Jan 06 2009
Price of success: fighting for playing time
When a team is cruising and things seem to fall into place, players who aren’t part of the success have a dilemma. If they don’t act happy about being on a winner they are seen as selfish. If they seem happy about the state of affairs they might be seen as guys who aren’t ambitious.
Case in point: Vlad Radmanovich, SF for the Los Angeles Lakers. Radmanovich was part of the starting lineup and lost his job less than a month ago. The Lakers were winning but had dropped one bad game on an east coast swing. They also playing sloppy D and relying on their offense to win.
Radmanovich, not a typical SF but one that stretches the defense on the court because of his long-range shooting, was shooting 43% from three-point range and picking up a few fouls, grabbing some rebounds and generally playing his game.
Coach Phil Jackson thought the team was getting lazy on defense, which is NOT Vlade’s strong suit and wanted more ball movement on the offensive side. The triangle offense is one that depends on movement to various spots on the floor.
Luke Walton, who had started last year in that SF spot had been benched and suffered in silence for the “good of the team”. Except for Kobe, Walton knows the triangle best and can execute it with precision (doesn’t mean he scores well) and was pulled back into the starting rotation at his pal’s expense.
Radmanovich was stunned since it happened just prior to a game, not even at the shoot-around earlier in the day. He was upset and let it be known in the media. He inexplicably wasn’t used at all for a few games, garnering embarrassing DNP’s. He was inconsolable and got relatively good press for his sadness since his anger had dissipated.
Luke hurt his foot late last week and Vlad did not start in the Lakers’ first game since that time. Trevor Ariza got the nod but Radmanovich came off the bench and contributed big time in the Lakers come from behind thrashing of Portland on Sunday night.
Bottom line: Too much whining and your rep goes into the toilet. Too little and your can’t motivate yourself to perform when called on. A winning team requires that you distinguish yourself which is hard to do on the Lakers with its deep bench.
