<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Where is Derek Fisher when you need him? The Los Angeles Lakers displayed an alarming fragility in their Christmas showdown with Miami. Worse, it was the kind of performance that blindsided a lot of their fans, because it came just as the Lakers seemed on the verge of finding their stride without Lamar Odom, who is out with a knee injury. Odom has come to be the foundation of Phil Jackson?s Lakers team, much as Scottie Pippen provided the base for Jackson?s Chicago Bulls teams. Whenever Pippen was out, those Bulls of yore turned wobbly and inconsistent. Jackson?s Lakers are the same way. That?s a fact, not an excuse. Jackson mentor Tex Winter predicted the situation about three weeks ago when Odom went out. Now the Lakers face a huge test, a moment of truth, in their efforts to rebuild into a championship contender. Are they going to fall apart? Or will the find the toughness and leadership to hang together during hard times? ?What happens in these next two games is pretty important,? Winter told me Tuesday, the day after L.A.?s fiasco against the Miami Heat. ?You have to see how they respond, how they come back.? Sensing the situation on the horizon, I had recently gone looking for the steadiest Laker I?ve ever known, Derek Fisher, only he?s not a Laker anymore but a Utah Jazz, whatever that is. ... The irony, of course, is now that he has the mantle of leadership, Bryant continues to struggle in returning from off-season knee surgery. Winter says he still has yet to see Bryant?s old explosiveness and quickness, or his defensive ability return. ?He can?t do some of the things he used to do and get away with it,? Winter said. ?Right now, he can?t go into a crowd (of defenders) and make the plays that he used to make. I don?t know what he?s thinking. But he?s not playing the kind of game that he ought to be playing.?</div> Read on: Lakernoise: Fisher has always known the simple truth
I miss Fisher's professionalism from the PG spot, but he's not the player he was when he wore the P&G. This part of the blog was right on target. Tex criticizing Kobe's defense. “Kobe’s defense is not what it used to be. He’s kind of a roamer and he’s getting burned quite a bit.” Kobe has been ineffective on shutting players down with man to man defense. His lack of conditioning and recent knee surgery have taken an obvious toll on the energy he uses on defense. He's a step slower than last year and not as explosive in his movements. Part of it is timing, and I'm not sold he really trusts his knee yet. Hopefully Kobe reads these comments and re-evaluates where he's struggling on defense. It's still very early in the season and he has his team in a great position to make the playoffs and possibly land a 4 seed. The Lakers just need to work on playing consistent and constantly improving from game to game.
