The Lake Show’s Bit Players Must Perform

- The Season's Over -

The Lake Show’s Bit Players Must Perform

June 2, 2009

Andrew Bynum must stand tall Right or wrong, the NBA and its teams are marketed by their brand name superstars. Never is that more apparent than in the postseason, where based on the commercials for every series you would swear there were only two or three players on any given roster. Kobe. LeBron. Dwight. KG. Melo. Chauncey. Yao. Brandon. Deron. Ron. Chris. Dirk. But those of us who actually watch the games on a nightly basis (or just watched the Cleveland-Orlando series) know that there’s no star in the league capable of doing it all himself. Every night it’s about the team around them.

The Lake Show is as much a team effort as any squad. Kobe and Pau are going to get theirs. We know what those fine gentlemen bring to the scorer’s table on a nightly basis. And while the Lakers roster is capable of being the deepest in the league on any given night, after their Big Two they also sport some maddeningly inconsistent players. If the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers are to hoist their 15th NBA Championship trophy this summer, they’re going to need significant contributions from their stable of role players.

It starts down low, where Andrew Bynum needs to finally start playing like the low-post force we all know he can be. He may or may not be 100% physically right now, but there’s no debating that he’s at less than full strength between the ears. It’s time to let those struggles go and come out with renewed focus in this marquee matchup against the NBA’s most dominant center. Nobody expects Bynum to man up against Dwight and play him to a standstill, but he’s physically capable of playing Dwight straight up and keeping the Magic honest.

Sasha Vujacic and Andrew Bynum Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Howard is going to get his 20-30 points and 10-15 rebounds a night, and that’s OK. The Lakers can live with that. What they can’t live with is Bynum coming into the game and picking up three quick fouls in the first half and riding pine for a bulk of the second half, leaving them shorthanded and compromised around the rim and on the glass. They also can’t live with having to double down on Dwight every possession, freeing up Orlando’s stellar perimeter shooters. Bynum can let the offense come to him in the flow of the game, but what LA needs more is for him to focus on the defensive glass or Dwight will cause the Lakers a slow death by Chinese water torture with multiple shots per possession.

Of equal importance will be the play of the Lakers’ lanky wing defenders. Specifically, Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom. Magic forwards and primary three-point threats Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu are both listed at 6-10, and they’ve grown accustomed to shooting over everybody who’s been thrown at them in the postseason thus far. That’s why the length and athleticism of Ariza and Odom, who measure in at 6-8 and 6-10 respectively, will be key.

After sleepwalking through the Houston series and the first four games of the Denver series, Lamar finally came to life the last two games, and he’ll need to keep that rolling. On defense he’ll be asked to help double down on Dwight, but it’ll be more important for him to get back and keep a long arm in the face of Rashard and Hedo. On offense, Odom is stronger than either and he’s capable of beating them off the dribble. He’ll need to put pressure on the Magic wings, and draw fouls, by being aggressive and out-muscling them in the paint.

Who else in Purple and Gold needs to perform, after the jump…

Ariza, meanwhile, is the best defender in purple and gold not named Kobe. He’s a couple inches shorter than Lewis and Turkoglu, but he’s wiry-strong, lanky, extremely quick and more athletic than either. He’ll need to continually contest threes from taller players, which he’s capable of doing, while being his usual pirate self playing the passing lanes.

Ariza does so many things well that he can have an impact without launching a field-goal attempt, but his outside shot is something that he’s really been working on and it’s shown. If the Magic offense gets on a roll, as it’s wont to do, that outside shot will be called on to keep LA in games, especially when Pau and Kobe are being doubled. If he can do most of those things every night the Magic will never forgive themselves for dealing Ariza for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans.

Two of the least popular Lakers reserves could also play big roles: Luke Walton and Sasha Vujacic. Neither is a strong option, but they have their peculiar skills and both are capable of the intermittent big game. Walton has been seeing more minutes in recent weeks with Odom struggling, and as a 6-8 wing player he could continue to see tick as Phil Jackson tries to throw length at Lewis, Turkoglu and Pietrus. He’s a decent passer, he can be scrappy and, well, I guess he can draw charges.

Vujacic, meanwhile, was second to only Derek Fisher in three-point shooting for the Lakers this year and he led them in shooting from behind the arc a year ago. He’s been painfully cold of late, and he isn’t doing himself any favors with his shitty defense and decision making, but if some of these games turn into shootouts or if the Magic decide to double on Kobe and Pau with regularity, then his outside stroke will be needed.

Finally, the three Los Angeles point guards can dictate the flow of this series if they simply show up and do their jobs. Between the three of them–with proper situational substitutions by Phil Jackson–Shannon Brown, Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar are capable of being far superior to Rafer Alston and Anthony Johnson. All three can take advantage of Alston’s sloppy and quixotic play. It shouldn’t be difficult to coax him into turnovers and taking low-percentage shots.

Fisher in particular isn’t very athletic and he isn’t very quick any more, but he’s still an intelligent and physical player capable of getting under people’s skin, especially a notable hot head like Alston. Shannon Brown, as he’s shown in flashes over the last few weeks, is an explosive athlete and a bull when he takes it to the rack. He’s aggressive and he finishes well, which could really help to put pressure on Dwight, cause the Orlando defense to sag and draw fouls.

Oh, and Adam Morrison needs to cheer his fucking guts out.