why this team needs big men

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

I'm cutting and pasting this from ESPN.com's "Around the Rim." They looked
at the Lakers in games Kobe has missed compared to games Shaq has missed.
Granted, Shaq is an exceptional center, not just a good one. But Kobe also
is the best non-big man in the league, and even he struggles without support
inside and the attention drawn by Shaq. And look at the impact Shaq has on
those supporting players. Kobe's great, but his presence isn't opening
things up for the supporting cast. This is why the Celtics' priority should
continue to be to get quality big men. They're playing three backups at
center and a small forward at power forward. Go big, big, big... Mark

The Lakers have played five games without Kobe, and eight games without
Shaquille O'Neal  In the Kobe-less games, the Lakers are 4-1, scoring a tidy
105.8 points and shooting .497 from the field. Not too shabby, eh? 
In the eight games without Shaq, the team is 5-3, and scores nearly 15
points a game less (91) and shoots a lame .411 from the field. Pretty clear
from this which guy is more important, isn't it? Fact is that without Shaq,
the Lakers have no inside presence, and the double teams go from the big guy
to Kobe, who might score his points, but needs more shots to get them. The
team scores much less and allows more without the shotblocker. 
Without Kobe, well, and this is a little extreme, another scorer from the
Rick Fox -Isaiah Rider -Derek Fisher -Robert Horry group needs to step up,
which has happened. 
Kobe opens things up by hitting from the outside and also driving. Fox,
Horry and Fisher can hit threes and all have been playing pretty well
lately. Of course, none can drive or get to the line like Kobe, and don't
even ask about defense. 
Look, Kobe is a great player and an MVP candidate (though he won't get it
this year, not with Allen Iverson, Chris Webber and Tim Duncan around). But
this is why everyone wants a center. Shaq can do damage every night and
could possibly win a title without Kobe, Kobe needs a big man to get that
far.