment), so many clutch shots, incredible runs, controversies, injuries, trades and no shortage of drama.
Last night, the Lakers played the Oklahoma Thunder, their first true measuring stick game, and had their hearts ripped out. It's been that kind season.
According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, Kobe noted after the game, "Times change. That used to be us," which Bucher took as a waving of the white flag, and acknowledgement by Kobe of a window that is probably closed.
Distraught, I finally wrapped my head around what bugs me so much about this team this year. There is no a single game that comes to mind this year where the Lakers played a complete game for all four quarters.
They will show a brilliant quarter, or even a great half, but never all four, which leaves a perpetual sense of dread that the other shoe can drop at any time.
It's little surprise that they lead the league in games decided by 5 points or less, all of which speaks to a talent gap, aging roster, coaching challenges, and a dearth of discipline and will.
All Dynasties End
We have had a great run, but I suspect it's the end for this unit, barring significant structural change (i.e., shifting to a more bigs focused game, where you use your point guard as a point guard, and Kobe plays off the ball).
Yet, when I go to my favorite Lakers discussion board, Forum Blue and Gold, and read the anger, the vitriol and the finger pointing, I am left not mad at the Lakers for blowing it, but resigned to the hard truth: Dynasties rarely end well.
Sportswriter Roland Lazenby puts it best, noting how sports is a game of patterns, repetition, trust and practice, and when you SIMULTANEOUSLY change a coach, a system and deal with a difficult transition from one Alpha dog to the next (esp. because while Lakers Center Andrew Bynum may be ready talent-wise to be the guy, he lacks the maturity, hunger and aggression that Kobe brings), the process is inherently fraught with peril, and takes time to foment.
My only point is that it’s easy to blame the new coach for not being the old coach; it’s easy to blame the son for not being like the father; it's easy to blame the front-office for not being able to turn lead into gold, and it's certainly easy to blame the aging superstar for not embracing the emerging star, but ask yourself this.
How often does it work out when the new coach replaces the old legend, or the boy wonder steps into the superstar's shoes?
How often do teams get old and then magically renew without missing a beat? How often does the untrained son take over the family business from dad, the legend, and tomorrow is better than today?
Simply put, a lot of the angst for long-time Lakers fans like myself comes from knowing that these things rarely end without blood and carnage, and that is what sports is all about.
I just finished
reading ‘The Book of Basketball’ by Bill Simmons.I am
a HUGE basketball fan (go Lakers), and the book definitely satisfies on that
level – highly recommended.
No less compelling, however, is Simmons' point of entry into understanding the history of NBA Basketball, its stars, the
great teams & classic battles.
In this regard, he works backwards from the actual outcome of Winning, rightly understanding that winning, and not
impressive stats, is what legacies are made from.
So, what makes a winner? In hushed tones, NBA greats call it “The Secret” (although Bill
Walton, an NBA legend whose tutelage came under UCLA Dynasty-maker John Wooden, calls it “The
Choice”).
Basically,
The Secret is that greatness and winning
championships is a by-product of teammates liking each other, knowing their
roles, ignoring statistics, and valuing winning over everything else.
In a
star-driven game, winning comes about because a team’s best players sacrifice
to make every one else happy. And let us note that history shows that these teams only continue to win as
long as everyone remains on the same page -- before the disease of "more" takes hold (i.e., wanting more money, more playing time and more individual recognition).
This is somewhat fly in the ointment to simpletons that assume that he/she who assembles the best talent always wins, which is not to
say that winning comes in absence of having stars.
Quite the contrary. In fact, Bill Russell, he of
the unfathomable twelve championships with the Boston Celtics, notes that star
players have especially enormous pressures beyond their statistics; namely, the
responsibility to pick their team up and carry it at critical times.
“You have
to do this to win championships - and be ready to do it when you'd rather be a
thousand other places,” notes Russell. In fact, what makes a star a star is specifically the ability to measure the game, so as to understand the moments when winning requires you to make the big
plays (either directly or by facilitating others), and rise above. That is what repeat winners are made of.
From NBA
Superstars to the Real World
How is the
different from real life?Well,
not very much, in fact. I hearken back to the story of chipmaking-giant, Intel’s ascendance, and
the role that Andy Grove played within it (as amazingly told in George Gilder’s
‘Microcosm').Literally, at every
key stage of the business, there was Andy either personally solving the hardest problem (technical, business or strategic) or commandeering
the forces to higher ground.
Yeah, you say,
but Andy Grove is one in a million. NBA superstars are one in a million.
True, but this begs the question; are
the legends of Business and Sports cut from that different of a cloth than you and I?
The
answer brings me to the other book that I just finished reading, Malcolm
Gladwell’s ‘Outliers. The Story of Success’.Outliers contemplates the recipe for success by asking first if successful people are truly ever self-made.
He
concludes that while there is plenty of brilliance behind successful people, no
less integral is an invisible – but very real – hand working behind the scenes in providing the proper "environment variables" for their future success.
Gladwell’s narrative, which I wholeheartedly embrace, is that culture is a memetic self-perpetuator that manifests
and perpetuates far beyond an immediate generation through parentage,
patronage and pattern recognition.
Further, he elucidates the tangible role of timing as a contributor to success, in terms of
being born during certain favorable macro economic and micro-industry movements. Some examples:
The case of tech legends Bill Joy, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates having the good fortune to gain early and prolonged access to computer technology and like-minded peers, by virtue of where they were born and/or attended school.
