A Dilemma for Kobe

Big players, they were never much of an issue. Jump over them. Problem solved.

Except that now he’s being asked to guard the big players, or at least the bigger ones, having just looked up to two different Portland Trail Blazers and now facing the very real prospect of giving away four inches and 30 pounds to Detlef Schrempf. Nobody ever said anything about this at flight school.

“This growth spurt better come fast,” Kobe Bryant says.

Really fast. Say, by tonight.

“I’m 6-7,” he says. “Barely 6-7.”

Only if you count the afro. Otherwise, Bryant is more like the 6 foot 6 and 205 pounds he started the season at, which is bigger than last season, the reason Coach Del Harris began playing him over Eddie Jones in the frontcourt when the Lakers went small, but is still undersized by comparison. There were two in the first round alone, Rasheed Wallace at 6-11 and 225 pounds and Walt Williams at 6-8 and 230.

Just as there will likely be another, against Schrempf, as the Western Conference semifinals open against the SuperSonics tonight at KeyArena. Harris can’t say for sure because it’s near impossible to predict Seattle’s starting lineups and rotations--Jim McIlvaine could start at center or not play at all, Jerome Kersey could get time at center or small forward, etc. But what does appear likely is that Bryant, his body suited for guard, will continue to have frontcourt duty.

It gets Bryant and Jones on the floor together, a combination both like and that has produced results, most prominently of late the decisive fourth quarter in the first-round opener, as Bryant scored 11 points as he shut out Wallace. That may not only have been the spark to the Lakers’ two-point victory but had a lasting effect on Portland Coach Mike Dunleavy, who later in the series sometimes downsized from Wallace to Williams when Bryant went to small forward. There went the Trail Blazers’ best big man.

Now comes Schrempf, more talented than either of the two who came before and an especially tough matchup because he is strong enough to post up and adept enough to be considered a serious three-point threat. The Lakers could use Robert Horry against him, and put Elden Campbell at power forward, but Harris showed no sign Sunday of shying away from Bryant there.

“Kobe can play against anybody,” Harris said. “That’s one difference between last year and this year.”

That Bryant is bigger and stronger, up from the 6-5 and 190 of his rookie season, and that he is an improving defender.

“Detlef Schrempf is a hard matchup for anybody,” Harris continued. “It’s no more of a risk with Kobe. He can handle himself.”

Said Bryant: “If you sit back, let them pound on you, beat on you, that’s when you feel it. But if you’re going in with the mind-set that you’re not going to let that happen, you’ll be OK.

“It’s a big challenge for me. They automatically have got a height advantage over me. But it’s a challenge I like.”

As if there are any he doesn’t. He has already faced the post-all-star slump--finishing the regular season with a very good run--and the playoff ghosts, making several big shots in the fourth quarter of Game 1 to conquer the memories of the four airballs in the previous playoff appearance and making it a non-factor as he returns for another second round.

But this one is different, should he, in fact, end up facing Schrempf a lot as the backup to Rick Fox while also continuing to play behind Jones at shooting guard. There is a pounding that goes with it. Bryant’s superior quickness would give him an advantage on offense, but players who are bigger, more experienced and talented can cause problems regardless. And the Trail Blazers can only dream of bringing the kind of team defense the SuperSonics will employ to help Schrempf.

Yet, the signs are encouraging Bryant can succeed when he steps up in weight class. About 10 of his 26 minutes a game in the first round came there, usually with positive results.

“He’s more of a [shooting] guard than a small forward, so that’s definitely a bit of a size advantage,” Williams said. “But he’s a good athlete, he’s strong, and he’s a competitor.”

Said Harris: “For all his tricks with the ball, he has a defender’s heart.”

He just doesn’t have a small forward’s body, yet, which means the heart had better be willing. They may meet up eventually.

“They say I’m growing,” Bryant advised this week. “That’s news I like to hear.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

HOW THEY COMPARE

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SEATTLE LAKERS 61-21 OVERALL RECORD 61-21 33-8 HOME RECORD 33-8 28-13 ROAD RECORD 28-13 4-1 OVERTIME RECORD 4-1 32-9 FIRST HALF 31-10 29-11 SECOND HALF 30-11 100.6 AVERAGE POINTS 105.5 93.4 OPPONENT AVERAGE POINTS 97.8 7.2 MARGIN 7.7 .473 FG PCT .481 .446 OPPONENT FG PCT. .439 .396 3-PT. FG PCT .351 .324 OPPONENT 3-PT FG PCT. .355 7.6 3-PT. FG/GAME 6.1 5.1 OPPONENT 3-PT. FG/GAME 4.6 .721 FREE THROW PCT. .679 38.5 REBOUND AVERAGE 43.3 42.2 OPPONENT REBOUND AVERAGE 42.2 11.4 OFFENSIVE REBOUND AVERAGE 13.2 13.7 OPPONENT OFFENSIVE REBOUND AVERAGE 13.7 24.2 ASSIST AVERAGE 24.5 22.3 OPPONENT ASSIST AVERAGE 22.5 15.3 TURNOVER AVERAGE 15.3 15.6 OPPONENT TURNOVER AVERAGE 15.6 9.8 STEALS AVERAGE 9.0 7.8 OPPONENT STEALS AVERAGE 8.0 4.6 BLOCKED SHOTS AVERAGE 6-8 4.9 OPPONENT BLOCKED SHOTS AVERAGE 5.2

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