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Last Updated: Aug 10th, 2006 - 15:58:39 |
This was supposed to be the second round of a four-round fight between the Seattle SuperSonics’ Ray Allen and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, whose stars have collided on more than one occasion already this season.
But the severe ankle injury to Bryant that has kept him out of the team’s past four games, and likely will keep him out for another 10 days, has relegated tonight’s game at the Staples Center to just another regular-season affair on a long, arduous schedule.
And while the Sonics will not come right out and say it – well, Allen might if he was provoked enough – Seattle players insinuated in more than one way Monday that it was more difficult facing the Lakers without Bryant than with him.
Never mind that the Lakers are 3-1 without Bryant, 4-1 if you count the game in which he was injured – when he played only six minutes and his teammates went on to defeat Cleveland.
The reasoning is that Bryant seems so intent on winning the scoring title this season that he often eschews his teammates to satisfy his own desires.
That is easier to defend, the Sonics say, because they know where the ball is going to be.
“They seem to be loose and playing free,” Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. “It is a little more difficult to guard because they have everyone involved, as opposed to you know when Kobe has it, he is a great player, you know where that ball is going to be.
“These guys now are sharing the ball, they are moving the ball, they are playing with a lot of confidence, and it is a tough matchup.”
The Lakers without Bryant look very much like the Miami Heat of a year ago, when point forward Lamar Odom ran the offense and found his teammates on the perimeter.
Without Bryant, Odom has flourished, averaging 18 points, four assists and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, point guard Chucky Atkins, averaging 12.6 points for the season, has averaged 22 points a game in the four games without Bryant.
“They are just playing basketball, they are moving the ball,” McMillan said. “Kobe is going to take 20 shots. Odom really looks to get everyone involved, and he likes to distribute the ball. That makes it a little tougher.”
The Bryant-Allen rivalry began when Allen made what Bryant thought were disparaging remarks about him during the exhibition season. Allen said he is attempting to approach this game the same way he would if Bryant were playing – though he says he knows deep down he is not.
“I said at the start of the season, when everything went down (between Allen and Bryant), I said my game is going to be the same,” Allen said. “That doesn’t change.
“But it changes a bit as far as the defense. I think it is worse for me because I let up a little bit, because you think the guy you are guarding is not going to shoot as much as Kobe.”
Bomb threat update
The bomb threat that emptied KeyArena immediately following Sunday night’s victory over Utah turned out to be a prank, as arena security suspected when it was made.
Sonics general manager Rick Sund said he was told the call was made so quickly that authorities did not have a chance to pick up a caller ID or trace the call.
Still, Sund alerted players, coaches and media after the game, and security swept the arena for bombs.
Allen said he and Rashard Lewis left the building so quickly they did not even shower, cleaning up at home.
“I was sitting there with ice on my knees and I had just put my feet in the foot bath,” Allen said. “I hadn’t even been in the shower. I was just talking.
“(Trainer Mike) Shimensky comes in and he says, ‘Guys, the media is not coming in.’ We are sitting there listening to him like he is telling us there is no practice, or what time practice is. He was like, ‘The media is not going to come in, there is a bomb threat.’
“I was like, (see you later). He was like, ‘No, guys, don’t panic.’ He tried to give it to us as calm as he could, but as soon as he said it, Flip (Murray) ran back into the shower and told everybody. Me and Rashard took off our clothes and put our street clothes on.
“I wanted to make sure my family got out the building. Then I got outside (the locker room) and AD’s (guard Antonio Daniels) wife (who is pregnant) was like, ‘Where is Antonio at?’ He was in the locker room answering questions. I was like, ‘Kid’s going to grow up without a father.’ ”
Radmanovic sits out
Vladimir Radmanovic missed Monday’s practice with an illness that has been sweeping through the team. He was supposed to make the flight to Los Angeles on Monday afternoon and is expected to play tonight. Frank Hughes: 253-597-8742, ext. 6120
frank.hughes@thenewstribune.com
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