The dynamic where the lawyers that came to dominate the massive M&A legal segment were mostly Jewish and mostly children of garment industry parents that had emigrated to the US the generation before, and why this was so.
The fact that a disproportionate number of the wealthiest individuals at the beginning of the 20th
century came to maturation in a narrow age window at the onset of the Industrial Revolution.
The
unfortunate negative gravity for those coming of age professionally during the depths of the
Great Depression.
The net-out is that success is an offspring of being in the
right place at the right time; with “good enough” skills (to succeed), the right
work ethic, ambition and the simple practice of getting enough “reps” – about
10,000 hours of focused experience – to become an absolute expert in one’s
field of interest.
Understanding the Potency of Accumulative Advantages
Gladwell does a wonderful job of framing the interplay of
opportunity, timing and chance, and how, collectively, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
At the same time, he shows how we continue to operate under the illusion of "catching up" from early deficits, not
understanding how Accumulative Advantages really work; most basically, that early advantages lead to increased attention, positive affirmation and reinforcement, culminating in "unfair advantages" down the road.
(SIDEBAR: As a parent on
the fence of whether to push a youngish son to the next grade level or give
extra time in a lower grade for “seasoning,” the section on Accumulative
Advantages was especially illuminating.)
Of particular relevance to success is Practical Intelligence, a
topic that Gladwell delves into so as to underscore the importance of seeing the big
picture and using that understanding to drive the little picture of direct action, as opposed to
getting buried in analysis.
Here, Gladwell shows how so-called Geniuses that are lacking in Practical Intelligence have far more difficult life paths than those that are merely Smart
and Motivated, but which are armed with Practical Intelligence.
Similarly, Outliers considers the integral-ness of pursuing
meaningful work in achieving success, not to mention, happiness in life.Such a realm offers complexity and autonomy, and equally, yields outcomes that are based upon a direct relationship between effort and reward. In other words, purpose matters.
Taken together, the analysis and exposition that Outliers
provides is a great tool for evaluating priorities and paths in career
pursuits, entrepreneurialism and parenting.I strongly recommend it.
With Soccer Face, you can adorn your face with the country "flag mask" of your choosing, drop in a soccer ball or two, give yourself a black eye (hey, futbol is a brutal sport - but it's fair!), get a yellow card for your troubles and score a goaaal (graphically speaking).
Then you can brag about it to friends via email and Facebook, which is what this time of year is all about, isn't it? Neat.
Is it ridiculous to have tears in your eyes over a basketball game? Maybe, but I love this team, the Lakers. I have been a Lakers fan dating back to when Jerry West was still COACH of the Lakers, and Kareem was pre-Magic. I have seriously enjoyed the ride - the highs and the lows, and especially the rivalry between the Celtics and Lakers.
What do they say about keeping your friends close, and your enemies closer? To beat the enemy, you need to understand how they think. The Lakers didn't understand this in 2008, and got creamed, including both an epic collapse and a 39-point drubbing by these same Celtics, and this same core.
Two years later, the Lakers learned their lesson, and returned the favor, first responding to a close-out game in Game 6 with a 20 point blowout win. Then, in Game 7 rallying from 13 down in the third quarter to outlast the Celtics and win the Series, 4-3.
WINING UGLY
This was an ugly game. Everyone could sense the significance of the moment, and played accordingly, mostly bad on offense, but incredible on defense.
This was a game where the Lakers simply couldn't put the ball in the basket, shooting 32.5% for the game. Early on, they were even missing the freebies, free throws, in some volume.
But lest we never forget Pat Riley's mantra of "No Rebounds, No Rings." For the entirety of the Series, the team that won the rebounding battle, and specifically the offensive rebounding game, would ultimately win.
Why? Because winning the offensive boards means that you are controlling the paint, and the combination leads to easy second-chance points, including lots of free throws.
Well, the Lakers won the overall rebounding battle by 13, and did this by crushing Boston on the offensive boards, 23-8.
Over time, having lost the paint battle, the Celtics lost their steam (they're old - they got fatigued). Down the stretch, this led to a lot of fouls, and the Lakers living at the line in the fourth quarter, which enabled them to consistently put points on the board in the game's final moments.
GIVE THE CELTICS THEIR DUE
For most of the game, the Celtics showed more poise than the Lakers. In that regard, after a hard-fought series, you can not help but respect the Celtics spirit, trust in their players, individual stars and commitment to team defense. They are well-coached by Doc Rivers, and embody his mental toughness.
As such, no outcome would have surprised me tonight. Heck, a part of me was getting into crash position when the Lakers fell behind the Celts by 13, after playing from behind for most of the game.
To this moment, these Lakers hadn't shown that they could face down the Celts and emerge victorious.
WINNING TIME!
And then it happened. The Lakers seized control, and the Celtics ran out of gas, fighting solidly to the end. Rasheed Wallace, he of tough series against the Lakers with Portland, Detroit and now Boston, almost emerged as a hero.
But, not tonight. The Lakers were not to be denied, and are the Champs again, prevailing in a tough series, with a long-standing foe, where there was unfinished business and a still-bitter taste.
Well, that business is now finished, which is why I have tears in my eyes about a basketball game.
I was really hoping to get to write this article specifically because I didn't think that I would get the chance to do so.
