Health & Fitness
When Basketball Was Just a Game of Fundamentals
Too many "I"s spell defeat for the Lakers.
UCLA Basketball under John Wooden was a display of how cementing fundamentals of a game resulted in excellence and national championships. Winning also did not include personal grievances or bad attitudes. If a player displayed dissatisfaction with the program, they could leave, witness Gavin Smith and Reeves Nelson.
Professional basketball is a different animal and now that the Lakers have been dissected by the Thunder, the head games will begin for 2013. The Lakers have the best player in basketball, Kobe, the most versatile big man in Pau Gasol, and then they had the next center in Andrew Bynum, which, on paper, meant many championships.
Talent does not win games, team cohesiveness does, witness the Spurs and Thunder. The Lakers seem to be victims of their own egos.
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We recall 2004 when the Kobe-Shaq feud resulted in a loss in the Finals. Last year, we had a distracted Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. This year, we have seen a conflicted Andrew Bynum. Andrew has all the talent a big man could muster, but he lacks heart and focus. There is no "i" in team, and in L.A. you are expected to perform.
The problem here is we have this great talent who opens mouth and inserts foot therein. Andrew is the central problem with the Lakers this year and it is a pity. We have a bench that cannot throw a pea in the ocean and they all should be enshrined at CSUN with their 'Matador' defense. It is time for Andrew to take his talents elsewhere, maybe Memphis for Mark Gasol and Rudy Gay or perhaps, to New York for Tyson Chandler and Landry Fields.
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The point here is that you need to take the pressure off of Kobe, who again showed why he is a warrior and the best in the current era. Pau needs to be near the rim and not floating out by the perimeter of the offensive basket. We also will need a coach who has the respect of the players, perhaps a Mike Dantoni, and then a point guard who can drive and play some defense sans the Matador's cape. All in all a great deal of reconstruction and resurrection for our boys in purple and gold in 2013, and perhaps a team will emerge rather than a conflict of egos. Ironically Kobe will win a championship this year, however the victory will be in London with a Gold Medal.
The Lakers need to reload with perhaps a thought to play ball and leave the egos at the door.
