I know you so badly want it to be because Kobe is a 'ball hog' who never works with teammates and all that noise......
But really it's Gasol's new found focus in the paint because Bynum is out and Lamar doing what the coaching staff has asked him for years, which is to be more assertive out on the court. Also throw in there, especially with San Antonio, that they are FASTER with Bynum out and Odom starting. Anytime a star player on a squad is out for a length the team as a whole becomes more focused. There are plenty of times where you see short handed teams whoop on teams at full strength. The Blazers did this to the Lakers a few weeks ago. Teams who are missing a star player tend to focus a bit more because they are short handed. Teams that are
If Gasol continues to focus on the defensive end like he has the last few games they will continue to be very strong.
Gasol and Odom GETTING to do what the coaching staff has asked them to do for years.
But what other factor could have been hindering that to some degree all this time?
With Gasol? I can tell you that Bynum normally is asked to be the guy who controls the paint. Pau Gasol not so much. That is not really a strength of his. If it was the Lakers might have repeated last year instead of it being their first post-Shaq championship. He really differs to Bynum in that regard because Bynum is the one who is playing the 5 on top of it.
You could say that Odom differs to Kobe when he is on the floor and that hinders Odom. You can also say that the coaching staff has never really made it a point to run plays specifically through Lamar Odom. They could send Odom down to the block to run the triangle on most nights but they don't. I think the last time I could say that was a focus of their game plan was against the Suns a few years back. By nature Odom is a pass first guy. That is Lamar Odom being Odom. There have only been a few times where he wasn't passive. That was in Miami before he came back to LA (when he avg 17 a game) and really over the past 3 games. Odom often will get a pass from someone, have a mismatch, but still look to cough it up. Odom's biggest problem and unrelated to Kobe (I know buddy I know, you want to crap on Kobe) is that he is inconsistent. That focus is not always there every single night. I think the fact that the Lakers are down 2 key players/2 starters that he knows he now needs to pick up more slack. Instead of being the 4th or 5th option on offense he is bumped up to #2. Usually the pecking order is Kobe, Gasol, Bynum, Artest, Odom (or whomever is shooting well, lately it has been more Shannon Brown)
The truth of the matter is the Lakers do look great now but when it comes playoff time they will not win without #24. He is the guy who can take over games and win them. He is directly responsible for 5 wins in the last 2 months by hitting game winning shots.
