In Kobe Bryan’s initial meeting with Mike Brown, he cautioned the Lakers’ newly hired coach “not to pull back,” to coach him “like everyone else; otherwise the players will turn on you,” Bryant told me during dinner in Los Angeles just before Christmas.
Bryant said he’d heard Brown didn’t yell at LeBron James and acknowledged Phil Jackson didn’t yell at him.
“Phil coached everyone different because he’s Phil. His rings gave him license to do that. Pat (Riley) and Pop (Gregg Popovich) also have earned that right; nobody else,” Bryant said of his former coach.
Brown now has coached Bryant, floppy (right) disc aside, to four straight efficient 40-point (31, 31, 31 and 28 attempts) and eight-of-nine 30-plus, out-of-wedlock productions.
In his 16th season, the 33-year-old Bryant leads the NBA (31.2) in scoring. He is the oldest in league history to do what he’s in the midst of doing. What’s more, his weapons of construction have amassed 111 40-point-or-more monuments.
Only fellow Philly native Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged an unthinkable 50.4 in the 1961-62 season, and Michael Jordan compiled more.
Alas, they look “a lot better when you win,” pithily reasoned esteemed telecaster Ralph Lawler moments before my Hedge Clippers–and his, I suppose–splintered LA Lore’s victory march at five, 102-94.
Win or lose, the Paul-y Pavilion hallway throwdown was as rasping and riveting as it gets without the consequent fear of fines and suspensions. There were four individual technical fouls whistled and plenty of provocation for more. Only conscientious objectors left the court not pockmarked with powder burns and blood on their risers.
Chris Paul left with his left hamstring hurting, mentally anguished and 33 points, six assists and one turnover to his credit. Counting Wednesday’s contribution to Miami’s demise, that makes 60 points, 17 assists, 10 rebounds and 6 steals in his last two outings
Unfortunately, the likelihood Paul will be available for duty any time soon is remote. He pulled up lame with 4:01 remaining after burying a 12-foot fallaway jumper over Andrew Bynum and Darius Morris. However, I saw him grab the back of his leg on the previous possession following a slick feed to Blake Griffin.
For the time being, the injury is being described as a “strained hamstring” by team trainer Jasen Powell. Perhaps Paul could have returned had the verdict been in doubt. He told the coaching staff he was ready. Powell wisely talked him down, saying it was in his best interests not to play.
Nobody could believe the Clippers actually manufactured enough good luck to out-maneuver the Lakers for Paul, yet everybody was confident the team’s curse eventually would re-establish its dominance, sooner than later in all probability.
Predicting such doom and gloom was the logical next step. The thought of printing who’d go down first, Paul or Griffin, made me squeamish. It was not something I wanted on my résumé when the Clippers’ bad luck returned, as it did last night in victory.
Until then, until Paul was forced to sit, I had filled page after page with staggering occurrences and observations:
Griffin’s liftoff over two luxury-sized Lakers, ensuing acrobatic layup and leisurely landing will be the highlight of Matt Barnes’ career. His Airness, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter would’ve been proud to pilot that hang glider.
The more Clippers that converged on Bryant in the second half, the more determined he was to disentangle and devastate. His third quarter hoist from the great divide with Paul on him like plaque was preposterous.
“Nobody else would’ve made that shot,” analyst Michael Smith gushed.
“Nobody else would’ve taken it,” Lawler added.
“Nobody else would’ve been allowed to take it,” Smith countered.
After the Lakers had closed to within 79-74 with 11:18 left on the game clock, Paul downed a 35-footer a tick before the shot clock expired as if it was business as usual.
Earlier, the dipsy-doodling, airborne Morris swished a 50-footer to beat the first quarter buzzer.
During preseason, Bryant said he wasn’t concerned about the Clippers, branding them “tiny.” But that was before they signed extremist rebounder Reggie Evans. In 17 minutes, the 6-8, 255-pounder muscled for eight boards, six of them offensive. The Lakers don’t pay Bynum and Pau Gasol enough to go through the grief of boxing out Evans.
More amazing than anything, I submit, was Bynum (6-13 FG, 0-3 FT) not so much as sniffing leather in the final 9:22 unless he managed to retrieve missed shots, which he did 16 times, overall.
As Lawler mentioned, those 40-point presentations look a lot better when you win.
Think the Clippers’ home game against the Lakers was a hot ticket? Jack Nicholson offered to beat any price, plus throw in some light gardening.
You might want to start dating, befriend or adopt an LA scalper at least a few days before the Jan. 25 rematch.
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The Rocket honored their all-decade ‘70s team Friday. Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, Calvin Murphy and Mike Newlin attended. Rudy Tomjanovich did not. That concerned me, because I knew he’d been ill a while back, but apparently the momentary Lakers coach is fine.
“Rudy’s in LA and really doesn’t like to come back for things like that,” reports a close friend. “He is not a spotlight guy. He thinks he is cancer free and he is golfing and building a house there. He hasn’t been to Houston for a few months.”
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Losers in the final three games of their home slouch, the Celtics infested Indiana last night for more of the same. If you had the Pacers starting 9-3 while getting diddly and squat from Danny Granger (1-8 Friday against Toronto before getting sent to the principal’s office), go to the head of the dance class.
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If this was a normal season of games, Wizards coach Flip Saunders would’ve/should’ve been fired weeks ago; there’s no time, or at least not enough of it, between losses to allow for an effective changeover.
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Nice to see Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman finally figured out Ricky Rubio (11.0 points, 8.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds) belonged in the starting lineup. He hasn’t quite grasped when to keep him in the game.
When the Hawks were on their 23-2 comeback stampede last night, guess who made the Timberwolves’ sole basket? It put them up, 76-73. Twenty seconds later, Luke Ridnour replaced Rubio.
Kevin Love must have forgotten he returned. With four seconds to go, down 93-91, the double-double king (12 in a row; 30 & 13 vs. Atlanta) faked a hand-off to Rubio after receiving the inbounds pass and dry-heaved a trey in traffic.
Rubio (7-15 FG, including 2-3 from afar) was unmolested at the top of the key and would’ve had time to beat the clock.
Compared to the past few years, these are good problems, I think.
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Forced to play out of position at center for the Pistons, Greg Monroe is the 2010 class’ most consistent draftee, by far. In Thursday’s loss to Milwaukee, the No. 7 pick notched 32 points and 16 rebounds. In Friday’s win over Charlotte, he recorded 19, nine and five assists. Overall, he’s averaging 16.4 and 9.2 and shooting .597. John Wall, Evan Turner, Derrick Favors, Wesley Johnson, DeMarcus Cousins, Ekpe Udoh? You decide.
The NBA commemorates Martin Luther King Day tomorrow with 11 games, and the importance of the day is not lost on Knicks bust Eddy Curry. “To me, he’s the second most important King, right behind Burger.”