http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/22759 Recent articles about Coby Karl en-us Just finished watching the Suns v. Lakers, and it was obvious that this game meant everything to the Suns. If it wasn't obvious in the two losses they had at the hands of the Lakers, it was ever so clear in a win over L.A. . While the Lakers went deep into their bench the entire game, playing everyone available but Coby Karl, Mike D'Antoni only played 7 guys. Seven guys. As if it were Game 7 of the NBA Finals (Oops. This is the Suns right? I meant Western Conference Finals). The end result was a win, yes, but pay attention to the game within the game, and what you really saw, was a scared PHX team needing to prove they could beat the Lakers. Mind you, a Laker team fresh into recovering from Andrew Bynum's injury. But most important, regardless of the score, you saw a Laker team sticking up for one of it's own. Missing bunnies, turning the ball over and getting outrebounded, Kwame Brown received heavy boos from the home crowd, especially after missing an easy dunk. How did his teammates react? By giving him the ball right back the next time down the floor. He turned the ball over, and they tried yet again. Even Kobe... during the boos! Kobe, who just a couple of days ago remarked how the Lakers are a Championship team with Bynum in the lineup. A comment that could easily be read as, "we're not contenders with Kwame." It is this that shows the growing maturity of the Lakers under Phil, led by Kobe. The crowd be damned, the Lakers showed Kwame, that he has a role on the team, and they are going to need him, no matter what the fans say, THEY believe in him. They showed us what a team was in that 3 minute stretch of the game. No matter the score. While getting off to a hot start, Kobe played "passive" (painstakingly) for much of the 2nd, and 3rd quarters, with Phil letting the subs play for long stretches, and for much of the 4th quarter. Though they didn't pull out the win, L.A. fought back to make it interesting. The second unit is learning to deal with the adversity. Adversity that comes with coming back from with deficits. Adversity that comes with overcoming sloppy play or poor shooting. Adversity of learning to play without one of your main guys. This has been the Suns problem. Continually playing only 7-8 guys, thier bench can't be ready to play in that fast paced style of play, cold off the bench. The bench can't learn to deal with adversity, or pressure, or without their star. The bench can't see the floor when PHX has a 20 point lead to start the 4th quarter. Instead, Mike D'Antoni brings Nash (who he humorously called the "games best player" at halftime) back onto the floor after a short break to protect a lead, when it seems like it might slip away. They protected their all so important win over L.A., they won back their Pacific Division and Western Conference lead. They can treat game 39 of the regular season like it's Game 7 of the Finals, because it's that very trait of theirs to play only 7 players, and fight and claw to beat an injured Laker team, that has them watching the Finals in June. So go ahead Mike. Keep your bench unprepared and keep your starters in the floor as much as possible. Keep thinking short hair, when you should be thinking long. Your win tonight meant nothing. The Lakers learned more about themselves tonight in defeat, then your team could in victory. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:29:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/76391 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/76391