A Matter of Trust for the L.A. Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers fans have until Tuesday to relax. The Los Angeles Lakers finally finished and won their playoff series with the pesky, determined and depleted Houston Rockets. That the series was extended to a Game Seven was unexpected. The unspoken angst was that the Sunday game could have been the last game of the season for the Lakers. It depended whether the focused Lakers appeared or the lethargic Lakers appeared. Fortunately for the Lakers fans, it was a very disciplined team that started to dismantle the height-challenged Rockets from the start of the first quarter. The first quarter ended with the Lakers leading 22-12 and the game essentially was decided.

Perhaps the back story of Game Seven is a tale of trust. Kobe Bryant knew that he and Coach Phil Jackson would be the focus of blame for a Game Seven loss on their home court. It would have been understandable for Kobe Bryant to come out and be a high volume shooter. With the woes that some of his team mates have been having with putting the ball in the hoop, that would have surprised no one. Instead, Kobe Bryant showed restraint and only had twelve field goal attempts. He led by example with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. He passed and trusted his team mates to score. That is a monumental change for a previous version of Kobe Bryant.

There were other examples of trust:

• Phil Jackson stayed with Derek Fisher as his starting point guard. His veteran guard had had trouble containing the speedy Houston guards, especially Aaron Brooks. In addition, Derek Fisher was in a shooting slump. Nevertheless, Phil Jackson played his starting point guard and Derek Fisher contributed six points and semi-contained the Houston guards, with some liberal help from the bigger Lakers.
• Phil Jackson also stayed with Andrew Bynum in the starting line-up. He could have substituted Lamar Odom for Andrew Bynum. Despite Andrew Bynum’s problems scoring and rebounding, Phil Jackson had him start. It was a show of faith that Andrew Bynum rewarded: fourteen points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.
• Another player that Phil Jackson trusted was Sasha Vujacic, who had been having scoring problems and drawing unnecessary fouls with his frenetic style of play. Sasha Vujacic plays on emotions with a small smattering of discipline. And with Game Seven and elimination at stake, Phil Jackson played Sasha Vujacic in his usual rotation. Sasha Vujacic responded with nine points and only one foul.
• And perhaps the whole team displayed their trust in Pau Gasol. In the previous game, Pau Gasol had problems with defending Luis Scola and with scoring. For example, on the offensive side of the ball, Pau Gasol become a jump shooter in Game Six. That is not his strength. In Game Seven, the Lakers gave Pau Gasol opportunities. The reward was that Pau Gasol led the Lakers in scoring with twenty one points and eighteen rebounds.

The Lakers coaching staff has been together through many campaigns. However, they are without a key member. Tex Winter has had a stroke, is recovering and unavailable to the Lakers. The person that may miss him the most is Phil Jackson. Tex Winter is a trusted confidant who is not by Phil Jackson for this post season campaign. This must be an oddity for Coach Jackson.

The playoff series put the Lakers on the brink of disaster. Does this ordeal of having huge losses to a determined Houston squad make the Lakers a better team? Or, does this Game Seven win just confirm to the Lakers that they can ‘turn it on’ whenever it is really really necessary? The answer begins on Tuesday at the Staples Center with the Denver Nuggets.

Catherine Forsythe