In the first full game without Andrew Bynum, the L. A. Lakers escaped Seattle with a win. It was a 123-121 win for the Lakers but it was won in overtime. And forty eight (48) points were needed from Kobe Bryant.

It was a night when Kobe Bryant needed forty four shots from the field, plus seven free throw attempts. The next highest scorer for the Lakers was Ronny Turiaf, with fourteen points. Turiaf scored eight of those fourteen points from the free throw line. For the night, Kobe Bryant had two assists. The Lakers play a different game without Andrew Bynum. The two assists are significant… significantly low.

Kobe Bryant will try to carry the Lakers for the two months that Andrew Bynum is away and recovering from his injury. Will this put miles on Kobe Bryant’s legs that will show if the Lakers are a post season team? And, with Kobe reverting back to a shoot-first-maybe-pass strategy, will this negatively impact upon the Lakers team play?

It appeared that Kobe was trusting Andrew Bynum’s inside presence and high scoring per centage. With Bynum gone, will Kobe trust his team mates and endure the missed shots, for the sake of maintaining a style of play that has proven to be successful? How many passes will Kwame Brown drop before Kobe begins to think less and less of passing? If Kobe passes, that will mean, on some nights, there will be losses that will be difficult to bear. It will be agonizing, especially for someone as competitive as Kobe Bryant. The shoot-first strategy may win a few more games but it might set back what the team has done in working together. Further, it may be a style which is difficult to change once Andrew Bynum is back.

The key to withstanding these next two months may rest with people like Derek Fisher, who does not always look to pass to Kobe Bryant. The season for the Lakers may rest on a player (or a few players) assertive enough to say… “Kobe, give me the ball.”

Catherine Forsythe

Tags: nba, kobe bryant, andrew bynum, passing, losses