Lakers show Kings how far they have to go

The Los Angeles Lakers strolled into Arco Arena Wednesday night delivered all that is real.

Clearly, it was too real for the young Sacramento Kings.

It wasn’t just the 12-point victory margin. It was the team-wide defensive intensity combined with a self-knowledge, championship confidence and swagger combined with a discipline of execution that overwhelmed the Kings’ youthful intentions and desires.

The Lakers are what every team wants to be and where every team is attempting to get.

They’ve already won back-to-back titles and nothing was apparent last night to reveal they now aren’t on a similar course.

Could they become better this season than last? Only a season’s evolution and development can lead to that determination.

Yet, as the new-and-still improving almost 31-year-old (Nov. 6) Lamar Odom said, “Better? I hope so. That’s our goal. It’s always realistic, when you strive. Being perfect is like a realistic goal for us. That’s our way of thinking, our thought process.”

Can you get to that? Other teams are attempting to get into the playoffs, perhaps get a high playoff-seed, even. Meanwhile, the Lakers have begun the season 5-0 and have yet to put 23-year-old 7-foot talent Andrew Bynum on the court.

The Lakers seek perfection. Odom sounded like Denzel Washington in “Remember the Titans”, but the sincerity in his delivery and eyes, showed the versatile swingman was deadly serious.

Just as Kobe Bryant always is serious when he steps onto the floor, the Lakers carry themselves with an air of invincibility. That quotient never should be underestimated.

In some ways, Bryant’s presence and dominance manifest themselves in each of the Lakers. That goes the same for legendary coach Phil Jackson.

They don’t get shaken and there never is a situation in which they feel a loss of control.

Listen to how Odom and Derek Fisher speak of Bryant, who had off-season surgery on his right knee for the third time.

Said Odom, “Kobe is coming off surgery. He’s going to will the basketball game to kind of go his way. So, this is nothing different than what I’ve seen since I’ve been playing with him.”

Fisher and Bryant joined the Lakers together in 1996.

“I thought he might start off struggling to find some rhythm,” Fisher said of Bryant, “and he might build some rhythm as things went. But to see him playing this well, this early, he’s on my team, so that’s good for me. But that’s not good for everybody else when he’s playing this good this early.

“It’s not surprising. Nothing that he does surprises me. I’ve just seen too much, too many times. He’s capable of doing pretty much anything and everything.”

That’s the sound of reverence, of ultimate respect and confidence. The Lakers are a finished product that somehow still has an upside.

Meanwhile, the Kings are attempting to find their way with games such as the Lakers contest serving as monitoring levels. Sacramento’s leader on the floor is 21-year-old second-year guard Tyreke Evans.

Evans couldn’t stay on the floor against the Lakers and much of it was his own doing. He picked up his third foul with 1:08 left in the first half while defending Bryant’s shot attempt.

Evans’ fourth foul came with 8:42 left in the third quarter. He was caught reaching 20 feet from the basket as Bryant attempted to catch a pass. He was replaced 34 seconds later and sat the rest of the third.

It was no coincidence the Lakers quickly raced to an 82-62 lead as the Kings offense went ka-put.

Kings coach Paul Westphal didn’t mention Evans by name, but it was apparent the guard’s absence during the third quarter’s final minutes was a crucial factor.

“I thought it was an offensive breakdown in the third quarter,” the coach said. “I thought we were missing a lot of shots in the third quarter and let them get out. They’re too good of a team to let them get (into) transition and just miss, miss, miss over and over.”

Westphal knows how much the Kings (3-2) collectively have to improve to even approach the neighborhood in which the Lakers reside.

“The Lakers don’t even know who we are right now,” he said. “We would like to build a rivalry with the best team in the world, but to answer that question as if there’s a rivalry, that’d be an insult to them.

“We’ve got to win some games before there’s a rivalry. They are where we want to be.”

Donte Greene and Kings have much to prove

Say what you will regarding Tyreke Evans, last season's NBA Rookie of the Year, and 2010 first-round draft choice DeMarcus Cousins.

The Kings are third-year small forward Donte Greene.