Why? Because experience has taught me that a tiger doesn't change its stripes. Bad habits once set, simply run amok at the worst possible times.
But, you know what? Every rule has an exception, and this year has been the exception.
Consider the NBA elite of Cleveland, LA, Boston and Orlando. The two that remain standing (i.e., the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers) went through the most stretches of games where they couldn't seem to "bring it" every night.
Given that they are both decidedly veteran teams, it was never clear how much of this affect was a function of injuries, lack of discipline or saving it for the stretch run. Regardless, as a fan it was a major buzz kill.
Yet, here we are; Lakers-Celts, meaning that the moral of the story this season is that a tiger WILL change its stripes. Thus, you should enjoy watching professional basketball's equivalent of Haley's Comet for it's a rare occurrence indeed.
Basketball as Boxing Match
This one is just too juicy. One season removed from a mental collapse against Boston, the Lakers are the world champions.
Last year, they grew big time, winning the big games home and on the road, not to mention making the key plays and finding the resolve to execute with the outcome on the line. I felt very confident last year that the Lakers would be champs, irrespective of the competition.
Unfortunately, Boston wasn't up to the task of meeting for a repeat last year, but make no doubt about it; these are two teams that want to face each other.
A gimpy Bynum is what it is, but I actually think that he has found a slot where he can positively impact the game.
A key question, though, revolves around Pau Gasol executing in the post on offense and being a factor on defense. At the end of the Phoenix series, his rebounding numbers, scoring and defensive positioning wilted (he got manhandled too often by Amare Stoudemire).
By contrast, Kobe appears to be in a zone, nailing corner jumpers, making beautiful, insanely difficult plays, and deftly measuring the situation, then responding. The Mamba moniker no longer seems like hubris. We are bearing witness to true "not on my watch" brilliance.
Ron Artest seems to have found his place in the offense, and his defense has been excellent in the post season. Boston is exactly the type of team the Lakers acquired him for. If he can neutralize Paul Pierce's effectiveness, that would be huge.
Derek Fisher has played surprisingly well against elite, speedy guards this post-season, and Lamar Odom has been mostly good as well, but has the potential to disappear or dominate from one game to the next.
Similarly, the Lakers as a team are now very experienced in the post season of dealing with different styles of play, and seem comfortable changing up the floor and flow accordingly.
Boston is tough, and proud, and Rondo adds a major dimension (thank god for the Russell Westbrook experience against the Thunder). Ray Allen is playing ageless, is clutch and has history with Kobe. Kevin Garnett is mostly healthy and good for 17 and 10. Kendrick Perkins enables Boston to literally clog the lane. Rasheed Wallace has the potential of winning a game by himself, or laying an egg, depending on the night.
This is going to come down to stretches of play and match-ups, and I would be lying if I suggested that I know who is going to win. But I am picking the Lakers in seven anyway, mostly because I think that the Lakers have the personnel, the experience and Kobe Bryant is back in his element.
An aside, don't you think that Phil Jackson desperately wants to stick it to Boston? Or that Paul Pierce wants to prove to his dominion playing nearby his old neighborhood in Inglewood?
There is so much history to this rivalry. I personally grew up on Bird versus Magic, but a little Revenge Party is more than fine by me. Go Lakers!
If you didn't watch last night's thrilling ending of Game 5 between the Lakers and Suns, you missed a good one.
The game was not quite a classic, but was, instead, more akin to a good boxing match, where both boxers had different skills, and each time the champ (Lakers) looked ready to deliver the knockout blow, the challenger (Suns) fought back, showing tremendous poise.
Trying to make sense of it all, knowing the Lakers history of these kinds of finishes (Horry, Fisher, Pau, Artest), I was particularly struck by a comment by Kobe Bryant in the post-game interviews:
"All of this preparation, and in the end, it comes down to fundamentals. They got the three because we didn't box out. We got the win because they didn't box out."
There is a saying that “A tiger doesn’t change its stripes,” which basically means that you shouldn’t expect tomorrow to be materially different than today is and yesterday was.
In the real world, this means that we become by virtue of manifesting and executing a daily practice, such that the journey is a consistent buildup to the destination that we desire to reach.
This truth leads me to conclude – painfully and reluctantly; for I am a dedicated Lakers fan – that the Los Angeles Lakers will not repeat as NBA Champions this year.
By contrast, the very same assessment that I am making now – that a tiger does not change its stripes – is what gave me unwavering confidence that the Lakers would prevail last year (see HERE).
In a nutshell, last year when it got to crunch time in the playoffs - the Houston, Denver and Orlando series all were marked by Serious Challenges - I just knew that the Lakers would get it done. And they did, delivering Catalytic Moments when it counted.
How was this know-able? The bottom line is that last year, when it counted, down the stretch, second half, and most importantly, in Big Games across the board - Home and Road - they rose to the occasion.
This year, they have not proven that they are better than a .500 team in big games, and they are especially unreliable on the road.
Last year, they exhibited something that I came to call an Anaconda Squeeze, which was a decisive point in the second-half of games where they squeezed the life out of the competition through a combination of offensively-disruptive defense and an offensive stampede on the other side of the ball.
Beyond the point differential such a run would manifest, it was demoralizing to the competition and gave the Lakers a sense that they could and would deliver a knockout punch.
