Better Without Bryant? Doubtful

Dear Kobe:

Get well soon.

Sincerely,

Your friends, the SuperSonics

The aches came at Kobe Bryant from all angles Saturday. The bad sore throat that remains, the fatigue that set in after he shot around for only about 15 minutes at practice, both of which prompted the Lakers to list him as doubtful for Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals today at the Great Western Forum. The verbal beating he got from the SuperSonics.

The opponents could have sent flowers, but instead delivered a message.

The Lakers are better without Bryant, the opponents indicated, aware that L.A. has won the last two games in the best-of-seven series after losing the opener, victories that both came as breakout performances by guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel coincided with the 19-year-old reserve swingman sidelined by flu.

Van Exel, in particular, is better without Bryant, came another pointed observation.

“Kobe?” SuperSonic forward-center Sam Perkins said. “Oh, him. They don’t even miss him. It seems like they are more at ease without him.

“Kobe does add the X factor, but Van Exel takes advantage of that when Kobe is gone.”

Added Coach George Karl: “Without Kobe, Van Exel has the freedom he may not have had with Kobe in there. . . . It seems like they’re doing more little things and more team things. Is that because Kobe is not in the lineup? Is that because they are in the playoffs? I don’t know.”

And from Gary Payton: “He [Van Exel] is playing like he played two, three years ago, when [Bryant] wasn’t there. He is playing a lot free-er, and that’s the way he’s got to play. He’s doing a good job of it right now.”

More growing pains for Bryant. As if the real-life aches these days aren’t enough.

“A lot of people feel like that because we’ve been playing so well and he’s been away for a couple games,” guard Derek Fisher said. “And everybody knows at times when Kobe comes into the game he has the ability to take the game over. But sometimes he gets into a rush, sometimes that hurts us. That’s the part that everyone has focused on.

“If we’re fortunate enough to move to the next series, Kobe will be an important player for us. We definitely want him back.”

Like, forever.

“No,” Coach Del Harris said, “he’s not available for trades.”

But Bryant also hasn’t been available for the last two games and the Lakers won by 24 and 16 points. Jones set career playoff highs both times, first scoring 23 on Wednesday at Seattle and then 29 on Friday at the Forum, going 19 of 30 from the field in the process. Van Exel got 16 and 22 points off the bench making 14 of 30 shots.

To suggest the Lakers would be a better team without Bryant is, of course, nothing short of ridiculous--couldn’t they have used him while scoring 92 points in Game 2, even if Jones and Van Exel were also producing?

But to note that the offense often flows better when there’s not so much on-the-job training involved, when the ball doesn’t stop in Bryant’s hands as he fakes this way and spins that way but really covers no ground? Not so ridiculous.

So goes the learning curve for parties of all ages. Part of the bargain the Lakers accepted when they took on a prodigy. Part of the fallout from the expectations he not only brought on with flashes of the greatness that surely will come on a more consistent basis in the future, but embraces.

“You’re getting opportunities to get to the basket, you’re getting the opportunities for wide-open looks,” Jones said. “We’re just taking advantage of it.”

Jones and Van Exel more than anyone.

“It has nothing to do with Kobe Bryant,” Harris said. “[Jones has] two games where he got high 20s, but it doesn’t have anything to do with Kobe Bryant not being healthy. He did that when Kobe Bryant was healthy.

“You look at things and you try to find cause and effect and sometimes you end up with the right answers, sometimes you end up with the wrong answers, and usually they’re just the answers for the minute. But they’re not the all-time answers. We’re still better off with Kobe Bryant.”

TODAY’S GAME 4

LAKERS vs.SEATTLE

Noon, Channel 4

SERIES REPORT C6

NBA PLAYOFFS

KNICKS WIN ONE

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SO DO SPURS

Utah equals record low with 64 points, nine in the third quarter, and Robinson steps up for San Antonio. C7

MARK HEISLER

There’s no reason for things to get ugly in Laker-Seattle series, even if that seems to be the trend in the NBA. C5