Crucifido’s Corner - Lakers vs. Knicks

The Beginning Of A Winning Streak?

Whether it’s possible or not (and by the looks of the schedule it’s certainly possible), it would be nice to see the non nonsense approach that was taken to this game applied to the rest of the homestand.

The toughest game being the Clipper game (given their good start and constant hunger to prove themselves worthy of sharing the Lakers city), the rest of this series at home should be a good set of wins for the guys. These coming games are not only winnable, but would go a long way to getting some kind of stride underneath these guys’ feet.

Providing they do a couple things they did against the Knicks.

The Good Stuff
Don’t look now but Chris Mihm has thrown together 2 pretty solid games. Sure, the likely excuse of a lack of a quality strong center on the opposition will be thrown out there, but that’s beside the point. There have been (and were last year) plenty of games where Mihm doesn’t seem to collect himself mentally enough to step up to the game at hand. Often playing like he’s waiting for the foul call rather than playing each set as it comes, Chris tends to get tentative when he doesn’t have to. Not the case tonight.

Yes, there were the requisite silly fouls he pulled off, but baby steps Chris, baby steps. The coverage on defense tonight in the front court was something great to see, not only from Chris but from Kwame as well.

Kwame was getting the rotation a little bit. Watching Kwame so far this year you really get the sense that he has never had any type of structure taught or shown to him. He most definitely has the physical skills, but this may be the first time (in his still very young career) that anyone has shown him where to spot up.

Against the Knicks Kwame seemed to see the defensive scheme. He filled in the lane instead of being torn to the ball or a big man posting up out high where they’re no threat. He let the big guys have the outside while coming into the lane and clogging it up. And then low and behold the parade down the lane got stunted. It was sweet to see Kwame pull this off. Not only did it show in his game, but it showed on his face the way he carried himself. So much of Kwame’s (and the Lakers for that matter) game rides on their ability to trust in themselves and each other. This game fed a little taste of that trust .

Although Kobe started the game forcing some issues and looking downright angry at himself for doing so, he seemed to have calmed. When Kobe plays within the flow of this offense, he can do great things - not only with scoring, but with communication, trust and defense.

Once these defensive rotations were coming off one after the other, the offense kicked into gear. No surprise really, I’d hope that most basketball fans (at least the ones here at Club Lakers) would know by now that defense sparks your offense. There were moments of great footwork tonight by al who played. When things weren’t working offensively for some guys (Odom especially) they came back and kept active on defense.

This defensive activity can be nothing but a big fat firework of a sign to these guys that energy and hustle are crucial for the Lakers to succeed. Every season that would be true for every team, but this year and for this team in particular, it’s absolutely vital every minute and every game.

Rebounding was nothing short of inspiring. Granted, the Lakers have a heck of a tall front line and personally I don’t think they should be badly outrebounded all year, but tonight was fantastic to see the guys go after every one of them. If I wasn’t mistaken there were even several times when the “long shot / long shot rebound” idea actually sunk into their heads. They were great on anticipation on strong boxing out along the perimeter of the key

When the rebound wasn’t grabbed quickly, they were hustling after the loose balls. And by “they” I mean everyone from Bynum to Smush was looking to secure the ball first and foremost. Smart tipping and generally good timing on the boards went a long way to pulling this win out.

The Not-So-Good
It seemed to be contagious or some kind of epidemic that swept through the Lakers. Maybe the burger guys from Kobe’s Sacramento hotel a couple years ago came down and greased up the ball before the game. Something had to be up with the amount of times the ball was jumping out of Lakers’ hands.

Odom was especially guilty in this one. Both he and Kwame seem to be looking to go their next spot or next move before having the ball in their hands. While that kind of desire to get to where you’re supposed to go is great and all, sometimes having the ball with you can help.

I don’t mean to pile onto just Odom and Kwame, because everyone on this squad seems to be pulling this off one way or another. Sure the turnovers were down, but crisp ball movement couldn’t hurt the Lakers as they adapt to the triangle.

Mental lapses when having a lead have got to stop. You stay on the floor for all 48 minutes for a reason - to play them. No matter how bad or good the competition, no lead is secure. The Lakers have got to be going for the kill whether up by 12 or down by 10.

Any team is dangerous when given a window. There were too many instances against the Knicks that looked as if they were going to let them back in. The gaps in concentration and aggression that came up versus the Timberwolves and Sixers can’t show up again if winning is the objective.

Anyway guys, it was a good win, if not a necessary one.

It was implrtant to shake off the losing before it became a habit. Or even worse before the losing became another vehicle to get these guys down.

Like I’ve said before, it’s an attribute of a young team to get down quickly and expend all energy far too early. Every second, minute or game either or both of these things can be overcome serves as a springboard for this to grow.

Off we go to meet the Clippers.

Veteran ClubLakers member crucifido writes nightly player analysis for each game of the Laker season.

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