This year, I truly could pick the team apart on a number of levels, including lack of chemistry, injuries, the absence of a productive point guard, a bench that simply didn’t show up, not being hungry enough, failing to bring it every night, an up and down year for Kobe, etc.
But the bottom line is that a tiger doesn’t change its stripes.
Last year, this truth was Success Incarnate. This year, unfortunately, the opposite is true.
Duality. It’s
yin and yang; it’s black and white contrasting, yet completing the circle, so as
to create a unified whole.
When I was in junior
high school, that yin and yang was Bird & Magic.Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird.These were the respective icons for the team that I loved
(and still love), the Los Angeles Lakers, and the team that I hated (and now, begrudgingly respect), the Boston Celtics.
My personal connection
runs a bit deeper, inasmuch as the Lakers drafting of Magic happened to
coincide with my first writing “gig,” writing sports stories for my junior high
school newspaper, the Madison Journal.
Showtime, as that era
came to be known in Laker-land was literally the galvanizing moment when I
transitioned from casual fan (dating back to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joining the
Lakers in the 1975-76 season) to diehard, so the time, place and events of the
HBO documentary are well-imprinted in my brain.
As the beautifully
told ‘Magic & Bird – A Courtship of Rivals’ shows, prior to Larry Bird and
Magic Johnson putting their stamp on the game, the NBA was of borderline
national interest and on the cusp of relevance. It was a time when the
game was perceived as “too black,” searching for an identity following the
NBA-ABA merger, and reeling from prolonged scandals pertaining to cocaine/drug abuse (which touched all sports leagues, most notably baseball) .
The story of Magic
versus Bird was perfect, right of out Hollywood Casting.The extrovert black player, who has just won the NCAA
championship (by beating Larry Bird’s Indiana State team, no less), heads to
the glamour of Los Angeles, flanked by arguably the greatest player in the
game, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Meanwhile, the more
introverted, but street-wise and mentally tough, Larry Bird is the great white
hope (literally speaking), leading one of the most sacred of sports teams, the Boston Celtics, who had fallen on hard times, but to prominence.
East Coast versus West
Coast. Street fighters versus the elegance and mastery of Showtime.Mr. Outgoing versus Mr. Stoic. Eight total NBA championships between
them (5 for Magic, 3 for Bird) when all was said and done.
The documentary shows
how these men went from rivals to friends, how their career arcs literally
saved the NBA, and set the stage for Michael Jordan to take it to the next
level.It captures Magic finding
out he had HIV, what looked like a death sentence at the time, and retiring from the game as a result (a day that I remember vividly).
But most of all, it is
a reminder of how the game has changed, how unlike today's stars needing to get their touches and shots, Magic and Bird could literally shape the game with 15 shots, usually
scoring 20+ points, dishing 10 assists and grabbing 12 rebounds in the process.There was never a minute with either of
these guys where you wondered if Me came before Team.
It's full of magical moments, laughter, sadness and the inevitability of bodies breaking down when you commit to being the best there is. If you like
basketball, and the narratives that sports generates, don’t miss ‘Magic &
Bird – A Courtship of Rivals,’ now playing on HBO.
Boston crushed the Lakers last year. It was over the moment the Lakers blew a 20+ point lead that would have tied the series 2-2, with the Lakers having the next game at home.
In that game, whether it was ignorant mercy or lack of a killer instinct, the Lakers took their foot of the Celts throat, and the Celtics made them pay dearly.
The collapse was complete when James Posey of the Celtics nailed a couple of dagger threes. The Lakers never regained their footing, and the 39-point wipeout in Game 6 of the series was the cherry on top of the “Lakers Are Soft” sundae.
Those are the sad and painful facts from last year; so you can really appreciate just how frickin terrific it was to turn the tables on the Orlando Magic in a decisive Game 4 on Thursday.
When Derek Fisher, whom EVERYONE except Phil Jackson (and the rest of his teammates) had performed last rites on, hit first the dagger three in the fourth quarter to send it to overtime, and then the second dagger three in overtime to rip the Magic’s hearts out for good, it was probably the greatest sports moment that I have experienced.
Great moment of triumph in the “pivot game” of the series – it’s either 2-2 or 3-1, depending on outcome – and in close series like this one, we all know that it comes down to these types of victory-seizing moments (sidebar: that was a classic Derek smile after the OT three).
In the end, that game and the series came down to making plays, pure and simple. When the game was on the line, the Lakers made them and the Magic didn’t. End of story.
Having been on the other side of the table at the end of last season, the Lakers were ready when the moment came, proving what we all know; experience matters.
The climb back to their personal Everest is now complete for the Lakers (and their fans), something not lost on this unit.
“Kobe and I talked about how unreal the journey has been, going from being on top, to being on the bottom, and now rising back to the top,” said Derek Fisher of his long time Laker compadre, and of the journey now complete.
When I predicted that the Lakers would win the series in six games (mea culpa, they were even better than I gave them credit for) it was driven by what I had seen from the team all year.
Simply put, the team showed a unity of purpose from the start, which they then codified across a breakout season.
When they executed on both sides of the ball, something they did often this year, they were practically unbeatable, and simply beautiful to watch.
And unlike last year’s free pass through the Western Division playoffs, this year they were baptized by the fire of really good series with the Houston Rockets (defense, smarts, hunger) and the Denver Nuggets (muscle, heart, attack) that prepared them to slay the Magic dragon.