Greene is a physical specimen at 6-foot-11, 251 pounds. He's 22 years old, can jump out of the gym and possesses the agility and foot speed to at least deter the offensive prowess of Los Angeles Lakers' star Kobe Bryant.

Greene has the potential to one day grow into one of the NBA's best players just as the Kings this season have the capability to grow into one of the league's most improved squads.

However, for both Greene and the Kings, wanting to do it and doing it are completely different animals.

Folks, we're talking Yorkshire Terriers and Gorillas.

Greene is entering his third NBA season and is contending with Omri Casspi for the team's starting small forward position. Establishing consistency in shooting, rebounding, decision-making and playing solid defense will be the keys to winning the battle with Omri Casspi.

Greene certainly would like to establish himself as the team's starter, yet he says filling the team's needs for role players is what he's about.

"A lot of guys can’t accept their role," he said. "With me being traded here (from Houston in August 2008) and really not knowing what to expect and last year being my first year playing, I came out and wanted to be a defensive guy.

"I knew we needed a defensive guy – especially after John Salmons got traded in my rookie year – I tried to fill that role. Scoring, I have my nights, but mostly I was just worrying about defending."

Greene started 50 games last season and played small forward, power forward and shooting guard.

Since the Kings have re-arranged their frontline with the additions of Samuel Dalembert, Cousins and fellow rookie Hassan Whiteside, Greene likely will see more playing opportunities at small forward and shooting guard.

There are match ups that could play out where his quickness and agility could prove valuable at power forward.

Greene's 251 pounds mark quite a change from the 215 to 220 pounds at which he began his NBA career. He said he put on 15 pounds during the off-season by eating and lifting weight.

" I loved (playing four)," Greene said. "I was looking forward to it (again this season). KG (Kevin Garnett) talked trash to me last year. Amare (Stoudamire) talked trash to me. I was going to have something for them, but what ever it takes to get on the floor. (I'll play) 1-2-3-4-5 ... it doesn’t matter."

The spirit is appreciated, but seeing Greene at point guard is not something to which I look forward.

As a starter last season, Greene shot 43.5 percent overall from the field and 36.5 percent from three-point range. Both those marks should improve with a higher comfort level that comes from experience.

Greene is too good a shooter to repeat 64 percent from the free-throw line and he should accept nothing lower than 75 percent. His improvement will come through increased concentration and focus. Those factors often are the most difficult for young players to grasp.

Not much is expected nationally of the Kings or Greene. Like Denver's Carmelo Anthony, who has been the subject of many recent trade rumors, Greene hails from Baltimore after being born in Munich, Germany and spending some of his childhood in Japan.

Greene was asked what he knew about those 'Melo rumors and what it would be like for his friend to become a teammate.

Greene smiled and joked (I think), "If 'Melo comes here, send me to Denver. With him and Tyreke, it would be a wrap here."

Yes, the opportunities to score surely would be diminished, but since Greene freely believes he can become a role player, that scenario might not be all bad.

Petrie without a plan?

Kings President Geoff Petrie said he hadn't read a recent ESPN assessment that noted he nor the Kings had a plan for development.

Personally, it's difficult for me to believe Petrie had not read the analysis, but I guess it's possible.

However, he unveiled his sharp tongue when responding to the attack.

"We still go into the season with a tremendous amount of salary cap room and all our future picks and all that. So there’s always the potential to be involved in things other teams are trying to do."

Said Petrie with an ultimate sarcasm, "I’ve always been a plan-less guy. Sometimes you have to consider the source."

Over the past 18 years, I venture to guess no media member has spoken with Petrie more than I. No wonder he looked me dead in my face while issuing the 'plan-less guy' comment.

Petrie always has plans. They haven't always worked, but he's got a drawer full of them.

Said Petrie regarding the team's unsuccessful quest to nail down a new arena, "I'm not really the guy to ask about that. It’s clear that Arco (Arena) is getting near the end of its useful life and at some point, the community and the city and the team need a new facility."

It's nut-cutting time

One of the best (and funniest) people I've met during 32 years of covering sports is Lionel Simmons.

They called him the L-Train because of his name, but also because he was one of college basketball's most prolific scorers.

