Lakers Defense Has Bryant Unhappy

It's a series now. Just when everyone had the Phoenix Suns left for dead, the Suns bounce back in a resounding fashion to take two games at home.

"They have a great bench." -
Bryant on Phoenix reserves.

And Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was none to happy with his team's showing despite another excellent game in which he contributed 38 points, 10 assists and 7 boards. But it's all about the team with Bryant.

After the game, Bryant was thoroughly questioned about his team's performance both offensively and defensively. Bryant was obviously agitated at the outcome and some of those at the presser wanted to aim the finger toward the Lakers offense. To Kobe, there was no doubt. It was LA's defense failed them in Game 4.

"Our attention needs to be on the defensive end -- period," Bryant said. "That's second-chance opportunities. Their bench came in and gave them a big boost in getting balls back and getting them extra possessions. We've got to cut that stuff out."

Bryant was also asked if he needed help offensively and Bryant stayed the course as far as the Lakers lack of defense, and he's right. You have to have a defensive stop every once in a while. The saying goes that defense wins you championships and Kobe does own a ring...or four, so he knows what it takes. He even cited that his team gave too much attention to the Suns' zone and not enough to their own defense.

Frye finally broke out of a slump
in Game 4 to add 14 points and
6 rebounds.

Add that the Lakers had no such answer for the Phoenix bench that amassed an insane 54 points, and you have a Suns victory. Don't forget that Phoenix also won the rebounding battle, 51-36. The Lakers bench only managed 20 points and 15 of those were from Lamar Odom. Yes, the Lakers bench isn't the deepest and the Suns go 10 deep in their rotation. All 10 Phoenix players were in double figures in minutes played and Suns head coach Alvin Gentry has a tremendous feel for his club. Only three of the Suns starters played 30 minutes or more.

Lakers head coach Phil Jackson looked in a different direction.

"We thought we could come in here and get a game, and unfortunately you know we weren't up to the task. But we outscored them from the field I think both games, shot better than they did, did a lot of things very good and it still wasn't enough to win the game. They beat us at the foul line both nights, and that's the difference in the margin of the game."

Kobe says defense and Phil says free throws. Who's right?

Actually, both. The defensive stops were not many, and the Lakers were once again frozen by the Suns zone defense negating any movement to the hoop. Phoenix is showing a willingness to drive the lane and the Lakers are showing some tentativeness in such. All Phil has to do is invent a Laker way of penetrating the zone. He is the best coach in NBA history, right?

Piece of advice. Don't rely on the 3 so much. The Lakers took 33 three-point shots in Games 1 and 2 combined. Result: two wins. In Games 3 and 4, a total of 60 three-pointers. Result: two losses. See a pattern here?

If you're a Suns fan, think about this. Phil Jackson is 46-0 lifetime when his team holds a 2-0 lead.

After Games 1 and 2, Lakers fans were chanting "We want Boston!"

I think they may want to take care of the Phoenix Suns in this series first.

We're talking trash...

One of the things I do every day is not only check out what's making big news, but I also look for interesting pieces, articles, etc.

I came across a poll that was very interesting. SI.com recently conducted a poll of about 173 NBA players and asked them this. Who's the biggest trash talker in the league? Some answers won't be too hard to figure out, but a couple did raise an eyebrow. And some were very deserved. I'm not huge on trash talk, but these guys obviously are.

The top trash talker didn't really surprise me. It was the amount of top votes he "garnered". That was a bit of a hint. It's none other than Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics. Garnett for all his talking received, get this, an astounding 62%! Sure, the Big Ticket can get a bit animated on the court, but there's obviously more to it than what we see. I guess going from Minnesota to Boston forced KG out of his shell.

Second place goes to the always charming Kobe Bryant. Kobe does have the hardware to backup his mouth, though. Four rings, an MVP and 11 All-Star nods earns you that right, if you view it that way. But with KG dominating the vote, Bryant only received 7%, and still managed the #2 slot.

Third goes to a Celtic teammate of Garnett's, Rasheed Wallace. This may be looked at as spillover of his days in Detroit, but Wallace deserves every right to make this "elite" list. Watch a Celtics game. You'll quickly see what I mean. And I'm not even referring to his interaction with the refs. He does it to opponents, too. I don't think his jaw ever stops moving.

Number 4 caught me a bit offguard. It's yet another Celtic, Paul Pierce. Three of the top for are from Boston. I hate to see what happens in a game of fish with these guys. I know Pierce can talk, but I didn't realize he talked this much. Apparently, the rest of the league has noticed this a lot more. Maybe it's because when I watch the Celtics, Garnett and Wallace chatter so much that my attention rarely goes to Pierce and his chatter.