BRAMA, Jan 29, 2004, 1:00 pm ET
Meeting of the Ukrainian Titans - Part II
– by Max Pyziur
In the second of four scheduled games this season the Seattle Supersonics
met the Lakers in Los Angeles on January 28th.
Overall, the game was lackluster. The Supersonics play was fatigued
by both travel and the previous night's high-speed scorefest against
the Dallas Mavericks (which they lost in the last 2 seconds
118-116). Similarly, the Lakers saw anemic play with the return
of a less-than-fit Shaquille O'Neal after a twelve game abscence; the team
struggled to figure out how to integrate him into their current play. In
general, the Supes' starters dominated those of the Lakers while the
Lakers
bench smothered that of the Sonics, ultimately delivering a 96-82 win to
Los Angeles.
With both Laker Slava Medevedenko's and Supersonic Vitaly Potapenko's
status elevated to that of starter this meeting gave the
two players a chance to faceoff in their playing. Well sort of ....
Vitaly's defensive job was to contain Shaquille O'Neal, a role which
he took on with his usual straight-ahead professionalism limiting the
Diesal's productivity to 1 for 3, though costing him three of his
four fouls for the night. At one point when 350 lb Shaq was making a run
for the basket Vitaly fouled him by grabbing him and lifting him off the
floor.
Slava's defensive job was to contain Vitaly. Vitaly nevertheless made
2 of his 5 shots and 1 of 2 freethrows (after being fouled by Slava).
Vitaly also had 7 rebounds and 1 block (one of Kobe Bryant's attempts) on
26 minutes of play.
In comparison to his previous games' production Slava's stats were modest.
For the evening he made 2 of 8 field goal attempts, 1 of 2 free throws, 6
rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal on 29 minutes of play.
The Sonics-Lakers next two matchups are March 5th and April 2nd.
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