LAKERS DIE-NASTY - Part 3

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

Much of the consternation of the Lakers season was not only due to the poor management decisions. Miscasting was another problem. O'Neal was given the burden of having to be the team leader and holler guy. The big fella doesn't have the makeup for that role. He's a big lovable "Baby Huey" type who is expected to be a tough guy. He isn't tough. He's basically a nice guy who's somewhat of a softy, and there is nothing wrong with that. O'Neal is an excellent player that doesn't need the added pressure of having to be the team savior. His size and talent and mega-salary doesn't mean that he can part the Red Sea and have people follow.

The residue from the Jones, Rice trade results in indecisiveness and insecurity of the team's future. As great a shooter as GLEN RICE is, the question is remains, will he be a happy camper NOT BEING THE FIRST OPTION. With Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant being given franchise player roles how will that sit with Rice? The three stars do not fuse together as a unit. Of course you have to factor in that there wasn't enough time to organize an offense to accommodate each of them while implementing team synergy.

"I feel bad because we never learned to play together, to play smart," AP reported O'Neal as saying.

Are three superstars on one team too much? The Chicago Bulls survived that situation with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Rodman. Rodman's not being a shooter made it doable. He focused on his role as a rebounder. He got the ball to the shooters, Jordan and Pippen. Who's getting the rebounds for the Lakers now?

The Lakers blew their chance of going to the Championship game when they couldn't cope with the man in the middle who has a flair for multi-colored hair, a.k.a., Dennis "The Menace" Rodman. I'll say it again: You can say what you want about the Rod-Man but… The bottom line is he's a winner. Five NBA championship rings in a ten-year period is not bad.

During his 23-game stay with the team, he averaged 11.2 rebounds without the benefit of preseason training and conditioning. O'Neal finished the season as the teams leading rebounder with only 10.7 a game. If Rodman had finished out the year and maintained his average the Lakers would have had TWO rebounders in the top 10 in the league. Had he maintained his numbers over the season he would have finished 6th in the league and O'Neal 9th.

As it was, the San Antonio Spurs were the only team with two players in the top ten. Tim Duncan averaged 11.4 for 5th place and David Robinson averaged 10.0 for 10th place. It's that rebounding power that helped put them in the Western Conference finals. The Spurs HAVE what the Lakers HAD… rebounding. Had Rodman finished the year and maintained his numbers the Lakers would have been the only team with two rebounders in the NBA's top ten. Robinson would have been bumped off the list.

Much of the consternation of the Lakers season was not only due to the poor management decisions. Miscasting was another problem. O'Neal was given the burden of having to be the team leader and holler guy. The big fella doesn't have the makeup for that role. He's a big lovable "Baby Huey" type who is expected to be a tough guy. He isn't tough. He's basically a nice guy who's somewhat of a softy, and there is nothing wrong with that.

O'Neal is an excellent player that doesn't need the added pressure of having to be the team savior. His size and talent and mega-salary doesn't mean that he can part the Red Sea and have people follow. If all of the energy that O'Neal was required to use in his appointed leadership role was used to concentrate on making free throws, the Lakers might have had a better fate. He was spread too thin. He had too much to think about.

O'Neal trashed a television during an emotional outburst after the game one loss in the Spurs series. He was absent from the teams season ending meeting for the second consecutive year. It's rumored that he is thinking about exercising his option to leave the club. When questioned if he would leave the team, O'Neal told the LA Times, "If something happens I'll let you know like I let Orlando know." (hummmm)

O'Neal and Bryant are said to be in conflict. O'Neal has often complained that Bryant has poor shot selection. He also wants Bryant to get the ball inside to him more and to stop focusing on creating his own shot off the dribble. O'Neal prefers to be the first option. His reason? Keep the offense simple and run it through him. Give him the ball and if he can't do anything with it he'll pass it outside. He then prefers Rice to be the number two option due to his excellent shooting skills.

O'Neal may have a point. In the Spurs series, his numbers upheld his opinion; Rice's showing did not make it credible. During the four games, O'Neal was the Lakers most efficient shooter making 35-65 (53.8%) averaging 16.25 shots a game and totaled 96 points (24 ppg.). Bryant followed with 33-77 (42.8%) 19.25 spg. 84 points (21 ppg.). Rice shot 20-61 (34.4%), 15.25 spg. and scored 75 points (18.7 ppg.).

When you consider that all three players like to shoot 15-20 shots a game you wonder where the balls are going to come from? The Spurs totaled 30 more assists in the series against the Lakers 110-80. A team usually shoots between 70-80 shots a game. Check this out….

In the series, the Spurs made five more shots on 76 fewer attempts 138-285 ( 48.2%), 71.25 shots per game to the Lakers 133-351 (37.8), 87.75 spg. Rice had a 43.2 field goal percentage this year. It was the worst shooting percentage of his career. The Lakers can pick up Rice's option but is he worth the money he is said to be asking?

Not enough balls to go around aren't the only problems the Lakers face. Minutes for players who are usually starters, could make for an uneasy bench and low team morale. Two of last year's starters Rick Fox (33.0 mpg) and Robert Horry (30.4 mpg) were regulated to backup roles this year. Their playing time was spotty and limited. During the 1997-98 season Fox was the ONLY Laker TO START all 82 games. Horry started 71 of the 72 games he appeared in. This season Horry started five games and averaged 19.6 minutes playing time per game. Fox made one start and averaged 21.5 minutes per game.

JR Reid was a starter at Charlotte before the trade. When he became a Laker, he was primarily used as a reserve. The team is busting at the seams with TOO MUCH TALENT. SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE. The damn is about to break.

Travis Knight started 23 games this season but averaged only 14.2 minutes played per game. He finished the year relegated to a spot back-up role.

Bryant proved to be one of the more mature members of the team in spite of his youthful age of 20. He was the only player to start all 50 games. He played a team best 37.9 minutes per game.

When times were tough he never let bad experiences get him down. After being pressured by the press about his blunders against San Antonio, Bryant responded, that it was over and there was nothing he could do about it. He NEVER pointed fingers.

Continue - KOBE BRYANT & THE LAKERS ARROGANCE