He’s Not Michael, but He’s a Problem

The catcall came from not far behind the Minnesota Timberwolves’ bench, with less than four minutes to play at Target Center. “You’re still not Michael Jordan!” a male fan screamed at Kobe Bryant.

This observation, one that Bryant has heard thousands of times, might be true, but on Sunday it missed the point entirely.

Or, perhaps it made the point entirely.

When the best a Timberwolf fan can do to cheer himself up is to steadfastly cling to the notion that Kobe ain’t Michael, it becomes clear that the afternoon has been an unmitigated disaster for the home team.

The Timberwolves were 33-8 at home this season, and had home-court advantage for the first time in the playoffs. It took the impudent, arrogant Lakers all of five minutes to take this so-called advantage and squeeze all the juice out of it.

Presumably, the fan later trying to console himself did notice that by then, Bryant had set up a three-point basket by Derek Fisher, a dunk by Mark Madsen, a short jumper by Shaquille O’Neal, and had hit a 17-foot running jump shot and a three-pointer on his own.

The Lakers led, 17-6. And Game 1 was over before it began. Oh, there would be a nice run at the start of the second half, but please don’t call it gutty. Given the Timberwolves’ inexcusably disengaged effort early, when their defense denied the Lakers absolutely nothing, it was the least Coach Flip Saunders’ fellows were obligated to do.

In 22 minutes, Bryant had 28 points, on 12-for-16 shooting, seven assists, three rebounds, one steal and no turnovers. He finished with 39 points, eight assists, five rebounds, one steal and one turnover.

Wally Szczerbiak never knew what hit him. Bryant buried open jumpers, often with several hands or elbows in his face. “I fouled him on a few shots and they still went in,” Szczerbiak said. “He made some shots with guys draped all over him, but that’s what great players do.”

For those looking for ammunition on the Michael-Kobe comparison, Bryant started forcing shots in the third quarter, resulting in several air balls, and allowing the Timberwolves to briefly creep back into the game.

What should not be overlooked, however, is that Bryant continued to take Szczerbiak out of the game on the other end of the court.

The Timberwolves, however, did a better job of squeezing Bryant in the second half. Yet, as Jackson pointed out, all that did was create a more comfortable work space for O’Neal, who scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half.

This is the Rubik’s Cube the Lakers present.

They start two players who demand double-teams on every possession. Double-team Shaq and Kobe will scorch you. Double-team Kobe and Shaq will destroy you. Try the radical strategy of double-teaming them both and that leaves one defender to cover three other Lakers, several of whom then have enough time to take set shots from the three-point line.

“I’d like to say I have a lot of answers, but probably don’t at this point,” Saunders said.

Asserting that Kobe is still not Michael answers a question that is tantalizing, but irrelevant to the Timberwolves’ already indelicate condition.

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Dan Barreiro is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and can be reached at dbarreiro@startribune.com.