Simmons was a first-round draft choice (No. 7 overall) by the Sacramento Kings in 1990 (one of a record four (Travis Mays, Duane Causwell and Anthony Bonner) and used his knowledge of the game, mental and physical toughness as well as skill versatility to average 16 to 17 points, seven or eight rebounds and four assists.

Simmons only played until he was 28 before knee troubles strongly encouraged him to retire. Knee pain reduced his time on the court. Simmons had enough foresight to consider life after hoops, both financially and physically.

Simmons, despite less than superior athleticism, was an excellent clutch player. Not only did he possess the acumen to get a shot he wanted and could make under duress, Simmons also made plays for his teammates, who early in his career lacked in overall quality.

Simmons used to call those game-turning situations, 'nut-cutting time.' Exactly why, I'm not sure, but the dire circumstances were translated.

You know - do what you do or get off the pot.

You don't have to go home, but you've got to get the hell out of here.

Hit your point or give up the dice.

The NBA Finals have reached nut-cutting time, folks, particularly for the Los Angeles Lakers. They have kicked their margin for error to the curb. The Lakers, who held 1-0 and 2-1 advantages in this best-of-seven series, have to come up big in Tuesday night's Game Six or they are done.

All of Kobe Bryant's heroics will go for naught, unless the rest of the Lakers can play to their potential. The bit players need not perform excellently, but no longer can they get down at a sub-par rate en masse.

The Boston Celtics clearly have stepped up individually to perform as a team at a level at which even the Lakers have had to marvel. Boston's team defense has turned the Lakers normally efficient offense into five guys looking for their first pickup game together.

It's the rare situation when the Lakers are able to uncover an open shot, particularly by anyone capable of consistently make one.

What this series is showing is Bryant is the best tough-shot maker in NBA history. Boston's defense is consistently providing opportunities for Bryant to display this quality.

The Celtics inevitably are able to get one defender, if not two, to challenge virtually every Lakers shot attempt.

The series opened with conversation about whether Bryant had reached Michael Jordan status.

What we've also learned is Phil Jackson better unearth a Steve Kerr clone; a Craig Hodges light at the offensive end. Defensively, Jackson better find some players who will refuse to fold and go gently.

Remember Gasol spoke earlier this series accurately about how Kevin Garnett's athleticism had declined. Perhaps now Gasol realizes that Garnett's heart and desire have not dissipated. And at this point, heart and desire are just as important, if not more so, than athleticism and execution.

Who wants it more?

That's what we'll find out Tuesday night.

Certainly, if the Celtics can win Game Six, it'll be their second victory in L.A. in three Finals games and they will have displayed their mettle to get a well-earned second title in three seasons.

Fast breaks

Ron Artest needs to stop thinking and play.

Boston's Glen (Big Baby) Davis is the classic example for teams to look at how well players can move their feet when drafting.

If those who listen to Glenn (Doc) Rivers manage his team don't realize this guy is a heck of a coach, they'd might want to invest in ear wax removal.

I'm with Bryant. If he needs now to tell his teammates what time it is, this series is over before Game Six begins.

Can Gasol score again against Boston in the post?

If the Celtics were the second-best road team (tied with Cleveland at 26 wins, behind Dallas' 27) and the Lakers were tied with Atlanta, Orlando and Denver with 34 victories behind Cleveland's league-leading 35 home wins, what does this truly mean? Just as much as Phil Jackson's 47-0 mark in series after winning Game One.

Those stats mean nothing - never did, never will. Stats achieved during this series carry far more weight.

More, more and more, yet

Let me see if I've got this right: Tom Izzo is 55 and needs to hear from LeBron James if he should go from Michigan State to Cleveland and make $3 million more a year for the next five years.

As nice as James is, if I'm Izzo and Cleveland is jocking me as hard as it appears to be, I'd crack for another $1 million a year if James doesn't return. For $20 million more during that span, I'd coach the Fat Boys.

All of this college football shagging just illuminates how powerless the NCAA really is in 2010. I'd sure have no problem if 'student-athletes' unionized and asked for a percentage of all this money coming into the mix.

