Who can guard LeBron James?

So I watched last night's game, and then ended up in a conversation with Justin. How on earth do you stop LeBron these days?

Not only is he the strongest player in the NBA, and one of the quickest, he now has a jump shot to boot. So, you can't sag off him, because he'll hit the 15-20 footer with decent regularity. You can't press him, because he'll blow right by you (notice how good he is at turning sideways to get past defenders to avoid the foul?). You can't double him, because he'll find a way to get the ball to Ilgauskas or Boobie, who have a decent enough chance at scoring. So what do you do?

Which led us to realize what makes LeBron so good. And so outstanding. His go-to shot is a LAYUP. A Layup! As Justin points out, MJ and Kobe have the stick-it fadeaway. Duncan has the bankshot. Shaq (used to have) the dropstep. Magic could always find the open guy. And Bird had the dagger three. LeBron just sticks his head down and gets to the rim -- while still being able to do ALL the other things.

I think that alone makes the Cavs a dangerous playoff team, that plus the fact that LeBron is playing shutdown defense on an opposing team's star right now. Two games in a row, he's defended Kobe and Roy impeccably down the stretch -- forcing them into tough fadeaways.

So, the question in the title. Who can guard him? Shawn Marion is athletic and can bother him, but LeBron's just a touch quicker and more explosive. Wade is just too small. Kobe used to be able to, but now that Kobe's losing a bit of weight as he gets older (which is smart) LeBron can just overpower him. Tayshaun? Please, not after cowering under each of LeBron's thunder dunks last year. Bruce Bowen tries, but ultimately, aside from running the "stick my foot under LeBron" play, he can't rely on just letting LeBron have the midrange J anymore. And we know LeBron can post him. The best we could come up with is Josh Howard -- he's athletic and long -- but he also is prone to fade away on D for periods of time.

Ultimately, that's what would make this team so deadly with just one more star -- someone to knock down the shot when teams collapse on LeBron (like they have to). But, that said, it makes me think Kidd might not be the answer, since he's not a dead-eye shooter. I'd still prefer Bibby, on balance (and would vastly prefer his contract). But, it might not be the worst thing (given the Cavs' current chemistry and overall team defense) to make a small move for a Jarrett Jack-type PG and then make a big splash this summer with the ~30M of expiring contracts we'll have. Lots of good shooters out there next summer (here's looking at you, Juan Carlos Navarro). And, if the Suns don't win, you have to figure they'll blow things up (Shawn Marion, anyone?)

Kidd in CLE?

So after talking to Justin and reading that LeBron wants Kidd (no duh), I came up with two possibilities:

Here's the first one.

CLE (Incoming): Jason Kidd
IND (Incoming): Eric Snow, Drew Gooden, Ira Newble, possible draft pick
NJ (Incoming): Jermaine O'Neal

NJ gets an athletic big man who needs a change of scenery. CLE gets Kidd and keeps LeBron happy. IND gets 4M of cap relief this year in Newble, and gets to try out Gooden as a moderately priced 4 for another year. They also get a veteran presence and good defensive point in Snow. Both Snow and Gooden expire in '09 too.

Here's another one. This isn't as good.

CLE (Incoming): Jason Kidd
MEM (Incoming): Donyell Marshall, Drew Gooden
NJ (Incoming): Pau Gasol, Ira Newble, Shannon Brown

NJ gets cap relief in Newble and Brown and a talented big man in Gasol. MEM gets cap relief in '09 and gets to take a flier on Gooden to replace the bust that is Milicic. The question is, is Jerry West ready to rebuild? Or does he want to see what Conley can do?

More to come tomorrow.

Rainy Days, Silver Linings

Things are pretty dismal in Lakerland right now. After being at the top of the Western Conference, the Lakers have lost 4 of 5 and, in the tightly clustered standings, will have to fight just to make the playoffs.

However, I don't want to dwell on all that's gone wrong - I could whine about that for days. Instead, let's look at the silver linings. What's encouraging?

