CROSSROADS (Lakers/Spurs preview)

I spent Christmas Day at a family dysfunction on the ex’s side, a hearty mix ranging from crazed teens to bible-thumping grandparents (common denominator being plentiful booze), parading in a shouting mass in front of the HD Wall of Television. Such distractions tend to be a filter, leaving unvarnished truths seen as if through a picture window:  Steve Blake seemed to be the only Laker not wearing Kobe’s new Green Lantern shoes and Pau simply hasn’t looked right lately. There were warnings of a trap game before the embarrassing loss to the Bucks and equally convenient complaints about having to shed one’s Big-and-Tall Snuggies in order to play a little ball on Christmas. The latter didn’t seem to affect those hailing from the eastern quadrant of the country - the steadily improving Heat steam-rolled us four quarters straight.

In a previous post, I noted that the Spurs game on the 28^th worried me more than Miami. There’s an obvious long-running history between the Spurs and Lakers, I don’t know that I’d call it a rivalry in the hatred sense, there’s always been mutual grudging respect and not a lot of trash talking (save for that aimed at Bruce Bowen’s ever active scissor-hands back in the day). At any rate, offered up is SfS’s first and perhaps only game preview, X's and O's not being my strong suit. I’ll try and avoid whimsical references to the Ukraine’s favorite son. Whoops.

The Spurs simply weren’t themselves last season. They looked old, beat-to-crap, and never seemed to gain traction with off-season acquisitions Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess. DeJuan Blair was a second round steal and George Hill also showed rookie promise but by-and-large, the team limped through the season, managing to get to the second round in the western conference playoffs before being run-and-gunned by the Suns.

This year’s been a whole different deal, Duncan’s channeling Ponce de Leon, Jefferson’s located his confidence, Manu’s the wily points leader and Parker’s showing why he's still an elite point, dishing 7 dimes a game. Undersized Blair’s been starting at center in short effective minutes with Bonner and McDyess filling in the gaps. The big off-season move was bringing in Tiago Splitter who’s been parked under the overseas umbrella for some time. He came to the team the worse for wear after a busy year of Brazilian ball capped by FIBA and a thigh injury. He’s being integrated gradually at a little over 11 minutes per game. Coach Popovitch has these guys playing with purpose, a few clunkers here and there but their league-leading start can’t be ignored, even if it sometimes seems that way with the media blitz that is the Heat and the entitlement that too often sabotages my own beloved Lakers.

L.A. reloaded in the off-season, hoping to deliver a fourth 3-peat for Phil Jackson in what he’s consistently termed his last stand. Fish re-upped his contract as did Shannon Brown. Steve Blake and Matt Barnes signed on for a pittance, Theo Ratcliff for even less. We got a couple good projects in Caracter and Ebanks but they’ll likely see their minutes reduced to a shiny spot as the season progresses. With Andrew Bynum recovering from knee surgery in painfully slow fashion, Odom slid back into a familiar starting slot and the team was off and running - an impressive start to the season until the wheels started wobbling. We’ve now taken up residence in a series of back-to-back losses buffered by win streaks that keep us looking solid in the standings, if not the eyes of seasoned observers. The oft-mentioned on-switch is in serious need of attention, we’re currently five games back from the Spurs and the question of home court advantage starts to loom.

A few random observations, sans typical bullet points, headings or other things organizational:

The game’s on Spurs turf, the Lakers need to show up early and not let the crowd get carried away. I don’t know what shape Bynum’s really in but if there ever a time for him to get the starting nod again, it would be now. Use the Bynum/Pau tandem to control the paint, take advantage of the Blair size mismatch, go strong to the basket. The Spurs are masters of the pick-and-roll which has historically been a hurdle for the Lakers. - they’re too often a step slow with rotations, getting burned on the back end. Communication and trust are key. Ball movement looms large - Parker’s an active distributor and there’s a myriad of options with Manu, Jefferson and Duncan. The Lakers on the other hand have been a bit stagnant lately, I’d like to see the triangle flowing again, hoping for better reads, more effective screens, less loading up on one side.

Bench-wise, Bonner’s been deadly from outside as has second-year guard Hill. The Lakers’ Killer B’s have fallen off the map a bit lately and need to get their mojo back. Odom on the other hand has been one of the Lakers’ bright lights lately - whether he starts or plays 6^th man, he needs to continue cleaning the glass and splitting the seams.  Motivation - in the aftermath of the Heat loss, Kobe appears to be extremely pissed off. There’s not a lot in the way of direct quotes from practice but he participated quite strenuously from all accounts and Ron in particular is acknowledging the message. While on the subject of Artest, one of the good folks over at PtR mentioned the ‘can’t teach height’ adage and added the hope that Blair would switch off Odom to guard the corpse of Ron Artest. My own sincere hope would be that Ron catches wind of this before game time. That's motivation!

