The Lakerhead

Lakers Go Up 2-0 On Jazz, Utah Has One Hope

The Lakers kept fully flexing their offensive might against the Utah Jazz.  Kobe Bryant was there, fake, fake, fake, impossible fadeaway - squish.  He finished with a very versatile 26 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds.

The Lakers, Happy That They Are Collectively Better Than Deron Williams

Odom was a near-perfect 8-9 shooting for 19 points.  Gasol an insane 9-11 for 24 points.  Shannon Brown provided a ridiculous 12 points from the bench, and Trevor Ariza continued his stellar play with 13 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds.

So the Lakers blew the Jazz out, right?  Wrong.  Try a 3-point Laker lead with 3 minutes to go.  Try a 119-109 Laker win that got way closer than the final score suggests.

There is one very scary thought that should be on the mind of every Laker fan.  Deron Williams is a freight train (he had 35 points and 9 dimes), and he’s about to get support from the “so loud, you swear a human couldn’t scream that long” Jazz fans.

The Lakers better decide to play some defense.  Outscoring teams is much harder on the road, and the Jazz just dropped 109 points in Los Angeles.

So how do the Lakers stop Deron Williams without staring down wide open threes from Kyle Korver and the assumed return of Okur?  Here are some suggestions, in ascending order of effectiveness:

Take Notes, Fisher. Reese Witherspoon is the Queen of Jazz Hands

1) Jazz Hands -Probability of Working: 3% When Deron Williams is ready to operate, Derek Fisher employs “jazz hands”, waving his arms in a little dance.  This will confuse the heck out of Williams and possibly throw him off for a possession.

Ray Allen Can't Believe Sasha Vujacic is Trying to Guard Him

2) Sasha Vujacic Single Coverage-Probability of Working: 9% Putting Sasha Vujacic on the star point guard will light up Deron Williams’ face and make him too eager to take “The Machine” to school.  This will cause him to travel once, throw Sasha aside for the offensive foul once, and run into Derek Fisher who draws the charge from the weak side once.  That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Kobe Will D You Up, But Will He Have Enough Left in the Tank?

3) Kobe Bryant Single Coverage-Probability of Working: 45% A 30 year old Kobe Bryant can lock up the opposing team’s star point guard while scoring his 20 points and facilitating the ball to his teammates like he did in game 2 against the Jazz, right?  Right? (*Silence*).  Kobe for MVP? (*More Silence*).  That’s it, I’m taking my ball and I’m going home.

At least Derek Fisher Has a Similar Build as Deron's As He's Blown By

4) More of the Same-Probability of Working: 60% C’mon, there is no way Williams goes 12-23 (52%) from the field to nab 35 points and 9 assists against the defense of Derek Fisher and Shannon Brown yet again, is there?  Why don’t I like these odds?

More of Los Angeles Lakers VS The Utah Deron Williams on Thursday, 10:30PM Eastern.