No one expected the Los Angeles Lakers to be in the position they are at the moment. That is to say no one except maybe the Lakers. The start to the 2007-2008 NBA season brought with it a legion of doubters and for good reason. The off season catalyzed an already uncertain situation between Kobe Bryant and management that culminated in Kobe demanding a trade. He also publicly lashed out at management by belittling poor defenseless 7 foot Andrew Bynum. Now things seemed to have worked out just fine as the Lakers are just five wins away from a trip to the Finals, where they will be commanding favorites no matter who the Eastern representative is. All the off season tumult eventually gave way to some shrewd moves by Mr. Mitch (hello Pau…goodbye Kwame!).
The one acquisition that has garnered the least publicity has been that of Derek Fisher. Derek Fisher was granted permission by the Jazz organization to get out of his contract prematurely. The move came after a tumor was discovered in the left eye of Fisher’s daughter. Of course, Fisher opted to move to Los Angeles, where world class medical care is offered at Cedars Sinai Hospital. At the time, the pickup was seen by most as a nice move that would allow the Lakers to add championship experience with some solid perimeter defense, but he has proved more valuable than that.
D Fish has exceeded everyone’s expectations save for maybe those of Phil Jackson, who clearly knew Fisher would play a much larger role for a team craving leadership (remember it was only this year that Kobe really settled in as a true leader and teammate). Fisher has averaged 27 minutes per game for the number one seed in the Western Conference while shooting over 40% from three point range. His calming presence and slick defensive ability cannot be overlooked on a team whose only weakness seems to be on that end of the floor.
Now in that twist of irony the NBA is sure to exploit, he looks to be a key component in taking out the team that graciously let him leave to care for his sick daughter. Sunday’s game one showed just how important he is in this series after he contributed to the utterly pedestrian performance by Deron Williams, holding the star to just 5-18 shooting. The Lakers should win game 2 on Wednesday before traveling to the play in front of the hated (at least by Tracy McGrady) fans of the Utah Jazz where Fisher was booed earlier this season. The Jazz were nearly unbeatable at home this year, earning a gaudy 37-4 regular season home record. Game 2 is Wednesday night @ 7:30 on TNT
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1 Jeff Barrick // May 6, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Nice, very nice stuff my friend. Lets go Lakers baby.
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