I hearken back to a comment by Denver Nuggets coach George Karl in the post-game of the then just completed Nuggets-Lakers series, where he proffered that at the start of the series and through the first few games, he “saw the cracks in the Lakers,” but by the end, the Lakers had sealed up those cracks and become a better team.
Now if this wasn’t enough, there was an X-factor in every series that I call the Anaconda Squeeze. This is a period of the game when the Lakers seize control, usually with a debilitating run that breaks the will of the competition.
Last night it was a 16-0 run in the second quarter that ripped away any sense of tomorrow for the Magic.
Any way you slice it, winning 2 of 3 on the road is an impressive way to close it out, and the mark of a champion, a concept that would have been laughable at the beginning of last season when Kobe, disappointed in the quality of talent around him, literally had one foot out the door.
In reflecting about how the quality of Bryant’s teammates had improved in the past two years, Kobe beamed, "I had a bunch of Christmas presents that came early. Got a new point guard (Fisher), got a new wing (Ariza), got a Spaniard (Gasol), and then it was all good."
As to the other standouts on the Lakers, all that I can say about Lamar is that to watch him is to appreciate sheer poetry and whimsy in one package. When he was on, which was plenty this series, the Lakers don’t lose. It’s another dimension of scariness.
In tandem, Ariza was an absolute backbreaker. He spread the floor, hit big shots and was a disruptor on defense. A true killer.
In many respects, I am most happy for Pau Gasol. He was FAIRLY maligned last year, and to his credit, he not only answered his critics then like a man, but he elevated his game to a whole other level this year. Beyond the offensive efficiency, the high basketball IQ and crisp passing, it was the defensive intensity that was most impressive. Consider that in game 5, Dwight Howard faced up Pau 38 times in single coverage and did not score from the field on any of them.
Kobe went into every game this year knowing that he could count of Gasol to deliver precious scoring, rebounding, passing and solid defense, which paid huge dividends in Kobe trusting his mates to make plays.
With my other sports teams (St. Louis Rams and Los Angeles Dodgers), I can be admittedly fair weathered. With the Lakers, however, it is true dedication and love, dating back to a pre-Magic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar team back when Jerry West was still COACHING.
As I have written in other posts, I consider sports to be a great metaphor for life, and specifically look to NBA Basketball as an operatic style of performance.
But here is where that comparison falls short. There is nothing staged about what has culminated with the Lakers emerging as the 2009 NBA Champions. Grit, experience, desire, talent and execution equaled championship results this year. The best team won.
Stan Van Gundy put it best when he noted in response to a question about Phil Jackson’s dependence on having great stars in his prolific 10 championship titles that he couldn’t think of one team that had won it all even once without having great stars.
When asked about what Jackson means to him, Derek said simply, “Phil allows us to be ourselves and realize our potential. I love that man.”
The coach and his quarterback (Bryant) celebrate the game, playing with discipline and a respect (for the game), trusting in themselves and each other.
In the end, they found their game, and locked in on the prize.
What’s left? One question. Phil, what's with the hat?
Whatever. Today we celebrate.
UPDATE1: GREAT Forum Blue and Gold post, 'Deconstructing Kobe' on why Bill Simmons/ESPN Page 2 (one of my favorite writers) comes across as a sore loser in refusing to acknowledge Kobe's growth as a player, and the impact on that growth on the bottom line, the Lakers winning it all.
The other night, in Game Six, in impressive fashion and on the road, the Lakers closed out a very difficult Denver Nuggets team (the Nuggets are for real; a really exciting team).
The Lakers played an absolutely brilliant and magical game. The stat that says it all is that the Lakers team made all 24 of their free throws.
That speaks volumes about the kind of focus and intensity that they brought to executing on both sides of ball. No player missed even one free throw all night.
In the post-game, reflecting back on the series, Denver Nuggets coach George Karl proffered that at the start of the series and through the first few games, he “saw the cracks in the Lakers,” but by the end, the Lakers had sealed up those cracks and become a better team.
Next up is the the Orlando Magic for the NBA Championship. Orlando has a great team, a monster defender in Dwight Howard, exceptional three point shooting and has beaten the Lakers both times they faced them.
Nonetheless, I am expecting that the Lakers will raise another championship banner and beat the Magic.
Why? The team has a unity of purpose; namely, putting the sourness of a Series defeat to the Boston Celtics last year; a series that included a monumental collapse in Game 4 and a 39 point beat-down in Game 6.
For Phil Jackson, winning also means earning his 10th title, and putting Red Auerbach in the rear-view mirror once and for all (and as a Laker diehard, I am a fan of anything that puts the Celtics in the rear-view mirror).
For Kobe, it means putting Shaq in the rear-view mirror by winning a championship without him.
SIDEBAR: Give Kobe his props, as he has played brilliantly, and now is unquestionably the quarterback of the team, which has added a sweet dimension to his game, and made the Lakers a much better team, almost “scary good” at times.
The bottom line is that whereas last year's Lakers were paper tigers, through repetition and good old-fashioned execution, this year's team is spun-steel, tiger meat, having gotten it done for a full season plus three playoff series.
In other words, they are at a special place, simultaneously battle-tested and battle-ready to win the Big Prize.
Case in point, last year they lacked mental toughness, and/or the ability to re-factor and rebound from serious body blows.
As a result, despite an incredibly enjoyable run to the title series (after they acquired Pau Gasol), they fell out of their game and got pummeled when confronted by a more physical, hungrier Celtics team.