First and foremost has to be the change in Kobe's attitude. After today's loss to the Cavs (damn you Rakesh), Mark Heisler of the LA Times reports what Kobe said of Bynum and the team in post-game interviews:

"He developed into the player that I prayed about having on my team for years," said Bryant after the game, in his most lyrical praise of Bynum yet.

"You know one, he was going to get you at least 10 rebounds, he was going to get you about three blocks and he was going to get you 20 points.

"And the second thing, it was much harder for teams to match up. Teams couldn't double me as easily, and if they did, I could throw it over the top and he could complete at the basket [score].

"That being said, he's not out for the season, so it's important for these guys not to get discouraged. Just continue to play and understand, we're going to continue to struggle a little bit, but the important thing is not to get down, to continue to play hard and then when we get those guys back, get ready for the playoffs."

That sounds like a Kobe who will be here for the long run, making at least one or two more legitimate title runs in his prime. While LeBron probably has taken over the title of best player in the league (or soon will, if his defense improves and his killer instinct continues to grow), a motivated Kobe makes any team many times better. This season has been a testament to that, as a collection of limited players has really become effective.

There are other encouraging signs too. Even without Bynum and Ariza, the Lakers showed this week that they can compete with San Antonio and Dallas, even on the road. The Lakers outplayed the Spurs for two quarters, played one even quarter, and got destroyed in one. Against Dallas, the Lakers played 3 quarters even, and got destroyed in one. Both bad quarters were third quarters. In both games, it was clear that SA and Dallas were better teams, but not by much. If the Lakers were full-strength and playing as they have this season, I actually think both games are easy wins. The fact that we are this competitive bodes well.

The reason why we are still competitive is fairly simple, and is perhaps the biggest silver lining of all other than Kobe's attitude change. Simply put, the upgrade from Smush Parker to any other NBA point guard alive is the same as upgrading from Kwame Brown to new-and-improved Andrew Bynum. Derek Fisher is a limited player who works hard, shoots fairly well and isn't fast enough to guard elite PGs. Smush Parker is a horrible player who gives up on plays, pouts when he isn't given minutes and shoots about as well as I do. The single best thing about this season, other than the fact that my team was legitimately awesome for 40 games, was not having to watch Smush drag his lazy ass around the floor looking like he'd never before seen a screen.

Just thinking about Smush fighting with some parking valet in Miami makes me smile. Even if that was the only change, it's been a good year.

Larry Hughes Can Dunk???

More to come tomorrow, but for now, I'm going to bed perplexed and giddy at that thought.

An Old Nemesis

Tough Laker loss tonight, though a road loss to the Spurs is never shameful. What made the loss tough was how well the Lakers played in the first half, completely outplaying the Spurs. Then the third quarter came, and by the end of that 12 minute period the Lakers went from a 9-point lead to a 10-point deficit. 19 point swing in a quarter - that is tough to stomach.

And you know the worst part? It's all my fault. You see, I was in my apartment watching the first half, and everything was clicking. Kobe was orchestrating the offense beautifully, telling guys where to go, making his move, and then hitting them in the exact spot he'd just told them to occupy. The defense was swarming. The Spurs looked old. Then, at halftime, I decided to TiVo the second half and go get some chicken katsu curry with friends.

Well, that chicken katsu curry was delicious. Really, really good. Hit the spot. Spicy, steaming, crispy, perfect. And, with every bite, I was dooming my team. You see, when your team is clicking, you don't move. You stay where you were. You try not to shift positions, let alone get changed, leave the house, and record the game. I could argue that I was hungry, but I had ramen. I had the number to Domino's. The Spurs beat the Lakers just because I couldn't resist the siren call of chicken katsu curry.

A few thoughts:

• In the first half, Turiaf had a very strong performance. He played tough defense on Duncan, even blocking a Duncan fadeaway, and showed impressive versatility in cutting hard to the basket for a few dunks and mixing in some mid-range jumpers as well. Unfortunately, we stuck with Kwame for all of the third quarter, probably due to his greater size and strength playing Duncan. Rony is a good change to throw at post players once in a while, but Kwame still is a better position defender.

