Basketball Thoughts #6

I think the Orlando Magic are in for a rude awakening. They got Gilbert Arenas from Washington. He isn't helping the Magic at all. Arenas doesn't contribute to the Magic offense, as the Orlando team goes through Dwight Howard in the middle. They are running short of big men, like Brandon Bass who is 6 foot, 8 inches and Hedo Turkoglu, who is 6 foot, 10 inches. Ryan Anderson, who comes off the bench, is also 6 foot, 10 inches tall, but he doesn't provide much of an defensive presence. If anything, Boston and San Antonio have the depth to give the LA Lakers a run for their money. Their defense-first schemes are bound to give championship-caliber squads like the Lakers and the Miami Heat fits. Teams that have star players do succeed in the long run, but their egos clash with the culture and politics of the organization. Lebron James and Dwyane Wade have found a way to communicate with each other on the same team, but they do not really have the depth to play defense effectively underneath their own basket. James and Wade make outstanding defensive plays, but they do not exactly have the role players to help them play half-court basketball. They struggle offensively in the half-court offense. I don't see them as team-concept players, I see them as individual star players. That is what the Miami Heat are made of: star players. As do the Lakers too. The Lakers play well, when Kobe Bryant doesn't let his stubbornness get in the way of winning basketball games. When the Lakers slump, Kobe whines and complains. He doesn't see the way the Lakers win ball games in the past. He needs to see winning basketball games as a formula, not a streak. Kobe Bryant needs to reflect on what he sees he is doing that is not effectively helping his team win a basketball game. What was perfect for Bryant in Game 7 of last year's 2010 NBA Finals was that he contributed to the game of winning basketball. He played terrific defense as a team player, he made open shots when he had them, and he trusted his teammates' judgments to make open shots when they had them. In total, the Lakers do not gamble precariously on winning games, it is only Kobe Bryant who makes such decisions. And when Kobe's stubbornness gets in the way of losing basketball games, hell for the Lakers breaks loose.