And another thing: I think I should get some of my people (and your people, too) together and work on the safest, secure, plush and stylish strip club on the West Coast.

If athletes, such as Vince Young (since he's in the news right now) can't keep their butts and surplus dinero out of these clubs, somehow I should monetize.

If that's impossible, perhaps establishing Marty Mac's travelling dancing girls could be the hookup. We'd line up a veritable harem of beautiful ladies who could come to the athletes' place of choice so we could keep these knuckleheads out of trouble, particularly public trouble.

Let's see, you are in a strip club and instead of enjoying the company of the ladies, you are talking to some other hard-heads about whatever.

Whatever is right!

Kobe is the man, but Gasol is key to series

Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol likely is the NBA's largest enigma.

However, he's also a major key to how well the Lakers fare in these NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.

Gasol may be the league's most offensively-skilled big man. He can score inside with either hand. He sees the floor well and passes well. Gasol makes 15-footers and can be a force on the offensive boards.

He's listed at 7-feet, 250 pounds and has nights when he's virtually unstoppable at the offensive end.

On this Lakers squad, it's his teammates who most often stop him by failing to deliver the ball. Granted, Gasol will have to work hard against Boston's defensively-oriented squad to get good position.

During two regular-season meetings, Gasol scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had four turnovers in 41 minutes of a 90-89 Lakers victory Jan. 31 in Boston. He had just nine field-goal attempts as Kobe Bryant took 20 shots, Andrew Bynum had 13 and Ron Artest got 12 shots.

Bryant (ankle injury) didn't play in an 87-86 loss Feb. 18 in Los Angeles. Gasol scored 22 on seven of 12 shooting and eight of eight from the line. Gasol needs to get in the vicinity of 15 field-goal attempts in order for the Lakers to be effective around the basket.

And it will take mere minutes, if not seconds, for Boston's Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins to lay wood on Gasol. Then Rasheed Wallace and Glen (Big Baby) Davis come off the bench with more physicality.

The Celtics will test Gasol with physical play, frankly, because that's the Spaniard's weakness. This is his opportunity to erase that tag forever. Can he do so? That's a question I can't answer.

I'll always remember Gasol, then with Memphis, signing a max contract then telling Commercial-Appeal beat writer Ron Tillery how the team needed to find someone to defend and rebound. I remember reading the quote and calling Tillery because I just knew the editing process had failed him.

I couldn't believe Gasol said that. Tillery, however, acknowledged those were Gasol's words.

And he said them immediately after signing a max contract. The dude is 7-feet, 250 and looking for someone else to defend and rebound. Something is wrong with that picture.

Basically Gasol said he didn't want to be the man, but getting paid as if he were 'the man' was all good. He can't be criticized for accepting the money offered, but he should have been spanked for shirking responsibility.

However, he lucked into the trade to the Lakers and now can ride side-saddle with Bryant.

Kobe Bean will do his thing and now it's up to Gasol to carry his weight against guys who look him eye-to-eye.

What to look for

The Celtics are the league's best at making scorers do work in crowds. No team surrenders fewer unchallenged shots.

Rajon Rondo scored 21 and 14 points, respectively, during the two regular-season games and also contributed 12 and 11 assists. He had five steals in Boston's 87-86 victory.

Boston's Tony Allen was not nearly as effective or active in the conference finals against Orlando as he was in the semifinals against Cleveland. He suffered from a right ankle injury and his ability to function normally will be a major key.

Allen may be the league's most athletic player to return from a major injury. Allen, you may remember tore two ligaments in his left knee in Jan 2007 dunking after a whistle in a game. You also may remember him dunking on top of Cleveland forward Antawn Jamison's cranium last month in the East's semifinals.

Watch Kevin Garnett jump to knock down shots after the whistle. One only can hope he never injures himself with that stupidity.

In Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the Celtics have two of the game's best clutch shooters.

The Celtics are 9-2 in NBA Finals matchups against the L.A. Lakers. That stat won't mean a thing in this series.

The Lakers will back off Rondo and make the sometime reluctant shooter beat them from the perimeter. The Celtics will challenge Artest and everyone else not named Bryant beat them from the outside.