Last year, they had a pretty smooth path to the Finals. This year, they had to face down some serious adversity to get where they are.
I hearken back to when Andrew Bynum went down for the second year in a row (both times playing against the Memphis Grizzlies) at the start of a major road swing.
How the do the Lakers respond? Well, in the next game Kobe scores 61 against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, which set the tone.
The trip culminated with the Lakers beating the Celtics and Cavaliers on consecutive nights to go undefeated for the road trip.
Moreover, this year, the Lakers were money when it came to winning games that were super close, coming down to who executed in the final 2-4 minutes.
That this is so speaks to a team-level commitment to lock-down defense at key points of the game, something that they absolutely lacked last year.
This year, they have what I affectionately call the Anaconda Squeeze, a point in the game, typically between the third and fourth quarters, when they absolutely squeeze the life out of the competition.
They do this by running off a debilitating run that breaks the spirit of the competition and puts the Lakers in a very hard to beat state (typical run: 21-7).
I have seen many a game completely turn this year where the Lakers basically overwhelm the competition, and the competition collapses from the pressure.
The Anaconda Squeeze is what the Lakers did to Denver multiple times in Game 6 (and when they took over and won Game 5). They learned something from the No Mercy sentiment that Boston cast their way in relentlessly stepping on the throats of the Lakers them in Game 6 of the Finals last year.
But here’s the irony. While getting through Houston and Denver were really hard, sometimes painfully so, karmically-speaking, it served a greater purpose.
As a result, all is well now in Laker-land, a sentiment best articulated in a wonderful write-up at Forum Blue and Gold:
The road to the finals favors the Lakers. Apollo Creed identified hand and foot quickness as Rocky’s weakness. So he had him chasing chickens. You have a problem guarding quick point guards and perimeter shooters; practice against Houston for 7 games. Tough athletic post players have pushed you around in the past? Practice against Denver for 6 games. Ali prepared for Foreman by sparring against Ernie Shavers, not a lightweight.
In contrast, none of the teams the Magic has played thus far has prepared them for the challenges that the Lakers bring. They had so many physical mismatches against the Cavs that it was like seeing Ali beat up on the light-heavyweight champion, Bob Foster.
But this practice was no preparation against Ken Norton, who broke Ali’s jaw.
Last series against the Nuggets, I thought back to a younger Kobe against Sacramento Kings, a series where Kobe promised to cut the Kings hearts out on the road, and did just that.
Simply put, it's deja vu all over again, and feels like everything old is new (again).
As such, my money’s on the Lakers.
All season long, when confronted with a supreme challenge, they have risen to the occasion.
I expect them to do the same once again, and to take home the trophy.
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Laker Thoughts: Playoff Edition (Game 2 vs. Houston Rockets)
Now this is a series. The Rockets and Lakers have contrasting enough styles that whoever’s style prevails, wins the series.
No shortage of drama, either. Dating back to Utah, the officials had allowed first the Jazz, and then, the Rockets, to manhandle the Lakers, and they weren’t calling that stuff a foul.
Calling the game that way shows a prevailing bias to a particular style of play, and it aint the Lakers (style of play).
Regardless, the Lakers had to answer the physicality of the Rockets. Otherwise, they didn’t deserve to become champs.
If Houston won, they would have been up 2-0, going home for the next two games and playing in front of their fervent fans.
Beyond knowing what that would have meant for the Lakers, for Houston it would have meant that they are THAT good – i.e., good enough to be champions.
Yao is a warrior. Artest is excellent. He has played big. Their players are very tough and play together with fervor, commitment and heart.
An Incredible Game: Smash Mouth Basketball
Case in point, after an brilliant First Quarter by the Lakers, in the Second Quarter, the Rockets took the Lakers out to the tool shed and whipped them. It took a Kobe three for the game to be tied at Half.
During the Halftime Show, Kenny Smith nailed it, saying that the game had championship implications.
Which style would prevail in the Second Half?
The Lakers, like true champs, answered the bell, and (re) took the game.
Playing Three Card Monte
At the same time, the way they answered – with Fisher taking down Scola, and Kobe locking down into Artest, basically said, “bring it on.”
But it was more than that.
It was so blatant that it sent an emblematic, heart-felt message to a Party of Four (FOUR!!): Stu Jackson, the Rockets, Jordan Farmar and Rick Adelman.
To Stu Jackson, NBA Officiating czar, the message is simple. Know your place. Does the league really want Cleveland versus Houston? (Yeah, yeah, the league isn't about that, just like it isn't about relevance, money and ratings.)
To the Rockets, it sends a clear message that the Lakers aren’t intimidated. Tonight, they showed they could be plenty tough.
After the game, I think Jackson equated it to the team finding its purpose.
In that sense, Fisher was a masterstroke, pretty poetic. For one, it created the perfect situation for Farmar to come in. He didn’t need to look over his shoulder because Fisher was gone.
And in the closing rotation, which I loved (energy, defense), both he and Shannon Brown were able to share the floor, so he could focus on playing ball, and he did great.
That rotation (Kobe, Pau, Farmar, Brown, Walton, I think) throws a true speed and disruption look that the Rockets will have some trouble with, and with some burn, the rotation will become better finishers (Odom or Ariza can plug in pretty well, I think).
