Think Positive

    Okay. So Odom airballed that last shot. Sure, Turiaf missed what turned out to be critical free throw. Yeah, Kobe turned the ball over a career high 11 times. But the Lakers went into The Palace, a place they haven’t won in over five years, and nearly beat the second (arguably) best team in the East without Bynum, Mihm, Ariza, or Walton. In fact, they had the game won needing only a rebound to secure the victory. Unfortunately, Tayshaun Prince got his shot off and hit the winning bucket. 
    The Lakers shot horribly, connecting on only 42 percent of their shots and only 68 percent of their free throws. They had 22 turnovers and only 16 assists. They gave up 25 fast break points and gave up 17 steals and 7 blocks. Those are some atrocious numbers, and yet, still, they lost by one point to the Detroit Pistons.
    Think positive.
    Sure, they’ve got some kinks to work out, but they’ve handled the teams they’re supposed to. Killed New York. Beat Denver (and people might site that Melo got hurt, well, if you go back and look, the Nugs actually played better after Melo’s injury). Sure, they lost to the Cavs, but that game was close and the Cavs are tough if your team lacks a rebounding big. 
    So who have they lost to? San Antonio, Dallas and Detroit. The defening champs, a team that won 69 games last year. And the second-arguably-first best team in the East. 
We can look at the Spurs game as a tale of two halves. The Lakers worked the Spurs during the first half, then crumbled in the second. Signs of a developing, young team. The Lakers again had a miserable 3rd quarter against the Mavs, but made a run late. Last night, they were down by 17 early, but chipped away and had a big 3rd and took the lead into the last 5 seconds of the game.
    Those are all positive signs. Sure it’s frustrating that they didn’t come out victorious. Any loss is tough, especially close ones. But let’s keep our eyes focused on the positive. Think about how much better Kwame and Odom and Vujacic and Farmar and Turiaf are going to be because of Bynum’s absence. Vlad Rad and Mihm will get some burn, get back into the flow of the offense. And when Bynum does come back, look out league.
    Let the rest of the league think about that…