• Kwame over Turiaf hurt our offense a lot, though it's unclear that that was the main problem. Kobe came out gunning in the third and put up some very questionable shots, and the rest of the team fell into a dismal pattern of standing around and watching. So much for conducting an orchestra - this was more like punching the concertmaster in the face and stealing his violin.
  

• The most frustrating part of the Lakers offense was Lamar Odom. Throughout the game, he was defended by a smaller man - Mike Finley, the surprisingly effective Udoka, Brent Barry. To his credit, Lamar did try to post up a few times, but didn't get the ball. Too often he would float out to the perimeter and just swing the ball. He also got called for an obvious offensive foul once by shoving Finley, clearly frustrated that he wasn't getting the pass and/or the inside position he wanted. There were no Odom drives to the hoop, and while he did work hard on the glass, I thought it was too passive of a game for LO. Get post position, and demand the ball! Stop thinking about your bong!

• Then again, maybe Phil needs to tell his team to feed it to Odom more in a game where he's drawing the obvious mismatch. That would help. So would not having so many mental lapses by throwing the ball away.

• On defense, the Lakers just need to get smarter. Believe it or not, Sasha, it's not a smart move to leave Brent Barry to collapse on a driving Jacque Vaughn - and he did that two or three times. You have to know who's driving, and Jacque is not going to finish around the basket. The D overall wasn't bad, but players seemed a little too willing to help when the primary defender didn't need the help.

• DJ Mbenga was horrible. Worse than Kwame. Mbenga : Kwame :: Kwame : Bynum.
  

But hey, the first half was beautiful. If only I'd resisted the most delicious dish in the world.

The Unbearable Lightness of a D-Wade Foul

Big win for the Cavs tonight. I'm not even joking -- sure, Miami is having a lot of difficulty (and making our roster look functional, which takes some effort to be sure) but the Cavs tend to think they're a better team than they are, making these games tough. That is to say, the Cavs think they're an elite team, and thus think they can give 50% effort in these games. But, they can't -- they're a team that only has success when all its moving parts are going at 100%. Lately, they've been giving that effort throughout the game (or at least close to it) regardless of the team, and have thus been having good results against teams in the league of SA/Dallas and, on the other side, Miami. Hopefully we can keep this up against a red-hot Washington team.

Some thoughts:

1.) The Cavs seem to have fixed their third quarter blues from last year (and earlier this season). While they've had some memorable wins in the fourth quarter this year after some epic third-quarter swoons, they're starting to realize that good teams use the third quarter to build a lead and then spend the fourth quarter maintaining it. Nice to see solid defensive intensity and good execution across the board.

2.) Larry Hughes had a another great game tonight (believe it or not). Larry's real strengths are defense (which he plays very well) and transition jumpers. He hit a few of those tonight and it was great to watch -- he gets good lift when he pulls up on the break or off a quick cut (much better than when he tries to spot up and shoot). Doug Collins mentioned tonight that Larry is just not a great halfcourt player, and that's true, but I think Larry is wisely (and maturely) looking for his shots in transition now and serving as more of a facilitator in the halfcourt game, which is great to see. There was one play in particular at the start of the third quarter when Boobie passed to an open Larry, but instead of taking the spot-up J he hit LeBron moving to the rim for a nice layup. That's smart basketball -- playing to your strengths.

3.) Apparently the Cavs used to run an offensive set for Sasha the first time down the floor in all their games last year because he's such a streaky/confidence player. I think they should keep doing that. Tonight, Sasha was tentative until he made a strong drive to the rim in the first quarter, after which he looked like the Sasha of old. We need him to play at that level, so I'd like to see us make a concerted effort to get him involved early.