Minimally, it will force Houston to mix up some personnel at a time of Phil Jackson’s choosing; namely, when he needs a tempo reset to break Houston’s flow, and establish LA’s own.
No less, it adds another dimension to the Lakers, something that Phil Jackson has struggled to find since the role players haven’t, for the most part, answered when called in either of the first two series before tonight.
Welcome to Round Three of Jackson v. Adelman
But, here’s the thing. None of this is the REAL drama. That would be the happy fact that this is "Round Three of Phil Jackson versus Rick Adelman," and Laker fans happily remember how the last go around went.
Round One. The Adelman-led Portland Trail Blazers face off for the 1992 NBA Championship against Michael Jordan and the Phil Jackson-coached Chicago Bulls. The Bulls, of course, win the crown.
Round Two. In 2002, the Rick Adelman-led Sacramento Kings were about to go up 3-1, heading back to Sacramento.
Yep, that’s the game where Horry made that falling away three pointer to steal the game (after the Lakers had been down by as many as 24 earlier in the game), make it 2-2, and the Lakers prevailed in a colossal seven games.
The Lakers won their third championship under Phil Jackson, and the Kings never made it over the hump. Tonight signifies Round Three has begun for Adelman.
The Zen Master Arrives
If you doubt that Jackson is the Zen Master, consider this. The net effect of what played out tonight was that Fisher left, Farmar entered, Artest got kicked out, Von Wafer had words with his coach, and was sent to the showers early. All in the same game.
And the Lakers tempo prevailed; they won. I think this game perhaps re-awakened some bad memories for Adelman.
Also, let's not forget Artest's history of self-immolation, so some element of psychological voodoo is clearly at work on the part of Jackson and the Lakers.
That’s where Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley have it wrong.
This isn’t analogous to a playground-ish type of sport. The Lakers weren't being thugs. This is the NBA Playoffs, and the game is played on multiple levels, something PJ clearly relishes.
His mantra: refs, call it the same both ways. In well-matched series, it comes down to the stars stepping up. It comes down to a need, a collective will, not backing down from the challenge, who wants it most. It comes down to who answers the call.
It’s matchups, adjustinments, having a point of attack, and a lock down efficiency on defense, which the closing unit had tonight in spades. It's about having a clear purpose, and keeping the competition off-balance.
Somewhere in the distance, Game Three looms. I love this game.
Sloppy execution catches up with you, and the Lakers have been sloppy of late. A more disciplined team than the Jazz, not necessarily even a better one, could have snatched Game Two from them.
The Jazz aren't that team so the Lakers won, but that’s a sub-plot that bears watching, albeit one to keep at a slow burn.
First off, Deron Williams was stellar for the Jazz. Amazing inside and outside, scoring and facilitating. Basketball experts have anointed Chris Paul ALL-TIME great potential, whereas Williams is regarded as merely "Top 5 NOW."
I don’t know, but every time I see the guy (Williams), it is apparent that if the Jazz ever find someone more dominant/big-time than Boozer to complement him, the Jazz could go all the way someday.
Unfortunately, here and now, without Okur, there are just too many matchup advantages for the Lakers.
Odom, for one, just crushes the Jazz. Similarly, when the Lakers were running with Pau and Bynum, the Jazz had no answer for the Laker “bigs,” and the Points in the Paint (and shooting percentage) advantage was terrific as a result.
In the "didn't see that one coming" bucket, Shannon Brown is an exciting story arc as far as the Lakers are concerned. He brings defensive intensity and spreads the floor, while being unafraid of the moment (he'll shoot, and he's hitting his shots).
Plus he makes good decisions (something that both Farmar and Vujacic struggle with), and allows them to play a muscle tough style, which is another dimension that they can throw out to keep the Jazz off-balance (and the competition in subsequent rounds).
I hope that he can keep it up. It would be a nice story for the man, who was a complete throw-in in the Radmanovic deal.
Back on the court, Trevor Ariza knocks down a big three to effectively end the game, just as he hit an opening three to help get the Lakers started. He continues to impress.
And Kobe. All-time sick jumper over Ronnie Brewer. Incredible footwork by Kobe matched by equally sound defense by Brewer, and Kobe STILL nails it.
Phil spent too much time experimenting with rotations, and somewhat took the Lakers out of the flow of their game (which he mea culpa’d to afterwards), but you start to see how a couple of more refinements, and the Unit Mixes will (hopefully) be more judiciously and consistently applied.
A final thought. What has defined the Lakers this year has been a lock down phase of the game, when they just take over. They become an anaconda and squeeze the life out of the competition. Didn't happen tonight, and hasn’t these last few games with the Jazz.
The Jazz won’t win this series. The Lakers are just too much more talented, have too many mismatch advantages, are too much more battle-tested, and when they find that extra gear, as they will, it will be game over.
With that in mind, let me submit that NBA Basketball is opera; it is operatic in nature.
True performers, and every night is a different performance, fraught with intrigue and high drama.
Individuals, but clearly an orchestration of the team concept.
Small enough team sizes to make one’s personality, fire and drive to readily be on display.
The tug-of-war of different playing styles (offense, defense, rebounding, passing, sharing, winning) creates divergent narratives that ebb and flow over the course of a game.
The final two minutes of a close game, is a game within the game in itself.
Some performers have a sense of the moment, and rise to the occasion.
Many don't, and there is a lot of drama in either case.