Question of the day

Is the Lakers-Celtics matchup the best rivalry in sports?

Kobe Bean Bryant: Moving toward becoming the best?

After hearing about Kobe Bryant for 10 or so years, I met the kid in September 1996, less than a month before his first NBA training camp with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kershaw Leatherbury, a heck of an athlete who'd played at Philadelphia's legendary Overbrook High, was a former college roommate. Leatherbury also had a nice handle and ridiculous range, in addition to batting cleanup behind major-league outfielder Jeffrey (Hac Man) Leonard.

Through that Philly connection, I'd met Kobe's pops, Joe (Jelly Bean) Bryant and former USF point guard Chubby Cox and had a hookup to write a story with Source Magazine.

Leatherbury, since Kobe was about seven or eight, was saying Kobe Bean was a prodigy and appeared headed on a direct course to the NBA. Leatherbury and J.B. were right about the kid who spent much of his youth playing soccer in Europe.

Bryant, then 18, was living (or was it vice versa) with his pops and moms (Pam) and his sister in a cul-de-sac at the top of hill in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. Even at 18, Bryant clearly was advanced in terms of basketball vision.

A maturity, heavily influenced by the guidance of moms and pops, already was in full force. In retrospect, one wonders if Bryant truly believed at that time he could become as good as he is now. Athletically, Bryant's life has been an unfinished dream.

Should he lead the Los Angeles Lakers to another NBA title this June over the Boston Celtics, he unquestionably will be the player of the decade. That means he'd have played an integral role in five titles beginning in 2000 and he'll be 32 on August 23.

Since many observers judge greatness in terms of championships won, Bryant is approaching hallowed ground.

That's one short of the six won by his idol, Michael Jordan. And make no mistake, Bryant has patterned much of his career and playing style after Jordan. Bryant walked, talked and dunked like Jordan. Former teammates say Bryant used to watch tapes of Air Jordan incessantly at the Forum before the Lakers moved to the Staples Center.

As a society, we've seemed to kick Bill Russell and his 11 championships to the curb as if they don't exist. Perhaps it's because Russell was a big man and didn't dominate offensively.

But the title of greatest ever has been awarded to Jordan and it's almost universally acknowledged despite the achievements of Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson, two name just two.

Comparing Jordan and Bryant is a bit premature. Jordan already has his titles, while Bryant remains a work in progress. Jordan retired the first time from basketball in 1993 to try baseball. Jordan dealt with tales about his gambling and the murder of his father.

Meanwhile, Bryant was accused of sexual assault in the summer of 2004. During questioning with the police, he made derogatory comments regarding then teammate Shaquille O'Neal, when the center's name never should have come out of his mouth.

That was Bryant's weakest moment. However, as I've said many times, I've never been questioned by police, much less for sexual assault of a white woman. Honestly, I can't say whose name might have come from my mouth. Spanky? Alfalfa?, Curly Jo, who the heck knows.

However, Bryant has kept his nose clean, remained married, recovered from the knee surgery for which he was in Eagle, Colo. (the scene of the assault). And now Kobe Bean has a chance to do something to make himself more special than he already has become.

Winning a fifth would tie him with Magic Johnson. That achievement is pretty darned good on its own merit.

Only four franchises - the Lakers, Celtics, Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs - have won more than three.

Every player with more than seven played with Boston - Sam Jones (10); John Havlicek, Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones and Tom 'Satch' Sanders, all with eight.

According to NBAUniverse.com, three players - Robert Horry, Frank Ramsey and Jim Loscutoff - won seven rings. Horry was the only player to do it with three teams.

With six are Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Scottie Pippen and Bob Cousy.

Bryant's heroics almost are becoming joke-like, said Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry. It's no longer news when Bryant dominates down the stretch. The news comes when he doesn't.

Certainly, the defensively-minded Celtics propose a different threat. Yet, in Bryant's mind, having defeated the Lakers in 2008, the C's are a challenge. Bryant, like Jordan, feeds off challenges - like winning championships.

Still working out the bugs, but here goes:

Using your own criteria, who is the NBA's greatest player?