BRAMA, Jan 10, 2004, 5:00 pm ET
Ukrainian Titans at Work:
Atlanta Hawks vs. Los Angeles Lakers; Memphis Grizzlies vs. Seattle SuperSonics
— by Max Pyziur
Coming off a string of four losses (to Seattle, the LA Clippers,
Minnesota, and Denver, respectively) in part due to injuries (Center
Shaquille "The Diesel" O'Neal with a swollen calf, Power Forward Karl
"The Mailman" Malone with a sore knee, and Small Forward Rick Fox
recuperating from ankle surgery, all of whose return is expected soon
but with no specific date), in part due to their own mistakes the
Lakers' yesterday hungered for some sort of triumph.
Admittedly, the Atlanta Hawks, their opponents, are a 'lesser' team;
their current record places them last in the Central division and
third last in the overall NBA. Nevertheless two games prior to
tonight's, they did score a strong win against the Denver Nuggets who
themselves in their January 7th outing handed the Lakers an
embarrassingly huge loss.
Starting with the game after Karl Malone's injury (December 23rd
against the Golden State Warriors) Slava Medvedenko assumed the
starting Power Forward role. His performance through the January 7th
game against the Denver Nuggets has been adequate, shooting 34/72 (or
47%), averaging 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. However
occasionally, his own over-exertion and frustration have gotten in
the way, including 5 fouls and one technical (when he slammed the
ball into the floor rather than
handing it to the referee when he was called for a foul). The
Lakers, however, require something stellar in order to keep
themselves in the championship running.
Yesterday in the December 9th game against the Atlanta Hawks, his
playing ascended to a new level. Was it the hunger for some sort of
triumph? Dunno, but ...
From the very first tipoff through the final buzzer the Lakers'
hunger prevailed. But Slava's pursuit of his own higher standard
elevated the game. He began by scoring the first two points of the
game using his signature 17ft jumper. But he didn't just stick to
his standard repertoire. He pulled down rebounds, blocked shots, and
made assists. Still early in the game (6:52 in the first quarter) he
resorted to Kobe-like creativity - he drove baseline past Atlanta
star Shareef Abdur-Rahim into heavy traffic and still made a
spectacular reverse slam dunk, prompting the Fox Sports announcer to
shout " ... it may be early but I already know who tonight's game's
MVP is going to be - Slava, Slava, Slava!". Towards the end of the
1st period with the Lakers ahead 34-6 walking to the bench for a
brief rest having made 10 points, 2 assists, and 5 rebounds he was
greeted by a standing ovation.
With 8:52 remaining in the 2nd period Slava returned to the game. He
is ever stoic in whatever enjoyment he derives from his own
successes, even clearly self-critical to the point of showing his
frustrations at his own lapses. With few seconds remaining in the
first half Kobe Bryant connected with Slava with Slava making an
Alley-Oop buzzer-beating slam dunk. As the teams began to walk off
the floor and the camera focusing on Slava he did greet Kobe Bryant
with a high five and shedding his iron demeanor breaking into a
smile for a moment.
When he finally sat down at the end of the 3rd period with Coach Phil
Jackson letting the Lakers' bench finish the game Slava had bested
himself by making a career-high 26 points (on 13 for 21 or 62%
shooting, tying him with Kobe Bryant in being the game's high scorer)
3 assists, 2 steals, and 11 rebounds (for his second Double-Double of
the season) in 32 minutes of playing.
The triumph clearly went to the Lakers with the score 113-67.
* * *
Frustrations abound in the Emerald City of Seattle. Who and what are
the Supersonics? It seems that their starting line up changes from
game to game and except for their two star shooters - Ray Allen and
Rashard Lewis - the strength of their starters is equals that of
their bench. Games are won on Coach Nate McMillan's trying to
second guess the disposition of his team throughout the game in order
to win. Failure to do so leads to disasters such as January 4th
99-130 loss to the league-leader Sacramento Kings. A correct
appraisal results in the January 7th 104-93 win (again) against
Sacramento and maintains an above .500 playing record.
Are the Supersonics a balanced team valuing equal parts of defense
and offense or are they one which places emphasis on speed and
scoring and defense be damned? If you watched yesterday's (January
9th) home game against the Memphis Grizzlies you'd have seen the
latter, but with an odd defensive twist.
The Grizzlies came out early with something to prove. By the
beginning of the 2nd quarter they had a 17 point lead. However, if
expectations of who was to win were formed on the basis of this they
would be proven wrong by the end.
Nate McMillan quickly began working combinations of his players to
erase the deficit. He threw in his high-speed rookie guards; the
deficit narrowed. He also shuffled his centers.
Most games he rotates his centers in sequence (first Jerome Jame,
then Calvin Booth, and last Vitaly Potapenko). Productivity (points)
isn't as much of a concern as is liability (foul trouble). Yesterday
however, he stuck with James and James produced 7 of 7 shots, 2 of 6
free throws, with 4 personal fouls with 16 points in the end.
Since one center's performance doesn't exceed that of the the other
two, Vitaly Potapenko
got several chances to play. Along with restraining Grizzlies' star
Pao Gasol, Vitaly made 3 of his 5 shots. He also was enough of a
threat to be fouled 6 times giving him 12 chances at the free stripe
and delivering on 8 of those which in the end helped to expand the
Sonics late 4th quarter lead to 120-116.
In the end the Sonics prevailed over the Grizzlies 122-116; in
addition to the previously mentioned stats Vitaly had 3 rebounds with
2 personal fouls in 13 minutes of playing.
* * *
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