Injuries, money and egos provide ample kindling wood for blazes of glory, cop outs and crushing defeat. There is no shortage of theatrics.
The individual goals, the team rivalries, the intense drama that plays out within a series, the terminator-like mindset as a team moves into subsequent rounds, and finally, the unparalleled moment of triumph as the path to the championship is realized.
Wonderfully entertaining Lakers-Warriors game the other night. The Warriors are a pesky team, and they brought great energy and were hitting their shots relentlessly in the first two and one-half quarters of the game.
The question was whether the Lakers would remain patient and poised, stick to their game (pound it inside) and ultimately make one of their patented “lockdown runs” that squeeze the life out of the competition.
Sure enough, looking like champions, they worked a 17-3 run in the 4th that turned a game that they were losing for all of about 2-3 minutes into a solid victory.
Two monster blocks by Kobe Bryant (on Corey Maggette and Anthony Randolph (click link to see video), and continued brilliance of Pau Gasol, who is becoming a solid anchor to the offense.
Side comment: Anthony Randolph got into Lamar Odom’s head all night, was brilliant for a young player, and is going to be REAL GOOD if keeps doing what he is doing. Very Lamar-like set of skills. Makes one wonder about Nelson’s old school doghouse where Randolph has spent a lot of time this season.
Obama: An Officer and a Gentleman
Funny comments the other night by Dennis Miller on Jay Leno about Barack Obama’s continued efforts to take the campaign to the people.
One, he suggested that half of America is sponsoring the other half of America in this bailout.
Two, he noted that the troubled McDonald’s worker in one of Obama’s town hall meetings is perhaps looking a bit too much at Obama as Richard Gere in ‘Officer and a Gentleman,’ expecting that Obama is going to carry him off to a happy ending.
I liked the inference that while our government has a role to play in stabilizing and supporting, we the American people can’t look to others to lift us up. We have to lift ourselves higher.
Miller noted this sardonically, quipping, “You work at McDonald’s until you don’t want to work at McDonald’s anymore. You build the skills you need, get out and then work somewhere better.”
FRONTLINE: Inside the Meltdown
It’s worth carving out an hour to watch the PBS FRONTLINE documentary, “Inside the Meltdown” (it’s online HERE). First off, it presents the best analog to explain what’s going on, comparing the crisis to systemic spasms that each time the spasms occur, they are getting worse.
Plus, it provides the most compelling argument I have read so far that the decision of the Fed to let Lehman fail was the seminal bad (but non-obvious) judgment call that infected the system, taking what could have otherwise been a contained event, and allowing it to become global and system wide.
Containment is a term you think of as being like a viral contagion or a nuclear threat, but it’s very apropos to what is going on.
The documentary helps you follow the bouncing ball of terms from “Mass Losses to the Financial System” to “Global Interconnectedness” to “Moral Hazard” (and how it shaped handling of both Bear Stearns and Lehman) to “Wealth Loss” (via home and stock portfolio value contraction) to “Leverage Contraction” to “Liquidity Stringency” to “Overnight Intra-Bank Lending” (as viscosity lubricant that must be kept flowing daily to avoid engine seize and instantaneous collapse of investment banks) to “Lender of Last Resort” to “Financial System Meltdown in a Matter of Days.”
The show raised a couple of questions for me. One is how to reconcile a bailout of global firms and assets, given national boundaries (the level of interdependency is jaw-dropping complex), especially in light of fact that there is lack of clear past precedent other than that you have to “do something.”
This paradox provides color to how Congress can in rapid fashion stupidly vote against a bailout and understandably struggle with a fuzzy plan attached to a blank check. It also (unfortunately) feeds the type of sanctimonious rhetoric that congress excels at, which unfortunately is at its most destructive right now.
Lastly, it raises a fundamental question of “What if the system is insolvent? What then?” If, for example, as we have seen, the markets trade on all sort of virtual bets on real assets, and do so at multiples far greater than the real assets themselves (e.g., oil markets trading 8X volume to the level of real oil being consumed), then perhaps the REAL losses to the underlying actual asset are logarithmic-ally smaller on the downside (1/8)?
In other words, the dollars lost are real, but perhaps there is a way to get back to intrinsic value by stripping out the derivative element and representing separately as a balance sheet item.
I am not even sure that I can explain that one fully (I am not a quant) but key point is that dollars, homes, mortgages and physical assets don’t just vaporize even if the markets surrounding them and the financial models supporting value assumptions collapse.
Pinch Media Analytics on iPhone Application Lifecycle
The title is self-explanatory but watch the slide show as it presents some interesting data for analyzing the moving parts of app usage lifecycle, pricing determinants (free versus fee) and ad monetization viability as a business strategy.
Worth noting is that while the data provides some valuable insight into the efficacy (or lack thereof) of ad support for most applications, what it doesn’t speak to is the integral-ness of free ‘lite’ versions in driving users to upsell themselves to the premium ‘full’ version of the app.
This is standard practice in the App Store universe and there is a lot of data that supports the marketing value of lite version/full version as a (paying) customer acquisition strategy.
The other thing that this data doesn’t speak to is the value of App Store as a distribution/monetization strategy for app builders relative to other channels.
My friends in the iPhone Developer universe that sell/sold their products through retail and other channels consider the iPhone App Store model to be manna from heaven in terms of margin, reach and control. To be clear, an imperfect channel, as all things are, but manna nonetheless.