3.) Z is really doubting his jump shot lately. In the first quarter, LeBron had a nice between the legs pass to Z on the break and he passed up the wide open J in favor of a crazy 360 attempt that did not go well. He passed up another J in the fourth. Needless to say, that can't happen -- the Z pick and pop is a staple of our offense.

4.) The Cavs bench is playing SO well lately. Devin Brown just has amazing energy (sometimes a bit too much, but I'd rather have that problem) and is playing well on both ends of the floor. Damon Jones has become a real asset -- he's not just taking spot-up threes but is also cutting inside every so often (he had a nice pull-up J in the fourth quarter and a good drive and lay-in over Shaq as well). Boobie had an off night, but still found wayas to contribute on the defensive end. And Andy is just playing at a really high level; I think he's the second-best player on the team right now.

5.) I love LeBron and all his fourth-quarter heroics, but he's going for the "dagger" plays way too often. He took a few too many threes at the end of the SA game, and he had a crazy-wild drive for an offensive foul in the fourth quarter today. I think he did a great job mixing up play within the offense and his own "take on the whole defense" approach in the third quarter and would like to see him keep that mix up in the fourth. In particular, I really like him moving off the ball on the baseline -- he's so talented down there. Also, he was abusing Dorell Wright in the post early -- watch for that post game to develop because when it does, Bruce Bowen will be unable to do anything except try to screw up LeBron's landing on jumpers (which he does a lot already).

6.) It wouldn't be a viewing of a Heat game if I didn't mention the ridiculous calls that D-Wade sometimes gets. Now, I love D-Wade; I think he's a great competitor and a great ambassador for the league. But there was one play where he literally shoved Gibson off the ball, dribbled once, took a shot, and got a foul + continuation. That's just nuts. LeBron and Kobe get calls too, but at least they usually get some form of meaningful contact.

7.) Last point -- it is sad to see a day in which Z and Andy routinely look like better athletes than Shaq in the low post. Man.

Another One Bites the Dust

And the derailing of the Lakers season continues - Trevor Ariza goes down with a broken foot suffered in practice. According to the LA Times, there's no timetable yet for his return, but one will be set after Ariza sees a foot specialist today.

UPDATE: Ariza will be out for eight weeks. At least Bynum has a buddy in rehab now.

Though Ariza was not starting in recent games, this is a major blow to the Lakers. Ariza was one of the best defenders on the team and was also one of our most athletic players. In one game against Denver about a month ago, Allen Iverson was going crazy until the Lakers assigned Ariza to shadow him. While AI still got a few buckets, he was contained the rest of the night.

Though Ariza is not a very good perimeter shooter, limiting his offense, his activity level makes him a very important player on offense as well as on defense. Not many players on the Lakers can do this - and not many would even have the guts to try. I've been impressed with how fast he picked up the triangle, and if he could develop a jumper in the offseason, teams wouldn't be able to sag off him as they do now.

The best thing about Trevor was that he wasn't Brian Cook. I still can't believe that we got Ariza for Cook and Evans (though I did like Mo), and dumped salary in the process. Then again, Cook would never have suffered a foot injury from coming down on someone else's foot. That would require that he either go in the paint, try to rebound, or be guarded by Bruce Bowen.

All that is moot now though, as a broken bone in the foot certainly doesn't sound good. Ugh. This season seems to be going the way of last season, with a fast start derailed by injuries.

To follow-up on the home LA fans booing Kwame Brown during the Phoenix game, Kobe and the rest of the team seemed to close ranks around Kwame. Of particular note is what Kobe said:

"I thought it was terrible," Kobe Bryant said after the game. "If [fans] want to do that, they can stay home. He's going to be our guy for two months. Kwame's sensitive -- you boo him, it's going to affect him. I told him I've got his back."

I still think the boos were an indication of how bitter Laker fans are at losing Bynum, rather than real ire at Kwame - we know who he is, and who he isn't at this point. Regardless of whether the booing was justified, however, these are the things Kobe needs to say to be a leader on this team. Good to see him saying them.