Los Angeles Lakers prove once again they are not tough enough

on 05 6, 2009

I know it was only one game, but the other night’s Rockets/Lakers game showed that the Lakers have not changed a thing from last year. The Lakers lost to the Celtics last year for one reason and one reason only, lack of toughness. This lack of toughness is an explanation for LA’s defeat to the Rockets last night. Going into last night, the Lakers were averaging 106.6 points in the playoffs. The Rockets held them to only 92. The Rockets were physical with the Lakers all night long, and you could see the Lakers’ players were visibly frustrated. The Lakers started to become tentative to bang down low so they started to jack up three after three. They shot 17 threes in all and made only 2 of them. That is 11 percent if you were wondering. You can not win ball games with numbers like that. It was not just physical toughness either; the Rockets were mentally tougher last night as well. Every time the Lakers made a run, the Rockets had an answer. The Lakers took one point leads three times in the game and on average those leads lasted only 14 seconds. It also needs to be pointed out that the Lakers were at home when all this occurred.

The answer in the offseason by most experts seemed to be Andrew Bynum. All I heard was ‘next year will be different with Bynum.’ Well last night they had Bynum, and all last night showed was that he is still favoring that knee. That does not sound too tough to me. Chuck Hayes even forced Bynum 5 feet off the block and Bynum fired up an air ball hook shot. Chuck Hayes is 6 inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter then Bynum. That is embarrassing.

Kobe Bryant, the so called “best player on the planet” turned into the old Kobe last night, shooting the ball 31 times. He did not shoot a poor percentage (45%), but when Kobe shoots the ball over 30 times, the Lakers were 3-5 during the regular season and now 0-1 in the postseason. When push comes to shove, Kobe does not trust his supporting cast when his back is against the wall. If his mindset does not change the Lakers will definitely not win the NBA championship and may not even make it there.

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