SHORT CUTS

Not my usual bailiwick here, trades and breaking news (unless of the false variety). Still, an interesting day and since everyone else is burning up the cyberverse, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and see if I can't make the math just a little hazier. The Magic have essentially gone all in, blowing apart their team and taking on some serious long term money. Richardson’s an expiring contract so no gamble there, they’re essentially getting a free look at the Suns’ leading scorer. Hedo on the other hand has escalators built into his deal and won’t be easy to move, especially after disappointing outings with both Toronto and Phoenix. Gilbert of course, has a bundle left, along with all the other baggage.  That's balanced by Rashard Lewis, second-highest salary in the league, heading to Washington.

Have I managed to confuse anybody yet?  The Suns get Carter’s expiring $17.3 mil along with movable mid-priced parts if Pietrus and Gortat don’t work out. They're taking on more payroll now but only for the rest of the season.  With Nash's future in flux there, they seem to be looking at what comes next rather than what comes now.  Unless of course, Vinsanity tears it up in a major way. 

Although three teams were involved, Orlando's the one everyone will be watching, a huge rebuild for a team that's #4 in the east (recent road losses notwithstanding).  They'll have a ton of scoring power with Richardson, Arenas and Hedo coming in although not quite the same defensive presence.  Van Gundy's already said that Jameer Nelson will remain a starter (tab Arenas as a sixth man for the immediate time being).  They've lost some obvious depth at center, Earl Clark's a hardworking kid but he hasn't played much yet.  Look for them to pick up a veteran big in the coming days.

I'd link all the legit analysis on the subject but it can all be had at Hoopshype, including plenty of twitter if you get to it quick and full-fledged articles if you don't. 

Laker shortcuts - a nice winning road trip, one more against Toronto tomorrow before returning home for a tuneup against the Bucks before the big Christmas Day game.  Kobe sprained his shooting hand pinkie against the 76'ers last night.  He says it won't stop him from playing, fairly impressive considering that the mitt already resembled a crudely molded athritic lump of clay. Joe Smith's getting some triangle tutaledge from the staff.  Barnes and Odom have been playing up a storm as of late.  Bynum's easing back in, shoring up the interior defense.  Sasha's still gone.  Maybe the season of the witch has passed.  Keep an ear peeled for fire engines, just in case.

FALLING INTO WINTER

And sometimes a gray grind, November slips into winter and there’s nothing in mind really, tiny hollow keyboard clicks and tires rolling past outside, the ambient reminder of a cold wet front that’s taken hold.  Last night was one of those games that happens in transitory doldrums, tired legs, too many minutes, Andrew still weeks away he says and Phil’s peevish ruminations and the Killer B’s with toxins on a slow charge and Kobe of course, railing against it all in a furious fourth quarter while teammates tried to answer but couldn’t. Two losses in a row once more, a week removed from the other two but not not nearly enough to take away from legitimate train wrecks like the decision bumping shoulders with his coach because he’s not being allowed to just have fun. Sounds like someone needs a timeout corner.

There’s always the lulls, no team plays the perfect game, the beat writers don’t appear to be sharpening their blades yet and I haven’t noticed any torch-wielding blog villagers screaming for implausible trades . The closest thing to an acquisition buzz was some temporary talk about bringing Jake Voskuhl in for vet minimum prorated and maybe 10 mpg. It got squashed like a gnat on a Mercedes though, Jerry Buss doesn’t feel like another dollar-for-dollar daily penalty and it’s hard to blame him, he’s carrying by far the biggest vig in the league. Still, the alternative right now is one Derrick Caracter, a hardworking kid who’d be getting experience in the D-League if it weren’t for the fact that 2/3 of our 7-footers are rehabbing carved-up knees. If you’re going to buy a little rookie insurance it’s not a bad time to actually use it. Then again, I’d have thrown Sasha out there last night and told him to fire at will. We lost anyway, might as well gamble on a Slovenian blitzkrieg with possible eyebrow grooming at the charity stripe.

Tomorrow brings Memphis and Pau should be ready to take on baby brother but it’s followed back-to-back with Houston and there’s bound to be more weary before the welcome respite of one more game over the next five days. While recognizing reasons for seasonal lulls, it’s also good not to view them as excuses. The Spurs are collectively as old as Methuselah and I don’t see them slacking off - they’ve got the league’s best record right now and I fear them more than anybody coming out of the east. Yawning segue into notes from around the league: Westbrook turns down the Slam Dunk contest (smart man), the ‘Toine announces his grand comeback with the Idaho Stampede (aim high, dude), Paul Westphal booted DeMarcus Cousins out of practice today which is as good a way as any to blame somebody else for your own ineptitude (no link necessary) and high-flying linebacker Blake Griffin continues to throw it down. The temperature’s dropping as fast as my eyelids and there's still spellcheck, links and I should probably find a photo of something or other.  Stop typing, please.