Will No One Stand Up to Kobe?
Kobe may domiate the ball, but in the modern NBA nobody stands up to the Alpha Dog.
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OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 15: Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Golden State Warriors during an NBA game at Oracle Arena on March 15, 2010 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
It can be both exhilarating and frustrating — watching Kobe Bryant just take over the ball and the game. He dominates the ball for the Lakers, his teammates get caught standing and watching. The Lakers offense falls apart, so Kobe has to take on more.
They get a lot of wins — because Kobe is Kobe — but there are ugly, frustrating losses too. Fans realize that this Lakers offense is not as good as the one that won the title last year.
In sports bars and in living rooms across Southern California, you hear Lakers fans say the same thing: Does anyone stand up to Kobe?
"No," (Lakers shooting coach Craig) Hodges says flatly when I ask him at one point in the first half if any players on the team stand up to Kobe Bryant and critique him if he does something detrimental to the team. On this occasion it was Bryant not sprinting back on defense after turning the ball over with a bad pass."Not one. They all kiss his a**."
Welcome to the modern NBA locker room – the Alpha Dog rules. Unquestioned. It’s not just Kobe, nobody really stands up to LeBron James either. And Hodges admits nobody on his Bulls stood up to Michael Jordan when the legend did some of these same things (something we kindly forget over time). Nobody barks at the Alpha Dog. And Phil Jackson just lets everybody figure things out for themselves, learning lessons that stick better that way.
Lakers fans may not like the waiting, and they certainly do not like the lack-of-urgency the Lakers have shown in the last month, but Hodges espouses what other coaches ad players say -- the Lakers are bored with the season but they can flip the switch fast.
More so than confidence, Hodges thought that the Lakers were just a little bored with the season."There's enough games left now to really feel the need to be ready for the playoffs and our energy is getting to that playoff mentality."
Hodges would like to see Andrew Bynum get the ball more — he calls Bynum the best center in the game — and more of the triangle offense. Remember that Hodges played in the triangle when he was a star at Long Beach State and Tex Winter was the coach. He loves the offense, he knows it well, and he is frustrated that the Lakers right now do not run it right. The Lakers admit they are running more simplistic sets, to keep Ron Artest in the flow as he tries to understand the nuances in his first season.
Hodges has a lot of thoughts (in a great article by Dave McMenamin). Just don't expect much Kobe bashing. Hodges kisses his a-- plenty, too.
Kurt Helin lives in Los Angeles and is the managing editor of NBC's NBA blog Pro Basketball Talk (which you can also follow in twitter).
