Beast or Burden: Ball Movement? Ball Movement!

So, that optimism vanished fairly quickly, no? In a stretch against four serious playoff teams, the Lakers' inadequacies on offense were exposed in possibly the most painful way imaginable. Blame tired legs, the lockout, or similar -- and by all means, on some level, you have to blame no legs for a shooting performance as putrid as the ones that have been put up recently -- but the Lakers failed to step up to the plate, and unsurprisingly, we again have a bit of a crisis of confidence in Laker Land. The glass half-full approach is that the Lakers' losses on the road are nothing to fret about. Save for Portland and Miami, all of the Lakers' away games were on a back-to-back, and I doubt anyone favored us against the aforementioned two teams regardless. Still, you would expect a contending team to pull out a win or two, or at least be competitive in these kinds of games, and the Lakers simply aren't there right now. It certainly does not mean that the Lakers cannot reach that lofty plateau, as judging this the be-all, end-all final product of how the Lakers will look in April is remarkably premature, but they certainly have their work cut out for them. In any case, let's review a few of the recent contributors, and those who were less than so.

Beast

• Kobe Bryant -- As Chris noted, lost in the painfully bad offensive show that was last night's Orlando game is that Kobe arguably had one of his most effective games of the year. If there has been any criticism to put against Kobe in years past, it is that there appeared to be a fairly binary split between his "distributing" and "scoring" modes. He would switch from being remarkably passive to full-on Mamba mode without the two being well-integrated. Against Orlando, however, he was masterful. Using the pick-and-roll to create space for himself, he forced the defense to react to him, and in so doing, either created a wealth of open looks for himself or his teammates. That it resulted in a giant pile of bricks for everyone else should not detract from how critically important it is that Kobe continues such a performance. If this team is to compete in the long-term, it needs all the players on the floor to be producing, and Kobe creating for them in such a manner is one way to do so. He even had a number of nice cuts to the basket in which he received sweet feeds from Gasol at the high post, showing he could be effective off the ball as well. In many ways, this performance was more astounding than his spree of 40 point games -- it was a beautiful synthesis of all aspects of Kobe's game, and sans another creator on the floor, it goes without saying that he needs to continue to do so.

• Pau Gasol -- Not necessarily his offense either, although he put in a few classic Pau hook shots in the lane that have been missing from his arsenal for over a year, but his sublime defense. If any player has embraced Mike Brown's penchant for defending, it has been Pau. He has been the team's best pick-and-roll defender, using his mobility and length to bother ballhandlers on the hard hedge, and has been solid in straight-up post defense as well. It was not Bynum that best defended Howard last night, but Pau, who used his length and speed to deny Howard his spots and force him into tough bank shots, rather than Bynum's more physical approach that resulted in a series of fouls. Thankfully, this seems to be a trend this year, as Pau has done a number on quite a few explosive offensive players this year, whether it was his inspired defense on Dirk Nowitzki on Monday, or Al Jefferson and Amar'e Stoudemire earlier in the year. So while we clamor for Pau to pick up his offense to the same level it was during his MVP-quality start to last season -- although to his credit, no player on this team is better at filling the spaces on the floor for open shots, and this offense is as big a transition for him as it is for anybody -- he deserves some serious props for what he has brought on the other end.
• Ball movement -- It was there. Whether it was only a fleeting glimpse of the moment or the beginning of a long-term trend, we finally had some semblance of a real offense, if only someone could figure out how to make the orange ball go into the hoop. In the second half, however, players were cutting decisively, making passes to the extra man, and putting pressure on Orlando's defense. This wasn't all Kobe mind you, as everyone seemingly embraced the concept that actually running the offense would be a good thing. Quite simply, there is no other path towards long-term success, and if this is a sign that the offense finally might be getting back on-track, then it is greatly heartening.
• Honorable mention goes to Troy Murphy for finally figuring out that he needs to shoot off dishes from Kobe in pick-and-pop action, although given the team's moribund shooting, it would be nice if he stepped behind the line more often. His bad shooting night and putrid defense notwithstanding, it is at least a positive development. (And yes, I'm grasping for straws here.)