The Credits: "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"

a game. Hopefully we can come out strong and get Kobe and the rest of the starters some rest for tomorrows game against the Mavs. We seem to really suck on the back end of a back to back on the road.

wow! Vujacic hurt..Hopefully Kobe can pick up the slack

Insider-only, but I’ll quote a nice part of it:

Without Bryant these past five games, the D didn’t miss a beat. In fact, the Lakers suffocated the five opponents, permitting just 93.4 points per 100 possessions.

In particular, they rebounded like crazy. L.A. permitted only 32 offensive rebounds in the five games without Bryant, while it grabbed 169 defensive caroms. That’s an unheard-of 84.1 percent defensive rebound rate, with Lamar Odom (64 defensive boards in five games) warranting special mention for his Dennis Rodman impersonation.

All this is par for the course when looking at the Lakers’ defensive results this season. It’s impossible to get anything easy against them because they don’t give up second shots, don’t allow 3-pointers and don’t put people on the line.

The Lakers are fifth in the NBA in defensive rebound rate at 74.9 percent. With their impressive size in the paint and the ability of most of their players (most notably Ron Artest) to defend one-on-one without help, the Lakers are also the NBA’s best team at cutting off the 3-point line: L.A. opponents shoot only 31.7 percent from beyond the arc this season. Meanwhile, the free throw line is a no-go zone, as L.A. leads the league in fewest opponent free throw attempts per field goal attempt.

Because of its strong one-on-one defenders and team concept, L.A. can survive Bryant’s absence on the defensive end virtually unscathed. While the offense can’t quite say the same thing, players like Gasol and Bynum are certainly capable of having big nights in his absence.

As a result, the Lakers are miles beyond where they stood three or four seasons ago. Whereas the Lakers once were a one-man show, the resilient D and post attack now make the team an ensemble cast — one that’s strong enough to succeed even in the ringleader’s absence.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=PERDiem-100223