Chopping Down the Beanstalk

Both the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards played the upset role this week beating two high caliber teams

By Kyle Basedow

Fee fi fo fum where is Andrew Bynum?

On Sunday night, all Lakers fans were begging that question. The Orlando Magic beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-103 after an impressive performance from the Magic’s starting five.

The Lakers, on the other hand, were less than spectacular, especially on defense and at the free throw line. Dwight Howard shot 9-21 from the line while scoring 21 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.

Howard was acquired in the blockbuster trade this summer that involved four teams and sent former Lakers center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers where he has yet to play due to injury.

AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill

The Magic, meanwhile, shined on offense with all five starters scoring in double digits. Arron Afflalo had 30 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Jameer Nelson had 19 points and 13 assists, Glen “Big Baby” Davis scored 23 points with 12 rebounds, and Nikola Vucevic had 17 points with 4 blocks and 12 rebounds. The only Magic starter who had an average night was J.J. Reddick, who scored 14 points with 7 assists.

With both teams scoring close the same amount of points in the paint and on fast breaks, the game ultimately came down to who could shoot free throws better. The Magic shot an impressive 19-20 from the line as a team and the Lakers shot 25-39 with Dwight Howard accounting for all of the misses except for two.

It’s ironic that Howard’s former team beat his new team in their first matchup against each other since the trade. Adding to the irony is that Dwight Howard, who was trying to get out of Orlando as fast as possible, is quite possibly the main reason for the loss, due to his poor shooting and his less than stellar defensive play.

The Washington Wizards also knocked off a giant of their own on Tuesday night, beating the Miami Heat, one of the top ranked teams in the NBA, 105-101.

The Wizards triumphed despite having only one player score above 20 points. The Heat, on the other hand, had every member of the “Big Three” score more than 20 with LeBron James drop a triple-double with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.

The Heat dominated points in the paint 56-34 but fell short due to poor shooting. As a team, Miami shot 28.6% from three-point range and 68.8% from the free throw line.

The Wizards, on the other hand, shot 36.8% from three-point range and 75.9% from the free throw line.

The difference in shooting wasn’t much, but it was just enough to make a big difference. The Wizards led at the end of every quarter, despite only out scoring the Heat in the opening quarter.

The game was still close in the end, with the Heat within a basket from tying the game up, but poor shooting by Mike Miller and Ray Allen led to the game slipping away from them.

Still, with 0:06 left on the clock, the ball was in LeBron’s hands and he was able to get off an awful shot from the corner that never really had a chance at going in.

Two things that are interesting to note here: this was only the Wizards second win of the season and their second in three games after starting 0-12. The other is that when the game came down to it, LeBron James had the game in his hands as opposed to Dwyane Wade or even Ray Allen. Granted, Wade isn’t a great outside shooter, but Ray Allen is the one of the best in NBA history so it’s an interesting play call by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

Lakers Struggle Early Due to Princeton Offense

By Ryan Raigrodski

As the season began, most every fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA) thought that the Los Angeles Lakers would stand atop the West, if not the entire league. It appeared that a team that has four star players in Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard could lose very few games. And yet somehow, they begin the season with a 0-2 record.

"I've won so I can (tell people to shut up)," Bryant said to the media yesterday about the team’s early season performance. "For Mike it might be a little tough to say that so I'll say it for him: 'Everybody shut up. Let us work. At the end of the day, you'll be happy with the result as you normally are.'”

AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill

While Bryant may feel the criticism of the team is too early or unjust, watching the games forces you to disagree. Whether it is game one or game 82, it doesn’t feel like the style of many of the Lakers’ play fits this offense.  

What the Lakers are running right now is known as the Princeton offense. The Princeton offense emphasizes a half-court offense, in which the ball is moved around the court many times until a player can find an opening. The offense is slow and involves many passes, which is why many college teams use it, as college athletes do not have the athleticism that professional players do, particularly the Lakers.

In Phoenix, Steve Nash thrived running the pick and roll offense. He even had a rule for the offense: shoot and score in seven seconds or less. With this new Lakers offense, they barely get the ball across midcourt in seven seconds. The quick offense Nash ran in Phoenix would also suit Howard’s game, as Nash could throw him lead passes off of picks and Howard would be open to dunk the ball.  

While this offense may be a worse fit for Steve Nash then anyone, he, like Kobe, tried saying all the right things to the media yesterday to quiet the criticism.

"It is dramatically different from what I've done the last eight years," Nash said. "But I still think there's a lot of room to find a comfort in the offense. It's not all about how I can be the centerpiece. It's about how can we all collectively make each other better, and I think this offense provides us with an opportunity to do that, albeit, in time."

On paper, the Lakers may have a great roster. But fans have forgotten the key element, which is the head coach. Mike Brown still has yet to win a championship in his career, even with opportunity after opportunity in Cleveland. The question is, can Brown make the right decisions and utilize the stars he has to their full potential so the Lakers can win a championship? Right now, with the decision to run the Princeton offense, he is not doing that.

Kobe Needs to Hold Off His Ego

By Ryan Raigrodski 

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Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. One is one of the best point guards of all time and the other dominates the post as the best center in the league. Acquiring one in an offseason would greatly improve a team, but acquiring both should make that team a top contender for the NBA title. There is potentially one thing that could stop them from achieving that goal, however, and that’s Kobe’s ego.

AP Photo/ Elise Amendola

Kobe Bryant unquestionably reigns as one of the top players to ever play the game of basketball. But his play has begun to decline in recent seasons. Last year, Kobe led the league with 1,336 field goal attempts, most in the league, but was ranked 77^th in the league in field goal percentage, shooting 43% from the field.

Right now, he takes too many shots because he thinks it is “his team.” Even with the addition of Dwight Howard, Kobe still believes this.

“I got a question earlier about whose team this is,” Kobe said to the LA Times. “It’s my team.”

The issue is, at this point in his career, Kobe is not the best player on his team. That honor belongs to Dwight Howard. Although he missed time last year with a back injury, Dwight has resided as the best center in the league for the past few seasons, winning defensive player of the year three of the past four seasons and being First Team All-NBA since 2008.

At least publicly, however, Dwight is attempting to say all the right things.

"Learning from Kobe I think this is something that I need for myself so I can grow as a player and as a person," Howard said to the LA Times. "He’s been through almost every single situation possible on the court and off the court, and I think he can really help me out a lot."

To realize how the dynamic between Kobe and Dwight could be an issue, all one needs to do is look back to the end of the 2004 season, where Kobe convinced the Lakers to fire Phil Jackson and trade dominant center Shaquille O’Neal because he wanted it to be “his team.” This caused the Lakers team to struggle for several years. Also, even playing with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum this season, Kobe was very unwilling at times to pass the ball and caused the Lakers not to perform to their highest ability. If the Lakers are going to win a championship this year, and if Kobe wants to end his career on a high note, he needs to realize it doesn’t matter whose “team” it is, but everyone plays for the same team and has the same goal.