Lakers, Shareef vs. Antoine and stuff

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great to see the Lakers lose. The only bad thing about it is the long list
of excuses already coming out---starting with the injuries and "diminished"
supporting cast. What a load of crap. This is a team that almost always has
the two best players on the floor (I'd say "always" but Duncan is unreal).
They have one of the single most unstoppable players the game has ever seen
in the middle. These two players are in the primes of their careers.

No, I think what changed this year didn't have as much to do with the
supporting cast as it did with those two players, and it all started with
Shaq. He did the same thing Iverson did a year earlier by waiting until just
before the season started to have his toe surgery. As a result, he missed
two months and the team struggled without him. They had to change the way
they played, placing more of the scoring load on Kobe. When Shaq returned,
the team had to adjust to him. Only they couldn't completely adjust to him
because he was so out of shape. So they "sort of" adjusted to him. Then,
when he finally rounded into shape late in the season, they tried to adjust
again and make him the focus of the offense. Only it didn't work. The Lakers
looked too much like the Celtics-a two-man team that didn't trust the
supporting cast. Pretty soon the motion was out of their offense as the
players waited for either Shaq or Kobe to do their thing. Say what you want
about the Lakers in the past, but they always had a lot of motion in that
triangle offense. Those supporting players thrived off of the attention Shaq
and Kobe drew. That didn't happen this season.

Who's to blame? I point the finger at Shaq, just as I think Iverson was the
culprit for the Sixers' flop last season. As much as these guys want to
believe the regular season doesn't matter, it does. It determines home-court
advantage for one thing, but, more importantly, it builds toward something.
A team finds itself and becomes a TEAM through those regular-season games.
Can you imagine Bird, Magic or Jordan pulling that kind of stunt---delaying
surgery to enjoy a summer vacation and to shorten the number of games you
play in the regular season? Never happen. But Shaq, and Iverson last season,
sold out their teammates.

Anyway, great to see them lose. What a game by the Spurs. Duncan and Parker
were terrific (groan). Ginobli is so much fun to watch. But look at that
team. They have so many spare parts, and yet they still aren't simply a
"dump-it-into-Duncan" kind of team. They move the ball, move without the
ball and find the open man. So you have guys like Stephen Jackson, Malik
Rose and Bruce Bowen taking and making big shots. Are those guys that much
better than Battie, EWill and Delk? It's arguable, but there's no arguing
that the Spurs' offense brings out the best in those players far better than
the Celtics' offense does in theirs. 

On Shareef vs. Antoine... The arguments about "if you trade Antoine for
Shareef, who brings the ball up the court?" illustrate perfectly why you
HAVE to trade Antoine. This team can't continue to be built around his
"versatility." So you bring in a real point guard. Then, if you have a point
guard who is your primary ball-handler, who would you rather have? Antoine's
"versatility" and miserable scoring efficiency and declining rebounding? Or
Shareef's offensive efficiency, low-post game, better free-throw shooting,
shot-blocking and defense? He's the perfect complement to Pierce, and the
low-post scorer this team doesn't have when Antoine is doing his scattershot
thing. It's amazing how fans have been so conditioned to accept the
historically bad numbers Antoine puts up. Go back in history and try to find
another player who shot so much with such poor results. Find a power forward
who played so many minutes and rebounded so poorly. Antoine is a volume
player. Lots of minutes, lots of shots to get his numbers. Did you notice
that Shareef averages about seven fewer shots per game than Antoine, but
their scoring averages are virtually identical? We need to see Antoine for
what he is, not for what we keep hoping he'll be. Seven years is enough. He
is what he is.

Mark